Chapter 92 - Another one-hit KO

With a roar from Beartic, a biting cold wind swept through the area.

A sudden blizzard enveloped the battlefield, surrounding Beartic and forming a natural barrier—as if shielding it from harm.

The next moment—

"Roar!"

Pangoro's figure suddenly appeared in front of Beartic. Flames surged around its right fist, engulfing its entire arm in searing heat.

It was using Fire Punch.

Within the blizzard, Pangoro endured the storm's assault. But every time it was injured, the faint green glow surrounding it would shine even brighter—visibly accelerating the healing process.

Boom!

Without hesitation, Pangoro threw a powerful punch. The fiery fist slammed directly into Beartic's abdomen, releasing an explosive force that sent Beartic flying.

The sheer power—

Combined with Beartic's relatively low defense—

Was enough to knock it out cold the moment it hit the ground.

A one-hit KO. Another one-hit KO!

As the blizzard faded away, Sam burst into laughter from the edge of the battlefield. "That's our boss for you! Absolutely badass!"

He looked so pumped, as if he had been the one giving commands to Pangoro himself.

But it couldn't be helped—Pangoro was simply too strong. Direct and brutal, never wasting time with fancy tricks.

This kind of fighting style and sheer dominance—it was just so satisfying to watch.

"Savage."

"No wonder he's the Trial Tournament champion—he's ridiculously strong."

"This Pangoro is way stronger than it was back then."

"And that secret technique... it's insane. It doesn't even seem like there's a way to counter it. I mean, swallowing energy balls? Who would've thought of that?"

The audience below the stage buzzed with admiration and amazement.

So violent—

But they liked it that way.

After all...

It wasn't their Pokémon getting beat up.

"Come back, Beartic. Good job out there."

Oren gently recalled her fainted Pokémon. Then, with a look of mock resentment, she turned to Nathan. "What happened to going easy on me? Hmph. Scumbag."

With that, she gave her hips a little sassy shake and walked off the battlefield.

Nathan rubbed his nose, a little helpless.

That wasn't my fault...

I did tell Pangoro to take it easy. This is all on him.

Damn bear.

He shook his head and stopped thinking about it, turning to prepare for the next battle.

Maybe it was because Oren, a girl, had dared to step up to challenge him—but after that, the guys started to gather their courage and line up to fight him as well.

The result?

Each one was taken down by Pangoro in just a few punches.

Ice Punch. Thunder Punch. Fire Punch.

They were practically the holy trinity of moves for handling these back-to-back matches.

So versatile that Pangoro could counter almost any type.

Before anyone realized it, the time had flown by—it was already 5 PM.

Only then did the matches finally end.

Pangoro, having fought all afternoon, even leveled up twice—

Now at Level 48.

Just three more levels, and it would reach the Elite tier.

That thought alone put Nathan in a great mood.

…

"You did great, Nathan," said William as he walked over and ruffled Nathan's hair excitedly. "Thanks to you, not only are you getting a reward—I'm getting a raise too, hah!"

"Not bad, Teacher. I'd say that calls for a celebratory dinner," Nathan teased.

"Haha, deal! Name the place—my treat tonight. You're not going home, got it?"

William was the homeroom teacher, but no one in class really treated him with strict respect.

He always joked around with the students and got along well with everyone.

So, when he said he'd treat them all, the class instantly erupted in cheers.

That evening, the whole class—dozens of them—rented out a small restaurant and had a feast.

…

Later that night.

After the group disbanded, Nathan and Lily walked home together.

Everyone else had gone their separate ways. Just the two of them now.

As they strolled, Lily kicked at pebbles on the side of the road, then glanced up at Nathan and blinked. "Hey, Nathan—your birthday's coming up soon, right?"

"Yeah, pretty soon." Nathan nodded and thought for a moment. "Should be a few days before the National Tournament starts."

"Hehe, then you should be calling me 'Big Sis.'"

Lily wrapped an arm around his shoulder with a grin.

Technically, she was older than him by a few months, even though they were born the same year.

Nathan rolled his eyes. "More like I'm your dad."

"Pfft."

Lily gave him a light smack on the head. "So disobedient."

"Oh, by the way," she continued, "after the National Tournament, I'm planning to focus on learning breeder knowledge—try to become a Pokémon Breeder. Got any tips?"

Lily had already collected several badges. There was no way she was going to quit halfway.

Hearing that, Nathan rubbed his chin and said, "Hmm... well, keep at it. I do have some advice, but I'll save it for later. No rush."

He was all in favor of her becoming a breeder—

After all, that meant he could rope her in to help him out later.

Given their relationship, she wouldn't say no, right?

And with her on board, he could fully embrace being a hands-off boss.

"Oh, right. If you're serious about becoming a breeder, you should consider catching more Grass-type and Water-type Pokémon. They tend to know a lot of healing moves and are generally more gentle. They'll also be helpful for your research and experiments in the future."

"Got it." Lily nodded.

The two of them continued strolling under the starlit sky.

One walking ahead, the other trailing slightly behind.

Eventually, they reached a street corner and parted ways.

Lily waved at Nathan, then skipped off in the direction of her home.

Soon enough, she was bouncing along like a little kid.

Her lips curled into a subtle smile.

She glanced at the starry-themed wristwatch on her arm, feeling unexpectedly content.

…

The next day.

Nathan was woken up by the sound of his phone ringing—before he'd even opened his eyes.

One call after another.

As soon as he picked up—

"Trainer Nathan Vesper? I'm calling from Magic City University..."

"Nathan Vesper? I'm with the admissions office of the top university in the capital, perfectly aligned with your goals..."

"Nathan..."

"Hello..."

All of them were from university admissions offices, trying to get in touch with him to discuss his college preferences and the incentives their schools were offering.

Nathan replied to them all with the same thing:

"Let's talk after the college entrance exam results come out."

The results were only a few days away.

He wasn't in a hurry.

Nor did he plan to stick around in Poplar City.

Instead, he was preparing to head out again on an exploration mission.

And in a little while, he would be making a trip to Spring City too.

There was still plenty of time between the results being released and university starting.

Besides, he couldn't fill out his university preference form until he had his results.

No rush.

He got up, washed up, and yawned, still in his shorts and a white tank top.

Then he walked into the living room, munching on the breakfast his mom had left for him while scrolling through the Exploration app on his phone.

Only looking at solo missions.

Anything that required a team—skip.

"Oh? This one looks good."

Nathan blinked in surprise.

[Solo / Wandering Mountains Exploration Mission!]

Description: The Wandering Mountains have merged with three or more secret realms. Exact internal conditions are unknown. Confirmed to contain Elite -level Pokémon. Your goal is to explore and identify the strongest Pokémon currently present. This mission is considered high-risk and is recommended for Trainers with Pokémon at or above Elite level.

Mission Reward: ...

The Wandering Mountains weren't far from Emerald City.

Well—not too far, anyway.

Coincidentally, Emerald City had a Psychic-type Gym, which he could challenge while he was there.

Speaking of Psychic Gyms, it reminded him of something—

This world did, in fact, have psychic-powered humans.

Just like Sabrina in the original Pokémon series.

Although... compared to the anime, real-world psychic users weren't nearly as powerful.

Still, one thing was the same:

If their powers were developed well, they could be used to strengthen their Pokémon—

By empowering them in battle and boosting their performance with psychic enhancements.

The degree of enhancement depended on the psychic's strength.

However, such individuals were rare.

The Gym Leader in Emerald City was one of them—

A genuine psychic.

Paired with her own Psychic-type Pokémon, and her psychic boosts,

she was considered one of the strongest Gym Leaders out there.

Biting into a fried dough stick, Nathan thought for a moment and then put his phone down.

"This mission looks worth taking. Risky, yeah—but I've got Steelix as backup if things go south."

Steelix might not officially be his Pokémon, but it had long gotten used to eating energy cubes.

There's no way it could go back to eating dirt now.

So, in a real emergency, he could just feed it an energy cube, and Steelix would come out to protect him.

Even if there were Champion-level Pokémon in the Wandering Mountains—

No need to panic.

After finishing breakfast, Nathan accepted the mission and got ready to head out.