146. Undercurrent

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"Click!"

As the shutter sounded, Jacob and all his Pokémon were captured in the photo.

The golden Charmeleon stood next to Jacob in the center, with all the other Pokémon surrounding them like stars around the moon.

"Not bad," Jacob said, looking at the photo with satisfaction. "Ms. Nina, let's take a picture together too."

"I'd rather not..."

"Come on, we're already here," Jacob insisted.

And so, Jacob, Nina, and all of their Pokémon stood together for a group photo.

...

Early the next morning, Jacob headed to River City in the Central region, to the Flying-type Secret Realm.

After a short break yesterday, Jacob and his Pokémon returned to their high-intensity training regimen.

River City was known as the thoroughfare of nine provinces.

When Jacob first arrived at the Flying-type Secret Realm, he was greeted by a middle-aged man who headed the Flying Department. The man also arranged for a young, attractive guide to assist Jacob.

After a brief greeting, Jacob immediately took Charmeleon and Noibat for special training. Charmeleon was seriously lacking in Flying-type energy. Even with Jacob replacing all the energy blocks with Flying-type ones, plus the abundant Flying energy in the Secret Realm, it would still take at least one to two weeks.

...

Two weeks later.

The Flying energy in Charmeleon had nearly reached saturation two days ago and it could evolve at any time, but it just couldn't take that final step.

After Jacob continued training Charmeleon for another two days with minimal effect, he realized that continuing this approach wouldn't significantly help with Charmeleon's evolution. So he decisively abandoned staying in the Secret Realm.

He took Charmeleon and Noibat directly out of the Flying Secret Realm and rushed back to the Capital on Saturday. His plan was to visit the Dragon Gym the next day to continue his winning streak, hoping to stimulate Charmeleon to complete its evolution through battle. At the same time, he could continue earning winning streak rewards—killing two birds with one stone.

The rewards from his last fifteen consecutive victories had already been so generous. If he could achieve an even higher number of consecutive victories, he might earn even better rewards.

Fifteen consecutive wins had yielded a paradoxical Pokémon. What about fifty? One hundred? Jacob felt that if he could win a hundred consecutive battles, Groudon would be waving at him, and his Charmeleon with the Solar Power ability would soon have its exclusive weather support.

...

Jacob returned quietly without notifying Nina. He wanted to surprise her, but when he arrived outside her house, he listened through the wall and found the yard extremely quiet. Obviously, none of Nina's Pokémon were there.

Jacob took out his key and entered Nina's house. The place was empty—Nina wasn't home. Considering it was Saturday, Jacob guessed that Nina was probably out drinking, and he couldn't help but shake his head.

At that moment in the city, Marley and Nina were shopping together, choosing clothes.

"Nina, why has your style changed recently?" Marley asked, studying Nina whom she hadn't seen for some time. "Didn't you prefer sexy styles before? Why do you like cutesy styles now? Come on, are you in a relationship?"

Nina blushed slightly. She could say it was because Jacob was often at her house, which made certain clothing choices inconvenient. Moreover, she had indeed changed her dressing style recently. She rarely wore midriff-baring tops, camisoles, or other figure-revealing clothes anymore. "I'm just trying something different."

"I don't think so. You must be hiding something from me. And you're not a Dragon-type trainer, so what's with the Fairy-type Cottonee?" Marley looked back and forth between the Cottonee and Nina.

From her observation, Nina's Cottonee appeared to be of excellent quality, with perfect form, bright coloring, and good shape. Though she couldn't determine its specific qualifications, it had to be at least Gym Leader level or above.

Marley wasn't entirely sure about the Cottonee's qualifications. Auxiliary Pokémon like this were notoriously difficult to evaluate.

"Someone gave it to me. I thought it was cute, so I'm raising it as a pet," Nina said with a smile. As she spoke, she stroked the soft body of the Cottonee and thought of Jacob, still in the Flying-type Secret Realm.

"Kiss~" The Cottonee responded affectionately to Nina's touch.

"Who gave it to you? Could it be your boyfriend? I think this Cottonee has excellent qualifications. Want to go to the lab to test it?" Marley suggested with a smile. "I think it's at least Gym Leader level."

"Gym Leader level?" Nina was surprised. For a Pokémon like Cottonee, achieving Gym Leader-level qualifications was quite difficult. She remembered that Jacob had bought it casually from the underground black market and had never paid attention to its qualifications.

She had kept it simply because Jacob gave it to her, and she had grown increasingly fond of it. Now, hearing Marley's comments, Nina realized she had never checked the Cottonee's actual qualifications. "Should we test it now? Is it too late?"

"Well, since it's an independent laboratory that the university applied for on my behalf, I can use it whenever I want. Let's go," Marley smiled, took Nina's arm, and walked toward the University.

...

In a dense forest near the Capital's Dragon Secret Realm, four King-level trainers gathered: Dante, Alora, a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner, and a middle-aged man wearing a mask.

"We've investigated thoroughly. There are very few people in the Dragon Secret Realm today—only three Quasi-King-level trainers and two King-level trainers. However, there's a high probability of reinforcements within the realm. There's at least one hidden King-level trainer," Dante looked serious as he addressed the other three. "But we also have four people. Even with backup, we can handle it."

The blond foreigner was named Anthony. He was also a member of the Dawn Society. Unlike Dante, he was a senior core figure of the Dawn Society and a veteran Champion-level trainer.

He specialized in Water-types, with his ace Pokémon being Blastoise. He had at least two King-level Pokémon at his disposal, making him the strongest among the group.

As for the mysterious middle-aged man, he was a helper invited by Gabriel. As a registered Elite-level trainer with the Pokémon Association, Gabriel found it inconvenient to appear in person. He specifically invited this mysterious man to take action. The man wore a mask throughout, and no one knew his identity. All they knew was that he was a Psychic-type King-level trainer. So far, he had only used one King-level Alakazam. However, judging by the confident demeanor of this middle-aged man, his strength must be considerable, with at least one more King-level Pokémon.

"Let's make one thing clear: whatever anyone grabs belongs to them. Also, if you're caught by the Pokémon Association, you can only blame your bad luck," Dante emphasized.

"From the moment we launch our attack, we'll have at most fifteen minutes of free time. The Pokémon Association's support is expected to arrive within fifteen minutes. For safety, each person will only have ten minutes to operate. When time's up, find a way to evacuate. Everyone has the map. After thirty minutes, we'll act together."

Alora, Anthony, and the mysterious middle-aged man nodded, and everyone began preparing for battle.

Meanwhile, Dante and Alora exchanged silent glances and subtle nods.

...

Jacob had no idea what was happening outside. He was seriously training his Pokémon in the Secret Realm, unaware that the place he occupied was about to become the most dangerous location of all.