Victory

Pidgeotto:

It often extends the huge claws on its feet. Even if its nest is a hundred kilometers away, whenever it finds food, it will still carry it back.

Quality: Heavenly King

Type: Normal/Flying

Level: 18

Gender: ♂

Moves: Violent Gale, Sand Attack, Quick Attack

Nature: Brave

Ability: Keen Eye (Thanks to its sharp eyes, its accuracy cannot be lowered), Tangled Feet (Its evasion increases while confused)

Hidden Ability: Big Pecks (It is unaffected by effects that lower its Defense)

"Pidgeot~"

Amid a crisp birdcall, the white light continued to expand. Before long, it grew from a ball of light less than half a meter wide to over a meter across.

As the glow gradually faded, a large bird of prey flew out from the white light. It had long red feathers atop its head, red-and-yellow tail plumes, soft white down on the insides of its wings and belly, and brown feathers covering nearly everywhere else.

The area around its eyes was black like a panda's, and its gaze was as sharp as its Ability suggested. Like Pidgey's, its massive pink claws had three toes, making it look powerful and imposing.

It was undoubtedly Pidgeotto!

Compared to Pidgey, Pidgeotto possessed an added air of ferocity and solemnity. Its resounding cry brimmed with joy and fighting spirit.

As Qian Bing looked at Pidgeotto in the sky, he was overjoyed. Not only had all of its injuries healed, but its body had grown more than threefold, greatly boosting the power of all its moves.

"Fantastic, Pidgeotto! Use Gust followed by Quick Attack and finish it!"

"Ember!"

Qian Bing and Gary gave their commands almost at the same time.

The Gust Pidgeotto unleashed this time was on an entirely different level from before, both in power and casting speed. The massive blade of air split the sparks Growlithe had just breathed out in two in the blink of an eye.

Then, without losing momentum, it slammed heavily into both of its front legs.

"Growlithe~"

Growlithe let out a pained howl. Its front legs gave way, and it nearly fell. Its upper body dipped low toward the ground for a moment before it tremblingly forced itself back up.

Having landed its attack, Pidgeotto did not pause for even an instant. With a flap of its wings, it sent a powerful gust scattering the split sparks. Then its body became a black streak as it charged straight at Growlithe without hesitation.

It was Gust chained into Quick Attack!

Gary stared at Pidgeotto's movements, his expression turning ugly. He had never expected the situation, which had been so favorable to him, to take such a sudden turn for the worse.

"Growlithe, dodge!"

The command came in time. Growlithe obeyed and was just about to evade when it pushed off with its front paws and suddenly let out a pained whimper. Its body swayed, and it collapsed to the side.

Not good!

The Gust that had struck Growlithe's legs earlier had injured its front limbs.

The moment Gary saw Growlithe's condition, he understood what had happened. By now, it was no longer just his face that had gone dark—his heart had gone completely cold.

"I actually... lost again..."

A Growlithe at full strength might still have been able to contend with Pidgeotto. But now that its front legs were injured and it had lost its nimble reactions, it could only serve as a living target for Pidgeotto, which held the advantageous position.

"I surrender!"

Gary was not the kind of person who completely disregarded a Pokemon's life and health, stubbornly pursuing victory at all costs.

Since there was no longer any hope of winning, he immediately took out a Poke Ball and recalled Growlithe before Quick Attack could hit it, sparing it from further needless injury.

"Pidgeot~"

Pidgeotto drew an arc through the air, gracefully circled around, and flew back in front of Qian Bing.

Qian Bing recalled it into his Spirit Ball Spirit, then walked up to Gary with a grim expression and said, "You're really annoying, but thanks to you, my Pidgeotto was able to evolve. So I still have to thank you. Hurry up and take Growlithe to Nurse Joy to treat its injuries."

A rare look of dejection appeared on Gary's face, but he still said unwillingly, "No need to thank me. You were just lucky this time. Next time, I'll definitely defeat you. Here, take this. It has the Pokedex and Poke Balls Professor Oak gave you."

As he spoke, Gary reached behind him, and a backpack appeared in his hand. He casually tossed it to Qian Bing, then, without lingering for even half a second, pulled a cool-looking bicycle from the Storage Backpack behind him and rode toward Viridian City.

Qian Bing caught the backpack Gary had thrown over, and his face immediately broke into a smile. He had not expected to obtain the Storage Backpack he had coveted for so long so easily.

This would save him quite a bit of money!

Silph Co. was one of the leading manufacturers in the Pokémon World. It had pioneered the foundational technology behind modern Poke Balls and continued to expand and innovate upon it. By now, it had nearly finished developing the Master Ball.

Silph Co. had also developed Technical Machines, potions, Escape Ropes, sprays, and other portable items. It possessed formidable technological capabilities and financial resources.

The beginner Storage Backpack in Qian Bing's hands was practically one of their flagship products. It contained ten cubic meters of storage space. It could also be upgraded later by spending Alliance Coins, and rumor had it that its capacity could be expanded to as much as one hundred cubic meters.

Qian Bing had always wanted to get his hands on a Storage Backpack. After all, when adventuring alone out in the wild, how much could he carry with just his hands and pockets?

But the price tag of 200,000 Alliance Coin was simply too steep, and he was still saddled with a loan from the Pokémon Care Center, so...

In any case, Professor Oak's gift had come at exactly the right time!

Now, whenever Qian Bing came across fruit trees in the wild, he could properly reap the benefits.

After happily fiddling with the backpack for a while, he stuffed all the miscellaneous odds and ends on him into the Storage Backpack, then quickly found his bearings and hurried toward Viridian Forest.

Having been delayed by Gary for so long, Qian Bing was truly anxious. After all, the Adventure Missions he had on hand were not assigned specifically to him. If he was even a step too slow, someone else might complete them first.

But haste often led to failure. As Qian Bing hurried along in a panic, he suddenly felt the Pokémon World tremble. His vision went black, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back on his bed in Seven Dorm.

Notting Academy, Seven Dorm in the Dormitory Building.

Wang Sheng was sitting beside Qian Bing's bed, shaking him vigorously. Seeing him gradually wake up, he leaned his big face close.

"Holy crap!"

Smack!

The crisp sound drew everyone in Seven Dorm's attention. Wang Sheng covered his left cheek with one hand, his expression blank and aggrieved.

"Why did you hit me?!"

"Wang Sheng, it was you? Whew, sorry. The moment I opened my eyes, I saw something round and... anyway, something pretty scary pressed right up against me. Any normal person would've been startled, right?"

I'm something pretty scary...

Wang Sheng felt like his face hurt even more.

"Haha, um, did you wake me up for something?"

Seeing Wang Sheng looking at him with such a pitiful expression, Qian Bing was caught off guard and had no idea how to respond. He hurriedly changed the subject, hoping to shift everyone's attention elsewhere.

At his words, Wang Sheng finally lowered the hand covering his face. With a trace of sour envy, he said, "Old Qian, it's already dark. Get up and eat dinner. Do people with Innate Full Spirit Power all sleep during the day like you and never need to cultivate?"

Do I not want to cultivate? I just don't know how to cultivate spirit power.

Qian Bing grumbled inwardly. To be honest, he was a little annoyed that Wang Sheng had suddenly woken him up.

But after living two lives, he was excellent at keeping up appearances. Smiling, he said, "It's already evening? Then let's hurry and eat. I'm really sorry for accidentally hitting you just now. How about this—I'll treat you to dinner tonight."

Hearing this, the little bit of grievance in Wang Sheng's heart vanished at once. He felt that slap had been well worth it.

"Huh? How could I possibly accept that? Thanks in advance, Old Qian!"

Qian Bing waved a hand to show that it was nothing, then pushed aside the blanket and prepared to get out of bed.

At that moment, a scorching warmth suddenly surged from his right palm. The Spirit Ball Spirit seemed to have an urge to burst out of his body on its own.

Qian Bing was startled.

What's going on?

Could it be...

Had Pidgey's evolution into Pidgeotto triggered a chain reaction in the Spirit Ball Spirit?!