Chapter Summaries

Ye Lan reflected on Oleana’s research and his own risks as a Dynamax-capable human, then traveled toward Dewford Town to watch his Pokémon challenge the Gym. He arrived with Whimsicott, hoping to catch Amoonguss’s battle, while Marshadow quietly shared his barbecue.

• Ye Lan recalled Oleana’s devotion to Rose and worried that she would capture him for experiments if she learned about his ability to Dynamax.
• Ye Lan blamed Whimsicott for benefiting from the resources Lin Yan had supplied, including the food that Whimsicott had spiced for Venusaur.
• Ye Lan sent Pokémon food to Lin Yan in Huaxia Region and imagined exploring Mega Evolution, Terastallization, and other transformations.
• Ye Lan arrived at Slateport City and checked the mission panel, which showed that his Pokémon had earned two Hoenn Badges and were challenging Dewford Gym.
• Ye Lan bought barbecue after Whimsicott stopped at a stall, then continued toward Dewford Town while Marshadow secretly took a skewer from his shadow.

Ye Lan tried his massage technique on Sharpedo and unknowingly turned the session into torture, prompting Whimsicott to promise to train harder. At Dewford Gym, Ye Lan was mistaken for an unrelated observer because his appearance no longer matched his registration photo, so he waited outside and planned to test Oh-no Amoonguss at another Gym.

• Ye Lan massaged Sharpedo with increasing force, misreading its cries of pain as requests for a harder massage.
• Whimsicott realized Ye Lan was using the massage as a lesson about its neglected training and promised to train seriously.
• Ye Lan went to Dewford Gym to watch Oh-no Amoonguss battle but was stopped because his current appearance did not match his old registration photo.
• Ye Lan accepted that he could not watch the battle and planned to assess Oh-no Amoonguss's progress at another Gym on the way to Viridian Forest.

Ye Lan reunited with Serperior and Rillaboom, welcomed them back with plans for a feast, and discovered that Serperior had advanced to the middle stage of the Professional level. He learned that the power of Absolute Monarch of Grass had helped his Pokémon grow stronger and resolved to unlock a new system ability once he had enough sunlight points.

• Ye Lan found Serperior and Rillaboom carrying ingredients for a berry cake, while Whimsicott failed to hide that it had revealed their whereabouts.
• Two men assigned by Champion Steven delivered supplies, and Ye Lan stored the bags in his shadow.
• Ye Lan invited Serperior and Rillaboom to celebrate their return with his cooking, and Serperior eagerly agreed.
• Ye Lan discovered that Serperior had reached the middle stage of the Professional level and that its evolution progress had increased by ten percent.
• Serperior explained that its breakthrough began after Ye Lan used Absolute Monarch of Grass while directing Gigantamax Venusaur against Mechanical Kyogre; Ye Lan suspected the power held more secrets.
• Ye Lan checked Rillaboom's status, noticed a newly available system ability, and planned to unlock and raise it after accumulating more sunlight points.

Ye Lan reunited with Leafeon and Oh-no Amoonguss after they passed Dewford Gym, then learned how successfully Leafeon’s candy business was selling. Gym Leader Brawly gave Ye Lan a martial arts manual from Steven and asked whether he planned to enter the next Hoenn League Conference.

• Leafeon pretended not to recognize Ye Lan and dragged Oh-no Amoonguss past him, but Ye Lan’s glare made Leafeon turn back.
• Leafeon showed Ye Lan the Candy Shop’s sales, and he praised its business success while discussing plans for the Battle Restaurant.
• Brawly arrived and told Ye Lan that Steven had mentioned him and that he had brought a gift.
• Brawly gave Ye Lan a manual describing his personal fighting style, and Ye Lan accepted it after promising not to share it.
• Brawly asked Ye Lan whether he planned to participate in the next Hoenn League Conference.

Ye Lan studied Brawly’s Fighting manual and endured a punishing training session with Rillaboom. Brawly decided the manual would not be wasted on Ye Lan, while Steven and Brawly discussed the rookie’s unusual battle style and his potential.

• Ye Lan told Brawly he was unsure about entering the Hoenn League Conference, then discussed the Fighting manual with him at Dewford Gym.
• Brawly taught Ye Lan and Rillaboom martial arts techniques, defeating them both and encouraging Rillaboom to imitate his Low Sweep.
• Ye Lan and Rillaboom left the Gym battered and went to meet the other Pokémon on the snack street.
• Brawly recalled Steven’s request and decided Ye Lan’s discipline, gaze, and love for Pokémon made him a suitable recipient of the manual.
• Brawly told Steven that Ye Lan seemed sunny, and Steven replied that Brawly had not yet seen him command a battle.
• Ye Lan found Whimsicott feasting at the snack street and scolded it, while Serperior upheld its dignified example.

Ye Lan boarded Devon Corporation’s newly acquired cruise ship, the Royal Knight, and considered how to strengthen Oh-no Amoonguss’s evolution before traveling to Mauville Gym. As the ship set sail, a sailor reported seeing a Bulbasaur at sea.

• Ye Lan and his Pokémon boarded the Royal Knight, where Captain Bit explained that Devon Corporation had just acquired the cruise company.
• Serperior sought Pokémon appearance care, Leafeon found a projector, Oh-no Amoonguss went to train, and Rillaboom and Whimsicott went to the kitchen.
• Ye Lan received notice that he had earned the Knuckle Badge and reached three of eight Hoenn League Conference missions, then considered challenging Wattson at Mauville Gym for a milestone reward.
• Ye Lan weighed ways to enhance Oh-no Amoonguss’s evolution but decided against risking the mushroom with a Poison-type method.
• As the Royal Knight departed, a lookout reported spotting a Bulbasaur on the sea, and Captain Bit doubted the report.

Bulbasaur sailed toward Ye Lan while Lin Yan confronted the Wang family and revealed himself to Wang Siqi. At the Royal Knight's restaurant, Rillaboom, Whimsicott, and Leafeon began planning an enormous Pokémon-themed cake with the ship's chefs.

• Bulbasaur used Marshadow's Shadow Map to find its bearings after an ocean current swept its raft off course, then ate a Grass-type Special Candy and continued toward Ye Lan.
• Lin Yan confronted Patriarch Wang at the Wang family estate, explaining that he wanted to battle the rumored Shiny Gengar.
• Wang Siqi tried to reassure her grandfather and prepared to battle Lin Yan's Blastoise, but recognized Lin Yan before the match began.
• Rillaboom and Whimsicott worked on a cake while Leafeon showed the head chef a design for a massive, five-layer Pokémon-themed cake.
• Leafeon joined the chefs' discussion and revealed that it could talk, startling the kitchen staff.

Serperior enjoyed a massage and looked forward to testing its strength against powerful opponents after returning to Huaxia Academy. Meanwhile, Ye Lan’s scarce Pokémon Candy drove the Battle Department into chaos, and the principal allowed the escalating battles to continue.

• Serperior reflected on its bond with Ye Lan, its recent breakthrough, and its intention to challenge Shangguan Hong’s Rhyperior.
• Serperior’s intimidating aura unnerved the Machamp masseurs, who rallied themselves to continue their work.
• Grass-type Pokémon and their trainers fought over Ye Lan’s candy, leaving Shangguan Hong stripped of most of his clothes after a Sceptile stole them.
• Zhang Pengfei asked the principal whether the chaos in the Battle Department should be stopped, but the principal defended it as useful training.
• The silver-haired principal calmly drank tea with his Pokémon while the Battle Department’s turmoil continued.

Huaxia Academy’s deans argued over who should pay for the damage caused by battles in the dormitory area, while Elder Dai became interested in Ye Lan’s research potential. The dispute ended unresolved, with Shu Xin and Elder Dai both trying to claim responsibility for Ye Lan’s talents for their departments.

• Elder Dai and Shu Xin defended the Battle Department’s ongoing dormitory battles as Zhang Pengfei complained about rising repair costs.
• Zhang Pengfei tried to secure more subsidy by blaming Ye Lan’s Pokémon food and the Breeding Department, but Elder Dai said the Battle Department should cover the damage because Zhang Pengfei had set the battle rules.
• Elder Dai recalled that Ye Lan had been invited to Professor Oak’s research institute and decided Ye Lan must be exceptionally gifted in research.
• Shu Xin realized Elder Dai was interested in recruiting Ye Lan, and they simultaneously argued that the other’s department should share responsibility for the incident.
• Qi Cheng'an ignored the deans as they resumed their quarrel.

Lin Yan defeated Wang Siqi and offered her money and a favor in return for Wartortle, while Blastoise proved its strength against the trainer who had abandoned it. After leaving, Lin Yan reflected on Ye Lan’s growing power and resolved to train harder; Wang Siqi began questioning her belief that Pokémon were merely tools.

• Wang Siqi watched Gengar fall to Blastoise and recalled Ye Lan’s lesson about the bond between Trainers and Pokémon.
• Lin Yan recalled Blastoise and gave Wang Siqi a card containing five million, along with an offer to fulfill one request through the Shadow Auction House.
• Lin Yan left with the black-robed figures and considered Ye Lan’s recent recognition in Hoenn and the growth of his Pokémon.
• Lin Yan decided to strengthen his psychic powers and train harder so Charizard could challenge Shadow Team’s Number One.
• Wang Siqi refused to answer her grandfather’s questions, took the card, and decided to try understanding Pokémon differently.

Serperior woke and joined the Pokémon and chefs preparing a huge birthday cake for Ye Lan, while Whimsicott secretly planned a spicy-berry prank. Ye Lan watched the preparations through the photos Whimsicott sent and continued studying as the cake was still being finished.

• Serperior left the massage room and found the crew building a six-tier cake decorated with figures of Ye Lan and the Pokémon.
• Rillaboom struggled to sculpt Ye Lan's figure while Whimsicott arranged materials and hid super-spicy Berries around the cake.
• Leafeon directed the chefs to give Serperior's statue a disdainful expression, and Serperior arrived to help after realizing its figure was far from Ye Lan's.
• Ye Lan received Whimsicott's photos and studied Huaxia Academy coursework while the cake preparations continued.

Ye Lan attended Professor Long’s online lecture on combining ingredients and realized he needed face-to-face instruction to overcome how his Grass-type energy spoiled ingredients of other attributes. He learned that Huaxia Academy was protecting the Pokémon candies he made, and he planned to consider commercializing them once he was strong enough.

• Ye Lan reflected on his past cooking failures and followed Professor Long’s lecture on fusing ingredients with different attributes.
• Ye Lan browsed Huaxia Academy’s discussion platform and saw reports that his Grass-type candies had caused a stir, including an Abomasnow growing stronger through battles and a Snorlax suffering diarrhea after eating one.
• Ye Lan considered whether the candies’ side effects could create a business opportunity, then rejected the idea after considering how severe those effects were.
• Ye Lan learned that Huaxia Academy was keeping the candies within the school to protect him and understood the security and belonging its students gained from the academy.
• Ye Lan decided to ask Professor Long for help in person and thought about commercializing the candies after his strength increased.

On his first birthday in the Pokémon world, Ye Lan decided to pursue his dream of becoming a gourmet trainer while worrying about N’s future and Steven’s possible fate. He returned to a surprise birthday celebration, where he announced that he had prepared gifts for everyone.

• Ye Lan abandoned his goal of becoming a researcher and chose to become a gourmet trainer who would aim to be the strongest Grass-type Champion and cooking master.
• Ye Lan sent Pokémon photos and videos to N, hoping to help him question Ghetsis’s influence, and thought about the Team Plasma members loyal to N.
• Ye Lan worried that Steven might die while trying to stop Kyogre and Groudon, and wondered whether the Celebi leaf in his possession could help save him.
• Ye Lan joked about using Marshadow and Ho-Oh to save Steven if necessary, then entered the restaurant and pretended to be surprised by the birthday party.
• Ye Lan announced that he had prepared gifts for everyone.

Ye Lan celebrated his birthday with his Pokémon, giving them gifts and sharing a huge cake with the ship’s crew. The festivities ended in chaos when Oh-no Amoonguss mistook a fragment of Eternatus’s breastplate for cake and swallowed it.

• Ye Lan gave Whimsicott, Serperior, Rillaboom, Leafeon, and Oh-no Amoonguss gifts, while the Pokémon enjoyed them and Oh-no Amoonguss misread his wristband’s faulty assessment as proof that his endurance was poor.
• Ye Lan made a birthday wish to stay with his Pokémon, added a tiny black figure to the cake, and posed with the Pokémon for a group photo that included Marshadow.
• Ye Lan gave Marshadow a handkerchief made from Reaper Cloth, and Marshadow resolved to take him to Ho-Oh to become a Rainbow Hero.
• Whimsicott and Leafeon hit Ye Lan with cream, starting a food fight as Rillaboom shared cake with Oh-no Amoonguss.
• Marshadow offered Oh-no Amoonguss a purified fragment of Eternatus’s breastplate, but Oh-no Amoonguss mistook it for cake and swallowed it.
• Rillaboom shook Oh-no Amoonguss while Marshadow pounded his stomach, both trying to make him spit out the fragment.

Oh-no Amoonguss swallowed a fragment of Eternatus and frightened Ye Lan and the others, who feared it had been poisoned or driven berserk. After it recovered, Ye Lan discovered that it had gained a chaos effect resembling Dynamax energy, leaving Oh-no Amoonguss apparently unharmed and more dangerous.

• Marshadow warned everyone that Oh-no Amoonguss had swallowed the dark red fragment, and Serperior began slamming it into the ground.
• Ye Lan stopped Serperior and poured Healing Water into Oh-no Amoonguss, whose swelling and darkening cap made everyone fear its condition was worsening.
• Rillaboom brought over the Pokémon doctor, who concluded that Oh-no Amoonguss was probably choking, while Ye Lan's status check showed its strength had increased.
• Serperior had Whimsicott knock the crew and doctor unconscious to keep them away from Marshadow's Sacred Ash, and Ye Lan stopped Marshadow from using it on the still-living Oh-no Amoonguss.
• Oh-no Amoonguss burped, sprang up full of energy, and appeared to have suffered no harm beyond its darker cap.
• Ye Lan touched Oh-no Amoonguss's cap and felt chaos like Dynamax energy, then realized that the mushroom could confuse anyone who touched it.

Ye Lan learned that Oh-no Amoonguss could adapt to Eternatus’s poison and planned to develop it into a powerful counter, asking Ho-Oh to help locate more fragments. Meanwhile, Gardenia received an invitation from Steven and decided to meet Ye Lan, whose journey was set to bring him to Eterna Gym.

• Ye Lan found that Oh-no Amoonguss was unharmed after exposure to the purified Eternatus fragment and decided to keep his original route so he could test its abilities with Wattson.
• Ho-Oh’s letter confirmed that the purified fragment was safe to use as a Pokémon resource, strengthening Ye Lan’s confidence in training Oh-no Amoonguss.
• Ye Lan wrote to Ho-Oh asking the Legendary Beasts to search for Eternatus’s scattered fragments so Oh-no Amoonguss could adapt to their poison.
• Ye Lan took Oh-no Amoonguss and Leafeon to the training room to test the mushroom Pokémon’s toxins while Whimsicott photographed the recovering crew members and their prank-marked faces.
• Gardenia read Steven’s invitation at Eterna Gym and eagerly prepared to meet Ye Lan, while her powerful Sunflora watched.

Gardenia prepared to leave for a month-long wilderness trip to Hoenn with Steven’s sponsorship, despite her Gym’s history of disrupting challengers with wildly overpowered Pokémon. She handed the Gym keys to a arriving Pokémon League inspector and rushed off with her team, leaving the inspector to cover for her.

• Gardenia announced that she and all her Pokémon would travel to Hoenn for a feast, while closing her Gym for a month.
• Gardenia’s six powerful Grass-type Pokémon had repeatedly crushed rookie challengers when they took turns guarding Eterna Gym, prompting complaints and reports.
• Gardenia explained that she remained a Gym Leader because League subsidies helped her afford to feed her strong Pokémon, and that she hoped to retire someday.
• Gardenia wrote a closure notice outside her Gym and mistook an approaching Pokémon League inspector for someone who could check her assessment results.
• Gardenia gave the inspector her Gym keys and ran off with her Pokémon, leaving the inspector protesting helplessly.

Gardenia and Erika prepared to join Steven’s cruise after learning that another wielder of the Viridian Force had appeared. Meanwhile, Venusaur ended up in Giant Venusaur Forest, where an Alpha Venusaur put it through relentless training.

• Gardenia recalled how rare Grass-type specialists were and messaged Erika about the new Viridian Force wielder and Steven’s invitation.
• Erika handed her university duties to fellow lecturers, then decided to prepare a bouquet for the trip after receiving Gardenia’s message.
• An Alpha Venusaur knocked the battered Venusaur down and helped it up to attack again.
• Venusaur’s flashback revealed that it had been sent to Giant Venusaur Forest after recovering at the Pokémon Center.
• Venusaur stayed in the forest after spotting fresh Pokémon candy made by Ye Lan, but the forest’s Venusaur family quickly brought it before Giant Venusaur.

Venusaur endured Giant Venusaur’s brutal training, while Huang Yuntian mistook its complaints for enthusiasm and encouraged it to keep going. Ye Lan arrived in Mauville City after winning a rock-paper-scissors wager against Whimsicott and Leafeon, leaving them facing stricter training.

• Giant Venusaur put Venusaur through special training, and Venusaur hoped Ye Lan would come rescue it.
• Huang Yuntian interpreted Venusaur’s complaints as evidence that it was receiving valuable training and urged it to keep getting stronger.
• Ye Lan arrived in Mauville City with Whimsicott and Leafeon after a sleepless night of games.
• Whimsicott and Leafeon wagered their training and projection-phone privileges against Ye Lan in rock-paper-scissors.
• Ye Lan won all eleven initial rounds and most of a 101-round rematch, so Whimsicott faced stamina training and Leafeon lost control of its phone time.
• Leafeon demanded another rematch, and Ye Lan agreed to take on all of them at once.

Ye Lan arrived at Mauville Gym for a challenge after defeating his Pokémon in a series of rock-paper-scissors matches. There, he met a shy girl with an unusually powerful Pachirisu, and their Pokémon made an energetic first introduction.

• Ye Lan recalled how Leafeon, Whimsicott, Rillaboom, and Oh-no Amoonguss had lost their rock-paper-scissors matches, leaving Leafeon and Whimsicott committed to their training wagers.
• Ye Lan arrived at Mauville Gym and waited after booking his challenge.
• The registration clerk told Ye Lan that he and another challenger would enter the Gym together.
• Ye Lan noticed the girl’s Pachirisu had mastered many moves and was at the Mid Professional level.
• Pachirisu ran over to greet Ye Lan, and Whimsicott joined it on the floor for their first meeting.