Chapter 38 - Rock Tunnel Exploration Part-4!

Warren and Arlo looked at Gan confusingly, this was something they had never heard of. Gan understood their expressions, it was obvious they hadn't heard of [Mega Evolution]. He was starting to get worried, did [Mega Evolution] not exist in this Pokemon world?

There were different timelines, there was the [Ordinary Timeline] and the [Mega Timeline] that had everything; Including Gigantamax.

"Never heard of this Mega Evolution, is it something they just invented or something?" Warren asked confusingly.

"It sounds like something a Pokemon would go through after some special Mutation." Arlo theorized, but he wasn't that far off.

"It's nothing, it too much to explain. I'll explain it some other time, but for now, let's eat." Gan sighed lightly, he had to do some research in order to figure this answer out. He couldn't rely on these 2 for information about [Mega Evolution], but he only asked to see if they might have some clues.

Everyone enjoyed their food fresh from the fire, Warren even gave some to his new Charmander. Gan handed Arlo a Revive for his Ekans, before finishing up his Magikarp. Afterward, Gan stood up and looked towards the den where the trio lived.

"Maybe we should check their little den just in case there was something within it we might have missed." Gan suggested.

"Hmm, good idea. Charmander, did you guys have anything stored inside of your den?" Warren asked the Charmander he caught, at this time, it was chomping down on the Magikarp meat.

"Char..." Charmander nodded and confirmed that they had collected a few odd things.

Gan summoned Geodude, while Arlo just got done reviving his Ekans. He applied a Potion to his Ekans and restored it to full health. Gan could see that Arlo's Ekans was only at level 14, it was still too under-leveled!

"Hmm, I'll have Ekans search inside to help with that." Arlo suggested. Ekans was the size of a Python but thicker, it was a big Pokemon that could swallow a kid around the age of 9 or less with ease! It was already amazing that Geodude could hold its mouth open and smash its head into the ground at that time.

"That'll work, the more help the better." Gan nodded in agreement.

Once Geodude appeared, Ekans glared at it coldly, it recognized Gan and Geodude at first sight. It recalled its experience; the part where its head was battered into the ground by it.

Geodude noticed its glared and only scratched its rocky head in confusion. Geodude was a little slow, but it soon remembered this Ekans and its trainer from that time, and it understood.

"Okay, there's no time for that vengeful attitude, we're here to get things done, so relax." Arlo shook his head, he could see the vengeance in Ekans's eyes and movements, as it stuck its tongue out in quick successions.

"Okay, you 2 will check that den to see if there is anything rare in there. Charmander will guide both of you towards the goodies." Warren said as he pointed towards the den.

Geodude looked towards Gan to confirm and Gan simply nodded. Afterward, the trio went off into the den to check.

"Hmm, I wonder what talent level my Charmander is? I hope it's a Gold Rank or higher; this will make it much stronger in the future." Warren said thoughtfully.

"I'll give it a thorough inspection to see if it's a decent rank or not. My mom used to be a Pokemon therapist, so she knew a few tricks." Gan suggested.

"Oh? Your mom worked in quite the field, huh? Where is she now?" Warren was surprised and couldn't help but ask.

"She's far away, very far away." Gan smiled.

"I see, well, even if it's Gold, it can't compare to those crazy Elite Four Member's Pokemon." Warren sighed, he'd be lucky to get his hand on Gold Rank much less what those powerful trainers acquired.

"Elite Four? You mean the strongest trainers in the region!?" Arlo's heart sped up, those were a group of fearsome trainers that couldn't be trifled with!

"Yeah, them! I heard that all of their Pokemon is at least Platnium, with their strongest being Diamond!" There was reverence in Warren's eyes, but there was also helplessness.

"Diamond?" Gan knew that this meant a 5-star pokemon, but he had yet to acquire one.

"Yeah, I've also heard that there was even a rank above Diamond, but I'm not sure what they called it. Pokemon of those talent levels were menacing, but no one has ever seen any in the wild." Warren shook his head.

'What!? A level beyond Diamond, so wouldn't that make it a 6-star Pokemon!?' Gan was now shocked, he thought 5-stars was the highest but there seemed to be higher ranks. However, he couldn't be sure; Gan had to research and asked around himself to be sure.

The 3 waited for their Pokemon to come back. After waiting for 10 minutes, the trio finally came out of the den. They had a few items on them that the recent owners of this den had collected during their time here.

The 3 Pokemon laid the Items out on the ground for all to see, and Gan took the time to inspect them all.

[TM-Psych Up.]

[TM-Dig]

[QuickBall: A somewhat different Poké Ball that provides a better catch rate if it is used at the start of a wild encounter.

[Rare Candy: A candy that is packed with energy. It raises the level of a single Pokémon by one.]

There were a total of 6 items present, there were 2 Quickballs that were old and dirty.

"Hmm, these are TMs, but what type of moves are they?" Warren looked at items and first discovered the TMs that stood out the most to him.

Gan picked them and acted like he was inspecting them. "Hmm, let's see. This is the TM-Dig and this is the TM-Psych Up."

Hearing what TMs they were, Warren quickly lost interest in them. However, this wasn't the same for Arlo, he really wanted that TM-Dig. Seeing that Warren had lost interest, he tossed the TM-Dig to Arlo.

"What? You're giving it to me?" Arlo was surprised, he didn't think Gan would just hand him this type of TM.

"Yeah, I don't need it." Gan didn't need such a move when other Ground TMs and moves were better.

Arlo nodded and immediately started to teach his Ekans the TM. Gan thought for a moment, then he took out the TM-Sandstorm and taught it to his Geodude. As for the TM-Psych Up, it was good in double battles and even single battles, so he held onto it for later.

Gan already had 5 Quickballs he had yet to use, so he really didn't need 2 more. Warren didn't seem interested in these either, so he handed these to Arlo as well. Then there was the Thick Club, Gan wasn't going to use Marowak as his main Pokemon in any League, even Alolan Marowak.

He also gave this item to Arlo since he showed a great interest in the Pokemon Cubone. Arlo asked what the Bone was used for. Gan told him that it boosted the attack of Cubone and Marowak if he wrapped the Thick Club around their neck.

The Thick Club was the size of a palm, so it would fit well as a necklace Cubone could wear. Arlo was elated, wouldn't this amp up his strength if he could catch one of those Boneheads? Gan told him to treat his Pokemon with respect, definitely Cubone; when he caught one.

Next was the Rare Candy, Warren showed interested in the wrapped piece of Candy. He knew what this was, so he took this instead. Gan told him to use it on his Zubat or Charmander, so he took it and used it on his Charmander.

After eating the Candy that was packed with energy, it leveled up and started to evolve into a Chameleon. Within seconds, the light engulfed Charmander and dispersed around it to reveal, Charmeleon!

Warren's hands were shaking from excitement, this was a Pokemon he dreamed of catching and now it was 1 step closer to reaching that cool flying fire dragon, Charizard!

"This has to be one of the best days of my life!" Warren rubbed Charmeleon's head, who seemed to have a somewhat rebellious attitude. In any case, it still let him rub its head after remembering the things Warren did for it in the hour it knew him.

Warren recalled Charmeleon with the widest smile Gan had ever seen. Arlo was also happy with the new things he received. "Well, we're done eating, let's head over towards that one area and check it out."

Continuing on, they ran into a couple of Golbat that attacked them the minute they noticed them. Golbat didn't need to rely on its eyes to take notice of people, but it was an optional thing to use. The group made short work of the 2 and Arlo caught one of the Golbat, while Gan caught the other.

This Golbat could be sold for Merit Points.

After walking for 10 more minutes, they heard cries but it wasn't that of a human at all. They all looked at each other in unison and snuck over towards the sound. Peeking around the corner, that's when they all saw what was going on.

There was a group of Machop fighting off a trio of Golbat. Gan was actually starting to get sick of Golbat, were they that common here? There were a total of 9 Machop fighting against the Golbat trio; Golbat seemed elated as they found a buffet of Machop to feast on!

Gan saw a strange red glow around one of the Machop and inspected it right away.

|Name: Machop

|Type: Fighting

|Level: 24

|Gender: Male

|Potential: ★★★★

|Nature: Serious

|Moves: Leer| Low Sweep| Focus Energy| Low Kick| Foresight| Karate Chop| Revenge| Knock Off| (SP)ThunderPunch| (SP)Superpower|

This seemed to be the Leader of the group, and the Golbat were also wary of this particular Machop. Gan looked and saw that a Golbat had already been taken down because of this Machop, its body laid on the ground motionless from the confrontation.

An electric current would shock it every now and then, indicating that it was suffering from paralysis.

This Pokemon was one of Gan's targets for coming to this cave, he had so many TMs for this Pokemon. He had just got an item that would also further its combat abilities.

"Prepare, everyone, we'll attack both groups.." Gan stared heatedly at the Machop in front of the group of Machop.