Nathan was stunned. With a thought, he immediately pulled up Volcarona's status panel.
[Name: Volcarona!]
[Abilities: Flame Body! (Hidden Ability: Drought)]
[Abilities: Hidden Power (Flying), Solar Flame (Ho-Oh's Blessing)]
[Type: Bug + Fire (Category: Sun Pokémon)]
[Description: The Sun Pokémon, Volcarona, is the evolved form of Larvesta. Since ancient times, it has been revered as an incarnation of the sun. According to legend, during a volcanic eruption that covered the sun with ash, Volcarona lit up its wings with fire and illuminated the world as a replacement for the sun. Inside its body is an organ capable of producing extreme heat, with temperatures reaching up to several hundred degrees Celsius. When it enters battle, its flames blaze fiercely and scatter sparks everywhere, making it nearly impossible for enemies to approach.]
[Level: 51 (51–60: Elite level)]
[Moves: Fiery Dance, Heat Wave, Quiver Dance, Hurricane, Amnesia, Bug Buzz…]
…
Judging from the panel, there weren't too many changes, only two new abilities were added.
One was Hidden Power, now of the Flying type. It could also be interpreted as "Wind," which would allow Volcarona to learn more Flying-type moves and master them more easily.
The second was "Solar Flame."
"Ho-Oh's blessing?"
Nathan rubbed his chin and immediately began researching.
A moment later, realization dawned on his face. But after that came a mix of complex emotions and excitement.
Solar Flame was essentially a passive ability.
Thanks to Ho-Oh's feather, Volcarona had clearly received its blessing. As a result, its flame transformed into Solar Flame—an upgraded version of regular fire with higher temperature and stronger power.
Even though Volcarona's level hadn't changed, its strength had clearly improved significantly.
"You're even more beautiful than before," Nathan said softly, gazing at Volcarona with gentle eyes.
Upon hearing that, Volcarona immediately flew into his arms, chirping with a soft "Vol~." Despite now being an Elite-level Pokémon, it still acted like a child, nuzzling into Nathan's chest affectionately.
"Hahaha, alright, you were always beautiful," Nathan laughed heartily, clearly understanding what Volcarona had meant.
Holding Volcarona, Nathan could feel the warmth radiating from her body—it was wonderfully comforting.
In fact, if you hugged Volcarona in winter, you probably wouldn't even need a coat.
"Speaking of which… Ho-Oh's flames should be Sacred Fire, right? If Volcarona was blessed, then logically it should have Sacred Fire too. Why is it Solar Flame instead?"
Nathan was a little puzzled.
But after some thought, he guessed that Solar Flame might be a lower-tier version of Sacred Fire. Perhaps Sacred Fire was the next evolution.
Sacred Fire, being Ho-Oh's signature flame, was undoubtedly incredibly powerful.
Still, Nathan didn't believe Volcarona could fully convert her flame into Sacred Fire—at least not yet. It was too difficult, and not something he expected her to achieve anytime soon.
He patted Volcarona with a smile. "Now that you're better, we can go challenge the gyms."
"Vol~!"
Volcarona nodded and chirped.
Thanks to his Viridian Force, Nathan was able to clearly understand what she said.
"I'll help Master earn all the gym badges."
Those words brought a warm smile to Nathan's face. "Yeah, I believe in you."
…
The next day.
Nathan went to school and asked Teacher William for a long-term leave. Then, he told his parents that he planned to go on a gym challenge journey.
That very day, his mom came home early to help him pack.
In this world, traveling didn't actually require that many things. Specialized backpacks and luggage existed, using the same technology as Poké Balls to store a ton of items inside.
So basically, all you needed was a backpack.
These backpacks weren't cheap, but they weren't overly expensive either. A 10,000-yuan backpack could easily last over ten years if you didn't care about fashion.
Once everything was packed—
On the morning of the third day, Nathan set off for the airport.
He was headed straight to Ancient City, which was far from Poplar City, so flying was the only viable option. Fortunately, Nathan had some money now, so he booked himself a first-class ticket for a more comfortable trip—he could even lie down.
By around 3 p.m. that day, Nathan arrived in Ancient City.
As he stepped off the plane, the weather was noticeably cooler than in Poplar City. The wind was strong—not too hot, not too cold.
Everywhere he looked, it was either plains or mountains.
After hailing a cab, Nathan reached the city itself.
The wild Pokémon around Ancient City were mostly Normal-types, such as Tauros or Sentret. Occasionally, he'd spot an Ursaring.
Besides Normal-types, there were a few Fighting-types and other kinds too—but Normal-types were dominant.
Because of that, Ancient City was home to the country's only official Normal-type gym.
Ancient City also had a massive wild Pokémon zone on a vast plain, where you could catch Pokémon. But it required an entry fee.
Although the Silverpeak mountain range technically belonged to the Ancient City region, it was still some distance from the city—separated by another mountain.
Due to how remote it was and the lack of direct roads, Nathan would have to trek through the wild on foot to get there.
That's where having a Flying-type Pokémon came in handy.
With their help, he could fly most of the way, and only walk the final stretch, rather than climb an entire mountain.
Once in Ancient City—
The people here were just as bold and straightforward as those from the northern cities.
Nathan glanced around and saw quite a few stylish women in hot pants—but none in skirts, probably because of the strong winds.
"Let's find a hotel first. I'll challenge the gym tomorrow, and after that, I'll head to Silverpeak Mountain," Nathan thought, quickly making up his mind.
..
At a five-star Pokémon hotel in Ancient City—
Nathan booked a presidential suite. Since this was a rare trip and he had money to spare, he wasn't going to treat himself poorly.
Despite the suite's steep price of 100,000 yuan per night, the facilities were top-notch. More importantly, the suite included separate living spaces tailored for different Pokémon types and even offered on-call services from professional Pokémon breeders for massages. It was quite impressive.
Once inside the spacious hotel room, Nathan released all three of his Pokémon.
Volcarona, Trapinch, and Pangoro.
Volcarona quietly settled on the table, watching Nathan calmly.
Meanwhile, Pangoro and Trapinch were huddled together, curiously chatting about something while occasionally sneaking glances at Volcarona.
Nathan, for his part, opened his laptop to look up information about the Ancient City Gym.
The gym here was simply called the Oldcastle Gym.
The Gym Leader was a man named Victor Wilde, in his thirties—just stepping into middle age. He had once participated in the national tournament, with his best result being a spot in the top four, finishing fourth.
His ace Pokémon was an Ursaring.
As a Gym Leader, his Ursaring was naturally no pushover. Rumor had it that the Ursaring was of Elite-level strength, making it Victor Wilde's trump card. As for his other Pokémon, they ranged from beginner to standard gym-level.
There was a chance that Nathan would have to face this Elite-level Ursaring in his challenge.
After all, this world's gyms weren't like those in the anime. Here, the Gym Leader would choose their lineup based on the strength of the challenger's Pokémon.
In short, the stronger the challenger, the stronger the team the Gym Leader would use in return.
Although Nathan was technically still a rookie trainer—
Realistically, no one would treat him as a beginner anymore.
"Ursaring, huh…" Nathan muttered to himself.
That Pokémon wasn't bad at all. With a fairly high base stat total, it was considered one of the more worthwhile Normal-types to train—especially with its impressive Attack stat.
"Tch, maybe I'll let Pangoro take the lead tomorrow. As long as we're not facing the Elite-level Ursaring, Fighting types have a natural advantage over Normal types," Nathan said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.
After all, Fighting is super effective against Normal.
"Once I'm done with the gym, I can head to the Normal Plains and work on leveling up Trapinch and improving my control over the Viridian Force."
The Normal Plains were essentially Ancient City's designated wild area. However, the Pokémon there weren't low-level—and the place was swarming with Tauros. If one wasn't careful, things could get dangerous fast.
But for Nathan, it was the perfect place to train.
And judging by the name, most of the Pokémon there were, of course, Normal-type.
After finishing his research—
Nathan stretched, then looked over at Pangoro and Trapinch. "Alright, you two. Time for some training. This hotel has dedicated training rooms just for Pokémon."
Like many universities, this top-tier Pokémon hotel chain offered luxurious facilities, including training rooms, gravity chambers, and fog chambers.
(TN: Change Misty Chambers to Fog Chambers
Only two were available here. Specialized ones like electric or volcanic rooms could only be found in universities.
"Pinch?"
"Raah!"
Trapinch and Pangoro both turned to look at Nathan, puzzled.
Smiling, Nathan returned all his Pokémon to their Poké Balls, then left the room and headed to the training area.
There weren't many people there. After all, the training facilities were exclusive to presidential suite guests—not everyone was willing to spend like Nathan.
"Good afternoon, sir. Would you like to use one of the training rooms?" a staff member asked with a polite smile.
"Yes," Nathan nodded. "Please prepare the Fog Room for me."
"Right away, sir. One moment." The staff member quickly got to work, and after setting everything up, led Nathan inside before respectfully exiting.
Like its name, the Fog Room was filled with thick mist and high humidity. The floor was covered in soft green grass.
The dense fog severely limited visibility.
This kind of environment dulled a Pokémon's senses, but it was perfect for training their instincts, physical responsiveness, and reaction time.
Aside from the mist, there were also hidden training dummies scattered throughout the room, designed to simulate attacks and help Pokémon sharpen their awareness and reflexes.
"Come out, Pangoro," Nathan said.
With a flash of light, Pangoro appeared before him.
The bear Pokémon looked around curiously, scratching his head in confusion before glancing back at Nathan.
"Don't worry. You'll be training in this fog. In a minute, something will try to attack you from the mist. I want you to dodge it," Nathan explained calmly.
Hearing this, Pangoro nodded confidently and pounded his chest with enthusiasm, as if saying, "No problem!"
Nathan chuckled softly, said nothing more, and pressed a button by the door of the Fog Room.
At once, the thick mist surged forward, completely enveloping Pangoro.