Chapter 215:Mamoswine's Evolution, Farm's Dynamax Gym

"It's been quite lively these past few days."

Natsume sat at the dining table, scrolling through the latest news highlights on his phone.

There were two trending topics related to the farm: the construction of the Dynamax Gym in the countryside and Diancie's pursuit of learning.

The holiday season had begun, and tourist numbers were surging across the regions, with Morimachi being the most exaggerated.

The entire city had already started implementing crowd control measures.

Additionally, the Regional Tournaments had officially kicked off this month.

The October Regional Tournament, the November Regional Tournament, and the National Championships in January were all highly anticipated events for Professional Trainers.

Natsume had once considered challenging Gyms, but he had been so busy with farm affairs that he had neglected the idea.

The farm itself hadn't changed much these past few days, except for completing the Pond task and drawing three Gems of Ghost, Poison, and Ice types.

Since there weren’t any Pokémon on the farm that particularly needed their power, Natsume decided to hold onto these Gems for now.

Notice: Piloswine has learned Ancient Power.

Just then, a notification from FarmGame popped up.

"Natsume!"

At the same time, Diancie's excited voice rang out from outside the door.

"I’ve successfully taught Piloswine!"

Natsume got up and headed outside.

On the empty plot of land, Piloswine's body was glowing with a brownish light, and a circle of rocks floated around it.

"Piloswine~"

Piloswine let out a low growl, and the rocks were hurled into the air.

Bam~

They exploded mid-air.

"Impressive, Diancie!"

Natsume exclaimed in surprise. "You taught Piloswine so quickly!"

"Hehe~"

Diancie chuckled. "Piloswine is really smart. I just helped guide its energy a few times."

"Mostly, it was Piloswine practicing diligently."

"Piloswine~"

Natsume turned to Piloswine. "You’ve worked hard too."

"Piloswine~"

Piloswine used Ancient Power once more.

Natsume looked at Piloswine, who still hadn’t evolved, and thought, "Strange, shouldn’t it evolve after learning this move?"

"Is it because it hasn’t leveled up yet?"

Thinking this, Natsume took out the Ice-type Gem and handed it to Piloswine. "Here, Piloswine. This is for you."

Piloswine walked up to Natsume and swallowed the Ice-type Gem whole.

Notice: Piloswine has used the Ice-type Gem. Piloswine's level has increased from 38 to 41.

Notice: Piloswine is beginning to evolve.

As soon as Piloswine absorbed the Ice-type Gem, its body suddenly emitted a bright white light.

Diancie looked at Piloswine curiously.

"Natsume, what’s happening?"

Diancie had never seen a Pokémon evolution before.

Natsume explained, "This is evolution."

"Evolution?"

Under Diancie’s watchful gaze, Piloswine's body rapidly grew in size.

Diancie slowly tilted her head back.

Natsume followed suit, looking up.

"Mamoswine~"

A deep, rumbling sound echoed.

A massive Mamoswine, nearly three meters tall with enormous tusks, appeared in Natsume and Diancie’s line of sight.

The average height of a Mamoswine is around 2.5 meters.

Name: Mamoswine
Type: Ice/Ground
Level: Lv. 41
Ability: Snow Cloak
Moves: Endure, Ice Fang, Double Hit, Ancient Power
Potential: Gym

Natsume looked at the successfully evolved Mamoswine and said, "You've gotten really big, Mamoswine."

"So cool!"

Diancie gazed at the evolved Mamoswine in awe. "So this is evolution."

"Natsume, can I evolve too?"

Natsume smiled at Diancie. "Diancie, you probably can't evolve the way Piloswine evolved into Mamoswine."

"Aw, that's a shame."

Diancie looked a little disappointed.

Natsume continued, "But Diancie, you can Mega Evolve."

As Natsume was explaining this to Diancie, the Eevees had already gathered around Mamoswine.

"Eevees~"

They all squeezed onto Mamoswine's back and then slid down its massive tusks.

Mamoswine still enjoyed playing with the Eevees. It swung its tusks, tossing the Eevees into the air and catching them again.

They all seemed to be having a great time, though the sight made one worry if Mamoswine's tusks might accidentally poke the Eevees.

"Mega Evolution?"

Diancie looked at Natsume and pressed, "What's that?"

"Well, to put it simply, it's like this."

Natsume turned to Gardevoir, who had just walked out of the house.

Gardevoir gave Natsume a gentle smile, and then the Mega Stone around her neck began to glow.

In the light, Gardevoir's appearance transformed.

Natsume said, "This is Mega Evolution."

Diancie stared at the Mega Evolved Gardevoir in admiration. "So beautiful."

Gardevoir smiled at Diancie. "Diancie, one day you'll find your own Mega Stone too."

Diancie nodded firmly, then turned to Natsume. "Natsume, it's about time for today's battle training, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Let's head to the gym at the foot of the mountain."

"Oh, Gardevoir."

Natsume paused. "Kiko and her classmate are coming later."

"Can you go pick them up at the station for me?"

"Sure."

Gardevoir acknowledged, and after watching Natsume and Diancie head toward the foot of the mountain, she used Teleport and disappeared.

Morimachi Station.

"Wow, it's so crowded here."

Mikoharu dragged her suitcase and exclaimed, "This doesn't feel like the small town you described at all."

Kiko looked at the bustling station and said, "It really used to be a small town."

"But ever since Natsume built the gym, Morimachi has gotten livelier and livelier."

"Braviary~"

As Kiko was speaking, someone in the crowd took out a Poké Ball and called out, "Come on out, Braviary!"

With a loud cry, a fierce-looking Braviary appeared above the crowd.

It grabbed its Trainer and flew straight into the sky.

"Wow, Braviary! That Trainer must be really strong."

People around murmured a few words.

"They say every Braviary has the strength of a Gym Leader. How enviable."

"But judging by its direction, it must be heading to the Farm Gym, right?"

"Haha, definitely. After all, the only thing that could attract such a powerful Trainer would be the Farm Gym."

In the sky, Pokémon like Charizard, Altaria, and Tropius occasionally flew by, carrying people.

"Hey, are you sure this is okay?"

Mikoharu looked nervously at Kiko. "Is it really fine for me to go?"

Kiko smiled. "It's fine, don't worry. I'm sure you'll love the farm."

"But for now," Kiko looked at the crowd ahead, "we need to get through this first."

"Let's do this!"

"Kiko, long time no see~"

Just as Kiko was speaking, Gardevoir's voice suddenly rang out beside her.

Kiko blinked in surprise, then smiled brightly. "Gardevoir, you're here?"

"Mhm~ Let me get you out of here first."

Kiko turned to Mikoharu. "Gardevoir's here to pick us up."

"Get ready, we're about to Teleport."

As soon as Kiko finished speaking, the two of them vanished from the spot and reappeared outside the station.

When Kiko and Mikoharu regained their bearings, the crowded station was gone.

Gardevoir stood under a tree, smiling at them.

"Welcome back. You must be tired."

Gardevoir looked at the two of them warmly. "Shall we head back to the city first?"

Kiko shook her head. "Let's go straight to the farm."

"I want to see how much the farm has changed."

"Alright~"

"Then let's go."

The distance from Morimachi to the Farm Gym was nothing for Gardevoir now—just a quick Teleport away.

Outside the Farm.

Gardevoir, Kiko, and Mikoharu appeared in an instant.

"Mamoswine~"

Mamoswine, with Eevees on its back, lumbered past slowly.

"Is that Mamoswine?"

Kiko exclaimed in surprise. "Did the farm's Piloswine evolve?"

"Yes."

Gardevoir nodded. "It just evolved this morning."

"Also, Natsume is at the gym below, training Diancie in battles. Would you like to watch?"

Kiko quickly nodded. "Yes, definitely!"

"Indeedee~"

Indeedee walked out at that moment.

Indeedee gestured for Kiko and Mikoharu to hand over their suitcases.

"Alright, thank you, Indeedee."

"Oh, right."

As she spoke, Kiko quickly opened her suitcase and pulled out a Storage Ball, then took out a cake from it.

"This is a fruit cake made with Cornn Berries. Natsume said you really like Cornn Berries."

Indeedee happily accepted it.

Receiving gifts always brings joy, whether to humans or Pokémon.

"Jigglypuff, Victreebel, everyone, come on out!"

Kiko took out her Poké Balls and released all her Pokémon.

"Jigglypuff~"

"Victreebel~"

Mikoharu followed suit and released her Pokémon as well.

"Torkoal~"

As soon as Torkoal appeared, it began looking around, clearly curious about its surroundings.

"Victreebel~"

Victreebel patted Torkoal, signaling it to follow.

Victreebel planned to take Torkoal to the orchard first.

"Let's go too."

Kiko looked at Mikoharu beside her. "The gym's battle arena is probably packed with people by now."

At the Farm Gym's Battle Arena.

"Manectric, Quick Attack!"

"Manectric~"

A nimble Manectric dashed toward Diancie at high speed.

"Diancie，Reflect!"

After these past few days of battles at the farm, Diancie had grown more accustomed to Natsume's commands.

Diancie raised her hand, and a Reflect barrier instantly materialized.

Bam~

Manectric's body collided with the Reflect.

"Diancie，Ancient Power!"

As Natsume issued the command, a ring of rocks formed around Diancie.

Under Diancie's control, the rocks swiftly hurled toward Manectric.

Bam~

With a dull thud, Manectric collapsed into a cloud of dust.

"Match ends."

Rotom announced, "Manectric is unable to battle. The winner is Diancie."

"Great, Natsume!"

Diancie looked at Natsume happily. "I can feel that I've gotten stronger."

Natsume smiled at Diancie. "That means you've been working hard these past few days."

Diancie blushed slightly. "Well, I haven't been working that hard."

Natsume hadn't actually scheduled many battles for Diancie.

At most, she had two or three battles a day.

The rest of the time was spent practicing move proficiency or wandering around the farm with the Eevees.

In truth, most of Diancie's time was quite relaxed.

Diancie had initially thought this approach wouldn't work.

But she noticed that her progress was much faster than when she was in the Underground Kingdom.

So Diancie stopped worrying about when she would finally learn Sacred Diamond.

As the Carbink Minister had said, she would learn it eventually.

"Braviary~"

A clear cry echoed through the sky.

A Braviary was swiftly flying toward them.

Natsume glanced up and checked its level.

It was level 58, and it looked quite imposing.

"Sirfetch'd!"

Sirfetch'd, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, suddenly sharpened its gaze.

This Pokémon definitely had the strength to be its opponent.

After reaching level 60, Sirfetch'd hadn't encountered a suitable challenger for a while.

It was starting to feel like its body was getting rusty.

"Sirfetch'd!"

"Sirfetch'd, do you want to battle it?"

Natsume noticed Sirfetch'd's intense stare.

"Sirfetch'd."

Sirfetch'd nodded repeatedly.

"Rotom, is this today's challenger?"

Rotom shook its head.

"No, Rotom. There's no challenge registration from him."

"Braviary~"

Braviary was fast, and in no time, it landed outside the battle arena.

Someone in the crowd recognized the Trainer of this Braviary.

"Isn't that Gunta? A seeded competitor in this year's National Championships."

Someone else wondered, "Why is he challenging the Farm Gym?"

"Trainers aiming for the National Championships should be challenging Country-level type gyms right now, right?"

The person who recognized him first explained, "You don't know this, do you?"

"Gunta has already collected eight Country-level type badges. I think he's here for the Dynamax Battle Arena."

The Farm's Dynamax Battle Arena was nearly complete, with only the energy protective barrier left to install.

"Gym Leader Natsume, I'd like to reserve the Dynamax Battle Arena here."

"When will it officially open for challenges?"

Just as the person had guessed.

After dismounting from Braviary, Gunta immediately asked Natsume about the Dynamax Battle Arena.

Natsume noticed the Dynamax Band on his wrist, indicating that he could Dynamax his Pokémon.

"The Dynamax Battle Arena still needs safety testing tomorrow. After that, it'll be ready for use."

Gunta immediately responded, "Then can I reserve a gym challenge for tomorrow?"

"Here's the thing. I'm currently training for the National Championships."

"Since the internal league's Dynamax Battle Arena isn't open for public use, I wanted to practice Dynamax moves here."

Natsume nodded. "Understood."

"Although the safety measures for the battle arena aren't fully installed yet, battles shouldn't be a problem."

"Huh?"

Gunta was taken aback. "No problem?"

Natsume gave a slight nod and then gestured toward the Dynamax venue. "Follow me."

"Right."

Seeing Natsume's confidence, Gunta quickly followed.

The others in the crowd exchanged glances.

"Should we follow too?"

"A Dynamax battle? Of course, we should watch!"

"But didn't Gym Leader Natsume say the protective barrier isn't finished yet?"

Someone confidently replied, "What's there to worry about? If Gym Leader Natsume says it's fine, then it must be safe."

"That's true."

"Let's go, hurry in!"

After a brief moment of hesitation, the crowd excitedly surged into the gym's Dynamax Battle Arena.

The Dynamax Battle Arena was built to standard specifications.

The venue was surrounded by towering stands, with neatly arranged seats that could accommodate around ten thousand people.

This arena was entirely constructed by Morimachi's Trainer Association.

In fact, this was Natsume's first time entering it.

"Dragonite~"

Above the venue, a massive skylight opened, and Dragonite swooped in, landing beside Natsume.

Natsume looked at Dragonite. "Dragonite, use Light Screen and Reflect to enclose this area."

"Dragonite~"