Chapter 164:A Cozy Farm! Jangmo-o's Gym Battle

“It’s time to go, Flygon.”

Misaki patted the Flygon beneath her.

“Flygon~”

Flygon waved its wings and gradually took off from the ground.

Natsume watched as Flygon ascended, saying, “Be safe on your way. Don’t forget to send a text when you get home.”

“I won’t forget.”

Misaki looked down at Natsume.

It was a beautiful day.

The morning sunlight illuminated the side of his youthful face, making him look very gentle.

Gardevoir stood next to Natsume, watching him warmly.

The Lopunny waved their small hands at Misaki.

In the distance, the sounds of Scyther and Miltank occasionally echoed through the air.

Misaki realized she had grown accustomed to life on the farm.

It wasn’t as busy as the ranch.

It was relaxed and laid-back.

Everyone always took their time doing their tasks.

Except for Sandslash.

Flygon soared slowly into the sky.

The farm gradually shrank in Misaki’s view.

At this time, Sirfetch'd had already started training.

They were running around the gym, doing physical exercises.

Watching the vibrant Sirfetch'd made her feel that she would also be energetic today.

Cutiefly flew up from the garden, heading outside the farm.

They liked flowers and enjoyed finding lively places.

On the farm road, the vehicles had begun to roll through.

Buses were moving along at a leisurely pace.

In front of the bus station, the farm’s Timburr were lining up.

Life was quite fulfilling for the Timburr.

Whenever they wanted to exercise, they would train and battle alongside Infernape.

During their free time, they would hop on the farm bus to work at the construction site in Morimachi.

Working at the construction site was a leisurely pastime for the Timburr.

The construction site owners knew about the Timburr’s abilities.

Therefore, they welcomed the Timburr as they came to work at their construction sites. 

Working at the construction site was a leisurely pastime for the Timburr.

The construction site owners were aware of the Timburr's abilities.

Therefore, they welcomed the Timburr to work at their construction sites.

They just needed to provide a hearty lunch.

Natsume looked up at the sky.

Misaki's figure gradually vanished from sight.

Natsume stretched and said lazily, “I’ll make a cup of tea.”

“Watanabe and the others will be coming over soon.”

“Okay~”

Gardevoir walked into the cabin, took out the tea set, and started cleaning it.

Natsume retrieved the chessboard, preparing for an exciting Pokémon chess battle with Gardevoir.

Pokémon chess was similar to chess in the Pokémon world.

The rules were also the same as chess.

The only difference was the pieces.

For example, there were no kings or generals.

Instead, the piece representing them was called the Trainer.

Defeating the opposing Trainer meant you succeeded.

Ancient Pokémon battles were quite different from today's.

Back then, they were much more violent and savage.

In the arena, trainers could also participate.

Pokémon chess was derived from this.

Additionally, pieces like knights and pawns could be customized to resemble favorite Pokémon.

Natsume set up the pieces, and Gardevoir brought over the brewed black tea.

“Shall we head to the gazebo?”

Natsume asked Gardevoir for her opinion.

“Okay~”

Natsume snapped his fingers.

In an instant, he and Gardevoir appeared in the gazebo in the garden.

Ribombee flew over slowly.

It placed a leaf on the edge of the chessboard.

Then it added six Pollen Balls on top of the leaf.

Taking a bite of the sticky Pollen Ball while sipping the aromatic black tea.

In the gentle morning breeze, the pieces on the board moved forward.

Ribombee sat on Natsume’s shoulder, curiously watching the pieces on the chessboard.

Natsume asked, “Do you want to play along?”

“Ribombee~”

So, when Natsume said where to move, Ribombee lifted the pieces and placed them down.

An Eevee jumped into Natsume’s lap and looked at the game for a moment.

Eevee didn’t seem too interested in the game and quickly jumped down, running off to play with its Pokémon friends.

“Pidgeot~”

The sound of Pidgeot’s call came from the sky.

Pelipper followed behind Pidgeot.

Watanabe was sitting on Pelipper’s back.

Natsume waved, and Pidgeot descended with Pelipper toward the gazebo.

Watanabe got off Pelipper and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

He looked at Natsume, who was playing chess, and said with a tired expression, “Natsume, Gym Leader, you certainly have a flair for ambiance.”

Natsume glanced at Watanabe and was taken aback.

Watanabe had a backpack, his eyes were red, and his hair was messy.

His stubble was unkempt, and he looked like he hadn't groomed for several days.

Natsume looked at Watanabe with a strange expression and said, “Have you gone bankrupt?”

Watanabe laughed awkwardly, “Not at all, just ran into some trouble.”

Gardevoir handed Watanabe a guest tea cup.

Watanabe accepted it and poured himself a cup of tea.

“This is good tea.”

Watanabe praised.

He felt much more comfortable.

Watanabe took a seat on the lounge chair in the gazebo.

“When are we going to check out the Water Tribe ruins?”

Watanabe said as he looked around the garden.

The sea of flowers swayed before him.

The distant sound of the Soothe Bell could be faintly heard.

This place was truly relaxing, Watanabe thought, as drowsiness began to wash over him.

His head tilted to one side.

Whoosh~

Zzzzz...

Natsume: “???"

Natsume watched in confusion.

How could he just fall asleep like that?

Ribombee looked at Natsume and asked if it should wake him up.

Natsume, hearing Watanabe’s snoring, sighed, “Forget it, let him sleep here.”

“We can talk when he wakes up.”

There was no need to worry about anything on the farm.

So Natsume decided to leave him be.

After finishing the game, Natsume said to Gardevoir, “Let’s go check out the gym below the mountain.”

“Let’s see if there are any interesting challengers today.”

At the gym’s training area...

“Sirfetch'd!”

Sirfetch'd was battling against Grapploct.

This was the one from the secret realm.

Grapploct was also a Pokémon that loved to battle.

Wilderness Grapploct often swims from the sea to the shore to find Pokémon to battle.

This helps it train its fighting abilities.

This particular Grapploct had slipped out from the secret realm.

“Natsume, Gym Leader~”

Outside the gym, a familiar face was filming a video.

He waved to Natsume as he approached.

Next to him was a Luxray.

“Long time no see, Naoki.”

Naoki was a trainer Natsume met shortly after he started running the farm.

He was currently training with the goal of breaking into the top ten in competitions.

Natsume’s farm attracted trainers from all over, and the Pokémon battle styles varied widely.

As a result, many trainers come here for training.

Naoki was one of them.

During his free time, he often came to Natsume’s farm to practice battles with the farm's Pokémon.

Sometimes, he would also warm up by battling trainers who came here for gym challenges.

“Natsume, Gym Leader, is this Grapploct a new capture?”

“I haven’t seen it before.”

“Yes.”

Natsume nodded and asked, “Do you want to battle it?”

Naoki replied a bit awkwardly, “If I could battle it, I’d be at the regional tournament by now.”

“After all, this Grapploct looks powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Sirfetch'd.”

Bam~

A dull sound echoed from the battle arena.

“Grapploct!”

Grapploct charged quickly toward Sirfetch'd, trying to catch it.

Sirfetch'd raised its shield in front.

Grapploct's two tentacles latched onto the shield!

The other two arms reached over the shield to grab at Sirfetch'd.

“Sirfetch'd!”

Sirfetch'd quickly released its grip and swiftly maneuvered to Grapploct’s side.

Leaf Blade!

Bang!

Sirfetch'd was quite excited, landing a hit before quickly following up with Brutal Swing.

“Awooo~”

Arcanine caught the familiar scent and joyfully charged toward Luxray.

“Luxray~”

Luxray also lunged at Arcanine.

Natsume and Naoki continued their casual conversation: “The regional tournament is starting soon, are you confident?”

Naoki sighed, “It feels like everyone’s strength is really strong this year.”

“I don’t know if I can make it into the top ten.”

“But I’ll do my best.”

At that moment, Rotom flew over: “The gym battle is about to begin, Natsume, are you going to compete?”

“How strong is the challenger?”

Rotom displayed the information about the challenger.

The challenger’s name was Hiroaki, and he already had five City-level gym badges.

“Five badges, huh.”

Natsume thought for a moment and looked toward the battle arena where Sirfetch'd and Grapploct were fighting.

“Jangmo-o~”

Jangmo-o was watching their battle from the side.

Natsume waved, “Jangmo-o.”

Jangmo-o looked at Natsume and then ran over.

“Jangmo-o, how about we have a gym battle together?”

“Jangmo-o!”

Natsume smiled, “Then let’s go to the battle area over there.”

Jangmo-o was working hard.

It trained and battled with Infernape and the others every day, and its level had already risen to 29.

Jangmo-o followed Natsume to the battle arena.

Rotom controlled the loudspeaker installed in the gym and announced, “The gym challenge is about to begin. Trainer Hiroaki from the Minami-hara, please proceed to battle arena number two.”

The farm had now established four battle arenas.

They were separated by the adjacent land.

A flat cement path connected them.

Hearing Rotom’s voice, a young man who was weeding alongside Sandslash lifted his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead, saying, “Sandslash, I’m going to battle at the gym now.”

“Sandslash~”

Sandslash nodded slightly and made a gesture of encouragement.

Hiroaki said to his Grovyle that was accompanying him, “Let’s go.”

“Grovyle!”

“Pidgeot~”

A Pidgeotto flew overhead and landed on a sign next to the battle arena.

Hiroaki ran past Pidgeotto and entered the battle arena.

He paused for a moment, looking at Natsume standing inside the gym, and then excitedly said, “Lucky!”

“To be able to battle with the Gym Leader Natsume!”

The gym challenge and battling the Gym Leader were certainly normal.

However, at the Farm Gym, it wasn’t an easy feat.

Because it depended on the mood of Gym Leader Natsume.

“Natsume, Gym Leader, I’m Hiroaki. My dream is to become a free gym trainer like you!”

Hearing Hiroaki’s shout, Natsume thought to himself that he had become someone’s idol.

“Well, then you better do your best.”

“The rules are 2v2; that’s fine, right?”

“Of course.”

Rotom the referee flew to the center of the venue and announced, “The rules of the match are 2v2. The match ends when one side’s Pokémon can no longer battle.”

“Additionally, only the challenger may switch Pokémon during the match.”

“Now, both contestants, release your Pokémon.”

Natsume looked at Jangmo-o beside him and said, “Go for it.”

“Jangmo-o~”

Hiroaki didn’t send Grovyle out immediately.

He looked at the shiny Jangmo-o and said, “What a cute pink Jangmo-o!”

Upon hearing this, Jangmo-o’s expression immediately turned unfriendly.

Hiroaki threw out his Poké Ball: “I’ll leave the first match to you. Go, Mightyena!”

“Mightyena~”

A strikingly furred Mightyena appeared in the battle arena.

This Mightyena was level 32 with the Quick Feet ability.

Pokémon with the Quick Feet ability double their speed when in an unusual condition.

This ability directly countered Jangmo-o's Dragon Breath move.

This was because Dragon Breath had a chance to paralyze the opponent.

“Mightyena, Ice Fang!”

The arena was large, and neither side was particularly good at special attacks.

Thus, Hiroaki chose to initiate an offensive.

“Mightyena!”

Chill emanated from Mightyena's mouth.

Its sharp fangs condensed into two long icy fangs as it charged forward.

Natsume said, “Work Up.”

Jangmo-o took a deep breath.

“Jangmo-o!”

A faint blue energy surrounded Jangmo-o’s body.

Jangmo-o's attack and special attack increased.

“Mightyena!”

Mightyena had already charged up to Jangmo-o.

Its size was much larger than Jangmo-o, and it looked like it could swallow Jangmo-o whole.

“Jangmo-o, rush underneath Mightyena!”

Jangmo-o immediately lunged forward.

The advantage of its smaller size became evident at that moment.

Mightyena’s Ice Fang missed.

“Use Tackle upwards!”

“Jangmo-o!”

Jangmo-o jumped up forcefully, its hard body slamming into Mightyena's chin.

Bam~

“Mightyena!”

Mightyena let out a whimper as it tumbled away.

That hit definitely struck a vital point.

Natsume continued giving orders: “Use Dragon Tail!”

“Mightyena, Sand Rush!”

Mightyena swept its tail across the ground.

A cloud of sand was instantly kicked up toward Jangmo-o.

Natsume chuckled, “That’s the wrong answer.”

“Jangmo-o!”

Jangmo-o ignored the Sand Attack.

Its pink tail violently struck toward Mightyena's body.

Bang!

This time it also hit Mightyena’s chin with precision.

Mightyena, just getting back up, was knocked down again by that tail.

Mightyena lost its battle capability.

Jangmo-o won the battle, gaining 4,251 experience points, and its level increased to 30

“How is this possible?”

Natsume asked in reply, “Do you know what three abilities Jangmo-o has?”

Hiroaki hesitated for a moment and awkwardly replied, “Uh, I forgot.”

With thousands of Pokémon species, remembering all their abilities is no easy task.

In fact, some trainers might not even be able to recite the type effectiveness chart.

Natsume stated, “Bulletproof, Soundproof, Overcoat.”

Hiroaki immediately responded, “It’s Overcoat!”

Natsume nodded, “That’s correct.”

Hiroaki looked frustrated and said, “No wonder Sand Attack was useless.”

The Overcoat ability even prevents damage from Sandstorm, let alone Sand Attack.

“Come back, Mightyena.”

Hiroaki recalled his Mightyena and then turned to his Grovyle, saying, “Go for it, Grovyle!”

“Grovyle!”

At that moment, outside the battle arena...

“There are so many people!”

Onami walked over with her Vaporeon.

This was her first time visiting Natsume’s farm.

She tried to call Watanabe.

However, no one answered.

Onami looked at her phone in confusion and muttered, “Why isn’t he answering?”

Gardevoir approached Onami and said, “Watanabe is sleeping on the mountain.”

Onami was slightly taken aback. “Sleeping?”

Gardevoir gently asked, “Would you like me to take you up there?”

Onami thought for a moment and shook her head. “Not right now.”

Onami turned her gaze to the battle arena.

“I want to watch Gym Leader Natsume finish his battle first.”

Onami was an attractive young woman.

Gardevoir was a beautiful Pokémon.

Standing together, they certainly drew attention.

“Jangmo-o, be careful.”

Natsume warned Jangmo-o, “Grovyle’s speed is very fast, so let’s focus on counterattacking.”

“Grovyle!”

Hiroaki shouted, “Grovyle, charge in and use Bullet Seed!”

Grovyle immediately rushed toward Jangmo-o.

Hiroaki’s Pokémon seemed to excel at attacking while moving.

Grovyle shot out bullet-like seeds toward Jangmo-o, resembling nuts.