Two weeks later.
Inside Wintergreen Forest.
"Buneary! Close in with Extreme Speed, then use Double Kick!"
"Buneary!"
A pink shadow shot out like a bolt of lightning.
In the blink of an eye, she closed the distance to right in front of Nidorina.
Buneary's speed—
Compared to two weeks ago—
Had clearly improved by a lot!
With the powerful impact of Extreme Speed backing it up,
The power of that Double Kick
Was absolutely terrifying!
"Nidorina!!"
Under Buneary's thunderous assault,
Nidorina didn't have time to come up with any countermeasure at all.
The only thing she could do
Was raise the sharp poisonous spines on her back,
Trying to force a mutual-injury outcome.
"Buneary! Kick her side!"
"Buneary!"
After receiving the order, Buneary completed the target switch
Within that extremely brief fraction of a second.
The Double Kick that should have struck Nidorina's back
At the last moment
Was forcibly redirected—
Relying on her limber body,
She twisted mid-motion
And landed the hits on Nidorina's softer flank.
Thump!!
Thump!!
Two dull impacts rang out.
Nidorina's body
Flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
Bang!!
Nidorina slammed into a thick wintergreen tree and dropped to the ground.
The commotion
Startled some Pokémon perched in the tree and sent them scattering.
Nidorina's eyes turned into spirals.
She had already passed out and lost the ability to battle.
"Buneary!"
Buneary hopped back to Himeko's side.
Her eyes curved into happy crescents.
"Nice work, Buneary!"
Himeko patted Buneary's head and praised her,
Then walked over to Nidorina and quickly treated her injuries.
Honestly,
Buneary's progress was unbelievably fast.
Elite Four-level potential really was something else.
That talent was genuinely shocking.
In just two weeks,
Buneary had gone from novice level to entry level,
From Level 2 to Level 11.
Sure, that absurd leveling speed
Had a lot to do with her systematic, science-based training method—
But at the end of the day,
It was still because Buneary's own potential was outstanding.
Himeko finally felt more at ease.
At this rate,
In another two months,
Buneary should be able to surpass entry level and reach professional level.
Then the Entry-level Trainer Exam would be easy to pass.
And for this Pokémon tournament,
They'd have a much better chance, too.
"Buneary!!"
Buneary's voice
Pulled Himeko out of her thoughts.
She lowered her head to look—
A hazy, faint white glow was blooming over Buneary's body. She was bowing her head, frowning tightly, and her expression looked uncomfortable.
Was she about to evolve?
Himeko's heart leapt with joy.
Buneary evolves through friendship.
As long as the bond with her Trainer is strong enough, she'll evolve into Lopunny.
Looks like after these two weeks of training and spending time together,
Her relationship with Buneary
Had just about pushed her to the evolution threshold!
"Buneary! Buneary!"
Himeko watched with anticipation for a while.
But the white light covering Buneary
Quietly faded away completely.
"Buneary…"
Buneary looked at Himeko,
A trace of confusion in her eyes.
"Don't worry—you're almost ready to evolve!"
Himeko crouched down, gently rubbing Buneary's head.
"It's getting late. Let's head back!"
After speaking,
Himeko lifted her head
And looked toward a big wintergreen tree behind them.
"Shiko! Get up! We're heading back!"
She shouted loudly.
The moment her words fell,
The leaves rustled.
Whoosh!!!
An orange-red figure dropped down from beneath the tree—it was Shiko.
He was still in Charmander form.
But his body was clearly stronger and sturdier than it had been two weeks ago.
The flame burning at the tip of his tail
Also looked especially vigorous.
Every time Himeko saw Shiko like this, she found it strange.
Seriously, what was going on?
Clearly, over these two weeks, Shiko was as lazy and slack as ever.
Every day he lived like some young master—eating and sleeping, enjoying Buneary's massage service, or wandering around the forest taking aimless walks.
He hadn't done a single proper thing.
So why did his physique look more and more powerful, with no hint of getting soft,
Like he'd been doing high-intensity training every day?
"Come on—time to go back and eat."
Shiko automatically ignored Himeko's puzzled stare.
He rubbed the head of Buneary, who had thrown herself into his arms,
Then held onto her paw and walked toward the camp outside the forest.
As he walked,
He checked his current panel information.
(End of Chapter)
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[[email protected]/Zukooo]
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