After consuming the Flintwood, the effects appeared immediately. Arcanine's level rose from 89 to 90, officially reaching the peak of Pseudo-Champion level.
---
Pokémon: Arcanine (Fire)
Level: 90
Potential: Purple
Ability: Flash Fire
Held Item: Hardened Charcoal
Gender: Male
Moves: Leer, Ember, Howl, Bite, Flame Wheel, Helping Hand, Agility, Extreme Speed, Reversal, Flamethrower, Crunch, Fire Fang, Roar, Retaliate, Play Rough, Take Down
TMs: Protect, Fire Spin, Hyper Beam, Dig, Sunny Day, Giga Impact, Heat Wave, Wild Charge, Psychic Fangs, Blast Burn, Burn Up, Incinerate, Thunder Fang, Flame Charge, Body Slam, Eruption, Heat Crash
Egg Moves: Flare Blitz, Overheat, Double-Edge, Outrage
Note: Fire-type moves are boosted by 20% due to the Fire Crystal.
Note: Possesses the Flame of Life, allowing one Rebirth—after revival, potential rises to Gold, but level resets to zero.
Note: Have used the Flintwood, increases the power of Fire-type moves by 30%, raises Burn chance by 70%, reduces damage taken from Fire-type moves by 50%, and reduces damage taken from Water-type moves by 20%.
---
The level increase meant Arcanine was just one step away from becoming a true Champion-level Pokémon, and catching up to that stupid bird was now only a matter of time.
To express its gratitude, Arcanine's tongue launched a full-on assault on Julian's face.
After the enthusiastic licking session, it stared intently at Julian, making him feel a creeping sense of unease.
"What?"
Under the dog's unblinking gaze, Julian suddenly felt a pang of guilt. But then he reconsidered—he hadn't done anything to wrong it, and he had even given it a precious treasure. What did he have to feel guilty about?
"Arf~"
Arcanine: "Master, candy! The candy that boosts strength!"
Julian's Pokémon had all tasted Rare Candies to some extent and knew they could directly increase levels.
Aggron, Kartana, Milotic—they had all broken through from Pseudo-Champion to Champion after eating such candies.
Now that Arcanine was at the peak of Pseudo-Champion level, wasn't it only fair that it got one too?
The dog was getting sharper by the day.
Julian sighed inwardly. He did still have one Rare Candy left. Back when he completed Gemma's Temporary Mission, he had been rewarded with three Pseudo-Champion-level Rare Candies.
Two of those went to Kartana and Milotic, helping them break through their bottlenecks and become Champion-level Pokémon.
But the last remaining Rare Candy—Julian had been saving it for Tyranitar.
After all, once Tyranitar broke through to the Champion rank, it was going to find its mate. And Julian had also promised that female Tyranitar that his own Tyranitar would reach the Champion tier within a year.
Now, there were only three months left before that one-year deadline.
Tyranitar's level was still at 89, but it would probably take just a little over half a month more to hit 90. Once it reached 90, Julian intended to give it the last Rare Candy.
Then it would become a full-fledged Champion-level Pokémon.
That had been the plan. But who would've thought the dog would have an unexpected breakthrough and shoot straight to the peak of Pseudo-Champion rank?
"There's none left, doggo. What a pity."
Julian shook his head with a regretful expression.
"Arf!"
Arcanine: "You're lying to a dog!"
To his surprise, Arcanine immediately started barking in protest, staring at Julian with accusing eyes.
"There really isn't any left."
Julian shook his head firmly.
Arcanine: "Jirachi said you still have one!"
Jirachi, nestled in Julian's arms, shrank back its little neck. The next second, Julian lifted it up.
Julian looked at Jirachi with a "smiling" face. "Oh? You told the dog I still have a Rare Candy?"
When the System had rewarded the three Rare Candies, Jirachi had indeed witnessed it. Celebi, on the other hand, had not.
"N-no, no! I must have been mistaken!"
Jirachi shook its head quickly. It had let it slip while chatting with Arcanine.
"See? Jirachi was mistaken."
Julian said to Arcanine.
But Arcanine wasn't actually stupid. The more Julian acted this way, the more certain it became that he really did have one.
"Master, you do have one. You're just not giving it to me!"
Arcanine's perked ears drooped, its tail stopped wagging, and its canine face wore a deeply saddened expression—'You don't love me anymore.'
Julian facepalmed.
Fine. Might as well come clean.
"Alright, I do still have one Rare Candy."
Arcanine's ears instantly shot back up, and it looked at Julian with eager anticipation.
"But that one is reserved for Tyranitar. He's got a wife to marry, remember? Without this Rare Candy, if the one-year deadline passes and he still hasn't broken through to Champion... how am I supposed to show my face? And what about his mate?"
Everyone knew about Tyranitar's situation, and Arcanine was no exception.
"You don't want Tyranitar to end up single forever, do you? It's fine for you—you're a bachelor dog and perfectly happy that way—but Tyranitar has a mate waiting for him. Ten months she's been waiting for him to become a Champion and come marry her."
"Let me ask you—how's your relationship with Tyranitar?"
"Arf!"
Arcanine: "We're best bros!"
Aside from that stupid bird, Arcanine considered every other Pokémon a close brother or sister.
"Then for the sake of your best bro... are you willing to let him have this Rare Candy?"
"Arf~"
Arcanine: "I'm willing!"
He, Arcanine, was a dog of principle and honor. How could he let his own brother be doomed to eternal bachelorhood just for his own gain?
Tyranitar: 'Bros for life!' (pounding his own chest)
"Good boy."
Julian ruffled Arcanine's big head.
Then he added seriously, "Next time we get another Rare Candy, it's going straight to my favorite dog."
"Arf~"
Arcanine happily narrowed its eyes, its tail spinning like a propeller again.
It wasn't because Julian promised him the next Rare Candy. It was because Julian had called him his favorite.
Did you hear that? Favorite!
'Metagross? Slowking? Nebby? All of you are nothing compared to me. Master loves me and only me the most!'
Julian spent a solid few minutes vigorously rubbing Arcanine's head until the dog flopped onto his back in bliss, tongue lolling out of the corner of his mouth.
The dog might be prone to jealousy, but it sure was easy to cheer up.
"Meta~"
Metagross suddenly spoke up, "A large number of Fletchinder and Talonflame are heading this way."
At Metagross's words, Arcanine swiftly scrambled to his feet, eyes sharp as he looked into the distance.
Julian followed his gaze and saw a massive crimson cloud rapidly approaching from afar.
The cloud was composed entirely of Fletchinder and Talonflame—at least fifty to sixty thousand of them. A flock this size easily surpassed many Beedrill swarms.
Even among bird Pokémon, the usually numerous Pidgey rarely formed flocks of fifty to sixty thousand.
"Are they off to some kind of turf war?" Julian muttered.
Though they were flying directly toward his location, Julian didn't think for a second that they were coming for him.
After all, he hadn't done anything… right?
*****
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