And so, Roy and the others followed Flint along a small, well-trodden path by the river.
Flint carried his bundle of stones on his back, walking with a brisk pace.
He didn't look lazy or decadent at all anymore.
"Young man."
Flint spoke to Roy while walking, turning his head slightly.
His tone had become much more serious.
"Actually, type advantages in Pokemon battles aren't absolute."
"There are many ways to weaken the impact of type disadvantages."
"For example, level suppression."
"Or perhaps some special items that can boost the power of moves or reduce the damage taken from a disadvantageous type."
"And then there's... targeted intensive training."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Pikachu in Roy's arms.
Roy nodded.
"I know about those."
Having farmed so much experience in the forest, he had long since figured it out.
Battles in this world generally followed the type advantage system from the games.
But it wasn't absolute.
If the conditions were right, one could still win despite a type disadvantage; it was just much harder.
"I've been looking at your Pikachu's condition."
Flint continued, his eyes carrying the scrutiny of a professional Trainer.
"Its level shouldn't be low, but it's not high enough to ignore type advantages yet."
"As for those special items..."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the simple clothes of Roy and the others.
"Those things cost a fortune. Looking at your clothes, you don't seem to be children from a wealthy family."
"So."
Flint stopped walking and turned to look at Roy.
"If you really want to use this Pikachu to win a battle against its type disadvantage at the Pewter Gym..."
"The only way is to do some special training."
"What kind of special training?"
Roy followed the lead and asked.
"We're here."
Flint didn't answer directly.
He raised his hand and pointed ahead.
A small wooden cabin appeared by the river ahead.
The cabin wasn't large and looked quite old.
The wooden walls were covered in moss.
Next to the cabin was an old-fashioned waterwheel, slowly turning with the flow of the river.
It made a creaking "zhiya zhiya" sound.
"This is the place."
Flint led the way over.
He pushed open the cabin door.
The space inside was even smaller than it looked from the outside.
It was furnished with some simple daily necessities: a bed and a table.
A lot of stone specimens were piled in the corner.
"Pikachu's special training is, naturally, special electric training."
As Flint spoke, he walked to the wall and pressed a switch.
An old lightbulb on the ceiling lit up.
It emitted a dim, yellow light.
At the same time, several pieces of crude-looking electrical equipment in the corner of the room began to "hum" and operate.
"Can that waterwheel alone generate this much electricity?"
Misty curiously poked her head in to look at the running equipment and asked.
"Of course not."
Flint smiled proudly.
He walked over to a piece of equipment that looked like a generator and opened a lid on top.
Under the lid, an irregular, yellow semi-transparent stone was revealed.
It was about the size of a fist.
Inside the stone, one could vaguely see current-like patterns flowing slowly.
"It's all thanks to this stone."
Flint pointed at the stone, his tone full of pride.
"This is one of the few good things I managed to get in my failed life as a Trainer."
"It can amplify the input electricity several times over."
"That's why I can supply electricity to this entire cabin just with that small waterwheel."
"The next part of the training is also related to this."
Flint turned to Roy, his expression becoming serious.
"If Pikachu wants its Electric-type moves to have a qualitative leap in power, it must endure an overloaded electrical environment for a long enough time."
"Use strong external current to stimulate the electric sacs in its body and force out its potential."
"Simply put..."
"It's about letting Pikachu stay in the strong current amplified by this Electric Stone for a while."
"But this process requires a continuous and stable power input."
Flint spoke as he pushed open the back door of the cabin.
Outside, in an open space by the river, sat a device similar to an exercise bike.
The bike was connected to thick black cables that led all the way to the generator inside.
"See that?"
Flint patted the "bike."
"This is a manual auxiliary power generation device."
"The electricity generated by the waterwheel is amplified by the Thunder Stone and supplied for Pikachu's training."
"But at the same time, someone needs to continuously pedal this bike to generate power and maintain the stable operation of the amplifier."
"Otherwise, if the power fluctuations are too large, Pikachu will be in danger."
After Flint finished speaking, his gaze landed on Roy.
He looked him up and down.
"So, young man..."
He reached out and patted Roy's chest.
"I don't know if your body is tough enough."
"Whether you can continuously output enough power."
"He's super tough!"
As soon as Flint finished speaking, Misty blurted out without even thinking.
Only after saying it did she react.
"Oh?"
Flint raised an eyebrow and gave Roy a meaningful look.
Then he looked at Misty.
"N-No, that's not it!"
Misty's face turned red instantly.
She hurriedly waved her hands, explaining incoherently.
"I mean his body is strong! Not... that!"
"I... oh, geez!"
She couldn't go on, stomped her foot, and hid behind Delia.
Only half of her bright red face was visible.
Delia was also a bit flushed by these sudden words.
She stole a glance at Roy.
Then she quickly lowered her head.
Flint laughed twice and continued.
"In any case, the auxiliary power generation outside is up to you."
He said to Roy.
"Whether Pikachu can break through during the overload depends on how much power you can output and how long you can maintain it."
"Oh, that's no problem."
Roy nodded, his tone calm.
He put down the Pikachu in his arms.
He walked to the "generator bike" outside.
He reached out and tested the resistance of the pedals.
It wasn't small.
To continuously output enough power to generate electricity, the consumption of physical strength would definitely be huge.
However, for him with his enhancements, it wasn't a big problem.
"Then let's begin."
Roy spoke and directly raised his hand, taking off his shirt.
Although Delia had already seen and touched Roy's body in the tent...
Looking at it again now under the sunlight, the impact was completely different.
Smooth muscle lines.
Perfectly shaped chest muscles.
Well-defined abs.
And those powerful-looking back muscles and arms.
They had a healthy glow under the sun.
Delia only felt her throat go a bit dry.
She subconsciously pursed her lips.
A voice in her head was screaming frantically:
Underwear!
I must buy a few more pairs this time!
All kinds of styles!
Otherwise, there won't be enough to change into!
Misty's eyes were also glued to him.
She subconsciously swallowed.
Her cheeks were burning.
So this guy... his body under his clothes is this good?
Those muscles... they look so powerful... Her mind was a mess.
But her tomboyish personality, even while her heart was racing, couldn't help but spark a bit of comparison.
Ahem... M-My body isn't bad either!
I even have abs!
Although not as exaggerated as his... but it's still very good!
Flint, on the other hand, didn't care much about Roy's physique.
He was more concerned about the special training itself.
"Pikachu, come over here."
Flint beckoned to Pikachu.
He pointed to an area in the cabin surrounded by insulating material.
In the center of the area were two metal electrodes.
The electrodes were connected to thick cables that led all the way to the generator.
"In a moment, you'll stand between these two electrodes."
"The current will pass through your body."
"It might feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but you have to hold on."
"This is the key to breaking through."
Flint said seriously.
Pika!
Pikachu nodded vigorously.
It walked into the insulated area and stood between the two electrodes.
Its small face was full of determination.
"Good."
Flint checked all the equipment once.
After confirming everything was correct, he shouted to Roy outside:
"Young man, are you ready?"
"We can start!"
"Start by applying force slowly, let the power rise steadily!"
"Understood."
Roy responded.
He mounted the generator bike and gripped the handles with both hands.
He put his feet on the pedals and began to apply force.
The old bike made a sound as if it were under heavy strain.
But Roy's power was output steadily and continuously.
Through the cables, it was transmitted to the generator inside.
The sound of the generator's operation increased significantly.
At the same time, the Electric Stone began to emit a faint yellow light.
The current patterns inside began to flow faster.
Pikachu's special electric training had officially begun...
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