After the hiker left, Julian released Hakamo-o and Croagunk.
He checked them by touch, then sprayed medicine over their injured areas.
After treatment, Croagunk slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Julian treating Hakamo-o’s wounds.
What a strong dragon...
Hm?
Croagunk closed his eyes, then opened them again.
This dragon he was seeing...
It could not be Jangmo-o, could it?
Hakamo-o waved at him.
"Haka."
Croagunk felt his heart die.
Weren’t they supposed to work hard together?
Jangmo-o, how could you secretly evolve?
After he was knocked unconscious by Primeape, what exactly had happened?
How had Jangmo-o evolved in such a short time?
There was no love anymore.
Julian turned and sensed the change in Croagunk’s mood.
He placed a hand on Croagunk’s head and comforted him.
"Jangmo-o and I trained for eight years before he finally evolved into Hakamo-o."
"I believe that as long as you train hard, you’ll evolve soon too, Croagunk."
Feeling the warmth of Julian’s palm, Croagunk narrowed his eyes slightly.
Then he supported his weakened body and stood up.
He wanted to start training right now.
He wanted to become stronger.
He wanted to defeat Primeape.
Julian shook his head helplessly.
"Wait, Croagunk. Eat something first. Recover your stamina before training."
He brought out a plate of Pokémon food made specially for Croagunk.
Its main effect was strengthening muscle, while the faint toxins in the ingredients could also enhance Croagunk’s poison.
Two birds with one stone.
There was also a cup of Moomoo Milk with a little Combee honey added to help soothe Croagunk’s gloomy mood after defeat.
"Eat slowly."
Croagunk grabbed large handfuls of food, and the plate visibly emptied at great speed.
As for the milk, he lifted the cup and drank it all in one go.
After finishing Hakamo-o’s treatment, Julian also prepared food and drink for him.
After evolving, Hakamo-o’s appetite was much larger than Jangmo-o’s.
Before, Jangmo-o would eat one plate.
Now Hakamo-o could eat three.
As for Moomoo Milk, Hakamo-o drank four full cups.
The corner of Julian’s mouth twitched.
He felt that the food he had brought might not be enough.
What was supposed to last three days might not even last Hakamo-o one.
Seeing Hakamo-o eat so much, Croagunk, who had originally planned to start training, sat down again.
He patted his plate.
"Croak!"
Julian smiled.
"Fine. One more plate."
This Croagunk wanted to compete with Hakamo-o in everything.
He really was competitive.
Another plate of Pokémon food.
Another cup of milk.
But this time, Croagunk’s eating speed was clearly much slower.
By the end, he even had to stand up and walk around nearby, moving his body to digest the food before finally finishing everything.
After eating too much, Croagunk could not train at all.
"Let’s go. We’ll look around nearby and see if we can find food. We’ll also gather dry firewood. We’re staying here tonight."
They had only just set out when Julian saw the hiker from earlier running back in a panic.
"Sir, what happened?"
"That Primeape actually lives near the waterfall I always go to see. When I went there earlier, I saw it standing on a large rock in the middle of the waterfall."
"It was taking the waterfall’s impact, as if doing some kind of training."
Julian had thought Primeape only knew how to keep increasing its anger.
He had not expected it to know how to cool its overheated head too.
The hiker’s eyes shone.
"Young man, you’re so strong. You should be able to catch that Primeape soon and let me quietly enjoy the waterfall scenery, right?"
Julian smiled awkwardly and patted Hakamo-o’s arm.
"I hope I can catch Primeape right now too, but this one really is strong."
If Primeape’s basic physical values rose another level, its combat power might even exceed Darius’ Primeape.
In any case, this Primeape’s fighting will and anger talent were both stronger than his father’s.
Darius’ Primeape had the advantage only in basic stats and Fighting-move proficiency.
Once Hakamo-o grew used to his evolved body and raised his proficiency with Dragon Claw, he should be able to fight Primeape evenly.
At that point, throwing a Poké Ball would make catching Primeape almost certain.
Since he now knew where Primeape lived, there was no need to wait for it to come tomorrow.
Julian planned to go there himself.
He took a photo of Hakamo-o, intending to send it to his friend.
But there was no signal on the mountain, so the message would not go through at all.
Julian shrugged.
He could only wait until he went down the mountain before sharing the joy of Jangmo-o evolving into Hakamo-o with him.
The hiker sighed.
"Looks like I can only go down the mountain and come back next year to enjoy the waterfall."
He walked down the mountain, looking disappointed.
Julian shook his head and sighed.
He was not sure how many days it would take to catch Primeape.
And he could feel it.
In the previous battle, Jangmo-o had been stimulated and evolved into Hakamo-o.
But Primeape’s surging anger had also made its body sturdier.
Even its proficiency with Rage and Mega Punch had improved.
Primeape wandered around looking for Pokémon battles not because battling was fun.
It was to become stronger.
If Julian wanted to catch Primeape, he either had to do it in one decisive attempt, or grow faster than Primeape did.
"Hakamo-o, try Bulk Up."
After evolving, using the newly learned Bulk Up would become easier for Hakamo-o.
By using Bulk Up, he could make his newly evolved body develop stronger muscles.
Newly evolved Pokémon all experienced a brief period of rapid growth.
They had to seize this chance and raise Hakamo-o’s strength as much as possible.
Under the hazy red light, Hakamo-o’s muscles bulged high, filling out the dragon scales around them.
"Hakamo-o, Dragon Dance."
"Croagunk, Bulk Up."
Hakamo-o swayed his body, his scales clinking together as blue-violet draconic airflow coiled around him.
Croagunk flexed his muscles, the hazy red light stimulating their growth.
After two and a half hours of training, Julian felt that Hakamo-o had grown more than he would have after a full year of hard work before.
He had more confidence in defeating Primeape now.
Croagunk had also gained a lot from the previous battle.
His proficiency with Poison Jab, Brick Break, and Bulk Up was rising rapidly.
After resting for the night, Julian brought the energetic Hakamo-o and Croagunk to the waterfall in the morning.
Looking up, the waterfall really was beautiful.
Next time he met Cassia, perhaps they could have a picnic here.
"Primeape, let’s battle again!"
The unwilling-to-lose Croagunk still stepped forward first.
Primeape jumped from stone to stone and landed on the shore, then swung its fist at Croagunk.
Dynamic Punch.
Croagunk inflated his poison sacs, meeting it with a chilling Poison Jab.
Forgetting the pain once the wound had healed, Primeape was poisoned by Poison Jab again.
Compared to yesterday, Croagunk lost even faster.
After being knocked into the water, by the time Croagunk climbed back onto the shore, Hakamo-o and Primeape had already begun clashing.
This time, Hakamo-o’s greatly improved strength let him fight evenly against Primeape.
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