Chapter 95: The Dragon's Speed

Ecruteak City, Johto Region.

Pokémon Center.

This is a city standing amidst the mountains, and it is also the hometown of all Dragon Tamers.

Blackthorn City has many Dragon-type Pokémon, and they shoulder the work of delivering express mail throughout the Johto region. Some remote mountain areas and distant places require Dragon-type Pokémon to fly long distances to reach them. Not long ago, the Blackthorn City Pokémon Center conducted a physical examination of the Dragon-type Pokémon currently on duty.

One Charizard caught the Pokémon Center's attention. Recently, this Charizard's volume of business has increased, and the speed at which it delivers goods has become extremely fast, showing a clear difference from its past performance.

Generally speaking, this should be a good thing, but this abnormal increase in delivery speed still made the people at the Pokémon Center feel a bit strange, so they invited the Blackthorn City Gym Leader, the Dragon-type Pokémon expert, Clair.

Although Charizard does not have the Dragon type, its egg group is the Dragon group, so of course, it is also a "Dragon-type Pokémon"!

Blackthorn City Gym Leader Clair has blue hair, wears a blue bodysuit, dark blue knee-high boots, and the essential equipment for all Dragon Tamers—a black cape.

And coming along with Clair was her cousin, the current Champion of the Indigo Plateau, the Dragon Envoy, and "Flying-type Master," Lance!

However, Lance came here to mail some things. His movements were quick; he had come directly over not long after finishing his chat with Xiang Guangtai, and he happened to learn about the matter of this abnormal Charizard.

"Is this the Charizard?"

Clair examined the Charizard and conducted tests. The results left her very surprised; this Charizard's speed had improved considerably compared to others of its kind, even approaching that of the high-speed Dragonite.

Speed is a type of ability for Pokémon. In general, speed refers to the priority of a Pokémon's actions; Pokémon with high speed can act faster, while Pokémon with low speed can only act last.

However, among the five physical stats of a Pokémon, there also exists speed. This speed indicator affects how fast a Pokémon moves.

Among common moves, there are also moves like "Agility" and "Tailwind" that can clearly increase movement speed in their descriptions while also increasing action speed.

Therefore, an increase in individual speed values affects not only the right to act first but also the speed of daily flight and movement!

"It is indeed an abnormal improvement, but there is no damage to the Charizard's body. Rather, this abnormal improvement has actually made it stronger. What on earth is going on?"

Clair looked suspiciously at the sturdy Charizard, which puffed out its chest with some confidence and let out a roar!

"Oh, this Charizard seems very happy about this improvement. Come to think of it, which area has it been responsible for delivering goods to recently?"

Lance, who had been following Clair and hadn't spoken, spoke up in time, looking thoughtfully at the excited, big Charizard.

"Let me check." Nurse Joy of the Pokémon Center took out a stack of documents, and after careful review, found the Charizard's order history.

"It is marked as 'Sinnoh region'."

"Sinnoh? What kind of place is that?" Clair was stunned for a moment, and Lance was also taken aback, then immediately laughed: "Haha, so that's how it is!"

"Charizard, did you get something good from a customer?" Lance patted the Charizard, and the Charizard was startled, secretly thinking to itself that it hadn't said anything, so how was it discovered?

"Roar!" The Charizard let out a sound, somewhat unwillingly.

Lance crossed his arms with an expression that saw through everything: "It's okay, I know. That definitely wasn't something you asked the customer for. Let me think, it must have been something the customer gave you for the convenience of receiving packages, right?"

The Charizard scratched its dragon face: "Roar."

"Cousin, what are you talking about?" Clair was a bit confused and hurriedly asked: "Do you know something?" She then looked at the Charizard, put her hands on her hips, and accused: "What on earth is going on? Tell the truth quickly!"

"Roar!" Seeing that it couldn't hide it any longer, the Charizard had no choice but to walk to its work box and take out a lifelike Charizard wood carving.

"As expected!" Lance's eyes lit up, and he walked over quickly to pick up the ancient wood carving for a closer look, while Nurse Joy and Clair also quickly moved in to watch.

"What an ancient sculpture. Is it some kind of ancient artifact?" Nurse Joy was a bit puzzled. At the same time, she checked the Charizard's order history and found that there were indeed many orders related to sculptures.

"No, this is a reproduction of an antique, and it comes from the hands of a very skilled craftsman." Lance confirmed the origin of the sculpture: "But I can't feel any power from this sculpture now."

"Is it because the Charizard has already used it?"

The Charizard nodded and let out a roar, indicating that the sculpture had glowed once and never glowed again; now it was just a collectible.

"A sculpture can increase a Pokémon's speed? I've never heard of such a thing. Could it be that this wood carving was carved using some special wood?" Clair was puzzled and looked at Lance again, her eyes filled with scrutiny: "Come to think of it, why did you guess it right away?"

Lance was somewhat confident: "Heh heh, that's because I am also a regular customer of this shop!"

"Thanks to the items from that brilliant craftsman, I was able to defeat my nemesis Lorelei! Now my Dragon Legion is truly invincible!"

"By the way, since this sculpture can increase the speed of Dragon-type Pokémon, then... I should also buy another batch to further strengthen my Dragon Legion!"

"Wait!" Clair was a bit dazed: "Cousin, do you mean to say that you defeated Lorelei?"

"That's right, let me tell you about it in detail." Lance thought for a moment and suddenly remembered that he didn't seem to have promoted Xiang Guangtai's shop much. What a failure.

But it's not too late to share now!

"The so-called Sinnoh region is an area bordering Johto and Sinnoh. There lives a very brilliant item craftsman who can make all kinds of incredible items for battle and non-battle use. After using his items, you can bring all kinds of incredible buffs to your Pokémon!"

"Previously, I purchased an item called a 'Focus Sash' at his shop! The effect of this item is that even if you receive a one-hit KO attack, you can still hold on without falling. Even if the Pokémon has a strong enough bond with its trainer, it can continue to fight no matter how many times it is attacked!"

"It was precisely by relying on this that my Dragon Legion was able to defeat Lorelei's Ice Legion!"

Lance was full of confidence, looking invincible, while Clair opened her beautiful eyes wide, full of disbelief, and asked: "You're not making up a story, are you? Is there really such a shop?"

"Hmph, such a powerful item is indeed not enough to make people believe just by words, but I have already brought the Focus Sash over. Whether it has an effect or not, won't you know once you witness it with your own eyes?"

Lance took a Focus Sash out from his cape—no one knew where he had hidden it—and then handed it to Clair, while simultaneously sending Xiang Guangtai's shop link to Clair and the stunned Nurse Joy.

"I came here this time to pick up express mail. Consider this Focus Sash a gift from me to you!"

After Clair took the Focus Sash, she looked thoughtfully at Lance. Just when Lance was a bit confused, Clair's eyes gradually lit up.

"In other words, if I can also buy items suitable for the Dragon-type Pokémon I'm raising, then I can defeat you?"

"Ah, this..." Lance only then remembered that his cousin had a strong desire to win.

"Your training is actually not enough yet."

"What are you talking about! You clearly defeated Lorelei by relying on items, didn't you!" Clair lowered her head, looking at the shop on her Poké-device and the various items inside, her eyes getting brighter and brighter!

"Although we are both Dragon Envoys, you never acknowledge my strength! Now, as long as I buy high-quality items and defeat you, you won't have anything to say, right!"

"Hmph! That being said, how to choose the right item is also difficult for you, right!" Lance poured cold water on her appropriately:

"I chose the Focus Sash to deal with the weakness to the Ice type, and since we both use Dragon-type Pokémon, the Focus Sash is actually not the best choice of item!"

"That's because some Dragon-type Pokémon don't have the Dragon type, right!" Clair retorted appropriately.

Lance waved his hand: "In short, you still have a lot to learn in terms of item selection. Since you want to buy suitable items to fight me, then go ahead and buy them. I'll be waiting for you at the Indigo Plateau!"

"Sometimes, you also have to learn to accept failure so that you can go further."

Afterwards, Lance also urgently began to flip through his Poké-device, making selections in Xiang Guangtai's item shop!

Now that there are items, it will indeed cause a qualitative change in the battle situation!

He himself shouldn't be too proud; he should appropriately buy some new items! Lance thought carefully for a while. He secretly sent a private message:

【"Shopkeeper, can you provide some suggestions for move and item combinations here?"】

(End of chapter)