Chapter 168: Evolve, Giant Kingler!

In the rest area of the Futaba City Pokemon Center, Xiao Gang clutched Huo La's arm, shaking excitedly: "Huo La! Can you believe it? Marshadow has actually been staying inside my shadow! When I fought the Black Windcoat Man, it suddenly came to rescue me!"

"Stop shaking, stop shaking, my head's about to fall apart." Huo La hurriedly reached out and pressed his shoulder, both amused and exasperated.

Xiao Gang halted his motion, a face full of surprise: "You're not surprised at all? You already knew?"

"I'm surprised, but more than that I'm heart‑broken." Huo La covered his chest, deliberately putting on a plaintive expression.

With Marshadow protecting him, he only dared to let Xiao Gang go to hold off the Black Windcoat Man.

As he had expected, when Graveler was knocked down and Arbok lunged at the Steelix, Marshadow's Seven Star Soul‑Stealing Leg suddenly kicked out from Xiao Gang's shadow, instantly repelling Arbok.

It was precisely this sudden situation, plus the Black Windcoat Man receiving a retreat signal, that made him unwilling to leave.

"Marshadow staying in my shadow must be because you arranged it, right?" Xiao Gang quickly caught on, his eyes showing understanding.

"Hmm." Huo La nodded in acknowledgment; Marshadow had already acted, and there was no need to hide it.

"Then what condition did you promise him?" Xiao Gang pressed further. He could naturally see that Marshadow showed no signs of being captured.

"The price was agreeing to help it rescue the Phoenix, and… a hiring fee of 200,000 each year." Huo La shrugged helplessly.

"Hiring fee?" Xiao Gang was stunned, eyes wide, "I get the rescuing the Phoenix part, but why does a Pokemon need money?"

"I want to know too!" Huo La spread his hands, full of confusion, "A Pokemon demanding human money is just absurd."

"Little ghost, I suspect you're slandering me!!!!" Gengar's voice suddenly rang in Huo La's mind.

"No matter what, I'll help you!" Xiao Gang suddenly patted Huo La's shoulder, his gaze especially firm.

Huo La's eyes lit up, and he immediately leaned in: "Really? Then will you give me the hiring fee for Marshadow?"

"…I'm helping you rescue the Phoenix together." Xiao Gang pushed him away with a dark face, "Figure out the money yourself."

Huo La's face collapsed instantly, then he straightened up seriously: "Honestly, if you want to help, first boost the Pokemon's strength."

"You've already seen the Masked Man's power; at our current level, it's just a suicide mission. By the way, Chakra's Steelix is really imposing; haven't you considered evolving the Golem for a try?"

Hearing this, Xiao Gang fell silent gradually.

After a while, he slowly nodded, his tone resolute: "You're right. After this incident I finally understand that to become the world's top Pokemon Breeder, merely caring for Pokemon isn't enough; you must also improve your own strength, otherwise you can't even protect them."

Seeing Xiao Gang had come to terms, Huo La stood up: "Fine, then I'll leave my Pokemon for you to look after for now; I'm going to evolve the Kingler and raise its power."

He rented a training room from Nurse Joy, and released the Kingler.

The System Task reward "Kingler Evolution Condition" was indeed exactly as he guessed—evolve it using a Water Stone.

He pulled a bright‑blue Water Stone from his backpack and twirled it in his hand: it was bought from the Pokemon Center's merchandise area, heavier and more energetic than the one he'd gotten before, costing only 5,000 more, a superb value.

"Kingler, are you ready? Next, we're evolving." Huo La crouched, looking at the claw‑waving Pokemon before him.

"Claw!" the Kingler shouted excitedly, its two claws "click‑click"ing, clearly full of anticipation.

Huo La handed over the Water Stone; the Kingler immediately clamped its claws around it, and its whole body was enveloped by a burst of dazzling white light.

The reason Huo La was so eager to evolve the Kingler was twofold: it was already near its evolution threshold, and there were very few usable Pokemon for the "Lai Yi" identity.

Houndour had just hatched, with little combat power;

Vileplume would expose the identity as soon as it was taken out;

Snorlax is a glutton, can't be raised;

Agate Jellyfish is still cooperating with Dr. Zheng Hui to build the Jellyfish Reserve.

After much thought, only the newly captured Muk and the evolved Giant Kingler could serve as Lai Yi's main force.

Before Huo La could think any longer, the white light gradually faded.

The Kingler that had been standing there vanished, replaced by a larger Giant Kingler—its left claw was especially thick, the right one relatively small, yet still powerful when swung.

More interestingly, the once‑wise eyes now inexplicably carried a few hints of "lewdness", looking especially lively.

"Not bad, not bad, this size, these claws… if I use it to make instant noodles, it'll last at least three days." Huo La patted the Giant Kingler's shell satisfiedly, finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Claw, claw!" the Giant Kingler waved its claws as if protesting.

"There are still too few Pokemon; we have to go to the Wild Field Area anyway." Huo La sighed, then shook his head: "Forget it, I don't want to think about it; after these days of hassle, I'd better get some proper sleep."

After night fell, the Futaba City Pokemon Center was especially quiet; Huo La was sleeping soundly.

"Dong dong dong!" A rapid series of knocks rang out, the force so strong it seemed ready to smash the door panel, instantly pulling Huo La from his dream.

He rubbed his sleepy eyes, his mind not fully awake, his first reaction was to reach for the Pokeball by his pillow while lowering his voice: "Old Ghost, who's outside? Did Chakra's people chase after us?"

Gengar's slow voice drifted from the shadow, thick with impatience: "Chase what, and who could it be? It's that little Bilan girl. No business knocking randomly, disturbing my sleep…"

Before the sentence finished, the voice fell completely silent, evidently retreating back into the shadow to "catch up on sleep".

Huo La silently muttered: You're a ghost, how can you "disturb" anyone's sleep?

But aside from the mutter, he also knew that Bilan showing up at this late hour was trouble he couldn't dodge.

He yawned, got up from the bed, shuffled in his slippers to the door, just as he was about to ask through the door "Why are you here at this hour?" the door opened and he was stunned—Bilan stood in the doorway, hair a mess, clothes torn in several places, arms stained with soil and grass, looking especially ragged.

Before Huo La could speak, Bilan pushed past him, hurried into the room, scanned the area, then headed straight for the bathroom, slamming the door shut with a "bang".

Huo La stood still, stared blankly for a while before holding his forehead and shaking his head.

He turned, closed the door, walked to the bedside, sat down, thought a moment then got up and pulled a set of spare clothes from his backpack: a loose gray T‑shirt and sweatpants, the size a bit large for Bilan but better than a ripped shirt.

He placed the clothes at the bathroom door, lightly knocked: "Clothes are at the door, you can make do for now. Whatever it is, we'll talk after you finish washing."

Water splashed in the bathroom, and after a few seconds came Bilan's muffled reply: "Got it."