Chapter 103: Cheng Cheng Sleeps, Everyone Lights Up

Cheng Cheng set out from Fanba City and headed toward Leiwen City. The journey between Fanba and Leiwen was quite long, so along the way, Cheng Cheng traveled while training his Pokémon.

After this period of travel, Cheng Cheng realized he needed to improve his own strength; he had an uneasy feeling that some danger was looming.

On the road, Cheng Cheng slowed his pace, knowing that given Ash’s situation, he would likely waste a lot of time along the way. So Cheng Cheng spent an entire day in the wilderness conducting battle training.

Standing in the open field, a gentle breeze brushed his face. Cheng Cheng picked up a kitchen knife and carefully sliced some tree fruits, occasionally sneaking a taste.

Beside him, ten Pokémon were playing. Chimecho, Taillow, and Pidgey flew around playfully in the sky. Lunatone, perhaps not used to the sunlight, floated in the air, dozing. Gardevoir watched with interest as Spoink and Gothita danced and spun together. Mr. Mime was off to the side, performing pantomime, creating numerous invisible barriers. These barriers often caused trouble for Cheng Cheng, who sometimes accidentally bumped into the glass walls. Slowpoke lay bored on the ground, while Girafarig fiddled with its spoons—sometimes straightening them, sometimes bending them—its intentions unclear.

“All right, everyone, it’s mealtime,” Cheng Cheng called out.

At his voice, the Pokémon swiftly gathered and went to their designated plates. To make feeding easier, Cheng Cheng had bought each of them their own plate.

After much practice, Cheng Cheng had finally discovered the flavors each Pokémon preferred. Now, he no longer worried about them rejecting the food he prepared.

Slowpoke quickly finished its meal and then glanced at the others.

Being the strongest leader, Lunatone was naturally off-limits. Chimecho was a veteran, so Slowpoke dared not provoke it. It also respected Gardevoir’s status, averting its gaze.

Next, Slowpoke approached Mr. Mime, only to be blocked by invisible glass barriers. No matter the angle, the barriers surrounded it—Mr. Mime had trapped itself in.

Slowpoke then moved toward Girafarig, but Girafarig vanished in an instant using teleportation.

Finally, Slowpoke looked at the smaller Pokémon. But their plates held too little food to even satisfy its hunger. So Slowpoke turned to Cheng Cheng.

Slowpoke approached and tugged at Cheng Cheng’s clothes. Cheng Cheng promptly kicked it away. Slowpoke sat down to the side, looking quite forlorn.

It wasn’t that Cheng Cheng was unwilling to prepare more food for Slowpoke; the meals contained high energy, already sufficient for Slowpoke’s digestion. Overfeeding Slowpoke would cause it to release excess energy by spraying water everywhere, likely causing trouble.

“All right, everyone, we’ll train hard this afternoon, and I’ll prepare extra food for dinner tonight.”

Upon hearing about afternoon training, the Pokémon drooped their heads, but when Cheng Cheng mentioned extra dinner, they bounced up excitedly, eager to start.

“Now, I’ll arrange the battle teams for this afternoon’s training. Chimecho and Slowpoke will be a pair. Slowpoke, use your Water Gun to help Chimecho practice speed. Taillow and Pidgey, you two are old partners; I trust you’ll train well. Next, Gardevoir and Lunatone, you’ll attack each other. Gothita and Spoink, you’re teamed up. Lastly, Mr. Mime and Girafarig, pair up.”

“Teams are set. Rest a bit, then start training.”

Cheng Cheng collected all the plates, washed them clean, and packed them into his backpack. Since bringing ten Pokémon along, his bag had become much heavier, and daily food consumption had increased significantly—a small headache for him.

After tidying up, Cheng Cheng found a clean spot and lay down to rest. He trusted the Pokémon to train diligently.

The Pokémon warmed up in pairs, occasionally glancing at Cheng Cheng. When they saw him fall asleep, Girafarig approached.

It placed its two spoons before Cheng Cheng and used Hypnosis. Cheng Cheng fell into a deep sleep.

“Yo-gi,” Girafarig swayed happily. The other Pokémon excitedly began to dance. Then, they ran to the far side of the camp, preparing for a celebration.

Slowpoke sprayed a Water Gun, shaping the stream into a ball with Telekinesis, and threw it at Girafarig. Girafarig caught the water ball with Telekinesis and passed it to Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime quickly formed a barrier to block the incoming water ball, then slapped it toward Gardevoir. Gardevoir caught the ball and passed it on.

Thus, the Pokémon began passing the water ball back and forth, playing joyfully.

“Is this really okay?” Chimecho suddenly expressed concern.

“Yes, yes. What if the trainer wakes up and sees this?” Spoink asked nervously.

“Fools, I used Hypnosis on the trainer. He won’t wake up so soon,” Girafarig said confidently.

“That’s right. When he wakes up, we’ll just pretend we were training,” Slowpoke added wisely, a departure from its usual dull demeanor.

“All right, if anyone doesn’t want to play, go train. Everyone else, start!”

Slowpoke conjured another water ball and threw it to Mr. Mime. The passing game resumed. Seeing how things were, the other Pokémon joined in, and the water ball festivity was in full swing.

Slowpoke caught a water ball, threw it to Girafarig, who passed it to Chimecho. Chimecho controlled the ball with Telekinesis and flicked it toward Lunatone. Lunatone used Reflect to bounce the ball away.

The ball landed near Spoink. Spoink used its springy tail to bounce up and strike the ball away. The ball hit the ground and burst.

“All right, Spoink loses this round. Tonight’s dinner is halved for you. Let’s keep going!”

At first, the Pokémon were simply playing with the water balls, but soon they grew bored. So they made a bet: whoever broke the most water balls would lose half their dinner, and all the forfeited food would be given to the Pokémon who broke the fewest balls.

This plan was Slowpoke’s idea—allowing it to eat more at dinner. It chuckled as it imagined the bounty.

“All right, Slowpoke, make the next water ball.”

“Got it, no problem.”

Slowpoke produced another water ball and launched it. The Pokémon passed balls endlessly, eventually forgetting who had lost how many times, only that the game brought them great joy.

Time passed, and the Pokémon completely forgot about their battle training.

Suddenly, Slowpoke formed a huge water ball and hurled it at Chimecho.

Chimecho tried to control it with Telekinesis, but the water ball was too large and hit it directly, trapping Chimecho inside.

Chimecho struggled inside the water ball, barely able to breathe.

“Chimecho, don’t move, I’m coming!” Gardevoir shouted.

Using Magical Leaf, Gardevoir shattered the water ball, freeing Chimecho.

“Are you okay?” Gardevoir hurried over to check.

“You idiot!”

For the first time, the usually calm Chimecho was angry and launched an Energy Ball.

This attack was one Cheng Cheng had given it to make up for its lack of powerful moves.

The Energy Ball struck Slowpoke, causing it considerable pain.

“Idiot! Take this!”

Slowpoke retaliated with Hydro Pump, drenching all the Pokémon in the vicinity.

Lunatone, as a Rock-type, grew furious and launched a barrage of Rock Blast. The stones hit Slowpoke and the others alike.

The Pokémon, now all angered, unleashed their signature moves: Gardevoir’s Shadow Ball, Chimecho’s Energy Ball, Mr. Mime’s Barrage of Slaps. Chaos erupted into a full-scale brawl.

The Pokémon attacked indiscriminately, striking whoever was in range, turning the scene into utter pandemonium.

Cheng Cheng closed his eyes and dreamed again—this time of events from the ancient world. Seeing the past still pained him deeply.

Yet this time, he sensed something different: a powerful energy within. He sought to uncover it, exploring incessantly.

Suddenly, a cool sensation washed over him, and he awoke with a start.

Cheng Cheng opened his eyes to find himself lying on the ground, his face wet and clothes soaked.

He had been hit by Slowpoke’s Hydro Pump. The attack had originally been aimed at Lunatone, but Lunatone, disliking water, used Telekinesis to deflect the blast, which struck the sleeping Cheng Cheng instead—waking him.

Seeing the chaotic scene before him, Cheng Cheng could hardly believe his eyes.

“What the hell have you all been doing?” he shouted.