I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

Chapter 717 - 717: Ceruledge

"Char!"Charcadet could hardly believe it. Sensing the new moves it had just learned, it immediately used Fire Blast on a stone beside it.

A small burst of flames shaped like the character 大 shot out, blasting the stones away and leaving a scorched black mark on the ground.

"As long as you're willing to follow me, I can not only teach you moves but also help you evolve and become stronger. But if you don't want to, I won't force you. You can leave," Gary said.

"Char!"

Before Charcadet could recover from its surprise, it was stunned all over again when Gary said he would let it leave.

Charcadet wasn't very old, and this was the first time it had ever met a Trainer like this. Even Pokémon who had lived for more than a decade would likely have never encountered a human Trainer like Gary before.

"Think it over carefully. If you don't want to, I'll find another Charcadet," Gary said.

"Char...!"

Charcadet didn't know how to make a decision for a moment. It had thought Gary would rely on Annihilape's fists to force it into submission, but Gary hadn't followed the usual routine and had actually given it a choice.

"By the way, you can eat this. You should like it a lot."

Gary took out a few energy blocks specifically prepared for Fire-type Pokémon and tossed them to Charcadet. Then he went off to rest on his own.

"Think it over. If you don't want to follow me, just leave." With one last reminder, Gary walked back to his sleeping bag to continue resting.

Charcadet was dumbfounded. Gary really had no intention of forcing it.

"Anni."

Annihilape glanced at Charcadet, said a few words, then walked over to Gary to guard him, paying no more attention to Charcadet.

Charcadet: "...!"

The next day.

Gary was woken up by a Growl from Pokémon in the wild acting as his early alarm. He didn't try to go back to sleep. Instead, he got up to check whether Charcadet was still around.

Gary stood up and looked around, only to find that Charcadet was nowhere in sight.

"Ohh~ Looks like it didn't seize the opportunity," Gary said.

"Anni."

Annihilape nodded. It had already given Charcadet some advice the night before, but unfortunately Charcadet had still chosen to leave. All Annihilape could say was that Charcadet simply couldn't recognize a good chance when it saw one.

Annihilape had spoken to Charcadet the previous night.

If it wanted to become strong enough to defeat Annihilape, then it should follow Gary. Gary would help it become stronger.

After that, Charcadet had stayed for a few more hours before suddenly leaving. Seeing this, Annihilape hadn't bothered to persuade it further. It just meant Charcadet's fate wasn't meant to be.

"Time for us to leave too."

Although the morning light was still faint in the sky, it didn't affect Gary's plans.

After quickly packing up and extinguishing the campfire, Gary released Cyclizar and prepared to head out.

Just as Gary was about to step onto Cyclizar's back, a voice called out from behind him.

"Char!"

Gary turned around and saw Charcadet running toward him, holding two Berries in its hands.

Gary was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Charcadet to come back. Had it gone out to look for food?

"Char."

Charcadet ran up to Gary and handed him one of the Berries.

Gary accepted the Berry. It was a chocolate-like Berry, rich in oil—a favorite food of many Fire-type Pokémon. Charcadet, being a Fire type, naturally loved them too.

"Did you go out to find something to eat?" Gary asked.

"Char."

Charcadet nodded.

It had been willing to stay, but since morning was approaching, it had gone out to find some fruit for Gary to eat.

Gary marveled at how strange fate could be. If he had packed up any faster, Charcadet might have come back to find him already gone.

"Remember, when you go out, you have to tell me first, especially when you want to eat something. Even if you don't want to eat, you still need to let me know. Understand?" Gary lectured.

"Char!"

Charcadet didn't seem to mind and simply nodded, then went back to munching on its chocolate Berry.

Seeing Charcadet eating, Gary handed the chocolate Berry to Cyclizar.

Cyclizar also loved oily fruits and swallowed it in a single bite.

After Charcadet finished eating the chocolate Berry, Gary took out the Malicious Armor from his System Storage.

"Char!"

The moment Charcadet saw the Malicious Armor, its eyes lit up. It could sense that the Malicious Armor would be enormously helpful to it—that was what had drawn it in last night.

"This is the Malicious Armor. It's the evolution item you need. Since you're willing to come with me, consider this a gift from me," Gary said, placing the Malicious Armor down in front of Charcadet.

"Char!"

Charcadet was instantly moved and stepped forward with reverence.

Charcadet was a Pokémon that lived alone. From the moment it hatched from its egg, it would live on its own.

Both Armarouge and Ceruledge were rather irresponsible parents. They would simply leave the Pokémon Eggs in what they considered a safe place and abandon them.

If an Armarouge happened to come across a wild Charcadet, it would sometimes help look after it. But Ceruledge didn't act like a parent at all and had no concern for a Charcadet's life or death.

From the moment Charcadet hatched, this was the first time it had ever felt cared for.

"Char!"

The little Charcadet, without even touching the Malicious Armor first, looked up at Gary with a devout expression and performed a proper knight's salute.

Charcadet only ever gave their knight's salute to the Trainer they truly trusted, and once a Trainer accepted the salute, Charcadet would remain loyal to them for life.

"I understand your loyalty. Go on now, evolve," Gary urged gently.

"Char."

Charcadet nodded and immediately reached out to touch the Malicious Armor. The moment they made contact, both the Malicious Armor and Charcadet began to glow, radiating the brilliant white light of evolution.

The two were bathed in evolutionary light, merging together. Charcadet's height grew rapidly, right before Gary's eyes, until it stood at nearly the same height as Gary himself.

As the light of evolution faded, a Ceruledge appeared, clad in dark purple armor and wielding two blazing purple flame swords.

"Can you retract those flame swords?" Gary asked.

Ceruledge nodded. The flame swords burning in its hands dispersed, revealing a pair of hand-like appendages that had extended out from its wrists—hands that had previously looked like sword hilts.

"So you do have hands."

Gary had always wondered how Ceruledge managed to eat without hands. It turned out the flame swords could be freely summoned and dismissed, and it had proper hands underneath.

Ceruledge: (O_O)??

Wasn't it normal to have hands? What was so surprising about that?

Gary once again checked Ceruledge's data after evolution.

[Pokémon: Ceruledge ♀]

[Type: Fire / Ghost]

[Level: 16]

[Potential: Elite]

[Ability: Weak Armor (When hit by a physical move, Defense is lowered by 1 stage and Speed is raised by 2 stages. Consecutive physical moves will keep triggering this Ability.)]

[Moves: Leer, Ember, Clear Smog, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Claw.]

[Taught Moves: Protect, Rest, Fire Blast, Flare Blitz.]

[Friendship: 255]