Night gradually fell.
Naturally, it was impossible to challenge the gym at night, so Nathan could only wait until the next day. After arriving at the hotel, he ordered room service, freshened up, and sat down by the floor-to-ceiling window, contemplating some moves that Flygon should learn.
First of all, Earthquake was a must.
Currently, Flygon had already learned Stomping Tantrum, so learning Earthquake wouldn't be too difficult. The two moves shared some similarities.
He also needed to learn Sand Tomb.
Sand Tomb could be used in combination with Sandstorm, trapping opponents within the storm and rendering them unable to move for a short time. It was essentially a restricting move, quite beneficial for Flygon's sandstorm tactics.
Then there were Dragon Claw as an upgrade from Dragon Breath, and also Substitute and Protect.
As for other moves—though there were many powerful ones Flygon could learn—they required time. For now, there was no rush.
After selecting the moves to learn, Nathan immediately purchased them from the system shop.
…
Evelyn: "Pokéblocks?"
Nathan: "Money?"
Evelyn: "Deal."
Nathan: "Deal."
This was the deal Nathan made with the rich heiress Evelyn the next morning—ahem—just a simple sale of Pokéblocks. After receiving her address, Nathan called in his Pidgeot Express and had it deliver the already-prepared Pokéblocks.
Yep, all the way to the airport.
Evelyn had arranged for a private jet to transport the Pokéblocks.
When Nathan learned about it, he couldn't help but sigh,
"Man, being rich is nice."
Because this wasn't just ordinary wealth.
Fortunately, not long after, Evelyn transferred the payment to Nathan—another 3 million PokéCoins, bringing his net worth close to 10 million again.
Feeling great.
"Alright, let's see if there's anything good this time."
Rubbing his hands together with an expectant smile, Nathan opened the system shop and checked the latest refresh.
Map of Frenzied Guidance – Price: 3 million PokéCoins!
(Friendly System Reminder: It's recommended NOT to go. You might not come back alive!)
Wishing Star – Price: 100 million PokéCoins!
Mystical Fruit – Price: 3 million PokéCoins!
"Holy crap."
Seeing the new listings, Nathan's eyes widened in shock and he couldn't help but curse.
But right after, he wore a helpless expression.
"Why are they so expensive?"
All three items were incredibly useful.
But the most eye-catching one was the Wishing Star, along with that string of zeros in the price—it was so overwhelming that Nathan didn't even dare look at it directly.
No way he could afford that.
Well, technically, if he sold everything, he might be able to—but that wasn't happening.
So, the Wishing Star was out of the question.
The 100-million price tag was simply too much. Even if Nathan could exchange it with some exclusive knowledge, it wouldn't be worth it. So, he reluctantly shifted his gaze away from the Wishing Star to the other two items.
First, the Mystical Fruit—a great item.
It could awaken a Pokémon's second ability.
Then, the Map of Frenzied Guidance—now that was mysterious.
It was clearly a map, but the system's warning not to go meant the location marked on it likely housed a very dangerous Pokémon.
Rubbing his chin, Nathan thought it over, then gritted his teeth and bought both the map and the Miracle Fruit, spending six million PokéCoins.
Boom—everything he earned from the exploration mission was gone in one go.
Luckily, Evelyn's payment covered part of that; otherwise, Nathan would've been broke again.
With the purchase completed, a crimson map and a glowing fruit appeared before him.
He put the map aside for now and focused on the Mystical Fruit.
The question was—who should he give it to?
Volcarona didn't need it. Pangoro didn't either.
Each Pokémon could awaken at most two abilities.
Among his other three Pokémon, Nathan temporarily ruled out Mimikyu—its current ability was strong, and there was no rush to awaken another.
As for Metagross, Clear Body was also excellent, preventing its stats from being lowered.
That left Flygon, whose Levitate ability, while useful, had a downside—it only worked against Ground-type moves. Against non-Ground types, it was essentially useless.
So in comparison, Flygon had the most to gain from awakening a second ability.
He just hoped it would be something good—Sand Veil or Sand Force would be great.
While thinking, Nathan released Flygon.
"Flyy ♪"
The tall, slender Flygon appeared before him.
The moment it emerged, it affectionately snuggled up to Nathan, rubbing its face against his and letting out a gentle sound.
"Alright, I called you out to give you something good." Nathan chuckled, rubbing Flygon's head.
"Flyy?"
Flygon blinked, curiosity written all over its face.
Nathan held the Mystical Fruit in front of Flygon and said,
"Eat this fruit—it'll make you stronger."
"Flyy!"
Without any hesitation, Flygon nodded and swallowed the fruit in one bite.
Immediately, a soft light began to glow from Flygon's body, surrounding it completely.
That meant the Mystical Fruit was starting to take effect.
Whether it would successfully awaken a new ability still remained to be seen.
"Hope it's a good one. Sand Veil or Sand Force would be perfect," Nathan murmured with a trace of anticipation in his eyes.
Then, shaking his head, he recalled Flygon back into its Poké Ball and picked up the map.
He needed to figure out where the marked location was—if it was too far, he'd have to wait for the right time to go.
But when Nathan sat down in front of his computer and compared the map to his digital map, a shocked expression spread across his face.
"…Tsk. No way—what a coincidence?"
The place marked on the map was located at the northern border of the city.
And just across that border—was another country's territory.
More importantly, it was the very place where Palkia was said to be sleeping.
Both locations were in the same area?
Could it be… that this map was pointing to Palkia's location?
No.
Probably not.
Nathan shook his head, falling into deep thought.
If it really were Palkia, the map wouldn't be called "Frenzied Guidance."
It had to be a different Pokémon.
"But maybe that's better—when I eventually go searching for Palkia, I can also check out what this one is."
Even if it was dangerous, Nathan now had strong backing—he was no ordinary trainer anymore.
Worst case scenario? He could ask Calyrex for help.
After all, he was doing work for Calyrex. If something dangerous happened, surely the king wouldn't just let him die… right? Hopefully…
"Whew."
Taking a deep breath, Nathan began pinpointing the exact location and planning a safe route to travel after his gym battle.
Even though he could ride Flygon, a proper flight path still needed to be mapped out.
Some Flying-type Pokémon had very strict territorial instincts—even in the air. They wouldn't allow others to fly through unless they were extremely weak.
For example, if a Flying-type Elite Pokémon with strong territorial instincts saw something below gym-level flying through its territory, it might ignore it.
But if it was something gym-level or higher, it would take it as a provocation.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, careful planning was essential.
By the time Nathan finished mapping out his route, an hour had passed.
"Whew."
Stretching his body, Nathan rubbed his cheeks and then picked up Flygon's Poké Ball.
"Come on out, Flygon."