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Chapter 105: Iono's Choice, Battle Norman Again!
🕑 Added 2025-09-07 13:31:10 +0000 UTCLooking at the flurry of comments streaming through the chat, Iono suddenly found herself hesitating.
Based on the hints these candies provided, it seemed like higher-level Pokémon gained more experience from these candies, so logically it would be better to save them until her Pokémon reached higher levels.
But those constantly appearing comments suddenly reminded her of something—the only reason she'd gotten these candies in the first place was because she was in the top two of the progress leaderboard, earning her this reward.
If she couldn't maintain her position on the leaderboard during the next ranking settlement, she naturally wouldn't receive another set.
While her current Pokémon were all around level 35 or 36, and theoretically she could spend several hours grinding in the nearby grass to raise them to the current level cap.
But that would take a massive amount of time.
And Iono really wasn't sure—with the player count constantly growing and more and more professional trainers flooding in—whether she could still maintain her spot at the top of the progress leaderboard.
So from a long-term perspective, using this box of candies now to directly boost her team's overall level, max out quickly to clear the current gym, continue advancing game progress, and secure her position on the leaderboard was undoubtedly the most cost-effective plan.
Plus, Zeraora was still waiting for her at that power plant nearby!
What's more, the most important point was—maintaining her position on the leaderboard would earn her real-world rewards.
Under these circumstances, hoarding some in-game items seemed like it would actually be a huge loss.
With this realization, Iono's eyes focused with determination as she made her decision.
—Eat the candies and go all out!!
She immediately selected the remaining 4 intermediate Rare Candies from her bag and used them on each Pokémon in her team!
The entire Rare Candy gift box was quickly depleted, and all 5 Pokémon currently in Iono's team were boosted to the current level cap—level 40.
These 5 Pokémon were her starter Ampharos, her Electabuzz that had evolved into Electivire, the Pikachu she'd encountered in Petalburg Woods, the Magneton she'd caught before challenging the Electric-type gym, and the Manectric she'd caught on the return trip from Lavaridge Town after completing the Fire-type gym.
Compared to her team when she first set out, Iono's current battle strength was leagues beyond what it used to be.
Almost every Pokémon possessed incredibly powerful offensive capabilities. With Electric Terrain's boost, combined with everyone knowing the high-power move Thunderbolt, it was essentially a supremely powerful assault team!
The reason her Norman gym challenge had gotten stuck was simply because Norman's Pokémon levels were indeed too high.
But now, after consuming the Rare Candies, that was no longer an issue!
Sure enough, after her entire team reached the current level cap, when Iono challenged Norman again, those Pokémon that previously required careful handling were almost effortlessly defeated by Thunderbolt attacks.
Although Norman's powerful Pokémon lineup still gave Iono some headaches during battle, this time was at least far better than the last.
In the intense battle, time ticked by minute by minute.
Twenty minutes later.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
With Iono's command, brilliant electrical light erupted from Pikachu's body, successfully hitting Slaking and taking away its last bit of HP.
As Slaking fell and Norman sent out his final Pokémon—Kangaskhan—Iono finally felt herself relax slightly.
This gym battle was her most perfectly executed attempt since eating the candies, with paralysis status triggering at excellent rates.
Now Norman only had this final Pokémon left, while her team still had Magneton and Pikachu at full health, plus her lead Pokémon Ampharos with half its HP remaining.
At this point, many viewers in the chat started sending comments.
[Three against one, advantage is ours!]
[This should be the streamer's smoothest run yet.]
[Leaderboard rewards are so useful, I said she should use them, feels like clearing became so much easier.]
However, these were all from viewers who hadn't watched Cynthia's stream.
Those who came from Cynthia's stream and knew what was about to happen were sitting in front of their screens, many unconsciously breaking into knowing smiles.
Because they knew what was coming next was when this gym battle would truly "begin"!
Soon, with Electric Terrain's boost, Pikachu successfully traded its battle capability to take away most of Kangaskhan's HP.
As the new turn began, Iono directly sent out Ampharos from her back line, still at half health.
Unlike in the real world, in the game, Ampharos wasn't actually that fast, but it was clearly faster than the bulky Magneton and Kangaskhan.
And with just this one attack opportunity, Ampharos could successfully finish off Kangaskhan's remaining HP!
"Please, Ampharos, Thunderbolt!"
With Iono's command, brilliant lightning erupted from Ampharos's body again, successfully hitting the nearby Kangaskhan and completely draining its HP bar.
Seeing this, Iono's heart finally completely relaxed.
Norman's gym was indeed tough, but thank goodness she'd used those Rare Candies to boost her team's level. Otherwise, she'd probably be stuck at this gym for several more hours before having a chance to clear it.
Since the candies had bought her precious time, after defeating him, she'd immediately push forward with full effort!
And...
She was finally going to see that Pokémon called Zeraora from her dreams again!
But just as Iono's emotions were surging, she suddenly noticed something abnormal on screen.
—The battle that should have ended didn't proceed to the results screen. Instead, Norman appeared on the battlefield.
The game's music suddenly became intense and exciting at that moment.
Remembering those inexplicably cryptic comments that had floated through the chat earlier, Iono suddenly had an ominous feeling.
The next moment, Norman across from her raised one hand.
"Child, first, I must emphasize once again—I'm proud of your progress. Your performance has far exceeded my expectations."
"But—as I said before, a battle is a battle, and I must give it my all."
"Come, Kangaskhan, show her the bond and connection between you and me!"
"Mega Evolution!!"
Mega Evolution?
This familiar yet somewhat strange term made Iono freeze for a moment, but the next instant she saw a brilliant rainbow evolution light suddenly burst before her eyes, enveloping Kangaskhan's body.
This was evolution light?
Iono was instantly confused. Wait, wasn't Kangaskhan a Pokémon with no evolutionary forms?
Why was this light appearing around it?
Before Iono could think more about it, a notification appeared before her eyes, along with a brand new HP bar that had recovered to half!
[Kangaskhan has successfully evolved into "Mega Kangaskhan"!]
[Its HP has been restored!]
[Mega Kangaskhan's ability has changed!]
What happened next was completely predictable.
The Ampharos Iono had left on the field was swept by Mega Kangaskhan's Parental Bond ability after a Power-Up Punch boost, getting completely steamrolled through her entire team. It was exactly the same situation Cynthia had faced against this Mega Kangaskhan.
But unlike Cynthia, when Ampharos took Kangaskhan's attack and fainted, it didn't trigger the Mega Evolution mechanism.
At this moment, as Iono's final Magneton was also taken out by a Drain Punch that triggered its Sturdy ability, only to be finished off by Parental Bond's follow-up hit, the chat exploded with discussion.
[So that's what you veterans were all excited about! You already knew Norman would pull out this insane whatever-evolution!]
[Holy crap, I actually saw Kangaskhan evolve mid-battle, am I dreaming?]
[This Mega Evolution thing seems crazy strong, this Kangaskhan can actually double-hit AND trigger move effects, that's totally broken!]
[Even Sturdy got one-shot, this is invincible.]
These were obviously new viewers who had no idea what would happen in Norman's gym battle.
Meanwhile, those veteran viewers who'd watched Cynthia's stream were also somewhat confused.
[Huh, weird, shouldn't the streamer's Pokémon also be able to Mega Evolve? Doesn't the streamer have an Ampharos Mega Stone?]
[Maybe Ampharos fainted too early? Can only the last Pokémon trigger this special evolution?]
[I don't think it's designed that way, otherwise this gym would be pretty unreasonable. There's no way to beat this Kangaskhan without Mega Evolution.]
They'd expected that after Iono got shocked by Mega Kangaskhan, her Ampharos would survive with 1 HP like Cynthia's Sceptile and also Mega Evolve.
Everyone was even looking forward to seeing what kind of new ability and powers Ampharos would gain after Mega Evolution.
But now... this battle just ended with Magneton's defeat.
However, there was something different. Iono's character hadn't returned to the Pokémon Center, but was still standing in front of Norman.
At this moment, her heart was just recovering from the shock of seeing this so-called Mega Kangaskhan, and she wanted to check the chat to understand what was actually happening.
After a brief read, she immediately understood.
So... this so-called Mega Evolution was an extremely special evolution form in the game.
And according to the chat, when Cynthia faced this Mega Kangaskhan in her gym battle, her Pokémon had also undergone Mega Evolution.
Right, now that she thought about it, she had indeed received an item called "Ampharos Mega Stone" after helping that middle-aged man in Rustboro City.
She hadn't known what it was for at the time, but now it seemed that stone was meant to let her Ampharos complete this kind of evolution, right?
But why hadn't she triggered this effect in the recent battle?
What... went wrong?
Iono couldn't help but frown in thought.
At this moment in the game, Norman had approached her character and began speaking:
"My daughter, your strength has indeed improved by leaps and bounds, which is excellent, but you seem to have overlooked something on your path of progress."
"As a trainer, while developing and improving your Pokémon's abilities is important, what's even more important is building an unbreakable relationship and bond with them."
With that, Norman turned and patted the shoulder of the Mega Kangaskhan behind him, showing a smile.
"What I just demonstrated to you in battle was a special mechanism called Mega Evolution. As long as you have the corresponding Mega Stone for your Pokémon and a Key Stone, you can harness the power of these two items through the bond between trainer and Pokémon, allowing them to complete a special evolution."
"If you get the chance, you should definitely see if you can obtain Mega Stones corresponding to your own Pokémon."
"I've already asked someone to help you find a Key Stone... there might be news later."
With Norman's words, the chat immediately erupted in discussion.
[Huh, the cutscene the streamer triggered seems different from Cynthia's. Is it because she didn't successfully Mega Evolve during battle?]
[The streamer clearly has the stone for Ampharos, so according to Norman, does that mean the streamer doesn't have a bond with Ampharos?]
[Can't say there's no bond, normal Mega Evolution requires a Key Stone after all. Can only say the bond between the streamer and Ampharos isn't strong enough like Cynthia and Sceptile's to substitute for that item.]
[I think that's it. Cynthia always interacts with her Pokémon after every battle, feels like she really treats those Pokémon as her partners and takes them seriously.]
[True, compared to that, the streamer seems to think about advancing progress every day and rarely interacts with her own Pokémon, so not enough friendship means no Key Stone-less Mega Evolution, which makes sense.]
Reading the chat's updates and speculation left Iono stunned again.
In this moment, she suddenly realized a problem.
Looking back, it was indeed just like these viewers said. Ever since encountering that Pokémon called Zeraora, she'd been rushing to catch up on progress every day, actually neglecting the Pokémon in her team.
But thinking about it carefully, compared to that "ethereal" Zeraora...
Ampharos, Pikachu, Galvantula, and Magneton. They were the partners who'd been by her side all along, the ones she needed to cherish.
How had she forgotten about this?
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