Faced with Gurkinn charging straight at him, it took Caleb two and a half seconds to finally react.
"Chansey, save me!"
"Lucky～!"
Hearing his desperate call, the distant Chansey immediately sprang into action.
In a flash of dazzling white light, her figure disappeared from where she stood.
Teleport!
In the blink of an eye, she reappeared — right in front of Caleb.
And just at that moment, Gurkinn's punch landed squarely on her face.
BAM—
"Lucky～～"
A rosy blush instantly bloomed across Chansey's round cheeks.
"S-So tough…"
Gurkinn looked down at the fist he'd thrown and muttered in disbelief.
Clearly, he'd underestimated her bulk.
But Gurkinn wasn't just some frail old man. A seasoned warrior through and through, he recovered quickly from the surprise and instinctively turned around—
And froze.
At some point, Riolu had appeared behind him.
A bright blue sphere charged and ready in its hands.
Aura Sphere!
Gurkinn immediately shifted his stance, prepared to use his martial skills to deflect the incoming strike.
But in focusing all his attention on Riolu—
He completely forgot about Chansey.
"Lucky～"
Chansey let out a gentle coo as she reached out her stubby arms… and scooped Gurkinn up into a hug.
Then she jumped.
Seismic Toss!
Oh no.
Gurkinn realized it too late. He struggled, but Chansey's strength was absurd — easily on par with a heavyweight Pokémon.
BOOM—
Midair, Chansey hurled Gurkinn toward the ground.
He landed with a deep thud, embedding straight into the floor.
"Gurkinn has fainted! Chansey wins!"
That line echoed through Caleb's head.
He looked at the unmoving old man in the crater and muttered, "He's not… dead, right?"
This wasn't Pallet Town. Most people weren't walking plot armor like Ash. A Seismic Toss from Chansey would wreck most regular folks — let alone the elderly.
But Caleb was overthinking.
Three seconds later, Gurkinn groaned and pulled himself out of the hole.
He cracked his back with a grimace. "Ugh… my old spine…"
The ground is cracked and you're just sore?
Caleb didn't even have the energy to comment.
No wonder people from the early generations loved no-holds-barred brawls so much. Their physical stats were maxed out.
Thankfully, the League had outlawed no-rules street fights years ago. And thank goodness — because it was meant to stop people like this.
Gurkinn straightened up and gave Caleb a sheepish smile. "Apologies if I scared you. I just wanted to test you."
"Test me?" Caleb blinked.
Test what, exactly?
Don't think just 'cause you're old I won't call you out. I've got dirt on the last guy who tried this in my phone!
But Gurkinn replied calmly, "To test whether you're worthy of the inheritance. And now, I'm certain — you are."
He'd already been nearly convinced Caleb was the mysterious Aura Guardian causing a stir lately, but without solid proof, he didn't want to jump the gun.
A misfire would've been embarrassing.
So… that little "ambush" was his final check.
But clearly, his doubts were unnecessary.
Truly worthy of being an Aura Guardian.
A warm light appeared in Gurkinn's eyes.
"Inheritance?"
Caleb's eyes widened in shock as Gurkinn pulled out a rainbow-glowing stone from his pocket.
"That's… a Mega Stone!" Caleb gasped.
Gurkinn smiled and nodded. "Yes. Lucarionite — Lucario's Mega Stone. I hope you'll put it to good use."
Faced with such a precious gift, Caleb gave an awkward smile. "Aww, you really don't have to…"
And stuffed the Mega Stone directly into his pocket.
"Wait!" Gurkinn quickly added, "Mega Evolution requires more than just the stone and a Key Stone. The true core is the bond between trainer and Pokémon."
"Only with a strong enough connection can the resonance trigger evolution."
"In fact, there are ancient legends in Kalos of people who achieved Mega Evolution without any stones — purely through bond."
He recalled a Rain Trainer in Unova who managed to Mega Evolve with family heirloom stones — but only got a raw stat boost out of it.
No change in life force. No true transformation. Nothing but numbers.
...
After parting ways with Gurkinn, Caleb fiddled with the rainbow-glowing stone in his hand.
It wasn't his first time seeing one. His dad's hoarder of a warehouse used to have a bunch of them.
Mega Stones for Lopunny, Gardevoir, Altaria, Audino — all kinds of rare and weird stuff. His dad, with his extreme collecting addiction, never passed up that kind of thing.
But that was in the past.
Nowadays, all those "useless" collectibles had been sold off cheap just to help with household expenses.
He still remembered the time his dad had finished selling a batch. He'd clung to Caleb's leg sobbing:
"These were my precious babies… I raised them like my own… How could you sell your siblings like that?!"
Caleb had laughed in disbelief.
If circumstances allowed, I would've sold you too.
Thinking of it now only made his head ache again.
Even after selling off all of Mario's collectibles and using his own savings, the gym's monthly expenses meant they'd only last another six months.
Somehow, in just three months, he'd ended up with almost three or four hundred Pokémon.
How did this even happen?!
Ash had traveled for years and, even with thirty Tauros, barely cracked a hundred.
Let's see: the entire Nacli line, the Gliscor line, the Mismagius-led Ghost group, Skarmory line, Amoonguss family, Whimsicott family, plus Grafaiai and Goomy...
Okay, yeah… that's a lot.
The monthly food cost alone was brutal — and that didn't even include Pachirisu.
Clearly, once the tournament was over, he'd need a side hustle — fast.
He opened his system panel, but sadly, there was no way to directly exchange Emotion Points for cash.
He scrolled through his current skills:
[Fishing Lv5]
Mostly Magikarp bait. Unless I plan to become the next Magikarp salesman... pass.
[Master Chef Lv3]
[Luminous Cuisine Lv3]
[Delicious Cuisine Lv3]
Okay, maybe I could work at a five-star restaurant. Noted.
[Viridian Force Lv3]
Talk to Pokémon, Max out wild Pokémon affection, Heal Pokémon. Could easily qualify as an interpreter, forest ranger, or Pokémon doctor. Overqualified, really.
Both Blue and Professor Elm had invited him to join their labs before. If they paid well enough… maybe.
Still pending.
Next.
[Pokéblock Crafting Technique Lv4]
Perfectly crafts high-quality Pokéblocks. Fully understands berry types and traits. 98% success rate.
Yes.
This. Is. It.