I haven't decided on a name for my Pokémon trainer yet.

Comparing it to my high school, it's like night and day. High school is just like playing house. Only when I got to college did I really embark on the path of a trainer.

People like Ye Feng who left early are truly a minority.

After visiting the school, and promising my senior that I would consider applying to Jiangning University, I left satisfied.

Chapter 68 An unexpected encounter with Zhang Qiang in Shanghai, and a battle against the Charizard.

After visiting Jiangning University, Ye Feng went directly to Shanghai.

At the hotel, Zhang Qiang fed Growlithe an Energy Cube made primarily of Chili Berries. He had often fed Chili Berries to Charmander when it was still raising it, and Charmeleon's Fire-type moves were indeed significantly more powerful than others.

Inspired by this, Ye Feng tried using chili peppers as the main ingredient and successfully created spicy energy cubes, ranging from mild, medium, and extra spicy to the most intense spiciness, which can fully satisfy the taste needs of Growlithe.

At first, Growlithe might not have gotten used to it, but it quickly grew to like the flavor. Now, it doesn't taste like spicy energy cubes at all.

I checked the time; it was time to go have dinner.

As soon as I went downstairs, I ran into someone I never expected.

"Zhang Qiang, what are you doing here?" Ye Feng raised his hand and patted the person in front of him.

"Huh? Ye Feng?" Zhang Qiang turned around and was also surprised to see Ye Feng. "I'm here to visit Shanghai University."

"What a coincidence, me too! Let's go together tomorrow." Ye Feng was naturally happy to see his classmate and extended an invitation.

Zhang Qiang shook his head: "I went today, and I have to leave tomorrow."

Ye Feng sighed in regret, saying that being alone was a bit boring; it would be much better if he had someone he knew with him.

Zhang Qiang looked Ye Feng up and down, and said somewhat uncertainly, "Have you gotten a little darker?"

Ye Feng smiled awkwardly: "I went to the secret realm to train a while ago, so I might have gotten a bit tanned."

Zhang Qiang's eyes widened: "A secret realm? You actually went to a secret realm?"

Ye Feng scratched his head. "It's just going to the secret realm, what's so surprising?"

Zhang Qiang clenched his fists. Damn it, Ye Feng must be even stronger after training in the secret realm; he's ahead of us again. He stared intently at Ye Feng: "Let's have a match!"

Ye Feng was taken aback for a moment, then delighted and readily agreed: "But I have to go have dinner first."

"I haven't eaten yet either, let's eat together."

After finishing their meal, the two went to a nearby public gaming area—gaming areas are everywhere, you can find them just by wandering around, just like shared bicycles.

The two stood facing each other.

"Ye Feng, let me see how much stronger you've become in this time." Zhang Qiang took out a Poké Ball, his eyes burning with desire.

Ye Feng touched his nose and decided to remain silent to avoid hurting him.

"Go, Charmeleon!" Zhang Qiang threw out a Poké Ball, and Charmeleon, which had not been seen for a long time, appeared on the field.

"Roar!" Charmeleon opened its mouth and breathed out a flame, then stared intently at the Poké Ball on Ye Feng's chest. It was its old rival, but now it had become much stronger, and it was sure it could defeat it this time!

The flames that Charmeleon spewed were noticeably hotter than before, and the flames on its tail were also much larger. It seems that Zhang Qiang has not neglected the training and nurturing of Charmeleon.

"Kirullian." Facing Zhang Qiang's Charmeleon, it was naturally impossible to send Growlithe.

"Growlithe, you watch from the sidelines and observe carefully how Charmeleon uses Fire-type moves."

Ye Feng released two Pokémon: Kirlia stood on the field, while Growlithe stayed beside him.

"Growlithe?" Zhang Qiang was surprised. "The Pokémon egg hatched? And judging by the luster of its fur, it's been raised so well."

Compared to Ye Feng hatching Pokémon eggs, Zhang Qiang, with the help of his elders, caught a Machop with good potential in the wild. Although he started earlier than Ye Feng, his training level was not as good as Growlithe's.

"What exactly did Ye Feng feed the Pokémon?" Looking at Growlithe's fur and its excited appearance, Zhang Qiang couldn't help but suspect that Ye Feng had given the Pokémon hormones.

"It's only been hatched for a while, so it's a good opportunity for it to observe Charmeleon's mastery of Fire-type moves. You don't have any objections, do you?" Ye Feng asked.

Zhang Qiang shook his head, indicating it was alright. Although their relationship was more competitive, learning from each other was common. If Zhang Qiang ever caught a Psychic-type Pokémon, he would definitely come to Ye Feng to learn as well; being a trainer wasn't shameful. Similarly, Ye Feng's idea for Spicy Energy Cubes came from Zhang Qiang feeding him Chili Berries.

Ye Feng knew, of course, that Zhang Qiang wouldn't object; otherwise, he wouldn't have released Growlithe directly.

"Then I'll go first. Charmeleon, Flame Vortex!" Zhang Qiang didn't hold back and took the first strike.

Charmeleon opened its mouth and spewed flames, quickly forming a huge, multi-layered vortex that enveloped it. Then, Charmeleon pushed the vortex of flames towards Kirlia.

Ye Feng's eyes lit up. Using the flame vortex like this could not only serve as cover but also as an attack. What a great tactic!

Kirlian retreated all the way back and was soon forced to the edge of the field.

Ye Feng glanced at Growlithe and noticed its intense gaze; it was watching very intently. Although it couldn't learn Flame Whirlpool yet, observing and learning in advance would greatly help in mastering the moves later.

"Strengthen your mental focus!" Ye Feng ordered.

Kirlia stretched out her hand, unleashing a powerful burst of psychic energy, and brutally pressed down on Charizard. The originally huge vortex of flames was deformed and could no longer advance an inch.

"So strong! Kirlia's Nen has grown to this level!" Zhang Qiang frowned. Ye Feng had never confronted him head-on before; he always dodged and then looked for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Flames erupt!"

Charmeleon opened its mouth and spewed out a large fireball, which fell towards Kirlia. The vortex of fire, no longer sustained by Charmeleon, quickly dissipated.

"Shadow ball!"

Kirlia instantly conjured a Shadow Ball and threw it, which collided with the fireball that splashed with flames, causing an explosion. A large amount of sparks rained down on Kirlia.

"Get away!"

Kirlia moved lightly through the rain of fire, dodging the flames as if dancing. Occasionally, she would touch one or two, but they were blocked by "Steel".

Completely useless? Zhang Qiang was shocked. He had guessed that the splashing flames wouldn't pose much of a threat to the opponent, but he never expected it to be so ineffective.

"Shadow Ball!" Ye Feng commanded.

Kirlia threw Shadow Balls with both hands simultaneously, aiming at Charmeleon.

This time, he deliberately chose to have Kirlia and Charmeleon face off head-on, just to see how far his mobile turret plan had progressed. Zhang Qiang's Charmeleon was clearly also going for a strong firepower suppression strategy, making it a good test subject.

"Spray flames!"

The flames and the shadow ball collided, causing an explosion that sent up a cloud of smoke.

"Dragon Breath!"

Zhang Qiang spoke.

Dragon Breath? Ye Feng was shocked. Charmeleon had mastered Dragon-type energy? Oh no!

"Get out of the way!" Ye Feng shouted.

Upon hearing Ye Feng's anxious voice, Kirlia immediately used Instant Transmission to dodge.

Zhang Qiang frowned and looked at Ye Feng with a puzzled expression.

Why was he so nervous? Charizard had only recently mastered the Dragon Breath technique, and its actual power wasn't that great. Zhang Qiang just wanted to see if the new move could be used as a surprise attack.

Ye Feng breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost been exposed.

The ensuing battle was essentially a barrage of attacks from both sides, but Charmeleon clearly had the upper hand in terms of its performance on the turret. Seeing Kirlia completely overwhelmed, Ye Feng decisively conceded defeat. Since he had already obtained the data he needed and Growlithe had learned a great deal, there was no need for further battles.

"Hahaha, I won this time!" Zhang Qiang laughed. He enjoyed the fight immensely; this kind of back-and-forth attacking style was exactly what he wanted. The previous dodging and weaving was just not satisfying at all. His gaze towards Ye Feng also became more friendly.

They shared another hot drink and then parted ways.

Chapter 69: Speculations on Attributes, Mega Evolution, and Life

Back in his room, Ye Feng stood by the window, deep in thought.

When Ralts first learned Charm and Alluring Voice, Ye Feng wondered why Ralts didn't gain Fairy type and remained purely Psychic type; but after evolving into Kirlia, Ye Feng discovered that Kirlia had become a dual Psychic and Fairy type.

According to the game's setting, Ralts should be a dual Psychic and Fairy type.

But that's reality. Ye Feng guessed that it might be because no one in this world had developed or learned Fairy moves yet, which is why the Fairy type hadn't appeared.

Ralts learned to use Charm and Enchant, naturally increasing its Fairy-type energy. However, this energy might not be sufficient. Ye Feng speculated that the Fairy-type energy within Ralts might not have reached the point of qualitative change. Ralts clearly possessed Fairy-type potential, and with the increase in Fairy energy, it eventually evolved, causing the Fairy-type energy to undergo a qualitative change and reach a balance with the Psychic-type energy within its body, thus gaining the Fairy attribute.

Dragon-type moves are ineffective against Fairy-type moves. Ye Feng didn't want to reveal his Fairy-type moves so early, which is why he nervously made Kirlia dodge the dragon breath attack.

While Fairy-type moves can nullify Dragon-type energy, moves like Outrage and Tornado still rely on Dragon-type energy to generate damage. The damage comes from other forms of attack, and the impact force itself is not nullified or weakened.

However, the fact that Dragon Breath, a pure energy breath, was ineffective when it hit Kirlia was obvious to anyone with eyesight, let alone Zhang Qiang.

Speaking of which, many Pokémon can learn moves of other types, so why don't they gain that type of move? For example, Kirlia learned Shadow Ball, but didn't gain the Ghost type.

If Kirlia can transform the Ghost-type energy within its body in the same way as Fairy-type energy, will it gain the Ghost type when it evolves into Gardevoir, becoming a Psychic, Fairy, and Ghost type?

But Ye Feng quickly overturned his idea.

The dual-attribute energy has likely reached a balance, a limit, that is almost impossible to break. Although Pokémon can master moves of multiple attributes, making their own attribute change accordingly is obviously not an easy task.

A change in attributes necessarily represents a change in the level of life. Some Pokémon are single-attribute before evolution, but become dual-attribute or have their attributes change after evolution. This is because they have achieved an elevation in their level of life through evolution. Such a change is not easily achieved; it requires evolution.

Ye Feng boldly speculated that those dual-attribute spirits were likely originally single-attribute, but under the influence of the environment or other unknown reasons, the species underwent genetic mutations to adapt to this change, or acquired another attribute through evolution, or by achieving a balance of energy within their bodies, or their original attribute was directly changed.

The fact that the same type of Pokémon may have different attributes in different regions can also serve as evidence for this speculation.

For example, there's the Crystal Onix, which only appears in the anime. A regular Onix is ​​Rock/Ground type, but the Crystal Onix is ​​immune to Water type attacks but vulnerable to Fire type attacks, making it very likely a Steel type. Judging from its appearance, it could also be Ice type.

This is because the environment causes genetic mutations in the sprites, resulting in changes in their attributes.

Some Pokémon are single-type before evolution, but become dual-type or have a changed type after evolution. This may be due to a genetic mutation in their ancestors that was not fully inherited but remained hidden in their bloodline. Later generations of Pokémon awaken this power within their bloodline through evolution, leading to the change in their type.