Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 192 Sacred Flame and Sword and Shield

The current level of trainers in the Eastern Empire is actually weaker than that of the established trainer leagues like Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Galar in the anime.

The main reason is that Pokémon has only been around for a short time. From the time they first came into contact with Pokémon until now, the Eastern League has only been around for a few hundred years.

In regions like Hoenn, communication and contact with Rayquaza can be traced back over a thousand years. The kingdom established by the King of AZ in the Kalos region dates back even further, to three thousand years ago.

Therefore, overall, the standards for Gym Leaders in the Eastern Empire are weaker than those in these established regions. However, this does not prevent Su Yu from becoming a Gym Leader at a young age.

……

On the way home, Yang Wen also explained the evolution process of Growlithe to Su Yu.

"In Officer Jenny's Territory, every Growlithe has the opportunity to be baptized by the [Sacred Flame] before evolving. The so-called Sacred Flame is actually the flame of Moltres."

"That's something our family inherited from the very first Officer Jenny. Even the strongest Arcanine in our Officer Jenny family is trained by combining the Sacred Flame and the Heart of Justice traits, so that it can truly master the Sacred Flame."

Moltres, also known as the immortal firebird in legends, possesses flames with incredible resilience, said to be difficult to extinguish. Perhaps due to this characteristic, in the anime, Moltres's flames are also used as the sacred flame for passing the torch.

It is said that when a Moltres is injured, it will fly into the lava of a volcano and burn its entire body to heal its wounds. This may be a special ability of the Moltres race.

While Moltres was undeniably cool in the original anime, it gradually lost that coolness in subsequent anime and games. But even so, it's still a legendary Pokémon.

Not to mention, the flame that has been passed down in the Officer Jenny family for so long may itself have originated from a very powerful firebird.

Otherwise, this flame would have been exhausted long ago, so how could it be used to baptize the new generation of Growlithe?

The combination of the [Sacred Flame] and the Heart of Justice trait might be a special way for Growlithe to also master this flame. However, according to Yang Wen, this method hasn't been successfully implemented for a long time.

Therefore, Su Yu had no way of knowing the specific details. But this rumor piqued Su Yu's interest.

"Perhaps we could let Growlithe try to master this flame?"

"If I really mastered it, I might be able to use the [Sacred Fire] to cook in the future. In that case, the dishes I make might be on a whole new level."

Su Yu thought to himself. Chefs' ideas are indeed so unique.

After saying goodbye to Yang Wen and going home to rest, Su Yu stayed in the castle for the next few days to train Growlithe in preparation for the upcoming evolution ceremony.

That was on this day...

Many new trainers who were preparing to evolve their Growlithe returned to Officer Jenny on this day. Many of their owners also returned with them.

Su Yu followed Yang Wen to a plaza. There were clearly more female Officer Jennys here than male ones; perhaps it was because in the Officer Jenny family, giving birth to a girl was easier than a boy…

While waiting in line, the boy in front of Su Yu turned around and struck up a conversation with her. Since she was bored, Su Yu responded with a few words here and there.

The boy said:

"After we enter the valley, we need to release Growlithe so that the Arcanines in the valley can check it out."

"If the puppies are talented enough, perhaps our Growlithe will even receive a blessing from Arcanines. But that kind of thing... is actually very rare."

Upon hearing this, Su Yu nodded. After entering the valley, he immediately released Growlithe.

The big dogs in the Windhound Valley saw it and ran over to sniff the dog.

One of the Arcanines was particularly large, and wherever it passed, the other Arcanines would readily make way. Su Yu guessed that this Arcanine might hold a very high position within its clan?

After sniffing Su Yu's Growlithe, the Arcanine nodded. It raised its paw and placed it on Growlithe, bestowing upon it a wisp of pure fire-type energy as a blessing.

However, once this energy entered Growlithe's body, it immediately lost contact with Arcanine, seemingly being completely absorbed.

This surprised Arcanine.

"Awooo 0.o?"

This trace of energy was originally intended to serve as a guide, remaining within the puppies' bodies. With this energy, the Growlithes will have a reference point during future training, using it as a comparison to improve their abilities.

However, this dog seemed different. After the energy entered its body, it seemed to be immediately…

Digested?

Seeing Su Yu's Growlithe suddenly stick out its tongue and lick its lips, a somewhat imprecise word popped into Arcanine's mind.

Unbeknownst to it, due to years of eating Su Yu's spicy snacks, Growlithe's ability to absorb fire-type energy has now reached a very high level. This situation... is actually quite normal.

But Arcanine refused to believe it and poured energy into Growlithe's body again, this time much more than before.

However, the final result was exactly the same as the last time.

"Awooo..."

After that, Arcanine tried several more times, almost overfeeding Growlithe, but still couldn't retain a single spark. In the end, Arcanine gave up.

I'm tired. That's it. I don't want to deal with it anymore.

Watching Arcanine slink away, Su Yu had no idea what had just happened. He looked at Growlithe with a puzzled expression and asked:

"What did it just do to you?"

"Awoo?" Upon hearing this, Growlithe shook its head; it didn't actually know either.

I just feel... why does my stomach feel inexplicably full?

After that, Su Yu continued forward with the group.

Before long, he could see the sacred flame on the torch platform not far away.

"Is that... Moltres's flame?"

Looking at the ball of flame, Su Yu muttered to himself. Beside the flame, two Growlithe dogs stood guard, seemingly providing the energy needed for the sacred fire to burn.

When Su Yu looked to the other side, he was taken aback. On the other side of the valley stood a high platform. On the platform were a sword and a shield.

"Those are... the [Rotten Sword and Shield] from the game?"

If I remember correctly, it was a special item that allowed Zacian and Zamarind to transform into the Sword King and Shield King forms, respectively. But how did this thing end up here?

Seeing Su Yu's confusion, the boy in front of him explained:

"Are you talking about that? According to my grandmother, that thing, like the sacred flame, was brought by the original Officer Jenny when she descended. I heard that when she first arrived, the sword and shield set was almost completely brand new!"

"It's a pity that hundreds of years have passed, and that sword and shield set has long since decayed. I don't know why our Officer Jenny's family would enshrine such a decaying ancient relic."

"However, it's said that this was instructed by the original Officer Jenny. Perhaps there's some reason we don't know about..."

(End of this chapter)