Chapter 156: The Wild Duel Between Chen Ou and Ajin (Part Two)

During the banquet, Chen Ou exchanged research findings with various professors and discussed his upcoming research directions. It had to be said that researchers in the Pokémon world truly lived in harmony, learning from one another without any real conflicts. In the past, who would ever dare casually share their research progress and content with others like this?

However, Chen Ou was not particularly worried. Most of this fellow's research achievements were a combination of practical experience and literature.

The literature was accessible to everyone and nothing out of the ordinary. As for Chen Ou's practical experiences... generally speaking, no one would actively seek to replicate them. For one, such opportunities were purely a matter of encountering them by chance rather than seeking them out.

Secondly, doing so was practically hanging one's head from the belt of one's trousers. The fundamental pursuit of fame and fortune was to live a better life. Staying alive was the key.

Of course, this pleasant atmosphere of discussion was also related to the level Chen Ou currently occupied.

The people gathered around chatting right now were the top-tier researchers in the world. Naturally, there was no more scheming among them; their fame and status had basically reached a point where they could go no higher.

As for Professor Oak's pinnacle position... fundamentally speaking, it had little to do with research achievements. Everyone's contributions were monumental. The reason Professor Oak was universally recognized as the leading figure was because his research direction was the most grandiose. Making major breakthroughs in such a vast field and laying the foundation for the modern trainer system was one of the reasons for Professor Oak's greatness.

And Chen Ou still had a long way to go before reaching Professor Oak's position.

A banquet cannot go on forever. In the end, everyone had to return to their respective homes.

Right at that moment, Gold appeared before Chen Ou.

Gold flashed a bright smile and said, "Dr. Chen Ou! Let's have a battle!"

Everyone present pricked up their ears with interest. After all, Gold was a famous rising genius of the Johto region, and he was also a Pokédex holder. Furthermore, in terms of when he received his Pokédex, Gold was actually Chen Ou's senior.

However, he did not dare to put on airs. After all, Chen Ou had participated in the final completion work of the Pokémon Pokédex itself.

Chen Ou immediately smiled and said, "Alright! I heard from White that you wanted to have a wild battle with me, right?"

Gold's face turned green instantly...

*I didn't, I wasn't, stop saying things like that...*

Under the gaze of all present, Gold froze, momentarily not knowing what to say.

If he agreed, it seemed he truly couldn't defeat Chen Ou's Entei. Accidents happened all too easily in wild battles.

If he refused, with so many people watching... it would be utterly disgraceful.

Gold was currently thanking his lucky stars that Professor Oak hadn't brought Crystal along; otherwise, he really would have been caught on the horns of a dilemma.

Sensing Gold's awkward predicament, Chen Ou smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't use Entei. Bullying someone in a wild battle using Entei is simply not my style."

Although Gold didn't quite understand what Chen Ou meant by "bullying someone," as long as Chen Ou didn't use Entei for the battle, Gold felt there was nothing for him to fear.

"No problem then! When are we going to fight?"

Gold suddenly looked completely devoid of his previous timidity. That righteous and stern demeanor made him look like a deeply confident master.

Green, standing off to the side, felt the corners of his mouth twitch uncontrollably.

*You're acting suspicious. I thought you were afraid of Chen Ou's overall strength... Turns out you were simply terrified of Chen Ou's Entei...*

He had taken the narrow path.

Professor Oak was also rather helpless... Gold really possessed some inexplicable self-confidence, though it didn't seem like a bad thing either. Letting Chen Ou step up this time would also give everyone present a taste of Chen Ou's special abilities, saving them from making a fuss over the unusual later on.

"Let's make it the afternoon. I remember Professor Elm telling me you two bought tickets for tomorrow morning's train. So, let's do it after dinner. Consider it an after-dinner activity."

Chen Ou thought for a moment before speaking.

Although Gold desperately wanted to ask why everything had to be an after-dinner activity and why right now after lunch wouldn't do, his uncanny, hard-to-describe intuition for crisis led him to resolutely suppress his desire to ask questions. Instead, he said, "Alright! Then let's do it tonight!"

Lana, standing nearby, suddenly spoke up, "Allow me to arrange the battle arena for the two of you. Celadon University actually has one or two wild-battle-specific arenas that are rarely used."

Chen Ou wisely refrained from asking why such arenas were "rarely used."

"Then thank you, Lana."

"It's just something I ought to do, no need to be polite. Besides, I'm quite interested in your wild battle prowess as well, Chen Ou."

Lana covered her mouth and smiled gently.

That much was the truth. Although battle rules were becoming increasingly refined, battle standards stricter, and battle dangers lower, wild battles and rule-free battles still commanded a massive following among Pokémon battle enthusiasts.

It was not merely for the thrill and excitement, but because this was truly the ultimate way to test a trainer's genuine strength.

In wild battles, there were simply not that many rules to speak of. The enhancement of personal might inevitably brought about the shattering of ordinary, mortal rules.

The original meaning of strength was precisely to acquire privileges.

Wild battles were the fighting style revered by old-school trainers. Rule-free combat was the way trainers staked their lives against one another.

How many people present could honestly say they weren't curious about Chen Ou's wild battle capabilities?

Even Green hadn't seen Chen Ou in action for quite some time.

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"Are you really going to have a wild battle with Gold?" Cynthia asked, tilting her head as she looked at Chen Ou beside her.

"Yeah, Gold's wild battle abilities are quite good, and it can serve as a test of my own strength level. After all, barring any accidents, I'm bound to battle Green before the Quartz Conference begins. That'll probably be a wild battle too," Chen Ou said with a rather helpless expression.

To be honest, if he had his way, he would genuinely prefer to battle gym leaders according to standard rules. Since badges could be obtained easily, who would want to artificially crank up the difficulty? Although Chen Ou knew full well that win or lose, Green would hand over the Viridian Badge to him anyway.

Still, Chen Ou wanted to win.

Facing Green, who possessed champion-level strength, what was Chen Ou supposed to do? He had a massive headache over it right now.

"By the way, are you and Cynth- I mean, Nanami getting along well?" Chen Ou abruptly changed the subject.

"I must say, my luck is quite good," Cynthia didn't answer Chen Ou's question directly, instead tightening her grip on his hand.

"I met the most vulnerable you at just the right time."

Cynthia smiled gently, wearing the expression of a little fox that had successfully sneached a chick.

*[Emph, little foxes are truly adorable.]*

Chen Ou thought to himself.

P.S. I'll update a side story over the weekend to sort out the subsequent plot. The original outline has already been scrapped...