After the villagers from the towns outside the cave drove away Team Rocket and arrived inside, they only saw an empty cave and Ye Feng.
"Who are you?! Are you also with Team Rocket?!"
"Where is the Slowpoke God? Why did it disappear?"
The villagers searched everywhere in the cave but couldn't find a single Slowpoke. They then surrounded Ye Feng.
"Speak! Where is the Slowpoke God?!" They questioned Ye Feng.
Just as Ye Feng was about to speak, he heard:
"He's not with Team Rocket, asking him is useless," said a purple-haired boy in a camouflage outfit.
The other villagers fell silent upon hearing this.
"Abel Gym Leader, are you sure?"
It turned out this purple-haired boy was Abel, the Gym Leader of Cherrygrove Town.
"I'm sure. Don't you find this person familiar?"
The villagers shone their flashlights on Ye Feng's face.
"He does look a bit familiar, but I can't quite place him."
"He's Ye Feng, the Kanto Champion," Abel replied.
"It's him?!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers were stunned, but they still looked at Ye Feng warily.
"If that's the case, why is he here?! This is too suspicious!!!"
"He's here to participate in the Johto Silver Conference and collect badges. As for why he's here, he probably saw Team Rocket lurking around and came down to check."
"But I, Abel, can guarantee that he has nothing to do with Team Rocket. And haven't you noticed that when we reached the outside of the cave, those Team Rocket members were fleeing in panic from the cave? It must have been Ye Feng who took action, otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed out."
The villagers nodded, but still asked, "If that's the case, then where have all these Slowpoke Gods gone?!"
Abel shrugged. "Presumably, Team Rocket already transported them away. Otherwise, with so many Slowpoke Gods, how could not a single one be left?"
"Ah?! Then what do we do?!"
"It's over! In the future, our Cherrygrove Town will face another drought!!!"
It turned out that a long time ago, Cherrygrove Town had suffered a great drought, leaving the people with no means to live. But one day, the appearance of a Slowpoke broke this despair. This Slowpoke yawned at the sky, and it began to rain, ending the drought. It was from that moment on that the villagers began to worship Slowpoke as a deity.
How foolish! That was not a yawn at all. It was clearly the "Rain Dance" move.
Ye Feng ignored the foolish villagers and walked out of the cave. Abel, the Gym Leader of Cherrygrove Town, had been following him all along.
Ye Feng turned to Abel. "Why did you help me just now?" Abel had been explaining things for him in the cave.
Abel smiled. "Naturally, I have a request."
Abel grinned again. "Ye Feng, how about we make a trade?"
Ye Feng showed some interest. "A trade? What kind of trade? How would it work?"
"No rush, come with me to my Gym."
The Cherrygrove Town Gym, from the outside, looked like a hemispherical building. But upon entering, one couldn't help but marvel at its wonders. It didn't look like a Gym at all, but rather a forest. More accurately, it wasn't a forest, but a paradise for Bug-type Pokémon!! A large number of Bug-type Pokémon were raised here! From the moment Ye Feng entered, he saw more than one kind of Bug-type Pokémon, such as Metapod, Weedle, and Wurmple, among others.
Abel led Ye Feng to a clearing within the Gym. This was the battle arena.
"Ye Feng, I've been waiting for you for a long time." Abel spread his arms wide, his face beaming.
Ye Feng: "???"
Abel: "The Gym Leaders in our Johto region are all in contact with each other."
"You defeated Chuck, the Gym Leader of Cianwood City, and he informed us of your arrival and your purpose."
"So, I've been waiting for you here for a long time."
"Waiting to battle me?" Ye Feng asked.
Abel shook his head. "I know my own limitations, I'm definitely not your opponent."
"But have you ever heard a saying?"
"A saying? What saying?"
"Conquer Bug-type Pokémon, and you conquer the world."
Upon hearing this, Ye Feng knew what kind of person Abel was. It turned out he was a blindly confident kid. Ye Feng even suspected that Abel's surname was "Sa." His full name: Sa Bi. Bug-type Pokémon had always been the underdogs. Conquer the world... Of course, it wasn't to say there weren't powerful Bug-types... But...
"And then?"
"Why did you help me earlier? And what was the trade you mentioned?"
"It's this." Abel took out a badge from his chest. It was shaped like a beetle.
"This is the Bug Badge. I know you're here for this."
"So, I want to make a trade with you." Without waiting for Ye Feng to speak, Abel reached for a Poké Ball at his waist. The Poké Ball emitted a red light, and a Pokémon leaped out. It was none other than Caterpie, which Ye Feng and Red-Striped Pikachu had grown sick of eating.
Ye Feng: "What is this?"
Abel: "Ye Feng, your Caterpie can evolve into the legendary Pokémon, Rayquaza."
"Even though you said it's only one in a hundred million that can do so, I know you're talking nonsense. So, my trade is this."
"Tell me, how can Caterpie evolve into Rayquaza!!!!"
Beautiful wishes, passionate voice. All this trouble led to this.
Ye Feng smiled slightly. "Of course, I can. However, I can't guarantee that this method will definitely succeed."
"After all, I experimented with thousands of Caterpie to figure it out."
Upon hearing that Ye Feng was willing to trade, Abel excitedly said, "Tell me quickly!"
Ye Feng extended his hand. "Give me the badge first."
Abel directly threw the Bug Badge to Ye Feng. He wasn't afraid that Ye Feng would go back on his word. After all, he didn't believe that Ye Feng, a Champion, would break his promise.
Ye Feng put away the badge. He smiled. "But didn't you say that those who conquer Bug-type Pokémon conquer the world? Then why do you want your Caterpie to evolve?"
"You know, after evolving, it won't be Bug-type anymore, but Dragon-type."
Abel looked a bit embarrassed. Ye Feng ignored him and explained the method for evolving Caterpie into Rayquaza.
"Evolving into Rayquaza is very simple. You just need to keep Caterpie from evolving, wait until level one hundred, and then let it evolve."
Abel heard this and asked doubtfully, "That simple?"
Ye Feng spread his hands. "It's that simple. But while it sounds simple, it's actually not. First, you have to resist the urge to evolve. Unless your Caterpie is holding an Everstone. If there's no Everstone, it depends entirely on the Pokémon's willpower."
How painful is it for a Pokémon to resist evolving? To put it this way: it's like a guy holding back a "Kamehameha" right before it's about to be unleashed...