Chapter 144: The Stall in the Hutong_1

"This place seems so remote, it doesn't look like a regular stall..."

Wen Siyu looked into the alley, puzzled.

"Was this here before?"

In front of the stall, a crowd had gathered, all listening to the old man's hawking. Surprisingly, the place was busier than other stalls of the same size.

Although the old man was dressed in worn clothes, he was accompanied by a Psychic Type Pokemon, so no one dared to look down on him.

As Fang Yuan and Wen Siyu approached, they immediately saw the sign hanging in front of the stall.

Challenge fee: 500 yuan (QR code payment supported).

If your Pokemon can withstand Grumpig's Hypnosis, you can take an item from the stall for free.

If not, the challenge is considered failed, and the challenge fee is not refunded.

"This..."

Fang Yuan looked at the items on the stall and immediately his eyes widened.

All were valuable items.

The heart-shaped scale shimmering with rainbow hues, likely a scale shed by a LoveDisc, once processed, became a luxury accessory worth a hundred times the challenge fee.

A somewhat weathered Sharp Beak, perhaps an item that enhances the power of Flying-type Moves?

Beyond that, Fang Yuan also spotted a few kinds of incense.

No wonder such a remote little stall attracted so many people.

Most of the onlookers here were college students, currently clutching their phones and eyeing their account balances.

"Are those Moves Secret books?"

Wen Siyu exclaimed, spotting several secret books on the old man's stall.

Which are methods for learning new Moves.

These couldn't be advanced Moves Secret books or ones for rare types of Moves, but having a variety of skills never hurt anybody. No Trainer would complain about having too many Moves Secret books; even if they couldn't use them themselves, trading them with others wasn't a bad deal.

Splash Technique.

Frenzied attack move.

Flash move.

Shadow clone move.

High-speed rotation move...

Most were rather basic instructional methods for Moves. Although they lacked the corresponding learning resources, they were still quite attractive.

Fang Yuan was drawn to the High-speed rotation move secret book. Though the High-speed rotation move was useless to him, it might contain techniques for combating dizziness which could be useful for Little Magnetic Monster's study of the Gyro Ball move.

Even ordinary Moves Secret books were the crystallization of Trainers' wisdom. Fang Yuan looked at the old gentleman; possessing so many Moves Secret books and accompanied by Grumpig, he was undoubtedly an expert, confirmed!

"500 yuan, that could get you a meal at Hai Di Lao..."

Wen Siyu's gaze was conflicted as she looked at the sparkling Scale of Heart.

Though she was a Researcher, she was also a woman with no resistance to such beautiful items.

It wasn't long before.

A challenger stepped forward, taking out three Poké Balls. He seemed to be a college student. After some thought, the challenger sent out an Armaldo.

"Owner, I plan to let Armaldo give it a try, should I scan the QR code first?"

"No rush, no rush."

The stall owner sat on the ground, let out a loud laugh, and patted Grumpig's body.

"I remember that guy, he's a member of the rival college's School Team. I've watched a match between NanDa and them," said Wen Siyu.

"A member of the school team means they're quite strong…?"

This Armaldo looked very robust, with a gaze that was extremely steadfast.

However, what made Fang Yuan and Wen Siyu frown was the following scene: the Grumpig simply waved its finger in front of it, and in no time, Armaldo's eyes started spinning, and it sat down on the ground.

Wen Siyu's expression turned serious as she said, "The owner of this booth might be a very experienced trainer."

"Yeah, it's really low for such a strong trainer to scam money in a place like this."

Fang Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth, this was simply an instant knockdown; even members of the university trainer school team couldn't resist, and he figured he stood even less of a chance.

Next, two more challengers stepped forward, but without any surprise, both were hypnotized within a very short time.

"I'll give it a try."

Finally, Wen Siyu took out a Poké Ball, determined to challenge it.

"Grumpig has a special ability that can manipulate the body and spirit of other Pokémon and can use the Black Pearl to enhance its hypnosis. If their spiritual power is inferior to Grumpig's, it will be hard to resist, but…"

"But what?" Fang Yuan was surprised.

"This booth owner must be going easy. Depending on the challenger's level, they let Grumpig control the power of its moves. Didn't you notice that the last three challengers almost all fainted four seconds after Grumpig made its move, even though their Pokémon were of varied levels and used different methods to resist?"

"Ahem, seems so…" Fang Yuan responded without a blush.

Wen Siyu stepped forward and released her Pokémon, a Chansey.

"Old man, I want to challenge. The rules allow the trainer and Pokémon to converse during the challenge and also allow the Pokémon to use non-attacking moves to resist, right?" Wen Siyu asked.

"Yep, yep."

The booth owner, an old man sitting with his legs crossed, dug ears with his pinky and said with a giggly smile, "Scan code or cash?"

At the same time.

Fang Yuan put down the Eevee and said, "Eevee, shall we give it a try?"

"There are all sorts of good stuff on his booth…"

"Bwoo…" Eevee looked troubled. That Grumpig didn't seem easy to deal with.

It had no idea how that Grumpig managed to knock down the challenging Pokémon.

"Chansey, use Heal Bell."

On the other side, Wen Siyu and Chansey had already begun.

Heal Bell—a sound capable of eliminating abnormal conditions from Pokémon. Facing Grumpig's hypnosis, Wen Siyu had Chansey gently close and hum.

Her plan was to keep Chansey awake through singing.

But…

"1…2…3…4…" Fang Yuan silently counted, and four seconds later, Chansey couldn't withstand the hypnosis and collapsed.

It seemed utterly without solution.

Under Fang Yuan's gaze, Wen Siyu dejectedly covered her forehead, recalled Chansey, and paid the laughing old man.

"This is just blatant cheating… No one has managed to get anything from him so far." Wen Siyu walked back regretfully.

"How about… I try?" Fang Yuan said.

He had thought of a strategy. If the old man's Grumpig was to use full strength, he and Eevee naturally couldn't contend, but if it really adjusted the strength of the hypnosis according to the challenger's level, they might stand a chance.

"Eevee…?" Wen Siyu blinked, unable to figure out how Eevee would combat the hypnosis.

"Let's go give it a shot," Fang Yuan said, gripping his hand firmly and eyeing the Moves Secret Book on the booth.

Then, he and Eevee stepped forward.

"Kid, you want to give the challenge a try too? If you're a new trainer, actually, I wouldn't recommend it," the old man said, looking up at Fang Yuan, who clearly looked like a student compared to the other challengers…