My nakamas, I want to inform you about something important regarding the story Chronicles 📖🔥
Officially, the novel has 1,467 chapters (it may vary by one chapter more or less, but it is definitely over 1,450).
Starting from chapter 1373, which is now translated directly by me, we are moving in exact sequence with the original version.
Now comes the serious part… and a slightly chaotic one 😅 From chapter 1374 of the original, each chapter in Chinese has around 8,000 words. When translated, depending on the content, they end up being between 3,000 and 6,000 words in either Spanish or English.
To maintain a good translation pace and, above all, quality, I made the decision to split those chapters. The goal is for each published chapter to have approximately 900 to 1,200 words.
So, where will we actually end up chapter-wise?
👉 I honestly don't know.
And yes… we are sailing through uncharted territory 🌊🧭.
I tried translating them without splitting, but to be completely honest, the result was a monumental disaster: I kept getting lost and felt that even after hours of work, I made no real progress. On top of that, it wasn't comfortable to read and didn't do justice to the story.
So, for everyone's sake (and for my own mental health), I've decided to stick with this format, just as you saw in the chapters uploaded today.
Thank you for your patience, your support, and for continuing to accompany me on this journey.All of this is done so that Chronicles maintains the level it truly deserves 💪🔥
CAMPAI 🥂
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Regarding the question Cain had asked, Norman wasn't the least bit surprised.
After all, he was a trainer specialized in Normal-type Pokémon, and what he excelled at most was training the Slaking evolutionary line.
He possessed a Slaking capable of unleashing its full strength without being limited by the Truant ability — and this was no secret among the League's high command.
Many had asked Norman the same question before.
Because a Slaking unaffected by Truant's restrictions could unleash a truly terrifying power.
However, it wasn't something easy to reproduce.
If such Slaking could really be raised reliably, wouldn't he be invincible?
He himself had only raised one — purely by coincidence.
And even that one wasn't completely free: that Slaking could only break its limitation under specific preconditions, and the requirements were quite strict.
Norman smiled faintly and didn't hide anything. "In truth, it was pure coincidence that I managed to raise that Slaking. I don't even fully understand the principle behind it."
"What I think is that most people try to find a way to eliminate Slaking's Truant ability... but no one has ever tried to train it while embracing that same nature."
"Laziness is part of its essence. If it wants to be lazy, then why not let it be lazy to the extreme? Perhaps, when it reaches that limit, a 'transformation of opposites' might occur."
Norman's words made Cain feel as though a window had suddenly opened before him.
It was true... why did Slaking have to be forced to abandon its Truant ability?
He and everyone else had always thought: "If only Slaking weren't bound by Truant, it would be perfect." That's why they searched for ways to "fix" it.
For instance, having another Pokémon use Skill Swap to change its ability.
But when laziness has already sunk into a Pokémon's very bones, how could it be erased so easily?
Besides, Truant was precisely Slaking's defining trait. Why not make use of it in its training?
If it's lazy, then let it be lazy.
Push that laziness to the extreme — and maybe the opposite would emerge.
"Then, Mr. Norman, was your Slaking able to unleash its full power precisely because it was too lazy?" Cain's eyes lit up as he asked the question.
It was rather impolite and intrusive to ask so directly about someone's strongest ace, but Cain could no longer hold himself back. The answer was right in front of him.
Even so, Norman wasn't offended.
How many in the League had asked him about his Slaking over the years?
And yet, aside from him, had anyone ever managed to raise a Slaking like that?
No.
Not even one.
That alone made both Norman and the League doubt whether his theory was truly correct.
Because even he had never managed to raise another one.
The best he had achieved afterward was a "half-finished" one — his second Slaking.
If anyone managed to reproduce that method, it would be proof of his theory, and a great boon for the League.
"Yes. I didn't expect that result at first, either. I just thought — if it wants to be lazy, let it. Until one day, during a League mission, I found myself in a dire situation. A pack of enraged wild Pokémon surrounded me."
"All my Pokémon had fallen... only my Slaking remained. I sent him to fight as a last resort, with no hope left. But... that desperate act turned into my salvation."
"Slaking completely broke the chains of the Truant ability and unleashed a power that scared off all the wild Pokémon."
"That's the only reason I'm still alive."
A glimmer of remembrance shone in Norman's eyes, and a faint smile crossed his lips. He was surely recalling that moment — his Slaking descending onto the battlefield like a god.
"After that battle, Slaking slept for two whole days and nights before recovering. That's when I discovered that the time he could fight directly depended on how much he had rested beforehand."
"The more rest he accumulated, the stronger the eruption of energy — and the longer it lasted. From there, I began a study on Slaking and Vigoroth."
"But unfortunately... after all these years, I only managed a half-finished one. The rest of the Slaking I trained were no different from ordinary ones, even if I let them follow their lazy nature."
Norman sighed with a trace of melancholy.
He had devoted over a decade to that research, yet never managed to reproduce a second perfect case.
Something was missing. There was a key factor he still hadn't discovered.
"Half-finished?" Cain couldn't help but grow curious at the term.
Norman chuckled with a hint of irony. "Yes — a Slaking that approached that state, but its power and duration were fixed."
"Unlike the first one, it didn't gain strength the longer it stayed lazy. It could only maintain three minutes of freedom from the Truant ability. After that, it reverted to its normal state."
That was his second Slaking.
And even as a "half-finished" one, it was already far stronger than any normal Slaking.
It was thanks to those two Slaking that the League had taken such interest in him.
The power they could unleash was truly terrifying.
Even against Drake, during its maximum outburst, only he could barely withstand it. If it weren't for the time limit of that eruption, Juan would have already pushed Norman to take a position among the Elite Four — perhaps even considered him for Champion.
Hearing the explanation about the "half-finished" one, Cain asked again, "If a half-finished one appeared, doesn't that mean, Mr. Norman, that you already touched upon the key to that transformation?"
Norman fell deep into thought, as though trying to recall something, though not with full certainty.
"The truth is... even now, I'm not completely sure. When I was still a young trainer, I captured a Slakoth that later evolved into a Vigoroth. But my Vigoroth was restless, brimming with energy, and possessed remarkable strength."
"I wondered — if Vigoroth was already this strong, why make it evolve? So I spoke with it, and we agreed to delay its evolution. Each time I suppressed it, it was torment for him... but after each suppression, his energy grew even greater."
"In the end, he could no longer contain it and evolved into Slaking. Like an extreme transforming into its opposite — he spent all that energy and became immensely lazy."
"I felt guilty and never forced him to fight against his own nature."
"Perhaps... that was the key."
"Later, I tried to repeat it with another Vigoroth, delaying its evolution for a long time. But the result diverged, and I couldn't achieve the same success."
"I tried several more times — all without success."
"In the end... I came to sense a possible decisive factor. But even now, I still can't confirm it."
(End of chapter)