Chapter Summaries

Mark awakened in a Pokémon world after the Spirit Master system failed to load normally, then discovered the system had adapted and registered a Caterpie as his Spirit. As he realized his new body was not his own, memories began surfacing in his mind.

• Mark regained control of his body, drank from a stream, and recalled downloading the Spirit Master game before falling asleep.
• Mark spotted a Caterpie beside him, then recognized a Rattata and two Pidgey nearby and realized he was in the Pokémon world.
• Mark inspected the system panel, which listed him as a Spirit Master with Caterpie as his Spirit.
• Mark felt an unusual closeness to Caterpie, noticed his body and appearance differed from his former self, and began receiving fragments of the body's memories.

After regaining his consciousness in a young man's body, Mark learned that he had survived years of poverty alongside the Caterpie that had become his family. He examined the Trainer System and discovered its stats and enhancement options, leaving him to consider how to spend his single Point.

• Mark realized the Trainer System's consciousness had taken over only after he had spent more than a decade living in a daze in a nearby village.
• Mark recalled how Caterpie had accompanied him for years, sharing food and staying by his side, and recognized it as his family.
• Caterpie sensed food in the forest and led Mark onward as he followed.
• Mark opened his system panel and found that he had no Spirit Master talents or Trainer Skills but possessed Robust Health and Poison Resistance.
• Mark examined Caterpie's panel, finding its potential stats, unawakened Ability, Evolution talent, and the skills Tackle and String Shot.
• Mark discovered that his one Point could enhance himself, Caterpie's potential, or its skills, and wondered how to use it.

Mark spent a Point to enhance Caterpie's Tackle, and both of them experienced memories of three years of relentless practice. After waking, Caterpie used its perfected Tackle to snap a thick fruit tree in two.

• Mark chose to enhance Caterpie's Tackle rather than String Shot or its low-rated potential.
• Caterpie fainted after Mark added the Point, and Mark soon collapsed as well.
• In their shared memories, Mark and Caterpie practiced Tackle for three years, five months, and twenty-seven days, completing 1,149,620 attempts.
• Caterpie's final Tackle in the practice memories blasted apart a rotten stump, after which Mark and Caterpie woke up beside the fruit tree.
• Caterpie tried the perfected Tackle and snapped the thick fruit tree in two, though it remained confused about its memories.

After using his Point, Mark and Caterpie woke from a dreamlike training experience and devoured fruit to replenish their energy, while Caterpie had grown larger. Mark discovered that the training had upgraded Caterpie’s Tackle and granted him a Trainer Skill, then sensed something that made his pupils contract.

• Mark and Caterpie felt intense hunger and rushed to eat fruit from the broken tree.
• Mark noticed Caterpie had grown to about half a meter long and inferred that adding Points had consumed a great deal of energy.
• Mark checked Caterpie’s system panel and found that its Tackle had become Power-Up Tackle.
• Mark read the skill description and recognized the technique as the method he had taught Caterpie during their dreamlike training.
• Mark checked his own panels and found his experience had risen to 4% and he had gained the Trainer Skill Tackle Training Method (Power-Up Tackle).
• Mark questioned why the training method had become a skill, then sensed something and his pupils contracted.

After discovering that he could teach Pokémon Tackle, Mark investigated how Experience increased and found that eating raised it. With Caterpie’s Experience at 12% and its body grown larger, he followed it to the Boulder Pile to practice Tackle.

• Mark taught Caterpie Tackle techniques by touching its head, and Caterpie gained new insights into the move.
• Mark noticed the system’s Experience Bar rising as Caterpie ate fruit, then confirmed that his own eating also increased Experience and that different foods provided different amounts.
• After several hours of eating, Caterpie had grown to about sixty-five centimeters long, while the Experience Bar reached 12%.
• Mark estimated that ordinary eating would take two to three months to reach 100% Experience and considered exercising or finding more spirit familiars to speed it up.
• Caterpie asked to practice Tackle, so Mark suggested using rocks at the Boulder Pile, and Caterpie hurried there with Mark following.

Mark trained Caterpie to make its Power-Up Tackle faster and discovered that practice raised the Trainer System’s Experience Bar. He planned to grind through training and eating to gain experience more quickly, but several children arrived as he and Caterpie were about to look for food.

• Mark told Caterpie about his awakened memories of transmigrating, though Caterpie could not understand his explanation.
• Mark decided Caterpie should work on reducing Tackle’s charge time, and Caterpie tested its fastest attack against a rock.
• Mark used the Spirit Master's Tackle Training Method to guide Caterpie as it practiced faster Tackles.
• Mark noticed the Experience Bar rose while Caterpie trained and increased faster when he practiced and guided Caterpie alongside it.
• Mark devised a cycle of training, eating, and recovering stamina to speed up experience gains, then continued practicing with Caterpie until several children ran over from the forest.

Mark learned that the Gym League was a team competition between regional Gyms while watching Three Mountains Town defeat Barre Town. Afterward, Village Chief Qian announced an imminent Ability Awakening Test, and an Alliance official arrived to begin it.

• Mark followed Caterpie to Clear Stream Village and learned that the Gym League matched teams from different Gyms in Pokemon battles.
• Mark and Caterpie watched Three Mountains Town Gym defeat Barre Town Gym three to zero, and Caterpie showed interest in competing.
• Village Chief Qian announced that an Alliance Commissioner had changed his itinerary and would soon conduct the Ability Awakening Test.
• Village Chief Qian prepared the village platform for the test, then led a middle-aged Alliance official in a white uniform to the gathering villagers.

Mark joined Clear Stream Village’s Ability Awakening Test and saw his Trainer Panel experience rise under the Awakening Orb’s light. While Lin Tong awakened Psychic and Qian Er Niu awakened Dragon Force, Mark remained in the village and asked how he could become a Trainer.

• Zhao Nian began the Ability Awakening Test for Clear Stream Village’s children and let Mark participate after Village Chief Qian explained that Mark was thirteen and had survived the Chaotic Pokemon Tide.
• The Awakening Orb’s light raised Mark’s experience from 12% to 13% and then rapidly higher as Lin Tong awakened Psychic.
• Qian Er Niu awakened Dragon Force, and Zhao Nian took her to Royal Capital Riel on his Pidgeot while warning the villagers to keep the awakenings secret from the Thunderclap Gang.
• Village Chief Qian comforted the children who had not awakened abilities and complained that they wanted to enter the Bug-Catching Contest instead of attending a Pokemon academy.
• Mark stood up and asked Village Chief Qian how he could become a Trainer.

After Mark regained his ability to speak, Village Chief Qian explained how he could become a Trainer and offered to help him pursue school. Mark learned that he was thirteen and heard more about his difficult childhood before following Qian home for food.

• Mark explained that he could speak, and Qian Fugui attributed his restored intelligence to the Awakening Orb.
• Mark asked how to become a Trainer and whether he could borrow books from the village school; Old Man Qian encouraged him to study and offered to help with his prospects.
• Old Man Qian told Mark he was thirteen and recounted how his parents died, his first foster family disappeared, and he had survived alone in the village.
• Mark accepted Old Man Qian's invitation to his home, where Caterpie examined a heavy black stone pedestal and Qian prepared food.

After seeing Mark and Caterpie training at night, Old Man Qian gave them a Raticate to help improve Caterpie’s Tackle. He then decided Mark could choose one of four Pokémon Eggs the next day.

• Mark and Caterpie practiced Tackle against the Black Heavy Stone in Old Man Qian’s courtyard, waking him.
• Old Man Qian saw that Caterpie’s Tackle was above ordinary standards and used Machamp to demonstrate its technique.
• Mark asked to focus on improving Caterpie’s speed and fluidity, so Old Man Qian had Raticate demonstrate Quick Attack.
• Old Man Qian gave Mark Raticate’s Poké Ball so it could practice with him and Caterpie.
• Old Man Qian brought out four matching Pokémon Eggs and decided to let Mark choose one the next day.

Mark and Caterpie improved their Tackle training after learning from Old Man Qian’s Raticate, and Old Man Qian offered Mark a Wimpod Egg from a breeding experiment. Mark learned that Wimpod’s evolution was powerful but poorly understood, and the chapter ended with Old Man Qian waiting for his choice.

• Mark and Caterpie picked sweet oranges in Clear Stream Forest and continued practicing Tackle while Raticate slept.
• Old Man Qian noticed traces of Quick Attack in Caterpie’s Tackle and told Mark and Caterpie to rest.
• Old Man Qian showed Mark four Pokemon Eggs and invited him to choose one.
• Mark learned the Eggs contained Wimpod, a timid Bug-type Pokemon whose evolution and conditions were uncertain.
• Old Man Qian explained that Mark would raise Wimpod for a breeding experiment and could submit a report after three years.

Mark chose the most timid Wimpod Egg, received supplies from Old Man Qian, and asked how to earn money for a Pokeball. Old Man Qian took him to the village school for books, then led him to a fenced courtyard where Mark spotted several Caterpie.

• Mark sensed the Wimpod inside four Eggs and chose the third one because it was the most frightened.
• Old Man Qian gave Mark a camouflage Egg backpack, clothes, and a Wimpod-specific Pokeball, then explained that new Pokeballs cost about 5,000 yuan.
• Mark asked how he could earn money to buy Caterpie a Pokeball, and Old Man Qian offered to show him where he could work.
• Mark put Wimpod's Egg and several Pokemon textbooks in his backpack and followed Old Man Qian to the village school and then a large fenced courtyard.
• Mark saw several Caterpie inside the courtyard, while his own Caterpie hid behind him in a panic.

Mark toured Clear Stream Village’s Caterpie Breeding Base with Old Man Qian, learned how the village raised Caterpie and produced silk, and agreed to catch wild Caterpie for money. After witnessing many Kakuna evolve into Butterfree, Mark reminded his Caterpie to build a strong foundation before evolving, then headed with it into Clear Stream Forest, where the Thunderclap Gang might soon appear.

• Old Man Qian showed Mark the village’s Caterpie breeding grounds and explained how farm-raised and wild Caterpie supplied silk for weaving.
• Mark learned that wild Caterpie could be sold for 35 to 100 yuan and agreed to catch them for the village.
• Mark’s Caterpie noticed a Kakuna in distress just as it and many other Kakuna began evolving into Butterfree.
• Inspired by the Butterfree, Caterpie felt an urge to evolve, but Mark and Old Man Qian urged it to keep training and strengthen its foundation first.
• Old Man Qian warned Mark that members of the Thunderclap Gang might enter Clear Stream Forest, and Mark set off with Caterpie to catch wild Caterpie and train.

Mark trained Caterpie while studying, then discovered that teaching Tackle to Wimpod inside its egg also raised their Experience Bar. When he asked Caterpie where wild Caterpie lived, Caterpie grew frightened, leaving Mark wondering what it feared.

• Mark practiced Tackle with Caterpie while studying a Pokémon encyclopedia and found that studying raised his experience faster than training.
• Mark used his Tackle Training Method on Wimpod’s egg, forming a Consciousness Connection despite Wimpod’s terrified reaction.
• Mark saw their Experience Bar reach 85%, celebrated with Caterpie, and estimated it would reach 100% in about four days.
• Mark realized Caterpie might not have evolved because it had often eaten only after he was full, then advised it to keep building a foundation before evolving.
• Mark asked Caterpie where to find wild Caterpie, and Caterpie became panicked as though it feared something in the forest.

Mark learned that Caterpie had been driven from its group in Clear Stream Forest after failing to become the Caterpie Leader’s Guard and later escaped Pidgey with Mark’s help. After demonstrating Caterpie’s new strength, Mark encouraged it to confront its fear, and they headed toward the Caterpie Group.

• Caterpie told Mark how it failed to become the Caterpie Leader’s Guard, was driven from its group, and found safety with him while fleeing Pidgey.
• Mark recognized how much Caterpie had grown and strengthened, and Caterpie demonstrated Power-Up Tackle by breaking a thick tree.
• Mark urged Caterpie to focus on growing stronger rather than seeking revenge on the Caterpie who had beaten it.
• Mark proposed visiting the Caterpie Group to face Caterpie’s fear, train, and catch Caterpie to earn money for a Pokeball.
• Caterpie agreed and led Mark deeper into the forest, though its pace slowed as its fear returned.

Mark and Caterpie returned to Caterpie’s former home, where the new Caterpie Group rejected them and attacked. As Mark fled and urged Caterpie to use the ambush as training, Caterpie overcame its fear and began refining its Tackle in the middle of the fight.

• Caterpie found the blue stone and remembered its former home, then detected that many Caterpie were hiding nearby.
• Mark left Caterpie alone briefly to draw the group out, and the new Caterpie Leader surrounded Caterpie with its group and ordered it to leave.
• The Caterpie attacked Mark and Caterpie as Mark carried it away, and one of the Leader’s Guards bit Mark and drew blood.
• Caterpie broke free and used Power-Up Tackle to send more than a dozen Caterpie flying, but Mark told it to focus on practice rather than anger.
• Caterpie calmed down, assessed the flaws in its first attack, and launched another carefully adjusted Power-Up Tackle.

Mark and Caterpie fought three battles against the Caterpie Group to hone their skills and gain experience, then returned to Clear Stream Village exhausted and injured. Old Man Qian found them asleep at home and left Potions for their wounds.

• Old Man Qian worried when Mark did not return by nightfall, then went to sleep after deciding Mark could likely take care of himself.
• Mark and Caterpie fought three battles against the Caterpie Group, withdrawing between bouts to rest and recover.
• Mark ended the training and escaped with Caterpie, who had not managed to reach the Caterpie Leader.
• Mark checked Caterpie's injuries, encouraged it, and saw their experience rise to 89.5%.
• Caterpie found the scent of fruit, and Mark decided they would eat before heading back to the village.
• Old Man Qian found Mark and Caterpie asleep with torn clothes and wounds, noticed the borrowed Bug-Catching Net was missing, and left two Potions on the table.

Mark and Caterpie battled in the forest until Mark earned a Point, then he chose to spend it on his Tackle Training Method. The enhancement began as they prepared to see whether it would also improve Caterpie’s Tackle.

• Old Man Qian read Mark’s note about Caterpie’s food preferences and wondered why Mark had returned to the forest while still recovering.
• Mark and Caterpie drank Potion, discussed differences between human and Pokemon tastes, and continued toward the Caterpie Group’s territory.
• Mark and Caterpie battled for two days, gaining about seven percent Experience each day until Mark reached 100% and earned a Point.
• Mark reviewed the system panel and decided not to enhance Caterpie’s stats, Shield Dust, Evolution, or String Shot.
• Mark chose to enhance his Tackle Training Method, hoping it would further advance Caterpie’s Tackle, and activated the Point.

Mark and Caterpie spent what felt like forty-seven years researching how to take Tackle to the realm of Return to Simplicity, but Mark died without achieving it. Back in the real world, the point allocation had succeeded after all, granting them several new Tackle techniques.

• After the point allocation left Mark and Caterpie disoriented, Mark studied his books and tried to find a path toward Return to Simplicity.
• Mark and Caterpie spent decades researching and practicing, developing Tackle (Instant Strike), Tackle (Adamant Penetrating Strike), and Tackle (Multi-Strike Combo).
• Mark grew old and died without understanding Return to Simplicity, and Caterpie watched the dreamlike world collapse.
• Caterpie awoke beside the young Mark, who explained that the decades had been an experience created by point allocation.
• Mark checked the system panel and found that the point allocation had succeeded, adding the three new Tackle techniques to his and Caterpie’s abilities.

Mark explained Caterpie’s newly awakened Bug Bite and the role of bloodline genes after Caterpie comprehended the move. Caterpie demonstrated Bug Bite’s ability to drain fruit nutrients, then eagerly headed for the Caterpie Group to test the techniques it had mastered in its dream.

• After eating, Mark checked the Trainer Panel and estimated that Caterpie’s growth had slowed because it had reached its physical limit.
• Caterpie sensed a change in its teeth and comprehended Bug Bite, which appeared on Mark’s Trainer Panel.
• Mark explained bloodline genes and Complete Metamorphosis, then helped Caterpie test Bug Bite on a tree and Sweet Chestnut Fruits.
• Caterpie used Bug Bite to drain the insides of fruit, even from a distance, while leaving the fruit’s surface unmarked.
• Mark suggested that Caterpie test its newly trained Tackle techniques against the Caterpie Group, and Caterpie hurried toward their territory to challenge the Caterpie Leader.