Forest Outskirts

On the second day of winter break, Su Hao and Carbink took a Corviknight Taxi to the edge of Nameless Forest outside Yang City.

Nameless Forest had been explored countless times by Trainers from within and outside Yang City. The distribution of Pokémon within had long been thoroughly mapped out by wave after wave of Trainers.

Most Pokémon around the outskirts of Nameless Forest were at the Novice Level. Only after going a certain distance deeper inside could one encounter Normal Level Pokémon.

As such, this forest was the first choice every year for Novice Trainers seeking wild battles and captures.

Although the ecosystem here was ideal for Novice Trainers to explore, most Trainers had spent the past few days getting accustomed to their Starter Pokémon or having clumsy rookie battles.

While the outskirts were not yet crowded, Su Hao could let Carbink battle to its heart's content.

After Su Hao officially entered the forest with Carbink, no Pokémon immediately attacked them.

Many Pokémon with strong aggression, such as Spinarak and Little Rattata, simply shut their eyes and pretended not to see Su Hao and Carbink.

Since people came here every year, most Pokémon around the outskirts were unwilling to jump out and attack humans. After all, once they fought one person, many more would soon follow. It was simply too exhausting.

Just as the guide said, the Pokémon around the outskirts would not necessarily work without food.

With no other choice, Su Hao took a small box of Pokémon General Food from the backpack he carried with him.

Su Hao grabbed a handful of Pokémon food and quietly walked toward the Little Rattata pretending to be blind nearby.

When Su Hao came within five meters of Little Rattata, the Little Rattata that had been pretending not to see them immediately opened its eyes and bared its teeth at Su Hao and Carbink.

Though Little Rattata remained wary, the longing in its eyes as it stared at the Pokémon food in Su Hao's hand gave it away.

Noticing this, Su Hao directly released his Aura. After connecting with Little Rattata, he conveyed a feeling of goodwill to it.

As he conveyed his goodwill through Aura, Su Hao said to Little Rattata, "We mean no harm. As long as you battle my Carbink once, the food in my hand will be yours. And if you get hurt, we'll treat you too."

"Rattata!" After hearing him, Little Rattata found the human before it somewhat trustworthy and immediately took up a stance to face Carbink.

Pokémon: [Little Rattata]

Type: [Normal]

Gender: [Male]

Ability: [Run Away]

Level: [12]

Moves: [Tackle, Tail Whip, Quick Attack, Focus Energy, Bite]

Little Rattata was four levels higher than Carbink, but Su Hao predicted that Carbink could still easily win the battle.

As a rodent Pokémon, Little Rattata had a tiny, pale purple body and was extremely agile, especially its incisors.

Its incisors were Little Rattata's primary means of attack.

They were sharp enough to easily bite through even hard wood.

Little Rattata first gathered Normal-type energy around its incisors. Based on Su Hao's observations, it was likely the Normal-type Move Focus Energy, which allowed the Pokémon using it to more accurately identify an opponent's weak points.

After using Focus Energy, Little Rattata wasted no time in unleashing Bite as it charged toward Carbink.

"Use Tackle!" Su Hao chose to have Carbink meet it head-on.

"Carbink!" White radiance appeared over Carbink's body as it charged straight at the incoming Little Rattata.

Bang— The sound of collision rang out. Just as expected, Little Rattata was sent flying by Carbink, while Carbink was completely unharmed.

Little Rattata struggled to get back up after being knocked away, but it had been drained of all strength by the impact. It could only watch helplessly as Su Hao approached.

Su Hao took out a Heal Spray from his backpack again and sprayed it over Little Rattata's somewhat swollen head.

The medicine quickly took effect. Su Hao left behind the food he had promised Little Rattata, then continued searching for opponents with Carbink.

Lured by Su Hao's food, quite a few wild Pokémon were knocked flat by Carbink's heavy punches.

As dusk approached, Carbink's gray body flashed after it defeated the Nidoran before it, and its aura grew more solid once again.

As usual, Su Hao treated Nidoran's injuries. After handing it the food, he turned his gaze toward Carbink's current status panel.

Pokémon: [Carbink] [Mutation 7%]

Type: [Rock, Fairy]

Gender: [None]

Ability: [Clear Body]

Level: [11 → 12]

Moves: [Tackle, Harden, Dazzling Gleam, Meteor Beam, Reflect, Light Screen, Ancient Power, Defense Curl, Knock Off (New)]

After a full day, Carbink had directly risen to level twelve and learned the new move Knock Off, giving it some ability to deal with Pokémon flying in the sky.

After finishing the day's training, Su Hao and Carbink took the prearranged Corviknight Taxi home.

Su Hao hung his empty backpack on the wall, then directly pulled Pink Diamond out of thin air from his hand.

That was right. The backpack could conceal Su Hao's ability to retrieve objects from thin air through the system, but there was no need to keep acting in his private room for the time being.

After placing Pink Diamond beside Carbink, Su Hao turned on the computer in his room and found the Pokémon educational cartoon Princess Pikachu and Her Knight Gallade to play.

Besides battling, Su Hao also hoped Carbink could develop other interests. After all, the Divine Land Alliance offered generous fourfold overtime pay, and Pokémon needed a balance between work and rest too. Su Hao decided to let Carbink try watching cartoons today.

Princess Pikachu and Her Knight Gallade told the story of Princess Pikachu's kingdom being occupied by villains. The king sent Princess Pikachu and Knight Gallade away in advance, allowing them to escape disaster.

What followed was Princess Pikachu and Knight Gallade meeting many companions during their travels. In the end, they charged into the royal castle with their companions, defeated the villains, and rescued the king.

With its meticulous production and the highly professional acting of the Pikachu playing Princess Pikachu, even its clichéd plot was compelling enough to keep viewers watching.

Not to mention Carbink beside him, already utterly absorbed in the show with Pink Diamond balanced atop its head, even Su Hao found the cartoon very entertaining. It truly deserved its 9.8 rating on the Pokémon Movie Network.

After watching for only a little while, Su Hao forced himself to sit at the desk beside him. He took out a notebook and began organizing today's training results and future training plans.

Carbink currently possessed Harden and Dual Screens, so its defensive capabilities did not need further strengthening for the moment.

Instead, before it evolved into Diancie, it needed to work on its offensive capabilities.

After Carbink's level increased, the opponents it encountered would definitely become more varied.

Among them, there would certainly be opponents who used Status Condition moves. At that point, Carbink's slow speed would make it a natural target, and it would be practically impossible to avoid being afflicted by Status Conditions.

Su Hao could currently think of two solutions. One was the move Safeguard, which could prevent it from being affected by an opponent's Status Condition moves. Unfortunately, Safeguard was rather difficult for Carbink and Diancie to learn, though the system's training function could teach it quickly.

Carbink needed 1,000 System Currency to learn Safeguard.

Over the past two days, Su Hao and Carbink had fought battles continuously for two days, yet they had only earned 100 System Currency through the ever-present mission of [Battle, Then Win].

Compared with waiting some time to gather enough currency, Su Hao preferred the second option—improving Carbink's offensive capabilities.

Su Hao remembered that Carbink was described like this in the Pokémon Index from his previous life.

"Fires high-energy beams from the gems buried within its body, sweeping away all enemies that attack it."

Carbink should have a strong affinity for beam-type moves, such as Dazzling Gleam and Meteor Beam. They could begin by training Carbink's use of that type of attack.

And so, Su Hao planned until the city had completely fallen silent. Carbink beside him had long since fallen asleep while watching the cartoon, and Su Hao carried it onto its small bed.

After turning off the desk lamp, Su Hao lay down as well and slowly drifted into sleep.