The Passive Humanoid Modifier

Yan Yang had already returned to the cave.

Litleo ran over crying and lunged into Yan Yang's arms.

When Yan Yang had been taken away by Raikou, there had been nothing he could do to help. Litleo felt as though he was a little useless.

He could not even protect his own Trainer and had watched helplessly as he was taken away. Litleo sank into deep self-blame.

Even after learning that the Pokémon who had taken Yan Yang was not a bad guy but his uncle, and though he had let out a huge sigh of relief, Yan Bao still blamed himself.

This time, the one who took Yan Yang away was not a bad person—but what about next time? Or the time after that? Could he really protect his Trainer?

With those doubts in his heart, the instant Litleo saw Yan Yang return safely, all his grievance and guilt surged up at once, and tears began to flow uncontrollably.

Yan Yang was a little dazed. Why was Litleo crying?

But he quickly understood. Litleo had probably thought he had been taken away by bad people and was blaming himself for failing to protect him.

Yan Yang rubbed Litleo's head. Pokémon really were so loyal.

Yan Yang helped him wipe away his tears.

"Don't cry. I don't blame you. If you keep crying, you'll become a little crybaby. Pokémon who love to cry won't grow up, you know." Yan Yang comforted him softly. A Trainer not only had to train their Pokémon's body, but also pay attention to their mental well-being.

Whether Pokémon or people, psychological issues were something that deserved serious attention.

Litleo knew that he did not look good while crying. Under Yan Yang's soothing words, he gradually stopped crying, though it was obvious that he was still bothered by what had happened.

Raikou really was something. At least he could have said hello before taking him away. Look how guilty he had made Yan Bao feel.

Since Litleo had been frightened, Yan Yang decided that when Raikou and the others returned later, he would ignore him for a while.

"You don't need to blame yourself. A Pokémon that powerful is someone you can't defeat with your current strength. Neither you nor I could have stopped it, so there's no need to feel so guilty about this. You're still young. When you grow up, you'll have the strength to protect me."

"Right now, you're still a child. I'm the one who should protect you, so don't be sad anymore, Yan Bao, okay? As your Trainer, I have to protect both your body and mind."

Yan Yang had never thought he could speak so well. After all, he had been socially anxious since childhood and never spoke smoothly. He was the kind of person who could not even manage to speak fluently for a single minute.

Litleo slowly recovered, though he still felt a little down.

Seeing this, Yan Yang gently kissed Litleo on the forehead.

Litleo instantly settled down. He stopped thinking about all that messy stuff and began to chuckle happily.

"Mm, that's more like it." Yan Yang brightened and tossed Yan Bao into the air before steadily catching him.

Litleo laughed. It seemed that children all liked that floating sensation of having their feet leave the ground.

Suicune, who had silently watched the entire exchange from the side, also felt delighted.

Where on earth had Entei picked up such a little angel? Weren't children this age usually incredibly mischievous?

He could not understand it, but it was very nice.

Suicune had a feeling that once Yan Yang grew a little older, he would receive a feather from Lord Ho-Oh.

Someone like him was absolutely qualified to become the Brave of the Rainbow.

If that day really came, given Yan Yang's relationship with the three Legendary Beasts, the three of them might all go easy on him during their trials. After all, those trials were meant to test one's heart. Since they already knew Yan Yang inside out, there was no need to trouble themselves over that aspect.

As for his battling ability, with Entei looking after him since childhood, he would definitely be outstanding. Besides, Suicune could tell that Yan Yang was very talented.

Suicune was looking forward to that day.

After comforting Litleo, Yan Yang looked thoughtfully at the equally thoughtful Suicune beside him.

He had already petted both Entei and Raikou, but it seemed he had not petted Suicune yet.

The last time he had ridden Suicune, he had not properly touched him. Now that Entei and the others were absent, wasn't this the perfect chance to get handsy?

Seeing the eager look in Yan Yang's eyes, Suicune roughly guessed what he was thinking.

This child wanted to pet him, didn't he?

He was the noble and elegant Suicune, the eldest of the three Legendary Beasts. Even if he usually kept a low profile, he was still quite majestic, all right? Letting Yan Yang ride him once was already generous enough. And he wanted to touch him too? How could that possibly happen?

Even if I, Suicune, died or rolled out of this cave, I would never let you touch me.

Suicune looked like he was prepared to die heroically, his face full of refusal.

Yan Yang: That just makes me want to pet him even more. What do I do?

One minute later.

The "Petting the Three Legendary Beasts" achievement had been completed.

Suicune looked helplessly at Yan Yang, who was stroking and rubbing against him.

Did this child really like doing this so much? There was barely any fur on him. What was there to pet?

Perhaps it was psychological, but Suicune found it rather comfortable.

Maybe because he often petted Entei's fur, Yan Yang's experience in petting Pokémon of Suicune's size had reached perfection.

Even though Suicune's body was as smooth as water, that did not stop Yan Yang from using his skills to make them both feel good.

It was just that he could not bury his face in fur anymore.

Suicune did not have much of a scent, just as clean water had no smell. Instead, he carried a faint, refreshing fragrance.

Entei and Raikou had a rather noticeable beastly scent on them, but it was not unpleasant.

In fact, wild Pokémon all carried more or less some unpleasant smells. Even some of his companions did, but having survived in the wild since childhood, he had long grown accustomed to such scents.

The scent on Entei and the others was not unpleasant. Perhaps they were cleaner? Or was it because of a Legendary Pokémon's constitution?

After he had petted them enough, Yan Yang greeted them and ran off to sit nearby.

A few things had happened, and he had nearly forgotten to check his status panel.

Yan Yang closed his eyes and focused for a moment. His so-called panel soon appeared in his mind again.

This time, aside from the skills that had already been there, Yan Yang discovered a new skill:

Humanoid Modifier (the user's Pokémon may undergo some unexpected special positive changes)

This ability looked incredibly powerful, didn't it?

Special changes were something rarely seen among Pokémon.

However, Yan Yang still had no idea exactly how it worked. He did not know whether the same Pokémon could trigger it repeatedly either. Though this skill was called a modifier, it activated passively.

Yan Yang quietly observed Yan Bao beside him. Its information appeared before his eyes, and there were no major changes overall.

However, there had been a change under its trait.

Litleo (Yan Bao)

Trait: Ambition (move power is no longer affected by differences in gender; its skill power increases against any Pokémon, including genderless Pokémon)

Yan Yang: "!"

Wasn't this basically free bonus damage? He remembered it was about 25%—a direct one-quarter increase in damage.

It seemed pretty good.

So, what was the price?

Negative Effect: Weakness (every day, there will be a random half-hour period of extreme fatigue)

Yan Yang was still somewhat wary of this negative effect, but receiving such a powerful skill in exchange for such a drawback was still within an acceptable range.

He had always believed that there was no such thing as a free lunch. Every gift had its price secretly marked.

It was unrealistic to have benefits without drawbacks.

Still, this random weakness was rather troublesome. He was truly afraid that it might happen at a critical moment. If that happened, he would be done for.

But half an hour was not that long. He could just lie down when the time came.

However, Entei would definitely notice something was wrong.

Sigh, it was time to have a proper talk with Entei.

Although Yan Yang had already made up his mind, he could not help feeling somewhat nervous.

Would Entei really not care about his identity at all?

He shook his head, throwing away all those doubts.

He believed in Entei.

It was a child's trust in his father.