Mythical Pokémon Era: Global Ascension

Time flew by.

To prepare for the school team selection, Roy underwent special training every day.

Even when he had academic classes, he would send Riolu and Squirtle to the Training Room while he attended his own training, with both sides keeping each other in check.

The intensity of the two Pokémon's special training was so high that even some Professional-level Trainers would have been dumbfounded upon seeing it!

...Wouldn't their cells die from training like this?

This had nothing to do with effort. It was a matter of physical hardware.

In fact, without a sufficient supply of Energy Cubes, this kind of training simply could not be sustained.

The price was that, after one week, Roy had burned through a full five hundred thousand points.

That rate of spending was far beyond what he had anticipated.

Still, the results were gratifying.

After its Overall Evaluation rose to C+, Riolu learned three innate moves.

Nasty Plot (Dark-type), Quick Guard (Fighting-type), Force Palm (Fighting-type)...

Roy had no plans to study Nasty Plot or Quick Guard in depth, but Force Palm greatly interested him.

"The principle is similar to the hidden force techniques of Dragon Country martial arts. During a strike, 'qi' is channeled into the opponent's body, causing internal injuries. If it hits an acupoint, it can even paralyze the opponent..."

Roy pondered this.

"The qi mentioned here should refer to Fighting-type energy."

"I wonder whether it can be replaced with Aura Power. I should write this idea down and give it a try..."

Besides those three moves that Riolu's species could naturally learn as it leveled up, Riolu gave Roy another surprise on the eighth day.

"Return?"

"You actually comprehended this move on your own."

Roy praised it as he placed a hand on Riolu's head and began petting the dog.

The pup was cool and mature around everyone else, yet it particularly enjoyed this treatment. It squinted its eyes in comfort, its tail wagging nonstop.

The power of Return was somewhat useful among Novice-level Pokémon.

But for Riolu as it was now, it could not improve its combat ability in any way.

What delighted Roy was the significance of Riolu mastering Return. It had clearly begun to accurately sense the Mind Energy within its body and make rough use of it.

This meant it would not be long before Riolu developed Aura and evolved into Lucario.

Life always had its joys and sorrows.

Riolu brought good news, while Squirtle brought dreadful news.

"Squiiiirtle... Squiiiirtle..."

Squirtle lay on its back with all four limbs raised, staring blankly at the sky. Its whole body radiated the air of a salted fish saying, I'm so tired. I don't want to work hard anymore.

Roy walked over in distress, picked up the Willpower Bell, and shook it as he spoke.

"Squirtle, you still can't rest yet..."

As if it had triggered some stress response, Squirtle instantly burst into tears. Its tears poured down like a waterfall, in a truly astonishing amount.

It did not just cry. Squirtle flailed all four limbs as it rolled around throwing a tantrum.

Seeing this, Roy scratched his cheek. He knew the recent training volume had indeed been excessive.

Pokémon were intelligent creatures. Their thoughts were simple but their emotions were delicate. They all had their own personalities; they could get angry, slack off, become arrogant, and be stubborn...

Roy was far too familiar with Squirtle's reaction.

Wasn't this exactly what he had experienced as a child?

When Roy was young, he had taken an interest in Go. After Mom Luo found out, she immediately enrolled him in hobby classes that ate up his weekends. After school, she urged him to play Go, and she also made him keep up with his studies...

As a result, Roy, who had originally loved Go, gave up in less than half a year and even developed an aversion to it.

Mom Luo had meant well. At the very least, she was willing to spend money enrolling Roy in hobby classes and spend time playing Go with him, rather than making him study all day and cutting off every extracurricular interest.

But her methods had been wrong. Too much was as bad as too little.

Roy shifted his thinking and quickly came up with an idea.

"Alright, alright. We won't train today."

The moment he finished speaking, Squirtle stopped sobbing and looked at Roy with tear-filled eyes, as though confirming whether he meant it.

"We're going to find someone to battle today!" Roy smiled. "Mm, we'll have a semi-public match and let you show off."

"Squirtle!"

Squirtle shot upright as if rising from its deathbed, then practically took off on the spot as it jumped up.

But it quickly began worrying about whether it might lose.

Over the past week, it had fought several simulated battles against Riolu, yet it had not won a single one. Its confidence had been completely beaten out of it.

One-third of the reason Squirtle was giving up today was Riolu's fault.

"Don't worry. The opponent is weak. You will definitely win."

Roy confidently guaranteed it.

After soothing Squirtle, Roy took out his phone, opened the class group chat, and directly @'d Lin Shixian.

Lin Shixian: ?

Roy: Want to have a friendly match?

Lin Shixian: Get lost!

Lin Shixian: Oh! Do you think I'm an idiot? Letting you beat me up?

The class group suddenly fell silent. Yang Dong, who had been lurking, rather admired Lin Shixian. How had he managed to say something so cowardly in such a fierce tone?

Roy: Don't be in such a hurry. I won't send Riolu. I'm sending Squirtle today.

Lin Shixian: ...Your second Pokémon, the one you got a week ago?

Lin Shixian: Are you sure? My Bulbasaur has a type advantage over Squirtle.

Roy: To be honest, losing is exactly what I want. This Squirtle is too arrogant, and I want it to suffer a little setback...

Roy: And Classmate Lin's ability is beyond doubt.

On the other side of the screen, Lin Shixian could not stop the corners of his mouth from lifting.

Roy really knows how to talk!

In truth, he did not think he would lose, either.

Bulbasaur had the type advantage, had begun training earlier than its opponent, and he knew everything there was to know about the Starter Pokémon...

Tell me, how could he lose?

Having a friendly match with Roy, letting Roy owe him a favor, and even teaching Roy's Pokémon a lesson—no matter how Lin Shixian looked at it, this was an absolute steal.

Lin Shixian: Fine! I accept!

Lin Shixian: One o'clock this afternoon. Get to the Battle Room!

Roy did not underestimate Lin Shixian.

If he had not been unlucky enough to encounter Xiao Bin, Lin Shixian would have been able to reach the semifinals in the entrance test with his ability.

After a week, Lin Shixian's Bulbasaur had surely improved considerably as well.

However, Squirtle's progress was even more astonishing.

Of the five hundred thousand points burned over this period, nearly four hundred thousand had been eaten by Squirtle.

Squirtle had barely trained any physical attributes. All its time and resources had been poured into "Energy Growth" and "Skill Release."

Even when sleeping at night, it held Unmelting Ice and the Mysterious Water Droplet, falling asleep nourished by both as its subconscious absorbed their energy...

Not only had it spent money, it had practically spent its life.

Otherwise, it would not have driven such an honest, simple child insane.

One o'clock in the afternoon.

Roy arrived at the Battle Room within Sheng Hai University on time. Its facilities were about the same as those at the Pokémon Center and suited Novice-level Trainers.

Quite a few onlookers stood in the spectator stands. At a rough glance, there were around a hundred people.

Almost all of them had come after hearing that Roy would be battling Lin Shixian with his second Pokémon. When they saw Roy enter, enthusiastic cheers rang out from the stands.

"Chief Roy, good luck!"

"Chief Roy, can I record a video and upload it online?"

"Where's Squirtle? I want to see Squirtle! Its reaction memes are so useful!"

"Look at this cheer sign! I specially made it for Haba the Turtle!"

When it came to pursuing the opposite sex, girls actually had far more initiative than boys.

At this moment, most of those who dared to speak loudly to Roy and tease him were girls.

Quite a few were clearly fans who followed Roy's Weibo Super Topic, holding cheer signs featuring Squirtle reaction memes.

Roy dealt with them with a smile, speaking in a gentle, soft voice.

It could not be helped. These were reliable sources of Popularity Points... Cough, cough, they were his benefactors. He had to treat them well.

Just as Roy nodded and gave permission to a girl who was an uploader on Bilibili to record video, a deep, rough male voice suddenly exploded through the room.

"Yibao, Mommy loves you!"

"..."

The entire venue fell silent.

Roy's mouth twitched as he tried to find which "male mom" was disgusting him.