Mythical Pokémon Era: Global Ascension

The one behind all of this was the Pokémon that had suddenly emerged from Hu Jun's shadow.

"Ku ku ku..."

"Gengar?"

Roy recognized the snickering Ghost-type Pokémon at a glance.

"The answer is to raise a Pokémon skilled in defense, warning, or relocation." Hu Jun stroked Gengar's head and smiled. "As long as it excels in one of those three areas, an assassination cannot succeed if it gives the Trainer time to take out a Poké Ball."

"The situation will be dragged into a head-on fight."

"Next question: what is the most crucial thing in a head-on battle?" Hu Jun looked at Roy expectantly.

Pokémon levels? Attribute advantages? The ability to protect the Trainer?

Roy dismissed each guess in his mind. "Team battle capability."

"That's right. More accurately, it's a team battle system." Hu Jun added with satisfaction, "Pokémon combat doesn't follow so-called one-on-one rules. It's a chaotic group melee where everyone swarms in together. The side that can gather all its Pokémon's strength will win."

"As for a team battle system, take the classic weather tactic as an example. If all six Pokémon excel at fighting in a Sandstorm, their team battle capability will be stronger than a simple 'one plus one' calculation."

"Unless your Pokémon are powerful enough to crush everything, you cannot overlook the construction of a team battle system."

"Although you're still some distance from Professional-level, you can start thinking carefully about how your Pokémon can form a team battle system, what you should do, and how you should train them..." Hu Jun's advice came from his own personal experience.

Back then, after he had finally gained the strength of a Professional-level Trainer, he went to take the Professional-level assessment, only to be beaten senseless at the team battle system stage. If he brought out his Pokémon for one-on-one duels, every single one of them was stronger than the opponent's Pokémon.

But in a team battle, he could not eliminate even one of the other side's Pokémon and was completely wiped out!

The abilities of several of his Pokémon simply could not work together in a team battle. It was not a problem that could be solved by merely changing tactics.

How could scorching fire coordinate with ice?

Left with no choice, Hu Jun could only have some of his old partners step back from the front lines and train new Pokémon. It took him three wasted years before he finally became a Professional-level Trainer.

The Prospects of Mega Blastoise

"Uncle Hu, thank you for telling me so much," Roy said gratefully.

The reason seniors deserved respect was because they used their own experience and lives to guide those who came after them, allowing them to avoid detours.

Not because you were older than me.

Roy disliked people who relied on their age to lord it over others, but he held great respect for seniors like Hu Jun, who passed on knowledge and taught others.

"It's nothing." Hu Jun waved his hand, sincerely believing that what he had done was insignificant.

After chatting with Roy for a little longer, Hu Jun went out to work.

As the person stationed in the Spirit Realm, Hu Jun had to regularly investigate the Pokémon ecology within it. He generally would not intervene, but if a species faced the threat of extinction, people had to step in and make adjustments... Spirit Realms were incomplete alternate spaces, varying in size.

Larger Spirit Realms had stable ecosystems and required no human intervention.

However, the Spirit Realm where Latias lived was not large, and its ecological chain was incomplete, with many flaws.

No matter what kind of Spirit Realm it was, the greatest threats to guard against were poaching groups and foreign forces.

Roy returned to his residence in town. The internet there was disconnected from the outside world, and he could not leave the town. With this rare vacation, he could only hold the three little ones and watch movies with them.

For Vulpix's mental and physical health, Roy banned morally warped soap operas like "Pokémon Sky" and had the family watch "Feebas's Adventure" instead.

The story was about a Feebas that was scorned by the fish because of its ugly, strange appearance. Even Grimer looked down on it. Yet Feebas remained optimistic and never gave up. After enduring countless hardships, it finally evolved into Milotic and earned everyone's recognition and affection.

It was a very inspiring story.

Squirtle was moved to tears and wiped its nose with a tissue.

Roy took the opportunity to educate Vulpix and fill it with positive energy. "This story tells us that as long as you have dreams and aspirations, and strive toward your goal, adversity doesn't matter! Gold will shine eventually."

"Awoo?"

Vulpix tilted its head in confusion, seemingly unable to understand.

Through Aura Power, Roy understood Vulpix's confusion. "Feebas was destined to evolve into Milotic from the start."

"But what if the protagonist weren't Feebas, but that Grimer in the story? Would it also earn everyone's love?"

Roy fell silent.

Women who were too realistic and too smart were not popular, Vulpix... But looking at Vulpix's adorable face, Roy felt like he could accept it anyway.

That evening, Roy cooked personally, following Pokémon recipes he found online to make a meal for the three little ones.

No matter how tasty Energy Cubes were, eating them every day would grow tiresome.

Changing things up once in a while was important too, especially for the newly born Vulpix. Roy did not want her to think that Energy Cubes were the only edible things in the world.

"Squirtle..."

Squirtle wore a grumpy turtle face, indicating that Roy's cooking was just average and that it wanted Energy Cubes back.

Before Roy could say anything, Vulpix pounced at it, smacking Squirtle with its soft paws in a rapid series of slaps. "Cha!"

Riolu nodded, indicating that Vulpix had done well.

...Though it also thought the food did not taste very good.

Squirtle felt wronged. It thought it was the only loyal minister, while the other two were all flattering traitors.

Vacations always passed quickly.

Roy lay on the bed, with Riolu lying by his feet. It always liked sleeping close to the door, so if someone broke in, Riolu could react immediately.

Squirtle had withdrawn into its shell and lay on Roy's right.

Vulpix, meanwhile, had curled up into a ball of cotton candy atop Roy's stomach.

Watching the three little ones sleep soundly, Roy's lips unconsciously curved upward, and a rare gentle smile appeared on his face.

He had come to like this world and the life of being a Trainer.

Gently stroking Vulpix's fur, Roy recalled their daytime conversation. A team battle system...

He did not want any of his Pokémon to be incompatible with team battles and forced to take a backseat. Riolu, Squirtle, Vulpix...

The three Pokémon had different Attributes and specialized in different areas. At first glance, there seemed to be nothing that could serve as a point of synergy for a team battle system.

No wonder Gym Leaders and Champions like specializing in one or two Pokémon Attributes. It really does make team battles easier and prevents them from interfering with each other. As Roy pondered, he truly found a point of compatibility among his Pokémon.

Mind Energy!

Or rather, aura.

After Latias's baptism, all three Pokémon had their talents in Mind Energy enhanced.

Vulpix was naturally gifted.

Once Riolu evolved, it would become a natural Aura Wielder. Even Squirtle...

If I remember correctly, Squirtle can learn Aura Sphere. That means it is qualified to master Aura Power. Roy also thought of Squirtle's final form, Blastoise's Mega Evolution—Mega Blastoise. Its Ability would become "Wicked Blow," which increased the power of all pulse and aura moves by fifty percent!

And Squirtle happened to be a turret-style Pokémon specializing in long-range offense.

After Mega Evolution, its long-range firepower would be absolutely explosive.

The thought of that overwhelming barrage made Roy a little excited.

The Trainers of this world had yet to discover the power of Mega Evolution.

Thinking of Squirtle's love for the spotlight, Roy decided to give Squirtle that opportunity in the future... I should add Aura Power to Squirtle's training plan... Roy still had no concrete idea of how to build a team battle system, but developing Aura Power as their point of synergy could not be wrong.

The next day, training resumed.

To have Squirtle learn Aura Power, all Roy could really do was use Aura Power every day to let Squirtle and Riolu sense the power of aura, then have the two Pokémon use the Soothing Bell's effects to capture Mind Energy.

For the rest, they could only rely on their own comprehension.

Squirtle had started later.

Riolu, meanwhile, could already produce a little Aura Power.

On the fifth day after Vulpix's birth, Riolu gave Roy a surprise. "Use Force Palm—"

At Roy's instruction, Riolu struck a steel plate with its palm.

Several spiderweb-like cracks appeared.

Two seconds later, Riolu cried out, "Cha!" The steel plate suddenly shattered, as though it had exploded from within.

Force Palm drove Fighting energy into the opponent's body to inflict deeper damage. If it struck an acupuncture point, it also had a chance of paralyzing the opponent.

But it did not have this effect of remotely detonating it to inflict secondary damage.

This was not merely Force Palm.

It was an improved Force Palm that infused a portion of Aura Power into the Fighting energy driven into the opponent's body.

Just imagine it. During a battle, if it detonated the energy left inside the enemy at the right moment, there were far too many things it could accomplish. For example, interrupting the opponent's Skill Release at a critical moment...

Roy told Riolu about this tactical idea, only to have it reject it. "Cha."

Riolu explained that with its current level of control, it could only control whether the aura detonated within five seconds. Any longer than that was impossible; it would definitely explode...

"It's fine. As your Aura Power grows stronger, that control time will also increase." Roy smiled.

Riolu was only one step away from evolving.

As long as it accumulated a little more Aura Power, it could evolve without any difficulty.

Riolu had mastered aura so quickly thanks to the "Infinite" Calm Mind method. The stronger its Inner Focus became, the easier it was to capture Mind Energy...

Squirtle's gains were not small either. Its Inner Focus had grown stronger, and it had independently comprehended several Psychic moves. In its recent simulated battles with Riolu, its reaction speed had grown faster and faster. Out of a total of thirty-three simulated battles, Squirtle had even pulled off an upset victory once... Everything was developing in a good direction.

Snow Warning, the Beginning of an Icy World

Unlike ordinary animals, Pokémon had very short childhoods.

In just ten days, Vulpix had already left the stage of infancy that required careful protection and could begin training.

This fit people's understanding of battle species: their childhoods were brief, their youth extraordinarily long, and they did not enter old age until shortly before death... Saiyans were like this, for example.

Roy had been in this Spirit Realm for nearly a month.

His goal was to participate in the National University League, earn Fame Points, and hone his Pokémon. If he had the chance, Roy also wanted to give it his all and see whether he could win the championship and claim that admission ticket to the Crown Tundra.

To participate in the National University League, he first had to pass the university team's expanded recruitment.

The expanded recruitment was a three-on-three selection battle.

He had to have three Pokémon capable of competing.