Fatal Flaw

The voice ringing in his mind startled Ye Lan, but he quickly recovered.

Those predecessors and sages hadn't lied to me after all. Transmigration really does come with a system! Ye Lan nearly burst into tears.

Ding! Please carefully read the following system regulations. You will bear the consequences otherwise.

One: This system is called the Grass-type Champion Development System. Its purpose is to assist Trainers in becoming Grass-type Champions and climbing even higher. It is only an auxiliary tool; the Trainer themself is more important!

Two: This system currently only provides data analysis. Other functions require Sunshine Points to unlock.

Three: Sunshine Points can be earned by raising Grass-type Pokémon, having Grass-type Pokémon defeat opponents, and other methods.

Warning! Due to system restrictions, the host may only enjoy system functions and privileges after catching Grass-type Pokémon. Catching Pokémon of other types will not grant access to the items and effects provided by the system!

Of all the information before him, Ye Lan paid no attention whatsoever to the large red words at the very bottom.

This aligned perfectly with his own wishes!

Although the system did not force Ye Lan to catch only Grass-type Pokémon, he still planned to choose nothing but Grass-type Pokémon as his future partners.

Remembering the data analysis function the system had mentioned earlier, Ye Lan immediately looked toward a Pidgey perched on a nearby roof.

Name: Pidgey
Gender: Male
Type: Normal/Flying
Ability: Keen Eye
Effect: Move accuracy remains unchanged
Known moves: Peck, Growl
Inherited moves: None

Ye Lan's eyes lit up. He really could see it! The data appeared beside the Pokémon in front of him, clear at a glance.

However, in Father Ye and Mother Ye's eyes, Ye Lan looked as though he had suddenly gone blank.

To them, Ye Lan had first frozen, then stared fixedly at the Pidgey, as if he were not looking at a Pidgey at all, but some rare Pokémon!

Could the disappointment have been too much? Has this kid gone stupid? Father Ye and Mother Ye wondered.

Seeing the atmosphere gradually turn awkward, the guide, Xiao Zhang, hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Our Pokémon House also has some Pidgey with quite good potential. If you'd like, I can take you to see them right away."

Hearing that, Ye Lan finally came back to himself.

"No need, no need. Let's go straight to the Grass-type Pokémon section."

Along the way, whenever they passed areas for other types, Ye Lan habitually checked their data.

He even spotted several Pokémon with Hidden Abilities, nearly making him waver.

Upon reaching the Grass-type Pokémon area, several Bellsprout appeared before Ye Lan.

"This batch of Bellsprout just arrived, and they all have quite good potential," Xiao Zhang introduced from the side.

Bellsprout was also a decent choice in Ye Lan's mind. It had three evolutionary stages, and although it required a Leaf Stone to reach its final form, Victreebel had base stats of over 100 in both offenses, making it a very solid Pokémon.

But these Bellsprout before him...

Even the most talented one knew only two moves, and none of them seemed to be in very good spirits.

Ye Lan shook his head. In that condition, they would probably even be afraid of battling.

The system could not yet directly reveal potential, but Ye Lan had noticed a dim plus sign next to that function in the system panel. Perhaps it could be upgraded with Sunshine Points later.

Seeing Ye Lan shake his head, Xiao Zhang understood and led everyone farther inside.

Along the way, Ye Lan saw quite a few Pokémon: Oddish, Exeggcute, and a Lotad with fairly good potential.

Name: Lotad
Gender: Male
Type: Water/Grass
Ability: Swift Swim
Effect: Speed doubles in rainy weather
Known moves: Howl, Absorb, Bubble
Inherited moves: Leech Seed

"It actually inherited Leech Seed?"

Ye Lan's eyes brightened. This was one of his favorite moves. Moreover, being able to inherit this move meant that its parents might have been from the Bulbasaur or Snivy lines, which meant its potential would be even higher.

Besides, a Lotad with Swift Swim would become a solid member of a rain team after evolving into Ludicolo.

The Water-and-Grass typing was also excellent. It had three resistances, could resist the powerful Earthquake move, had a quadruple resistance to Water, and only had three weaknesses: Poison, Bug, and Flying.

Putting all that together, choosing this Lotad was already the best option available. However, it had one fatal flaw in Ye Lan's eyes.

Its final evolution, Ludicolo, was too ugly!

Though the longer he looked at it, the more it seemed ugly-cute, and though Ye Lan had been purely a competitive player in the games, he still could not get over that hurdle in real life!

"It was clearly pretty cute as a kid. How did it grow up so wrong?"

Ye Lan raised his head and sighed. This was already the last kind of Grass-type Pokémon. He had reached the end of the Grass-type section.

Aside from choosing this Lotad, only one final option remained.

Gamble on eggs!

Now that he had the system's assistance, he naturally had to check out the egg gambling area. If there were no suitable Grass-type Pokémon, he would have no choice but to come back and choose this Lotad.

After telling Xiao Zhang what he had in mind, Xiao Zhang looked toward Father Ye and Mother Ye.

Seeing the worried expressions on his parents' faces, Ye Lan smiled and reassured them. "Don't worry, Mom, Dad. I'm not trying to save money. I just haven't found the right one yet. Whatever money is left after gambling on eggs will still be spent on raising Pokémon. I won't save even a cent!"

Only then did Father Ye's furrowed brow relax.

"You brat, don't go spending your father and mother's retirement savings!"

The family chatted and laughed as they made their way to the egg gambling area.

The Pokémon eggs here were either poor-looking or had yet to be identified.

Current egg identification technology was still imperfect, relying on people to judge eggs by their patterns. Many eggs went unchosen because their patterns were damaged or their appearance was poor, so they were piled up in this area.

They cost only one-third of a normal Pokémon egg, making this one of the ways many ordinary families could become Trainers.

Ye Lan examined them row by row, and the information for each Pokémon egg appeared before his eyes in turn.

"Mankey, Poliwag, Pidgey, Charmander... Wait, Charmander?!"

Ye Lan's eyes suddenly widened. A dim Charmander egg had been picked up by a boy around his age.

The boy's parents gave Ye Lan an apologetic smile, while the boy merely shook his head to show it was fine, then followed his parents away to pay.

Ye Lan did his best to remember what he looked like. Someone blessed with such great fortune might cross paths with him again someday.

Retracting his gaze, Ye Lan continued examining the remaining Pokémon eggs.

Before long, Ye Lan wiped away a nonexistent tear from the corner of his eye.

"Lotad, it looks like we'll have to do our best together from now on!"

Just then, a staff member pushed a cart full of Pokémon eggs toward the shelves in the egg gambling area.

Ye Lan, who had already given up hope, merely gave it a casual glance.

In an instant, it was as if his eyes had been hooked. His gaze stuck firmly to one Pokémon egg near the surface.

Name: Snivy
Gender: Female
Type: Grass
Ability: Contrary (Hidden Ability)
Known moves: Tackle
Inherited moves: Glare, Magical Leaf, Iron Tail, Grassy Terrain

Holy shit? Holy shit! Holy shit!!! Perfect. It's just too perfect!

Ye Lan screamed endlessly in his heart, as though the entire world contained only him and that scar-covered Pokémon egg.

I'm sorry, Lotad-chan. I have a better choice now, smecta~

Lotad: ???