This Trainer Has No Sportsmanship

Second, attend auctions to purchase Pokémon that met the requirements.

No money. Skip.

Third, catch story Pokémon.

Judging from the Neon Stone Sprite, story Pokémon should have decent talent. Setting aside the legendary Pokémon for now, the story Pokémon that left the deepest impression in Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions was undoubtedly the Red Gyarados. Many players got their first-ever Shiny Pokémon from it.

However, the Red Gyarados was in Lake of Rage north of Mahogany Town, which was rather far away. It could be added to the candidate list, but there was nothing he could do about it for now.

The nearest story Pokémon was Sudowoodo, also known as Sudowoodo, located at the junction of Violet City, Goldenrod City, and Ecruteak City. In the game, it blocked the story progression, and players had to go to Goldenrod City to obtain the Squirtle Watering Can before they could get past it. Naturally, there was no need to follow such a setting in reality.

Incidentally, Sudowoodo in the Gold and Silver Versions had an almost omnipotent move pool. Fly, Surf, Dig, Strength, Waterfall—it could do everything. Players basically caught it to use as a utility Pokémon.

"However, unlike the Lapras hidden in the underground lake of Union Cave, Sudowoodo is an exposed Pokémon. If a corresponding one really exists in this world, it was probably caught long ago."

You Zhi thought about it and felt the odds were slim, but he still made a note of it so he could search for it when he had the chance.

He then racked his brain for a while longer, but more than ten years had passed, and his memories of the details had long since blurred. Unless he encountered something in person and compared the two, he would not remember which storyline it was. At the moment, he could not recall anything else. If he insisted on searching, only the legendary Pokémon remained.

As You Zhi swam through the sea of his memories, he jogged along the streets in the morning. When he reached the nearest park, he caught sight of two rows of display boards standing in a corner. They were covered in information sheets. After focusing on the contents, he jolted.

"Right! How did I forget about this?"

What he saw was naturally not matchmaking information, and the two rows of display boards were not a matchmaking corner either. They were a Pokémon Exchange Corner. The information sheets were divided into two sections: one listed information about one's own Pokémon, while the other listed requirements for the trade.

In truth, websites with similar functions did exist, but Pokémon exchanges were even more complicated than matchmaking between men and women. People generally demanded face-to-face verification, so most trades took place within the same city. Long-distance exchanges were rare, otherwise it would be easy for people to tamper with things.

"Besides story Pokémon, there are also specific traded Pokémon in the games. I remember Violet City had a related storyline... Right, it was trading Bellsprout for an Onix!"

Every version of the Pokémon games had certain NPCs who asked players to trade specified Pokémon for the Pokémon in their possession. Although the overwhelming majority of traded Pokémon were unfit for real combat, a small number were quite outstanding.

You Zhi could not even be bothered to look at the information on the display boards. He could tell with his knees that if there really were Pokémon with powerful talent and low exchange requirements, they would have been traded away long ago. How could they possibly wait for him?

It was like a real-life matchmaking corner. The people posted there were basically single men and women unwilling to settle. If they lowered their standards even a little, they would have found someone long ago. Why would they still need their parents to worry over them?

Of course, refusing to settle was not a flaw, and there was nothing to criticize. It was simply that from You Zhi's perspective, they were beyond his reach. Better to keep a respectful distance. The most important question right now was—

"How am I supposed to find them?"

There were only so many houses in the game, and searching them all would not take much time. He only needed to find the NPCs and talk to them one by one. But in reality, a city had at least hundreds of thousands of people. How could he possibly find a specific person so easily?

You Zhi thought it over and decided to make a post on the Pokédex forum to ask around. There were plenty of influential big shots there, and perhaps one of them had relevant information.

"The Pokémon replacing Onix can't still be some cute girl, right?"

Chapter 47: Group Training

You Zhi made a help post on the forum and marked fifty points as a reward.

However, there were only a few replies. Some complained that the information he provided was too sparse. With only "Violet City," "traded Pokémon," and "serpentine Pokémon," there was no way to identify the person.

Others simply replied that they had a serpentine Pokémon themselves, one with outstanding talent and an evolved form, and were willing to part with it. Rather than waste time looking for someone in Violet City, he might as well trade directly with them.

To be honest, You Zhi was tempted. He did not have obsessive-compulsive tendencies, nor did he feel he had to follow the game's settings. And Pokédex holders were basically all big shots. The Pokémon they were willing to offer should not be too bad. There was no reason they would lose to some random NPC.

Just as he was considering whether to contact the poster, a notification said someone wanted to message him privately. When he opened it, it was actually that medium.

Medium: I saw your post. I can help divine the target's location, but you need to come to Ecruteak City.

Big Savage: Isn't the content in the post enough?

Medium: I need the person involved as an anchor to perform targeted divination. Otherwise, the success rate is extremely low.

Big Savage: Fine. I'll go to Ecruteak City in a few days. I still need to prepare for a Gym challenge. Do you have any good advice, Senior?

Medium: The Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner, is a serious person. As long as a challenger's strength meets the standard, he will not deliberately make things difficult. Remember not to use Grass, Bug, Fighting, or Ground types, the four types disadvantaged against Flying. Otherwise, he will think you are unprofessional and increase the difficulty of the test. On the other hand, if you use Pokémon with advantageous types such as Rock, Electric, or Ice, he will approve of you instead.

Big Savage: Thank you.

Medium: You're welcome. Once you come to Ecruteak City, I also have something to ask of you.

Big Savage: All right. We'll discuss it in detail when we meet.

"Ecruteak City, a medium, and detailed knowledge of every Johto Gym Leader... This guy's real identity is the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City, isn't it?"

You Zhi vaguely remembered that Ecruteak City's Gym specialized in Ghost-types, which happened to be connected to the term "medium."

One coincidence could be dismissed, but so many coincidences could only mean the other party had never intended to conceal his identity.

Since this person was willing to help, there was no need to trade with anyone else. You Zhi added a "temporarily resolved" tag to the post, then went to book an appointment at Violet City's Gym. He was scheduled for the day after tomorrow.

When he returned to the hotel where he was staying, the front desk informed him that his delivery had arrived. He brought it back to his room and opened it. It was the Skill Stones he had ordered from the Pokédex Marketplace.

Without further thought, he summoned Demon Lizard Yihao.

"Hiss..."

Demon Lizard Yihao wore the listless expression of an office worker forced into voluntary overtime. Even its voice sounded weak.

You Zhi said, "Today isn't self-control training. It's move training. Try the Skill Stones."

"Hiss!"

Demon Lizard Yihao immediately came alive, as though it had stepped from night into daylight. It curiously accepted the four stones and stared at them stupidly, somewhat unsure of what to do.

"Try absorbing the spiritual power inside them."

Demon Lizard Yihao did as instructed. Three streams of spiritual power flowed from the Skill Stones and entered its body, giving it additional memories.

"Oh, it failed to learn one."

You Zhi glanced over. Three of the four stones had turned pale, while one remained unchanged. He picked up that Skill Stone and instructed, "Demonstrate the newly learned moves."

Demon Lizard Yihao complied. It closed its eyes as though recalling something, then massive chunks of stone suddenly appeared around its body, floating in midair.

Demon Lizard Yihao opened its eyes and swung both arms. The stones smashed toward the direction of its swing, sending dirt flying and weeds scattering everywhere.

Yet after only a moment, the stones vanished, leaving behind only shallow pits. The summoned stones were formed from spiritual power rather than actual rock.

After demonstrating Rock Slide, Demon Lizard Yihao demonstrated Ice Punch and Thunder Punch respectively. These two had no flashy effects. One hand merely radiated icy air while the other crackled with electricity, and both were rather inconspicuous, like cheap special effects from a second-rate television drama.

"Did it fail to learn Fire Punch because of its Water Attribute, or because of the Steel-type it'll have after evolving?"

You Zhi vaguely remembered that Lucario, also a Fighting and Steel dual-type, was in the same situation. It could only learn Ice Punch and Thunder Punch, but could not master Fire Punch. Yet by common sense, an evolved form should not affect the moves learned before evolution.

"Forget it. There's no point digging too deeply into this stitched-together world setting. Today's training task is to familiarize yourself with these three moves."

Demon Lizard Yihao nodded and went aside to practice.

After its talent improved, it was much smarter than before. It was no longer a fool that only performed one action for every command from its master. It understood how to think and expand upon instructions.

After that, You Zhi summoned the Goblin Attack Force and wanted them to learn Fire Punch. Yet those guys actually could not learn it!

The three punches were supposedly moves anyone with hands could learn, at most restricted by type conflicts. The Goblin Attack Force had a total of eight hands, and neither their types nor their lineage conflicted with Fire Punch, yet they simply could not learn it.

Helpless, You Zhi could only hand the other Skill Stone to them.

"I picked this trump card specifically for you. Once you learn this move, even the Blue-Eyes White Dragon will have to take a detour when it sees you."

The goblins became excited as soon as they heard that. The four of them fought over the Skill Stone, none willing to give way. They even resorted to underhanded tricks like eye gouging and crotch grabs, despite it being completely pointless—once any one of them learned it, the other three would learn it as well.

The final victor, bruised and battered, held the Skill Stone in his hands. After glancing at the three companions lying on the ground, he revealed a proud smile and deliberately absorbed the Skill Stone with a blissful expression. Then, every goblin froze.

Because the move they had learned was actually Self-Destruct!

"Don't doubt it. This is a universally recognized high-power move, second only to Explosion. And while others can only Self-Destruct once after learning it, you can Self-Destruct four whole times. Isn't that a divine move tailor-made for you?"

However, the Goblin Attack Force was far smarter than their usual behavior suggested. They were not fooled by You Zhi and were just about to protest as a group when a flash of light swept past them, forcibly recalling them into their Pokémon Card.

What was done was done. Reality was not a game, and learned moves could not be forgotten. You Zhi did not expect those guys to practice the move anyway. Self-Destruct was simple: the closer they were to the enemy, the stronger the damage. There was no technique involved. No matter how much they trained, they could not turn it into an art.

Finally, he summoned Silent Magician and Gagaga Girl, giving the former a Skill Stone that recorded Shadow Ball.

Silent Magician only had Confusion and Psybeam as attacking moves, both Psychic-type. Her coverage was far too narrow. With a Ghost-type Shadow Ball, she would not be left helpless when facing Pokémon of the same type.

In truth, You Zhi also wanted Silent Magician to learn the Grass-type Energy Ball to further expand her coverage. Unfortunately, the reward points were limited, so he could only make a choice.

He gave Fire Punch to Gagaga Girl. After all, this world did not distinguish between physical and special attacks. Everything depended solely on attack power. A mage fighting in close combat sounded unreliable, but its actual power was not weak. If an enemy ever got close, she would at least have a means of counterattack.

Chapter 48: Naturia Pokémon

After spending a day helping his Pokémon familiarize themselves with their new moves, You Zhi set off for Violet City's Training Tower.

The Training Tower stood in the middle of a lake, connected to the city by a bridge. The entire tower was built with a flexible structure. From the outside, it looked like a pillar wrapped in a shell, constantly swaying as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

Yet the tower was extraordinarily sturdy. It had stood for more than a hundred years without a single accident, and its exterior showed no trace of age or decay. It was said that the monks inside used Pokémon power to maintain it.

After entering the tower, You Zhi saw quite a few Pokémon Trainers engaged in duels, with monks offering guidance from outside the field. They acted as referees while recording both sides' mistakes, making it easier to summarize them after the duels ended.

Every floor of the Training Tower was equipped with a spiritual artifact, allowing a Duel Barrier to be deployed and preventing Trainers from suffering spiritual backlash.

Normally, Duel Barriers could not be placed so densely. They had to be separated by a certain distance, otherwise insufficient spiritual power might prevent some of them from activating. Yet the Training Tower happened to be located on a spiritual vein node, and the spiritual power inside was exceptionally abundant. Its concentration even exceeded that of a Gym.

Furthermore, when the Training Tower was founded, its abbot established a rule strictly limiting the number of duels held each day to avoid exhausting the resource. They also constantly monitored the concentration of spiritual power. Once it entered a weakened period, they reduced the number of duels. This rule had continued to the present day.

Of course, those measures alone could not have sustained it for a century. No matter how good the rules were, they could not withstand natural disasters or human calamities. There had to be other secrets involved, but if those concerned did not speak, outsiders had no way of knowing.

You Zhi showed his calling card to the welcoming monk, who politely led him to the third floor. Along the way, the monk explained the challenge rules of the Training Tower. In short, challengers fought their way upward. Every match was one-on-one. Winning allowed them to advance to the next floor, while losing meant going home. The difficulty increased floor by floor. After defeating the abbot on the top floor, the eighth, challengers could also receive a reward.

The rules were simple and easy to understand, so You Zhi did not ask more questions. He went straight to the third floor and discovered that battles were already underway. However, the hosts had clearly considered that more people would challenge the lower floors, so they had prepared ample staff. Before long, an available monk approached him.

The two did not say much. After greeting each other, they chose an empty field and summoned their Pokémon for a duel.

You Zhi sent out Gagaga Girl. Although she was still only Level 5, he had asked around beforehand. The Training Tower monks all used Grass-type Pokémon, and in order to give challengers a good experience and prevent them from going home after their first battle, the Pokémon on the third floor were generally not strong. The monks usually held back. This was likely Gagaga Girl's only chance to win.

Sure enough, the monk opposite him sent out a tulip Pokémon with blue eyes. It looked rather weak.

[Naturia Tulip (2 stars) EARTH]

[Lineage: Grass]

[Level: 12]

[Attack: 600 (660)]

[Defense: 1500 (1650)]

[Plant-Type, Effect/Tuner: While this card is face-up on your field, each time your opponent activates a Spell Card or Trap Card, the Attack of face-up monsters with "Naturia" in their names on your field increases by 500 until the End Phase of that turn.]

After seeing the opposing Pokémon's effect through his cheat, You Zhi understood the upcoming strategy. He could only fight using Pokémon moves and could not use Spell Cards, lest he trigger its trait.

"Use Confusion."

"Use Razor Leaf."

Both sides issued their commands at the same time. Naturia Tulip spun its body, firing a barrage of leaves like swiftly spinning boomerangs. Gagaga Girl raised her bracelet, aimed the skull at her opponent, and released invisible psychic waves. The flying leaves stopped in midair, then fell to the ground after losing their momentum.

From that single exchange, the monk had roughly estimated the opposing Pokémon's level. Gagaga Girl was a popular Pokémon, and information about her had long been public. Her base Attack was 1000, yet she was evenly matched with Naturia Tulip, whose base Attack was only 600. This proved that her level was low, and she was likely a newly obtained Pokémon.

Although the Training Tower had an unwritten rule of holding back as much as possible in the first battle, it could not be made too obvious, or it would damage their reputation.

The monk silently apologized to the youth opposite him and gave his second command. "Use Bullet Seed."

Naturia Tulip puffed out its mouth, making its already large head swell even more. When it opened its mouth, nut-like seeds shot out in rapid succession.

Bullet Seed was a multi-hit attack. If Gagaga Girl used the same trick and blocked it with Confusion again, she could at most stop the first wave before being injured by the following seeds.

You Zhi knew little about Yu-Gi-Oh!, but he was extremely familiar with Pokémon. He instantly recognized his opponent's intention and immediately said, "Dodge!"

There was no other choice. Gagaga Girl only naturally knew Pound, Confusion, and Tickle, so he could only resort to the Three Divine Skills.

Fortunately, although she was a mage, Gagaga Girl was quite agile and had trained regularly. With several quick sidesteps, evasions, and rolls, she even knew how to use the terrain as cover, dodging every seed.

The monk paused in surprise. He had clearly rarely seen such an agile mage. He glanced at You Zhi again and discovered that the other party had no intention of using alchemy spells. He could not help muttering inwardly, It seems he knows Naturia Tulip's trait, so he abandoned alchemy to avoid increasing its Attack. Did he deliberately ask about it, or does he come from a great family and have broad knowledge?

Even as he speculated, it did not stop him from issuing another command. "Charge, then use Mega Drain."

Naturia Tulip kicked off with its nearly invisible little legs and sprang toward Gagaga Girl. At the same time, green light emerged from the flower bud atop its head.

Seeing Gagaga Girl preparing to dodge again, You Zhi hurriedly said, "Meet it head-on. Use your new move."

Gagaga Girl hesitated, but she still chose to follow the command. She clenched both hands, flames erupting around her fists, and smashed them toward Naturia Tulip.

The two collided. Amid scattering sparks, Gagaga Girl was knocked flying, while the green light around Naturia Tulip was forcibly dispersed. Its body surface was scorched, and faint flames seemed to flicker across it as it writhed in pain.

In game terms, it was equivalent to triggering the move's secondary effect and inflicting a burn on the opponent.

Not letting the opportunity slip away, You Zhi immediately said, "Rush in and keep fighting at close range. Don't give it a chance to catch its breath."

The monk was about to issue a response, but stopped himself.

In that brief delay, Gagaga Girl successfully closed in on her opponent. She activated Fire Punch and unleashed a furious barrage upon the panicked Naturia Tulip. An incomparably delighted expression appeared on her face, as though the solid sensation of fists striking flesh had awakened a new preference within her...