Dodo Bird

"No battle," Xia Yan said bluntly.

Lance: "???"

He wasn't stupid, nor was he Ash. He knew he couldn't win, yet he was supposed to go looking for a beating?

Even if Lance had yet to become the future Champion, or even an Elite Four member, Xia Yan himself was still a half-beginner who had only been around Pokémon for less than half a month.

Although Weedle had gained considerable strength through its fortunate encounters, its unearthed potential had yet to be fully converted into actual power. There was no need to throw it against the muzzle of a Dragon-type specialist Pokémon Trainer.

Dragon-type Pokémon were undoubtedly the Pokémon with the strongest innate talents, and the Base Stats of most Dragon-type Pokémon stood at the peak among ordinary Pokémon.

One only needed to look at the Pseudo-Legendaries of each region to see how many of them were Dragon-type Pseudo-Legendaries.

Kanto Region's Dragonite, Hoenn Region's Salamence, Sinnoh Region's Garchomp, Unova Region's Hydreigon, Kalos Region's Goodra, and even the Alola Region and Galar Region, which were either not yet announced or had yet to be fully incorporated into the Pokémon League's territory—their respective Kommo-o and Dragapult.

It could be said that, aside from Johto Region's Pseudo-Legendary Tyranitar and Hoenn Region's other Pseudo-Legendary Metagross bringing some pride to other types, seven out of the eight regions' Pseudo-Legendaries were Dragon-type Pokémon.

"Those who have Dragon-types have the future" was not just an empty saying.

And Lance, the genius of Kanto Region's Dragon Clan, was likewise a Pokémon Trainer specializing in Dragon-type Pokémon. He called himself Dragon Tamer Lance, though others might prefer to call him Dodo Bird.

Trying to stubbornly pit Weedle against him would do nothing except damage Weedle's confidence.

Weedle had already experienced failure. It did not need another foreseeable loss to teach it a lesson.

"I, you..."

Why wasn't he playing by the usual rules?

Lance did not know what to say for a moment.

When someone challenged you to a battle, weren't you supposed to happily accept, then fight an earth-shaking battle of the century?

Wasn't that what every Pokémon Trainer was enthusiastic about?

"I don't have that much time. Because of some things today, Weedle's training isn't finished yet. I have to get everything done and return to training as soon as possible," Xia Yan explained after some thought.

"Oh?"

Lance's eyes immediately lit up.

He had thought Xia Yan had refused because he did not like battling. He had not expected him to be such a hardworking Pokémon Trainer.

Someone who had to complete a certain amount of training every day.

Hardworking people were always more likely to earn others' goodwill.

Especially when the other person was hardworking as well.

"Then shall we train together?" Lance asked again.

Xia Yan: "..."

So you were actually Ash wearing Lance's body, weren't you?

He knew Lance was relatively warm and outgoing. Back when Xia Yan had played the games, Lance had been the one who appeared most often to give presents, repeatedly gifting the protagonist things and even earning himself the affectionate nickname Money-Bringing Boy.

Especially now, before he had become an Elite Four member or Champion, when there was no gap in status between him and Xia Yan.

Still, Xia Yan had not expected him to be this enthusiastic.

He could not refuse this time. The other party had already been so proactive; could he really turn him down again?

No matter what, Lance would become the future Champion and the Pokémon League's chief investigator. Befriending someone like him could only be beneficial.

So Xia Yan nodded. "All right."

After saying that, he continued looking through the books on the shelf.

"What book are you looking for? Maybe I can help," Lance said when he saw how absorbed Xia Yan was in the books.

"Books about raising Poison-type Pokémon. I want to know how to increase a Poison-type Pokémon's toxicity through some rather special methods," Xia Yan said somewhat vaguely.

He did not directly mention wanting to increase toxicity by consuming the poison sacs of other Poison-type Pokémon. After all, it was not a method widely accepted by the Pokémon League.

If Lance understood, then he understood. If not, it did not matter.

"You mean those rather extreme... methods?" Lance asked hesitantly.

"Hm?" Xia Yan froze. "You know about them?"

Lance pursed his lips, his expression complicated. "The Pokémon League does not recommend that Pokémon Trainers use such extreme methods, but a friend of mine mentioned them before. This is actually a method with quite a long history—primitive, but effective. It is just somewhat cruel.

The Pokémon League does not reject it, only refuses to promote it. And only a small number of people possess this knowledge."

The Pokémon League did not reject it, but neither did it promote it, allowing the method to slowly vanish into the river of history?

No wonder.

No wonder he had never seen books like that. It was because not many people knew about it, not because the Pokémon League had deliberately concealed it.

Lance's friend?

Several figures flashed through Xia Yan's mind. Ghost-type Elite Four Agatha? The commander of her Ghost-type lineup, Gengar, was both a Ghost-type and Poison-type Pokémon.

Or perhaps Koga, the current Gym Leader of Fuchsia City? He was the strongest Pokémon Trainer Xia Yan knew of in all of Kanto Region who specialized in Poison-type Pokémon.

"Do you know Gu cultivation?" Lance continued. "Back when civilization was not as advanced, some people were enthusiastic about raising Poison-type Pokémon this way. But with the emergence of the Pokémon League, this somewhat cruel method was gradually abandoned. Only some families with ancient histories have retained the practice."

"You don't reject it?" Xia Yan asked.

"I'm somewhat... resistant to it," Lance admitted frankly. "But there is no denying that what exists has its reasons. This method has been passed down through a long history, perhaps even for thousands of years. It is the earliest form of humanity's exploration of Pokémon.

"And survival of the fittest is the essence of Pokémon survival. We Pokémon Trainers may not be willing to accept it, but we cannot deny it either... Though outsiders do not know, many families raise their descendants in ways that are remarkably similar to this."

By the end, Lance's expression had become deep and complicated, as though something had touched a vulnerable part of his heart.

Probably the Dragon Clan's way of raising their descendants, Xia Yan thought.

Huff—

Lance let out a breath, put away his strange emotions, and smiled again. "You won't find the knowledge you need in these books. Come with me."

With a puzzled look, Xia Yan followed Lance to the bookshelf labeled "Leisure Reading."

Lance's eyes swept up and down the shelf before he quickly pulled out a fairly thin book and handed it to Xia Yan.

"Take a look at this one. My friend said it was well written."

"A Curious Look at Venomous Pokémon Transformations." Xia Yan read the title aloud and accepted the book.

"I don't know whether it has what you're looking for, but my friend really likes this book. She said it captured the essence of Poison-type Pokémon. Maybe it will help you," Lance said.

For all its apparent splendor, wasn't the Pokémon League also using Gu cultivation to raise top Pokémon Trainers? Selection and elimination layer by layer—it simply did not make it as obvious as organizations like Team Rocket.

Lance, who had not grown up in the Dragon Clan from childhood, understood these matters hidden by the Pokémon League even better.

"Thank you," Xia Yan said.

Lance was someone with a story too. Xia Yan could feel it.

"All right, can we go train now? Let me see how you train Weedle!" Lance became eager again.

"All right." Xia Yan did not refuse again.