Weedle Doesn't Panic

"Weedle?"

Seeing it emerge unharmed and having shed its skin once more, Xia Yan let out a long breath, the weight in his heart finally lifting.

This first attempt at using toxins as stimulation had been the most dangerous.

Fortunately, Weedle had pulled through.

"Wuu?" Weedle looked curiously at the scattered shell fragments, not quite understanding what had happened.

Why had it shed its skin again?

At the same time, it did not understand why Xia Yan had been so nervous. Hadn't he been completely certain?

It had not been nervous at all.

Weedle · Unflappable · Weedle

It felt like it had muddled through somehow.

But it really had hurt. The sensation of something seeping through its shell and muscles, like unraveling silk from a cocoon, still made it shudder when it thought about it.

Yet Weedle had truly been full of confidence, not only in itself, but also in Xia Yan.

"Weedle, how do you feel?"

Xia Yan lightly tugged at the clothes on his back. They were completely soaked through and clung tightly to his body, making him uncomfortable.

From the outside, Weedle did not seem to have changed at all. It looked as though it had merely shed its skin normally.

But after examining it carefully, Xia Yan noticed that Weedle's originally jet-black, beadlike eyes had turned dark purple.

It was impossible to tell without looking closely.

Even Xia Yan, who knew Weedle well, took a moment to notice the difference.

"Wuu?"

Weedle lightly scratched its head with its tail. Even it could not really explain it.

It seemed unchanged, yet it also seemed to have changed greatly.

Seeing its expression, Xia Yan understood. He stood up. "Come on, let's test it."

"Wuu!"

Weedle scrambled onto his shoulder in a few quick movements, then left the room with Xia Yan and headed to the training room.

Xia Yan casually picked up a throwing target and hurled it hard, following the usual method he used to train Weedle's move accuracy.

Weedle instantly understood. It narrowed its eyes, and the horn atop its head glowed with a dense purple aura.

Just from the changes that occurred when it used Poison Sting, Xia Yan could tell that this toxin enhancement had worked.

Thud, thud, thud—

Three Poison Stings struck the flying target with perfect accuracy.

"Wuu!"

Weedle curled its tail as though cheering itself on.

Not bad. This shedding had not caused the drastic physical changes it had last time, nor had it twisted and distorted its moves, forcing it to familiarize itself with and train them again.

Unlike the satisfied Weedle, Xia Yan's gaze remained fixed on the flying target.

Smack!

The target fell to the ground.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

Amid wisps of pale purple smoke and faint sounds of corrosion, the target made from special materials melted into an indistinct puddle of black viscous liquid in just a few blinks, bubbles rolling across its surface.

"Wuu?!" Weedle's tiny eyes were full of shock. It pointed its tail at the puddle on the ground, then at itself.

"That was your work. It seems your toxicity really has improved considerably. Not only has it greatly increased the destructive power of your Poison Sting, but it has also significantly improved your resistance to Poison-type moves."

This was the result Xia Yan had been hoping for.

This was almost equivalent to a minor Toxic.

Weedle's Poison Sting had once been unable to kill a person, but now...

Anyone hit by Weedle's Poison Sting would surely die if they did not use an Antidote in time and delayed even slightly.

It had been a great success!

The three poison sacs he had bought had not been wasted either.

Weedle curiously touched the horn on its head, feeling shocked, proud, and enlightened all at once.

"Still, to make sure there are no lingering aftereffects, we should make a trip to the Pokémon Center and get you checked." Xia Yan spoke to himself.

The increase in toxicity was certainly worth celebrating, but he had used a relatively old method. Weedle had also entered a Poisoned status earlier, so it would be best to get it examined at the Pokémon Center for peace of mind.

"Wuu~~" Weedle obediently replied.

Xia Yan fed it an Energy Cube.

"You don't feel anything unusual, right?"

Weedle shook its head.

Then Xia Yan took Weedle out of the club and hailed a taxi.

"Sir, Pokémon Center."

"Sure thing. Hold on tight."

The taxi driver was quite skilled behind the wheel, though he talked a little too much.

"Young man, you're a Pokémon Trainer too, right? Is that a Weedle? My kid keeps shouting about wanting to become a Pokémon Trainer too. But being a Pokémon Trainer isn't that easy, right?" The driver held the steering wheel with one hand as he tried to make conversation with Xia Yan.

"...Mm."

Out of politeness, Xia Yan gave a soft response through his nose.

"Exactly! I tell my boy that, but he won't listen. What does he know about how much it costs to become a Pokémon Trainer? Every year, you have to pay the Pokémon League Pokémon training fees. You need enough bank records to prove you can afford to raise Pokémon, and you need to make a certain contribution to the Pokémon League too. I'm just a taxi driver. Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?"

Hearing Xia Yan respond, the driver immediately opened the floodgates.

"He doesn't have to start by becoming a Registered Trainer with the Pokémon League." Xia Yan rested his head on his hand and looked out the window.

The bustling streets of Goldenrod City.

Quite a few malls and stores that should have been lively were closed at the moment.

"How could he not become a Pokémon League Trainer?!" The driver seemed very firm about that.

"The Pokémon League's requirements may be strict, but you have to admit that it's because the Pokémon League exists that we can live such stable lives. The vicious Pokémon in the wild haven't been able to affect my life."

"That's true."

Xia Yan replied mildly without stating his own position.

The Pokémon League did indeed serve an important purpose. It had its good side, and most people only saw that good side.

But none of that affected or conflicted with Xia Yan.

Whether the Pokémon League was good or bad did not matter.

He had a very simple standard for judging things: those who gave him resources and opportunities were good; those who did not were bad. It was simply pure self-interest.

No need for all that empty talk.

He was alone in this world, with only Weedle by his side. So whether it was the Pokémon League, Team Rocket, or any other organization, their nature was the same.

"We're here."

Before long, amid the driver's endless lectures, the taxi stopped in front of the Pokémon Center.

"Thank you."

After paying and getting out, Xia Yan did not react much, but Weedle on his shoulder let out a long sigh of relief.

Was that driver a chatterbox or something?

Entering the Pokémon Center again, Xia Yan recalled Weedle into its Poké Ball and handed it to Nurse Joy, then sat alone in a corner of the Pokémon Center.

He took out a book and silently began reading.

The book was titled <On the Characteristics and Hypotheses of Pokémon Learning Moves Outside Their Own Attributes>.

It discussed how Pokémon comprehended and learned moves that did not match their own attributes. For example, Xia Yan's Weedle was a Bug-type and Poison-type Pokémon, yet it had recently learned Electroweb, an Electric-type move.

The hypothesis presented in the book was that when a non-Electric-type Pokémon happened to learn an Electric-type move, a major reason was that free electrons and Electric-type energy in the environment had been especially abundant at the time. It could have been caused by natural fluctuations in free electrons, or perhaps by some unnatural factor.

For instance, a non-Steel-type Pokémon would be more likely to comprehend Steel-type moves if it entered a mining area rich in steel.

Xia Yan possessed extensive Pokémon knowledge, even knowledge ahead of its time, but that knowledge could not yet be put to use in Weedle's training and development.

He knew that Weedle could only learn four moves at its current stage, but that did not mean Beedrill would only be able to learn four moves in the future. He was preparing for what came later.

And this wide variety of Pokémon knowledge was also filling the gaps in his own understanding.

This had a great deal to do with his profession in his previous life.

"Xia Yan?"

Suddenly, while Xia Yan was reading, a familiar voice rang out.