Garlic Turtle

Xia Yan went to the finance department and drew an advance of forty percent of his base salary.

With 3,200 in his pocket, he immediately felt like he had come back to life.

Holding his number plate, he made his way to the club employees' private rooms.

The space was not large.

But it had a bed, a desk, and even a private bathroom.

He could not help marveling once again at Silph Co.'s deep pockets. Every sparring partner actually had a private room, and their salaries were quite substantial too—definitely among the best in the industry.

When Weedle saw the bed, it curiously hopped onto it and was instantly conquered by its softness.

It bounced happily across the mattress, having completely forgotten the miserable Rattata from their earlier battle.

Seeing how delighted it was, Xia Yan smiled as well and sat down in the chair beside the desk.

He could not let himself relax just because he had found a job.

Weedle's growth cycle was extremely short. Once it evolved, Xia Yan would have to face the risk of losing his job.

But he could not deliberately restrain Weedle's growth just to keep working. That would go against the very reason he had taken this job.

He had done it so Weedle could grow better and unleash its greatest potential.

"So Weedle still needs to maintain its original growth rate. Before then, I need to dig out as much potential as possible from its Weedle form."

He took out a sheet of paper.

Xia Yan began writing down the things he needed to pay attention to and prepare during this period.

1. Buy Pokémon food suitable for Weedle.

2. Buy books about Bug-type and Poison-type Pokémon and learn how to raise them.

3. Develop Weedle's toxins.

4. Create a detailed training plan.

5

He listed out short-term plans and arrangements one by one.

After Weedle evolved, he could not possibly go out and catch another Pokémon. His resources were already stretched thin just raising Weedle, let alone raising a second Pokémon.

Xia Yan estimated that until Weedle evolved into Beedrill and had sufficient combat strength, he would not consider catching a second Pokémon.

"At least the housing issue is solved now. That'll save me a considerable amount of money."

Once again, he marveled at how rich Silph Co. was.

"According to club regulations, when no members are using them, employees can freely use the training equipment in the battlefields. The benefits are really good."

The working hours were quite humane as well. As long as no member specifically requested him, it counted as rest time.

But if a member called for him, he had to get up immediately, even if he was asleep.

He rested in the room for a while.

Then suddenly—

The notification device on the wall sounded.

"Employee number 0451, Training Field 9. Report there within three minutes." It was clearly Anna's voice.

"Understood." He pressed the reply button and answered.

Xia Yan picked up Weedle, which was still reluctant to leave the soft bed, and hurried toward Training Field 9.

The Silph Pokémon Battle Club was huge.

Fortunately, the sparring partners' rooms were not far from the training fields.

As soon as he entered, he saw a chubby boy of thirteen or fourteen, carrying three or four Poké Balls and looking like he had money to burn.

When the boy saw Xia Yan running in with Weedle in his arms, he curled his lip disdainfully. "Hey, Weedle, right? I'll use you for a warm-up first. I'll switch opponents later."

He seemed to want to find a sense of superiority through Weedle.

"Remember my name. I'm Kenji, the man who will become the Champion of the Kanto Region! The moment you become my sparring partner will be the greatest honor of your life."

Xia Yan: "..."

You shouldn't be called Kenji. You should be called Chuunibyou. Xia Yan could not help mocking him internally, though his expression remained unchanged.

He set Weedle on the ground and said softly, "Don't be nervous. Listen to my commands later."

"Bzz!"

Weedle nodded.

After going through one battle, its confidence had clearly grown.

The chuunibyou boy, Kenji, hesitated over which Pokémon to send out first. After thinking for a moment, he casually tossed out one of his Poké Balls.

"You, then!"

A flash of red light burst from the Poké Ball, and a green Pokémon appeared on the field.

Its skin was bluish-green and covered in dark green patches. It resembled a toad and had bright red eyes. Its most distinctive feature was the bulb-like seed on its back.

That familiar appearance belonged to Bulbasaur, one of the Kanto Region's Starter Pokémon!

Lovingly nicknamed the "Garlic Turtle."

As expected of someone with a membership at the Silph Pokémon Battle Club—even his Pokémon was a precious Bulbasaur.

"Bulba~~"

After appearing, Bulbasaur gave a soft cry. Its voice was crisp and childish, and it did not seem to be a Pokémon that had received professional training.

Xia Yan narrowed his eyes.

As a Grass-type and Poison-type Pokémon, Bulbasaur had rather excellent typing, and its Base Stats far surpassed Weedle's.

But if Kenji wanted to defeat Weedle, it was not actually an appropriate choice.

At the very least, Bulbasaur's Grass-type moves could only deal one-quarter damage to Weedle, while its Poison-type moves could only deal half damage. Furthermore, when their strength was comparable, Poison-type Pokémon were immune to the negative effects of poisoning.

"Let's begin!" Kenji shouted, seemingly unaware of Bulbasaur's disadvantages against Weedle.

Once the battle began, Xia Yan put aside all other thoughts and focused on dealing with it.

"Bulbasaur, Solar Beam!"

Kenji really did not say anything unless it was shocking.

"Bulba?" Bulbasaur turned back toward its Pokémon Trainer with a blank look.

Solar Beam was one of the ultimate moves of Grass-type Pokémon. Its destructive power was terrifying, though its drawback was that it needed time to gather energy.

But no matter how one looked at it, it was basically impossible for a Bulbasaur to know Solar Beam.

"Is that so? You haven't learned it yet? Then use Razor Leaf!"

"Bulba."

Xia Yan: "..."

So this was a Bulbasaur he had just caught?

He had not even figured out its basic moves and had come here looking for confidence?

"This is completely different from what the teacher explained in class," Kenji muttered, scratching his head.

He was a second-year student at Saffron City Pokémon School. After a year of learning basic theoretical knowledge, this was his first time commanding a Pokémon in battle as a second-year student.

He had thought he had mastered everything the school taught, and he had already begun imagining himself punching the Elite Four of the south, kicking the Champion of the north, and finally claiming the Champion's throne.

He was remarkably similar to Ash from the original story, who had stubbornly used Pikachu against Onix while shouting about becoming a "master."

But clearly—

Theoretical knowledge was not the same as practical combat knowledge. Having only just received his starter Pokémon, he had not realized that this Bulbasaur was also experiencing battle for the first time.

This sort of situation was not uncommon at the club.

After all, part of the club's business was guiding beginner Pokémon Trainers through how to battle.

Xia Yan's employee handbook even explained how to handle such cases.

As long as the money was enough, they could even have Elite Trainers teach them hand in hand.

"Your Bulbasaur should only know basic moves like Tackle, Growl, and Vine Whip. As for whether it has any Egg Moves, you'll have to figure that out yourself," Xia Yan said.

"Is that so?" Kenji raised his head uncertainly.

"Probably. I'm curious, though. What rank are you in your class?" Xia Yan asked.

"Ahahaha—well, it's not that high. Just twenty-seventh," Kenji said, no longer seeming as arrogant as before.

Maybe he was just a little chuunibyou. He did not seem to have any bad intentions.

"Twenty-seventh? Then you're about average."

"Yeah, I think so too. There's still someone in the class worse than me, after all."

"...So there are only twenty-eight students in your class?" Xia Yan was speechless.

In that case, he was no longer surprised by this situation.

"Theoretically, yes. But he stopped coming after a month. I don't know why."

Xia Yan: "..."

"Enough of that. Let's battle! Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip!"

"Bulba!"

At last, there was a move it could use. Bulbasaur felt that it had not been easy.

Two green vines as thick as fingers shot out from where Bulbasaur's back connected to the seed-like bulb, lashing toward Weedle.

"Dodge," Xia Yan commanded.

To Weedle, that attack was not fast.