Finding Joy Amid Hardship

He had once heard a rumor: humans in the Pokémon world were actually a special kind of Pokémon too.

Twenty minutes after eating the Pecha Berry, Hu Yang saw the poisoned marks around his waist beginning to fade.

This phenomenon further confirmed the rumor's authenticity.

Maybe that was why some humans were born with special abilities?

Such as Viridian Force, Psychic-type powers, and Aura.

After seeing that he was fine, the Skwovet twisted its round body and prepared to leave.

Hu Yang quickly called out to it and took the opportunity to check its detailed information.

[Species: Skwovet ♂]

Type: Normal

Ability: Gluttony

Base Stats: 460 (HP: 120, Attack: 95, Defense: 95, Special Attack: 55, Special Defense: 75, Speed: 20)

Known Moves: Tail Whip, Tackle, Bite, Stuff Cheeks

Current Mood: Torn, happy

Physical Condition: Minor injury (muscle strain in the right leg, approximately 1.5 days of recovery.)

Fatigued (physical exhaustion after intense exercise has left it in poor mental condition.)

Friendship: 38 (a little one that likes getting close to humans)

"Chirp?" Skwovet turned around and made a puzzled sound, seeming to ask if there was anything else.

Hu Yang asked, "Do you know which direction leads to a human town?"

"Chirp..." Skwovet struck a thoughtful pose, then quickly pointed in a direction.

Hu Yang's face lit up. He thanked Skwovet, then turned and continued onward in that direction.

As he walked, he compared the detailed information of the two Pokémon.

Cramorant's Base Stats and moves had been modified. Other than those two aspects, it was not much different from a normal Pokémon.

The only difference was that Cramorant's current mood was a string of garbled text, while Skwovet's emotions had been clearly displayed before him.

With that in mind, Hu Yang looked at the information of the other Pokémon by the roadside.

Sure enough, he saw words like "wary" and "nervous" in their mood fields.

"Could it be because it was modified that Cramorant can't understand human language?"

Or perhaps modifying Pokémon caused irreversible damage to their brains, turning them into idiots?

Hu Yang could not be sure.

This cheat had been with him for many years. Before he had transmigrated, it had been his livelihood.

At first, Hu Yang had been overjoyed that it had transmigrated with him, but after thinking it over carefully, something felt off.

The three templates for "Ability Modification," "Base Stat Modification," and "Individual Value Modification" were missing. The only functions he could use now were appraisal, move teaching, and Shiny modification.

They couldn't have gotten lost halfway, could they? Hu Yang had read so many webnovels, yet he had never heard of anything like that happening.

Still...

Transmigration itself was already absurd enough. Nothing else happening would be worth finding strange.

After thinking it over seriously, Hu Yang decided that until he learned the truth, he would temporarily avoid using any functions on Pokémon other than Appraisal.

After all, the Pokémon here were not data from a game. They had flesh and blood, emotions and intelligence.

Without transportation, human travel speed was always limited.

Until nightfall, Hu Yang did not see even the shadow of a human town.

To make matters worse, it began to rain.

Left with no choice, Hu Yang stopped traveling, found a hollow in a large tree, wrapped himself in his clothes, and crawled inside.

He really was terribly unlucky.

Watching the heavy rain outside, Hu Yang wore a bitter smile.

Still, there were a few things worth being happy about.

He had found a temporary shelter from the wind and discovered a wild berry tree laden with fruit not far away.

Since his clothes were still somewhat damp, Hu Yang let Cramorant out and held it in his arms so they could keep each other warm.

Cramorant was quite well-behaved under these circumstances. Though they could not communicate, they were perfectly in sync at that moment.

The autumn rain continued without end, and the wild Pokémon in the forest were all searching for places to take shelter.

After the initial commotion, the forest quickly fell quiet, leaving only the sound of rain filling the air.

In the dim surroundings, several Seedot lined up beneath dense bushes. The Venomoth that usually fluttered about also obediently rested in the shadows behind tree trunks where the rain could not reach them.

Hu Yang took the berries he had picked from inside his clothes, gave half to Cramorant, and kept the other half for dinner and breakfast the next morning.

It was not enough to fill him up, but it was better than nothing.

Just then, a sudden rustling sound came from outside.

Hu Yang looked up and saw a Sentret, its fur soaked through by the rain, staring at him.

Sentret clearly had not expected a ten-year-old boy to be hiding there. Startled, it immediately turned and darted into the grass.

Hu Yang: "..." Was he really that scary?

Hu Yang normally could not fall asleep before midnight, but today he had run around the forest like a headless fly all day. Coupled with the sleep-inducing sound of rain, he soon closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, it was morning, and the rain outside had stopped.

More importantly, Cramorant was gone too!

Hu Yang was alarmed and hurriedly crawled out of the tree hollow. Just then, Cramorant flew back from the sky.

Hu Yang immediately let out a sigh of relief.

Cramorant landed on the ground, opened its mouth, and spat out a plump crucian carp.

"Caw!"

Hu Yang's face brightened. Unsure, he asked, "Is this for me?"

Cramorant stopped speaking again. It had just eaten its fill and was now standing off to the side, using its beak to groom its feathers.

Hu Yang felt dejected. So they still could not communicate after all?

He looked at the barely alive fish on the ground. Without fire, he could not roast it, and he was not hungry enough to eat it raw.

After some thought, Hu Yang picked several broad leaves from a tree, wrapped the fish in them, and placed it in the bundle made from his coat. Together with the berries left over from yesterday, he carried it on his back.

For various reasons, Hu Yang did not put Cramorant back into the Master Ball this time.

He tried giving it the command to follow, but Cramorant tilted its head with a vacant look on its face.

Hu Yang then tried walking forward more than ten meters without calling it. This time, Cramorant followed on its own, perching on his shoulder like Nakoruru's Mamahaha.

"You really know how to pick a spot..." Hu Yang said helplessly.

The forest was damp after the rain, and being in such an environment was uncomfortable. Hu Yang felt as if fifty Caterpie were crawling and wriggling all over him.

After walking for some distance, he suddenly heard human voices in the distance.

Hu Yang instantly became excited.

He focused and held his breath. After confirming the direction of the voices, he ran straight toward them.

From far away, he saw two men wearing identical uniforms, each with Pokémon beside them.

Before them lay a small white Pokémon.

Two massive Mightyena closed in from different directions, letting out threatening growls.

Hmm? Something seemed off.

Hu Yang stopped. Together with Cramorant, he hid behind the bushes, revealing only his eyes as he looked over.

"Damn it, we finally caught this little thing!" cursed the sturdier man standing on the left.

His companion grinned when he heard that. "This one will definitely fetch a good price!"

Only then did Hu Yang finally see the white figure clearly.

[Species: Ralts ♀]

Type: Psychic-type, Fairy

Ability: Trace

Base Stats: 198 (HP: 28, Attack: 25, Defense: 25, Special Attack: 45, Special Defense: 35, Speed: 40)

Known Moves: Growl, Double Team, Confusion

Current Mood: Pain

Physical Condition: Seriously injured (its head was struck by Dark-type energy, suppressing the Psychic-type power within its body; severe bruising across multiple areas.)

Exhausted (excessive depletion of stamina)

Friendship: 0 (you are still strangers)