Revenge and Experimentation

Ekans raised its head and hissed, "Sss!" Clearly, it was pleased by Heiduo's praise.

"Impossible! Just now—" Guifu's expression changed drastically as he shouted, "Geodude, use Sand Attack!"

Sand Attack! A move that reduced accuracy!

Heiduo might not have eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run. How could he let Guifu get away with it? He hurriedly said, "Ekans, circle behind it! Use Acid again!"

On the field, Geodude's body smoked where it had been corroded by the Acid. Enduring the pain, it plunged both hands into the ground. A deep brown glow lit up, and piles of sand and dirt suddenly appeared on the smooth basketball court floor.

That worked too?!

Heiduo stared in disbelief. Pokémon really were the most unreasonable creatures in the world. It could just create dirt out of thin air!

Geodude flung up a great cloud of sand, but it hit nothing.

Because Ekans had already moved behind it according to Heiduo's command. Its throat bulged, and another stream of Acid poured down over Geodude's head.

"Roar!"

Geodude let out a miserable cry after being hit again, then fainted.

The field fell silent for a moment.

Heiduo blankly stared at Geodude, which had lost its ability to battle. He had not expected it to be so fragile.

That was only two Acid attacks?

But then, an uncontrollable surge of excitement flooded his heart.

"Ekans, you're awesome!"

He ran to Ekans, scooped it up, and planted a hard kiss on the center of its head!

So Pokémon battles were this enjoyable! Winning was this exhilarating!

"Sss!"

Ekans shyly closed its eyes.

Beside them, Guifu's face darkened. He threw a Poké Ball at Geodude's head and recalled it.

He had never imagined he would lose so quickly. In his impression, Ekans was not such a powerful Pokémon.

How could Geodude lose its ability to battle after only two Acid attacks?

"Why is your Ekans so strong? The Pokémon they handed out shouldn't be this strong!" Guifu walked over to the delighted Heiduo and asked with an unfriendly expression.

Heiduo found the question baffling. "Uh... I don't know, but I think you're wrong. My Ekans is certainly strong, but your Geodude definitely isn't weak either. I think the problem is you."

This guy was far too full of himself. He had clearly had plenty of chances to attack. If he had kept Geodude using Rock Throw to restrict Ekans's movement instead of waiting for Heiduo to attack, the outcome would still have been uncertain.

"Bullshit!" Guifu was young and hot-blooded. Naturally, he could not admit that he had made a mistake.

His arrogant attitude immediately reminded Heiduo of the moment he had ordered Geodude to attack him.

Heiduo's expression turned hostile. He put Ekans down and drove a fist into Guifu's cheek.

"Ah!"

Guifu cried out in pain and was knocked to the ground by Heiduo. Covering his cheek, he pointed at Heiduo and said in a trembling voice, "You! You dare hit me!"

Heiduo sneered without replying and kicked Guifu in the abdomen. It was one of the softest parts of the human body; repeated blows there could cause retching at best and collapse or unconsciousness at worst.

Guifu immediately curled up on the ground, clutching his stomach, too pained to speak.

This guy looked respectable enough, but his physical condition was awful. There was not even a hint of muscle on his abdomen.

Just as Heiduo was considering whether to hit him again, Serea and Jieli's battle ended as well.

"Good battle. You're very strong!"

Serea calmly recalled the Zubat that had fallen to the ground. In front of her Zubat was another Zubat lying on the ground as well.

Jieli recalled his Zubat and humbly said, "You're very strong too, but you were more skilled this time. You won!"

Serea nodded and did not continue exchanging pleasantries with Jieli. She turned to look toward Heiduo.

Then she discovered Guifu lying on the ground while Heiduo kicked him in the abdomen, his face full of satisfaction.

She frowned and walked over to Heiduo.

When Heiduo saw Serea approaching, he gave up on continuing the beating. Turning to her, he smiled and asked, "You won?"

But Serea did not answer his question. Instead, she pointed at Guifu on the ground and asked, "What happened here?"

Her expression was somewhat stern, and Heiduo knew she had probably misunderstood something. Smiling, he said, "This guy launched a sneak attack. That would have been one thing, but he directly attacked me too. I just taught him a lesson."

When she heard that Guifu had directly attacked Heiduo, Serea's stern expression relaxed. She said flatly, "I see."

"You believed me?" Heiduo was stunned. Was this girl really that trusting?

Serea glanced at him and changed the subject. "Mine should count as a draw, since both sides lost their ability to battle. What about you?"

"Of course I won. You have no idea, Ekans is seriously amazing!" Heiduo could not help boasting to Serea about Ekans.

Although the battle between two beginners had been like a fight between amateurs, to Heiduo, this small victory was his first Pokémon battle since coming to this world. It was deeply memorable.

Besides, Ekans had truly done him proud. It had not only protected him, but also dodged several of Geodude's moves in a row.

Looking at Heiduo's excited face, Serea let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. She said slowly, "I'm leaving. Be on time tomorrow."

"...All right. I'm heading back to the dorm too." Heiduo's enthusiastic expression froze. He nodded helplessly, wondering if he had been too chatty.

The two left the gymnasium. Jieli glanced at them, then at Guifu, who still had not recovered. He spat beside Guifu in disdain and turned to leave.

In an instant, Guifu was the only one left in the gymnasium.

"Serea versus Jieli: draw, though Jieli's Zubat fell first.

"Heiduo versus Guifu: Heiduo won. Heiduo also beat Guifu because Guifu directly ordered Geodude to attack him. That is all."

The Team Rocket grunt set down the report in his hands and bowed to Captain Lan.

Lan slowly tapped the tabletop with a finger and asked in a deep voice, "How strong are their Pokémon?"

The Team Rocket grunt picked up the report, flipped ahead seven or eight pages, and read aloud, "Serea's Zubat has an Energy Level of approximately 12 to 13. Preliminary assessment of growth potential—extremely high.

"Jieli's Zubat has an Energy Level of approximately 11 to 12. Preliminary assessment of growth potential—high.

"Heiduo's Ekans has an Energy Level of approximately 14 to 15. Preliminary assessment of growth potential—low.

"Guifu's Geodude has an Energy Level of approximately 12 to 13. Preliminary assessment of growth potential—high. That is all."

Lan picked up the printed dossier that had been prepared on the desk and flipped to the page on Heiduo's Ekans. "Didn't I tell you not to bring back inferior goods? What's going on with this Ekans?"

The Team Rocket grunt remained calm as he reported, "Please turn to the next page, Captain. This Ekans is somewhat unusual. Although its growth potential is low, it has a tenacious nature and extremely strong survival abilities. The Pokémon of the captain of the Collection Division accidentally severed its body during capture. This Ekans took only three days to regenerate completely."

"...Oh?" Lan stroked his chin in surprise. "Does the Pokémon League's records mention Ekans being able to learn Recover?"

"Reporting, Captain: there is no such record."

Lan smiled. With his face full of flesh, his smile made him look like a butcher about to slaughter a pig. "In that case... I have a good idea."

Team Rocket reserve dormitory.

Heiduo sat on the soft bed, with Ekans constantly slithering around in front of him.

Team Rocket's benefits really were excellent. Even reserve members had private rooms with bathrooms and kitchens, as well as a desktop computer.

The computer could connect to Team Rocket's internal network.

Any Team Rocket member could purchase whatever they wanted through the internal network.

This included all kinds of materials, books, and even Pokémon.

In his previous life, Heiduo had always wondered what Team Rocket's main business actually was. Was it a company of thieves that specialized in stealing other people's Pokémon?

But after learning more about it, Heiduo discovered that Team Rocket had its hands in many industries. One of them was Kanto's largest Pokémon trading company, specializing in selling all kinds of rare and valuable Pokémon.

Some of the Pokémon they sold were precious Pokémon strictly banned by the Pokémon League, which had even established protected zones specifically for them.

This happened to be one of the biggest conflicts between Team Rocket and the Pokémon League.

These Pokémon included Kangaskhan, Chansey, Marowak, Lapras, and others.

What Heiduo found difficult to accept was that, in his memories, Eevee should have been extremely rare and valuable, yet on Team Rocket's internal network, its price was not even as high as a Clefairy's.

What the hell, why?

Unfortunately, Heiduo could not afford any of those Pokémon right now. All he could do was watch their videos on the introduction pages and broaden his horizons.

What made his heart itch the most was a Dragonite that had suddenly been listed three days earlier. He had only just opened its introductory video when the system informed him that the Pokémon had already been purchased and he had no right to view its information.

It made his teeth itch with frustration.

But looking at the thousand dollars in his wallet and his zero transaction points on Team Rocket's internal network, Heiduo knew he should keep dreaming.

As Heiduo sighed, he opened his cheat.

The cheat seemed to have no intelligence. No matter how Heiduo called for it, the voice he had heard before never appeared again.

The first thing that popped up was the few lines of personal attributes that made him desperate to complain. Never mind that neat row of fives—why was his overall combat power also five? How exactly was it calculated?

As he looked further down, Heiduo suddenly gave a soft sound of surprise.

If he remembered correctly, his Attribute Points should have been five. Why had they suddenly become seven?

Where had those two points come from?

Heiduo thought about it for a while. In that short time, the only thing he seemed to have done was battle Guifu once.

Could one battle mean two Attribute Points?

Then how was he supposed to add those Attribute Points to his stats?

Heiduo continued reading, taking in every word and carefully reviewing them several times.

Add one point to Strength! Heiduo stared at the Strength attribute and silently gave the command in his heart. Wasn't that how novels always wrote it?

But to his disappointment, the attribute panel did not change.

"Add one point to Strength!"

Heiduo spoke aloud, wanting to see whether this thing was voice-controlled. Unfortunately, not only did his Strength attribute fail to increase, he also startled Ekans.