How to Use It

"Sorry, sorry."

Heiduo smiled awkwardly at Ekans.

"Hiss!" Ekans flicked its tongue and slowly climbed up Heiduo's arm.

Heiduo was at his wits' end with this strange system. Just as he was about to coax Ekans down and spend some time studying it carefully, he accidentally noticed an almost imperceptible "+" after the numbers in the attribute panel.

"...Damn it."

Heiduo was speechless. The "+" was so faint that it was practically impossible to see without looking closely.

After looking through everything, he found that aside from his personal attribute panel, the extra attributes and move levels in Ekans's attribute panel also had "+" signs after them.

He extended a hand and lightly tapped the Strength attribute.

[Ding! Strength increased by one.]

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice sounded beside Heiduo's ear.

Then Heiduo felt a warm current flowing through his body. The muscles in his arm swelled slightly and trembled faintly.

He stood up and clenched his fist.

He did not feel as though he had endless strength. The increase in his Strength attribute was not as dramatic as he had imagined.

Right! Didn't the gym have a machine that measured punching power?

Heiduo clapped his hands and said to Ekans, "I'm heading out for a bit. Can you stay here obediently? I'll be right back!"

Ekans raised its head, hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Having gotten a definite answer, Heiduo immediately opened the dorm door, shut it behind him, and ran toward the gym.

At the gym, in front of the punching power tester.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out. Heiduo shook his hand as the display showed 84 kilograms.

That was his best result after several attempts.

Generally speaking, body weight and punching power were proportional. Professional heavyweight boxers weighed over 86 kilograms, and their punching power could roughly reach two or even three times their own body weight.

That level could only be developed through long periods of intense training. For someone without any training, being able to punch with force equal to their own body weight was considered passable. Reaching 1.2 times their body weight was already quite good, while 1.5 times was roughly professional level.

Those figures might not sound impressive, but for ordinary people without professional training, taking a frontal hit carrying more than twice their body weight in force was already extremely difficult to withstand.

He could not put too much faith in verbal claims or the numbers displayed on street boxing arcade machines. There was far too much exaggeration in them.

But humans in the Pokémon World had stronger constitutions. An adult should be able to punch with 1.5 times their body weight without much effort.

This body of Heiduo's was around fifteen years old and weighed roughly 54 kilograms. A punching force of 84 kilograms was still more than 1.5 times his body weight.

It seemed Attribute Points were quite worthwhile. He just did not know whether there was a limit.

Heiduo added another point to Strength. He wanted to see how much improvement one point could bring him.

Bang!

The red numbers on the punching power tester jumped before finally settling at 86.1 kilograms.

Heiduo threw several more punches in succession. The highest was 87 kilograms, and the lowest was 85 kilograms.

One point of Strength was equivalent to roughly 0.05 times his body weight?

Heiduo calculated it in his head. That number should be right.

It was lower than he had imagined.

Heiduo was somewhat disappointed, but he quickly comforted himself.

After all, this was the Pokémon World. Pokémon were the mainstream; everything else was just an extra trick.

After taking off his gloves, Heiduo turned and returned to the dormitory.

"As expected, you're the one I can rely on."

After washing off his foul-smelling sweat, Heiduo sat on the bed. At the foot of it, Ekans was curled up in a lump, and he reached out to stroke its head.

It was somewhat cold and slick. It would probably feel nice in summer.

Having finished testing his personal attributes, it was time to try Ekans's.

He still had five Attribute Points left. That should be enough.

"Your body might feel warm in a moment, but don't panic."

Based on what he had experienced earlier, Heiduo gave Ekans a warning in advance.

"Hiss?"

Ekans raised its head and looked at Heiduo in confusion.

"I'll give you a massage in a bit. It'll make you stronger!" Heiduo reluctantly made up an excuse. He did not know how to explain the system's existence to it, so it was better to put it simply.

But Ekans did not seem to understand what a massage was. Its large snake eyes were full of bewilderment.

"Tch." Heiduo frowned slightly, then relaxed. Letting it experience it directly should be enough.

He stretched out his hand and gently kneaded Ekans's body. Once it had relaxed, he quickly tapped the extra attribute.

[Ding! Ekans's extra attribute increased by one point.]

As Ekans enjoyed Heiduo's touch, it suddenly felt a warm current rise within its body.

Snakes were ectothermic animals and could not regulate their own body temperature. Their blood temperature had always changed with the surrounding environment.

It raised its head and looked at a ray of sunlight streaming through the window, wondering if it was noon already. Why had the temperature suddenly risen?

Well, whatever. It felt pretty comfortable anyway.

When Heiduo saw Ekans suddenly raise its head before lowering it again, he knew the Attribute Point had taken effect. But what exactly did this extra attribute increase?

Heiduo could not be certain. He suspected that the extra attribute was related to the candy system in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, Pokémon could gain boosts to all six stats by consuming candies, with a single stat able to increase by up to 200 points.

Even some Legendary Pokémon did not have stats that high!

That possibility could not be ruled out. Another possibility was that the extra attribute represented additional levels.

For example, one Attribute Point might represent one level.

The conclusion was still unknown, but Heiduo knew that having it was definitely better than not having it.

Moving his gaze away from the extra attribute, Heiduo fixed his eyes on the move levels.

To be honest, he did not really understand why move levels existed.

Could they be proficiency levels?

Heiduo's expression changed. He did not know how Pokémon forgot moves in the real Pokémon World. In the manga, they relied on the Pokédex. He did not know about the anime—perhaps it was simply left to fate?

That made him extremely uncomfortable.

Heiduo frowned. Honestly, he did not even know which of Ekans's four moves were worth developing.

"Sigh, isn't there some kind of manual?"

Heiduo felt helpless. This cheat system required him to guess everything. How was he supposed to figure it out?

[User demand detected. Loading basic explanation content.]

"Hmm???"

Heiduo was stunned. Only an hour ago, he had concluded that this cheat system had no intelligence. Why had it suddenly appeared?

Was it really this user-friendly?

He opened his mouth, just about to ask some questions, when the unknown voice beside his ear began speaking. Lines of text appeared before him, pushing the attribute panel upward.

[Personal five-dimensional attributes... skipped. This system is the Pocket Pokémon System and serves Pokémon.]

???

Heiduo's face darkened. What did it mean by skipped? Then why did it even include that stuff?

[Extra attributes: Additional attributes obtained through Attribute Points. The minimum is one point, and the maximum is 200 points.]

It really was the candy system! Heiduo silently praised his own cleverness. The candy system in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! had a limit of 200.

[Move levels: The higher a move's level, the better its effects, the greater its damage, and the more proficiently it can be used. The minimum level is Lv. 1 and the maximum is Lv. 10. Levels can be raised through training or quickly increased using Attribute Points. Quickly raising a move's level requires Attribute Points equal to the current move level squared.]

[Move restrictions: The current world does not limit the number of moves. Certain moves can be learned through Attribute Points. Limited to moves Pokémon can learn.]

[Ways to obtain Attribute Points: Battle rewards, practice rewards, achievement rewards, and one daily reward point.]

[Battle rewards: Attribute Points are awarded in varying amounts depending on battle difficulty.]

[Practice rewards: Attribute Points are awarded in varying amounts depending on the results of practice.]

[Achievement rewards: Rewards granted when the user completes events of various sizes or advances in title rank. The number of Attribute Points awarded varies according to the title.]

[Basic explanation complete. Have a pleasant life.]

Five minutes later.

Heiduo looked at the enormous amount of text before him, took a deep breath, then let it out.

To be honest, the basic explanation really was basic. It only covered the most fundamental things and did not explain certain specifics in detail at all.

For example, how battle rewards were calculated, or which titles would award Attribute Points.

Still, Heiduo was no longer completely in the dark. Knowing this information was good enough.

"It looks like we really are chosen by heaven, destined to stand at the top of this world!"

Heiduo chuckled quietly. With this system, he could turn even a Caterpie into a Rayquaza!

"Hiss?" Ekans raised its head, unable to understand why this human was always acting foolish and saying such incomprehensible things.

But it did not matter. As long as he was willing to raise it, that was enough.

After all, its lifelong wish was to freeload and loaf around until it died...

At the cafeteria.

Heiduo ordered a bowl of noodles. Beside him, Ekans was fiercely attacking a plate of food specially made for Poison-type Pokémon.

To be honest, Heiduo found it hard to believe that a snake could be interested in a plate of finger-thick kibble, and it even seemed to enjoy it immensely.

Was it because it was specially made for Poison types?

Heiduo picked up several chewy noodles. From what he had learned over the past few days, he understood how important good Pokémon food was to a powerful Pokémon.

Just like national-level athletes who strictly controlled their diets, food was an extremely important part of a Pokémon's growth.

No wonder Ash always had someone especially good at cooking by his side whenever he went traveling.

Every powerful Pokémon Trainer either had a Pokémon Breeder by their side or was a Pokémon Breeder themselves.

Pokémon Breeders held far higher status than the nutritionists from his previous life. In the Pokémon World, Pokémon were the mainstream.

It seemed necessary to learn some Pokémon Breeder knowledge. He wondered whether the intranet's free library had any books on it.

Heiduo finished his noodles in a few bites and turned to look at Ekans. To his surprise, it had finished eating long ago and was now raising its head as it waited for him.

"Are you full?" Heiduo asked, because Ekans looked as though it still wanted more.

Ekans nodded. There was still room in its stomach, but its long years of wilderness survival had taught it never to eat too much.