Filling the Gaps

"Heh, now that felt good!"

At the thought of the two rewards he had just collected from the jewelry store owner and Officer Jenny, Bai Shi couldn't help laughing.

If a few more windfalls like that came his way, he could buy a house in Twinleaf Town and retire.

In fact, Bai Shi had found quite a few valuables on Watanabe.

He could have kept them all for himself.

But everything he had been taught told him not to.

Besides, he had no good way to sell them.

After much hesitation, Bai Shi handed the valuables over to Officer Jenny along with Watanabe himself.

With his wallet full again, Bai Shi promptly went on a shopping spree.

He stocked up on daily necessities and made a special trip to a bookstore for books about Pokémon.

He also found time to write a letter, stick on a stamp supplied by the system, and mail it to his friends in Twinleaf Town.

While he had money to spare, Bai Shi intended to brush up on his knowledge and fill in the gaps.

After all, there were over a thousand known Pokémon in this world.

Since arriving in this world, Bai Shi had never studied Pokémon systematically.

Almost everything he knew about them came from his previous life.

If he hadn't repeatedly searched his memory for details from the anime and games, he might have forgotten even that much.

The Orphanage taught only basic reading, writing, and arithmetic. Once it had raised the orphans to adulthood and sent them out into society, its job was done.

It didn't teach them about Pokémon the way the Pokémon Academy did.

At most, it invited former residents back to speak to the younger children and share their experiences catching Pokémon.

That kept some reckless orphans from charging into the wilderness the moment they came of age and throwing their lives away.

Only occasionally could they gather around a television to watch Professor Oak's Pokémon lectures.

For orphans like them, getting that kind of knowledge was extremely difficult.

They could look for chances to learn from experienced Pokémon Trainers.

Or they could pay for books at a bookstore themselves.

Once Bai Shi started working, he chose the latter.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the city was relatively underdeveloped, the books Bai Shi bought were painfully basic.

They covered only some common Pokémon from the Sinnoh Region, much like primers for beginners.

A name, a type, a few signature moves, and a picture—that was it.

The books Bai Shi had bought now were far more detailed.

They covered Pokémon from other regions, and their contents were much richer.

The one that interested Bai Shi most was the Pokémon Ability Pokédex.

It listed the known Abilities of many common Pokémon.

All three Pokémon Bai Shi had caught were included.

He had considered using their Abilities to improve their strength before.

Unfortunately, it had been so long that he could barely remember the details.

For bird Pokémon like Staravia, all he remembered were Keen Eye and Big Pecks.

He had no idea which Ability his Staravia had.

As for his other two Pokémon, he knew even less.

Now that he had the Pokémon Ability Pokédex, he finally had a chance to find out.

The moment he returned to the inn with an armful of books, he began studying.

He found his three Pokémon in the Pokémon Ability Pokédex and read their entries first.

"So Staravia's common Ability is only Keen Eye!"

"I thought it could have Big Pecks."

"Turns out its other Ability is Reckless."

After reading carefully, Bai Shi finally understood.

Keen Eye not only gave a Pokémon sharper vision than most, but also prevented an opponent's status moves from lowering its accuracy.

Reckless increased the power of certain moves that caused recoil damage.

From what Bai Shi knew of his Staravia, it was quite likely to have Reckless.

Still, he would need to test it to be sure.

"The other two Pokémon actually have three possible Abilities each, one more than Staravia."

"Dunsparce can have Serene Grace, Run Away, or Rattled."

"And Stantler can have Intimidate, Frisk, or Sap Sipper."

Bai Shi memorized all the possible Abilities of his three Pokémon, then took them into the wild to run some tests.

"Other Pokémon's Sand Attack still affects Staravia and lowers its accuracy."

"By elimination, that pretty much confirms Staravia has Reckless."

It didn't take Bai Shi long to pin down Staravia's Ability.

It suited Staravia's headstrong personality perfectly.

It also gave Bai Shi a clear direction for its future training.

To make use of Reckless, Staravia needed moves that caused recoil damage.

And it seemed Staravia could learn only three such moves.

They were the Normal-type moves Take Down and Double-Edge, and the Flying-type move Brave Bird.

All three placed tremendous demands on a Pokémon's body.

Without the strength to withstand them, Staravia would hurt itself more than its opponent.

Bai Shi therefore planned to keep building Staravia's physical strength.

Once its body was ready, he would have it try to learn Take Down, Double-Edge, and Brave Bird.

Combined with Reckless, those moves would let Staravia truly shine.

Compared with Staravia, testing the other two Pokémon's Abilities was less straightforward.

Bai Shi even sought out several wild Pokémon for them to battle.

"Dunsparce showed no sign of Rattled activating when it was hit by a Bug-type move."

"And Run Away didn't help it escape Spinarak's Infestation."

"So Dunsparce most likely has Serene Grace."

"As for Stantler, Grass-type moves clearly don't affect it. It must have Sap Sipper."

After those tests, Bai Shi had a reasonable idea of his remaining two Pokémon's Abilities.

Drawing on their Abilities and what he had learned, he revised their training plans.

Since Serene Grace increased the chance of a move's additional effects occurring, Bai Shi decided to strengthen Dunsparce's two tiny wings.

He hoped that one day it could learn Air Slash and pair the move with Serene Grace.

Stantler's Sap Sipper also gave it a natural advantage against Grass-type Pokémon.

That made all the money Bai Shi had spent on Pokémon books worthwhile.

The books had helped Bai Shi fill the gaps in his Pokémon knowledge.

They had cleared up blind spots he hadn't even known he had.

He no longer had to stumble through training, limited by what little he knew and changing direction whenever a new idea struck him.

His three Pokémon hadn't grown noticeably stronger because of it.

But that knowledge would give their future development a better foundation.

Bai Shi was confident his Pokémon would grow far faster than before.

"Keep at it. I still have a few books to finish."

Encouraged by the results, Bai Shi threw himself into studying with the same intensity he had brought to his college entrance exams before crossing over.

After just a few days, he felt like a new man.