I remembered something funny

Su Bai accepted the task without a second thought, feeling neither a sense of responsibility nor any psychological burden.

The reason was simple.

With how strictly the Dragon Nation regulated Trainers, Ming Tai's mother could only accept reality.

Even if she went elsewhere looking for a solution, they would only tell her the same thing.

This rebellious young man was lucky to have ended up in his hands. At least Su Bai knew how to use Butterfree.

Su Bai asked Ming Tai to bring out Caterpie so he could take a look first.

Ming Tai released Caterpie. The moment he appeared, Ming Tai's mother gritted her teeth in fury, looking as though she wanted to stomp the Caterpie before her to death.

After all, not everyone in this world liked Pokémon. To many people, Pokémon were merely tools for getting ahead in life.

Caterpie seemed to sense that he was unwelcome, too, and desperately tried to crawl into a corner.

"Easy now. It's all right."

Su Bai lay on the floor, trying to get down to Caterpie's level, and held out a hand with a smile.

Sensing Su Bai's kindness, Caterpie slowly crawled over to his hand.

As he soothed Caterpie, Su Bai contacted the system to check his information.

[Scanning target: Caterpie]

[Base stats: HP: 45, Attack: 30, Defense: 35, Special Attack: 20, Special Defense: 20, Speed: 45, Total: 195]

[Individual values: HP (31), Attack (17), Defense (20), Special Attack (31), Special Defense (16), Speed (31)]

[Level: 5 (Beginner Class)], [Ability: Compound Eyes], [Held item: None], [Gender: ♂]

[Known moves: Tackle, String Shot]

"Luckily, this Caterpie's ability is Compound Eyes. Otherwise, I wouldn't know how to use him, either."

Su Bai rubbed the glistening powder stuck to his hand and showed it to the mother and son before him.

Both looked utterly confused, so Su Bai explained.

Caterpie had two abilities: Compound Eyes and Run Away.

Run Away was his hidden ability. After he evolved into Butterfree, it would become Tinted Lens, allowing even moves that were not very effective against an opponent to deal normal damage.

It sounded useful, but Su Bai felt it was inferior to Compound Eyes, because after evolution, Compound Eyes would increase accuracy. Add a Wide Lens, and unless you were horribly unlucky, Sleep Powder would almost never miss.

Once the opponent was asleep, couldn't Butterfree do whatever he pleased?

Besides, Butterfree could learn plenty of moves early on: Gust, Confusion, Psybeam...

He was practically a godsend for early progression. If he learned Quiver Dance, he could even take on Gyms with confidence.

After Su Bai's explanation, Ming Tai's eyes lit up despite his silence until then. His mother's tears turned to smiles as well, as though she had found hope in life.

What Su Bai could not tell Ming Tai's mother was that this Caterpie had three perfect IVs, two of which were in the crucial stats of Speed and Special Attack. His nature was clearly Timid, too-the best nature for Butterfree.

If not for the system, Su Bai would probably have been driven mad with envy over this Caterpie.

Ming Tai's mother showered him with thanks, but an ill-timed voice shattered the harmony.

"No! Absolutely not!"

A bespectacled, stubbly middle-aged man walked in.

"Ming Tai's mother, you can't gamble with your child's future. What could a mere student like him possibly do? Let me teach Ming Tai instead."

Behind the man, the apprentice Xiao Liu gave Su Bai an apologetic look, indicating that the man had been too overbearing for him to stop. With the Gym Leader busy accepting a challenge, he had been left with no choice but to let the man in.

Before Su Bai could speak, Ming Tai spoke up.

"At least Coach Su told me how to use Butterfree and gave me hope for the future. All you do is tell my mom to accept her fate! Coach Su won his group in the city Battle Tournament, and he's a top student at J University. I'm going to J University with my Butterfree someday, too. I want to learn from my senior!"

Hearing this, Su Bai could not help glancing at Ming Tai.

This kid knew how to open doors for himself. He was already calling me his senior?

Ming Tai's mother hurriedly stopped her son, finding herself in a dilemma.

Ming Tai quietly told Su Bai that the man was Huang Mu, a Trainer who ran a Private Coaching Class in the city. His mother had originally planned to hire him for lessons.

"I don't care! I want to learn from Senior Su!"

"Young Master Ming, I suggest you take a good look at who you're trusting. Preparing for your entrance exams is no small matter. Your entire future is at stake, and you need to listen to your mother about this."

Huang Mu acted arrogantly. Although he called Ming Tai "young master," he clearly held no regard for him.

The Ming Family was quite well-off and spared no expense in raising their child. When they had previously mentioned buying Ming Tai a Pokémon egg, Huang Mu had already found a Pokémon Day Care, all for the commission he would receive.

He had never expected that little bastard Ming Tai to ruin his plans.

Now Huang Mu was determined to secure the teaching job. Although causing trouble on a Gym Leader's turf made him nervous, he had to fight for it regardless.

The Ming Family was offering far too much money.

As it happened, Su Bai was just as determined to secure this opportunity.

Ming Tai's mother was torn, and Su Bai understood. After all, her child's entire future was at stake.

Huang Mu, however, was growing anxious. If this drags on any longer, the Gym Challenge over there will end. Once the Gym Leader has his hands free and finds out I'm stealing his business, won't he throw me out?

"Ming Tai's mother, what is there to hesitate about? This is just a wet-behind-the-ears brat. He can't be trusted. Are you really going to stake Ming Tai's future on him?"

"Shut your mouth!"

Su Bai, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.

The system had issued another task.

[Ding! A change in the host's circumstances has been detected. Task issued: Never Bully the Young and Poor]

[Task objective: Defeat Huang Mu and earn the right to teach Ming Tai]

[Task reward: Random attempts ×10, Permanent TM-Giga Drain]

For that TM alone, he had to take it. Besides, if he failed to complete this task, he would be unable to finish the previous one, either.

"Ma'am, why don't I battle Mr. Huang here? We can see who's more qualified, and you can see how well I've raised my Pokémon."

"Yes, yes! That sounds good!"

Although Ming Tai's mother was usually shrewd, her concern had clouded her judgment. On top of that, she was not a Trainer and had no firm grasp of these matters. At the moment, she was completely at a loss.

Still, she firmly believed one thing: she could not go wrong by having the stronger person teach her child.

Huang Mu was equally certain that he would win, so he agreed.

Besides, if he won and the Gym Leader, Wu Zhong, found out, he would have a justification.

After all, if Su Bai lost the battle himself, he could hardly blame anyone else.

Soon, the two arrived at the battlefield.

"Pikachu, sorry for the trouble!"

"Hahaha, Pikachu? Kid, you're stuck with a dud! Go, my Pokémon!"

Huang Mu threw a Pokémon Ball, and a Seismitoad covered in bumps, with bulging muscles, emerged from it.

Huang Mu was a licensed Trainer and currently raised four Pokémon. This Seismitoad was his ace.

If he could secure the private coaching job of training the Ming Family's young master, the money would be enough for Huang Mu to raise another Pokémon.

At that thought, Huang Mu spoke with a show of magnanimity.

"I won't bully you. Let's settle this with one Pokémon each."

"Pfft..."

"What are you laughing at?"

"I remembered something funny."