After leaving the house, Su Bai hailed a Ponyta taxi. When the middle-aged driver saw Cynthia's striking figure and the beauty her disguise had failed to fully conceal, he gave Su Bai a thumbs-up.
"Heading to Origin Temple for some sightseeing, young man?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Ah, to be young again. But there's not much to see in there. The walls are covered in strange symbols that'll just leave you confused. Why not pick somewhere else? You don't want to take a young lady out for a nice trip only to disappoint her."
The driver was very friendly, and Su Bai knew he meant well. The strange symbols on the walls he mentioned were probably Origin Temple's secret teachings.
Cynthia and Su Bai exchanged a glance, each catching a flash of delight on the other's face.
"Thank you, sir, but we came because of its reputation. We'd still like to take a look first."
"All right. Take my number. If you decide you want to go somewhere else later, give me a call."
"Sure."
Su Bai saved the driver's number. The taxi stopped in the parking lot by the scenic area's ticket office at the foot of the mountain, unable to drive any farther up.
After buying their tickets, Su Bai and Cynthia began a leisurely climb.
Origin Temple stood at the entrance to the Ten Directions Mountains. It was called the entrance because farther north lay an endless natural Wild Area, where vast stretches of vegetation covered the mountains and countless wild Pokémon of every level roamed.
Ordinary people were not allowed inside.
Since it was not a weekend, there were few visitors. Pidgey and Tranquill frequently flew out of the woods, and occasionally, an Aipom or Minccino could be seen leaping between the trees.
"This is lovely. Su Bai, thank you for coming with me."
"It's nothing. I happen to have some time off, and I wanted to get out and see a few places anyway."
Su Bai was not deliberately sucking up to Cynthia. He simply could not sit still, but the original owner of his body had barely had any friends. If he had not come to Origin Temple with Cynthia, he really would not have known what to do.
Besides, Su Bai wanted to see these so-called secret move teachings for himself.
"When do you plan to start raising your second Pokémon?"
"There's no rush. I believe in fate. Rather than catching more Pokémon, I'd rather raise the ones I have as well as I can. Sometimes, having too many partners means some end up getting more attention than others."
Su Bai teased the Pikachu on his shoulder. Pikachu chirped happily and rubbed against his cheek.
A faint arc of electricity jumped onto Su Bai, leaving his entire body numb and unable to move.
He had never expected Pikachu to learn a new move just like that.
"Cynthia, give me a hand."
"What's wrong?"
"There's a Cheri Berry in my pocket."
With a silent command, Su Bai opened the System Shop and redeemed a Cheri Berry, placing it in his pocket.
Seeing his condition, Cynthia guessed that Pikachu had learned Nuzzle and accidentally paralyzed him. Without any fuss, she reached into his pocket, took out the Cheri Berry, and held it to his lips.
The Cheri Berry entered his mouth, its mildly spicy flavor stimulating his taste buds. Su Bai shuddered, and the paralysis wore off.
Cynthia covered her mouth and chuckled at his slightly bedraggled appearance, then continued up the mountain like a graceful little deer.
Upon entering Origin Temple, Cynthia first sought out the Taoist priest she had arranged to meet. He nodded and led them into the main hall.
The moment Su Bai looked up, he saw the supposed teachings.
"Excuse me, are these the secret teachings?"
"Yes. These are Origin Temple's secret move teachings. Masters proficient in the moves write down their insights and training methods, and our temple master personally engraves them here. Anyone with the right affinity is free to study them."
The priest gave them a respectful salute, then turned and left.
Cynthia examined the wall, but she could make nothing of the strange symbols covering it.
"Well, Su Bai? Any insights?"
"No."
Cynthia smiled faintly and told him not to rush, then released Garchomp.
"Origin Temple allows Trainers to let their Pokémon partners out to study the teachings together. Perhaps Pokémon can understand things that we humans can't."
"That makes sense. Come on out, Pikachu."
Su Bai released Pikachu and studied the teachings alongside his partner.
Seeing Garchomp and Pikachu concentrating so intently, Su Bai grew curious.
"Have you figured out any moves?"
Pikachu shook its head miserably, indicating that it could not understand a thing.
Garchomp, on the other hand, raised her sharklike head high with an air of defiance.
I didn't figure out a damn thing. What are you going to do about it?
Su Bai ignored her and lowered his head to comfort Pikachu.
"It's okay. It's fine if you can't understand them."
"Su Bai, don't you think..."
Cynthia hesitated, then asked tentatively.
"Don't these symbols seem familiar? But when you try to examine them closely, you don't recognize a single one."
Her words sent Su Bai into thought.
These patterns were undoubtedly some form of writing. Cynthia found them familiar, and Su Bai felt the same way.
Su Bai settled down and examined them carefully. The longer he looked, the more the corners of his mouth rose without him realizing it.
At first glance, he genuinely did not recognize any of these symbols. But when viewed in mirror image, they were all Unown.
His Ancient Language proficiency made him far more familiar with Unown than the average scholar, giving him a sharper eye for them.
He had noticed nothing while skimming over them earlier. Now, after examining them closely, he finally spotted the key and began translating the Unown.
Once he understood them, the Unown seemed to come alive, giggling as they arranged and rearranged themselves into diagrams and words humans could understand.
So this was the secret behind Origin Temple's teachings. No wonder they dared to engrave them here in plain sight. Without the right opportunity and a solid foundation of knowledge, there really was no way to understand them.
The effect created by the Unown's arrangements really was like a martial arts manual, combining illustrations and text in a way that was very easy to follow.
Su Bai searched for moves suitable for Pikachu and Cynthia's Pokémon until he spotted a Dragon-type move.
"What moves does Garchomp know right now?"
"This girl? Giga Impact, Brick Break, Dragon Rush, Dig, Swords Dance, Draco Meteor..."
As Garchomp was her signature partner, Cynthia could list her moves without a moment's hesitation.
Listening to that lavish move pool, Su Bai could only marvel inwardly. What a rich woman.
"Swords Dance sharply boosts Garchomp's Attack, practically pushing her raw power to the limit. But don't you think Dragon Dance, which boosts both Attack and Speed, would suit her better?"
Cynthia nodded in wholehearted agreement. Garchomp could also learn both Swords Dance and Dragon Dance, choosing which boosting move to use according to the situation.
In this world, Pokémon were not limited to learning only four moves.
"Unfortunately, this girl can't learn Dragon Dance."
"What if I could help Garchomp learn it?"
Su Bai leaned closer to Cynthia.
"How would you thank me?"
"How could you possibly..."
Cynthia stopped halfway through. Sharp as she was, she immediately caught the meaning behind his words.
"You understood them?"
"Of course."
Su Bai pointed to a section in the upper-left corner of the wall.
"This section contains the secret instructions for Dragon Dance. It can teach Dragon Dance to Dragon-type Pokémon that normally can't learn it."
With that, Su Bai went to a corner, asked a staff member for some paper and a pen, and began drawing.
He clearly illustrated how the Dragon-type energy should circulate inside the body when using Dragon Dance, along with the movements that should accompany it.
To make things easier, Su Bai even thoughtfully changed the Pokémon in the illustrations to resemble Garchomp.
Thanks to the drawing skill granted by the system, his simple sketches were vivid and lifelike. A Garchomp Trainer like Cynthia could understand them almost at a glance.
"Su Bai, you're an incredible artist!"
"They're just simple sketches. Take them over and show Garchomp."
Before you continue