Boulder Badge! I Got It! A Conversation with Brock

"Thank you." Tetsuya gave Brock a simple thanks, then left.

Brock did not stop him, merely narrowing his eyes as he watched Tetsuya depart.

In any case, Tetsuya would definitely need to rest. As long as he remained in Pewter City, Brock could guarantee that he would know where he was.

But that was not the urgent matter right now. Brock checked the time. "Oh no, it's almost dinner time. I haven't prepared dinner for my younger siblings yet."

Brock rushed off in a mad dash, overtaking Tetsuya from behind.

Tetsuya heard the sound of Brock running wildly, then saw his figure zip past him.

He stared at Brock's retreating back in surprise. Was something urgent happening?

He did not think much of it. After all, other people's affairs had nothing to do with him, so Tetsuya headed straight for the front desk.

At the front desk, he handed his identification to the service staff.

After confirming it, the front desk handed Tetsuya both the Boulder Badge and his identification.

"Congratulations, Trainer Tetsuya Tamaki. This is your Badge Certificate of victory."

Tetsuya looked at the Boulder Badge, made of stone in a diamond style, and felt extremely excited.

Although he had been prepared for this, receiving a badge for the first time still thrilled him immensely.

He flicked the badge into the air like a coin, caught it in one hand, thanked the front desk, and turned to leave with a flourish.

The female attendant at the front desk stared at Tetsuya's handsome face and dashing movements, momentarily entranced.

After leaving Pewter Gym, he carefully placed the Boulder Badge into the Badge Box he had prepared long ago.

Even if he lost it, there would still be a record on his computer, but no normal Trainer would lose their own badge.

Because it represented the fruits of their own efforts, along with their Pokémon's.

Boulder Badge! I got it! Tetsuya let out a joyful cry in his heart as he walked along the streets of Pewter City.

If he had not retained a little sense of shame—and if his two lives combined had not made him forty years old—he would have wanted to cheer out loud.

After restraining his excitement over getting his first badge, he quickened his pace toward the Pokemon Center.

Although Combusken had not received much damage during the battle, using its Speed Boost Ability had still consumed a great deal of stamina.

He needed Miss Joy to help Combusken recover.

And after a whole day of activity, combined with the mental exhaustion from the recent battle, Tetsuya was getting hungry too. He needed to hurry back for dinner.

After using his high-level treatment to leave Combusken with Miss Joy for a speedy recovery, Tetsuya took his two Pokémon to the restaurant to eat.

While he was eating, a black hand suddenly patted Tetsuya's shoulder from behind.

"Hmm?" He turned around in confusion. He did not know anyone in Pewter City, so who would greet him?

"Hello, Trainer Tetsuya."

The squinty-eyed Brock stood there holding a meal tray, greeting him.

"Oh, it's Trainer Brock. Hello, hello."

Tetsuya returned the greeting stiffly. Handling interpersonal relationships was still something new to him.

"Haha, you don't mind if I sit here with you, do you?" Brock asked with a smile.

"Of course not. Please, sit." Tetsuya made a casual welcoming gesture.

Brock set down his tray and sat across from Tetsuya.

"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Brock. I'm the son of Pewter Gym's Leader, and I'm sixteen, the same age as you."

"You can just call me Brock. You don't mind if I call you Tetsuya directly, right?"

Brock naturally carried on the conversation as he ate.

"Of course I don't mind." Tetsuya replied stiffly while eating.

"You're not surprised? I'm the Gym Leader's son," Brock said curiously.

"Not really." Tetsuya pulled out a Gym Introduction and flipped to the middle section. "There's a photo of you here, along with your name and introduction."

"Oh, haha, is that so?" Brock looked at himself in the booklet and laughed awkwardly.

"So, Brock, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Tetsuya felt it would be better to be direct. This feeling was too uncomfortable.

He had barely made any friends in the ten-plus years since coming to this world, and he was starting to forget how to chat. This was practically a social death scene.

"Ahaha, it's actually nothing much." Brock was a little surprised by Tetsuya's directness, but he spoke naturally enough.

"I mainly wanted to get to know you and exchange some insights on raising Pokémon. After all, it's rare to encounter such an outstanding Trainer as you. You've raised your Combusken very well."

Brock took a bite of food and paused.

"I observed that your Combusken's feathers are thick and smooth, with a glossy sheen. That shows you take great care of it in everyday life.

"Based on the battle, I also roughly calculated that your Combusken's speed, Muscle Development Level, Fire Energy, and so on are all far stronger than those of its kind.

"The most obvious example is the development of your Combusken's Calf Muscles. Though I haven't tested them with instruments, I can tell they're at least 1.4 times greater than those of its peers.

"And all of its Skill Proficiency levels are very high. Every Skill Linkage is practically perfect.

"I'm very interested in your training methods. Your Combusken looks to be only around three or four months old, yet it has already evolved into the Second Stage.

"Besides that, your Combusken—"

Tetsuya stared blankly at the endlessly talking Brock.

Seeing Tetsuya's expression, Brock realized he had gotten a little carried away and hurriedly apologized.

"Sorry, sorry. My goal is to become an outstanding Breeder, so I unconsciously start talking whenever it comes to these things."

Tetsuya waved his hand. "It's fine, it's fine. Brock, your skill at raising Pokémon is really impressive. You can see so much with just your eyes."

"It's nothing much, really. The main thing is simply being attentive." Brock scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed.

"No, no, it really is impressive. Ordinary people can't measure data just by looking. You're too modest." Tetsuya praised him enthusiastically.

"No, no, I'm really just average. I—" Brock waved his hands frantically in modesty.

After going back and forth like that for several rounds, the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

"Hahaha, aren't we being a little over the top?" Brock said with a laugh.

"It is a little over the top, hahaha." Tetsuya was cheerful as well. "If you don't mind, we can share some of our insights on raising Pokémon."

"As for Combusken, my current training direction is mainly focused on the Fighting Type, with the Fire Type as support. I might only consider developing both types together later on."

Before Brock could respond, Tetsuya began sharing his experience in raising Pokémon.

"In the early stages, my main direction was to improve Combusken's speed. As you noticed, Combusken has the Speed Boost Ability as its Hidden Ability. In the early stages, when paired with Fighting Type skills, once the battle drags on, opponents basically have no way to deal with it.

"So I strengthen its strengths to cover for its relatively weaker skill combinations at medium and long range.

"I mainly use Sparkle Grass paired with Mysterious Powder, supplemented by other materials, to enhance Combusken's speed.

"The main principle is to use Sparkle Grass's—"

Brock took out a notebook to record everything, occasionally offering his own thoughts.

Please invest, favorite, recommend, and send Monthly Passes!!!

I'm asking for everything!!

P.S. I'm finding every possible way to add extra chapters. I'm really not bad.

Thanks to reader 20200901221332121 for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.

Thanks to Yuelong for the 100 Qidian Coin tip.