Gary's eyes brightened as he shouted into the smoke.
"Squirtle, use Water Gun towards the sound!"
Luke retorted "I saw that coming! Charmander, move from your original position and use Growl!"
Charmander dashed to the side in the smoke, opening its mouth to let out a loud roar.
Squirtle's attack power diminished significantly, now weaker than a Magikarp.
As the smoke cleared, the two Pokémon became visible on the battlefield.
Squirtle appeared worn out and weak, as if it had a rough night, while Charmander was still full of energy, even turning to call out to Luke.
"Great job!" Luke praised it before giving further commands.
"Charge in and use Scratch repeatedly on Squirtle!"
Gary called out anxiously "Squirtle, are you okay?"
Squirtle responded affirmatively, indicating it was fine.
"Good! Keep going! Use Water Gun and don't let the opponent get close!" Gary encouraged, but Squirtle's weakened Water Gun was easily dodged by Charmander.
The outcome was predictable as Charmander relentlessly attacked Squirtle with Scratch until it fainted.
"Bravo! That was fantastic!" Professor Oak said as he approached.
"Despite the type disadvantage, you cleverly utilized your skills to weaken your opponent, leading to a swift victory! Luke, I believe you will become an exceptional trainer!"
"Thank you, Professor Oak! My dream is to travel the world, challenge strong trainers and become the strongest Pokémon trainer!"
"The strongest, indeed! Young people should have such aspirations!" Professor Oak chuckled.
"I look forward to that day!"
"Thank you! I'm off now!" Luke said, nodding to everyone as he headed outside.
System: Ding! Task completed! The reward has been added to the system space!
"I'll challenge you again in the future and I won't lose next time!" Gary shouted after Luke.
"I'll be waiting for you at this year Indigo League" Luke replied without looking back, casually waving his hand.
"What a remarkable young man! Gary, you need to step up your game! Otherwise, you'll only fall further behind!" Professor Oak seized the moment to motivate Gary.
"I know! I won't lose to him next time!" Gary's eyes were full of fighting spirit!
And Leaf on the side just stared at Luke back with starry eyes.
Another little fangirl is born!
***
As he left Pallet Town and entered the forest, he came across Pokémon such as Rattata and Caterpie.
Luke wasn't interested in these pokemons, but he did think Pidgeot, the final form of Pidgey, was impressive.
However, he had bigger goals in mind.
So, he had Charmander battle the wild Pokémon to gain experience and improve its skills.
At noon, they took a break by a small river.
After lunch, Luke allowed Charmander to rest and recover on the bank.
He pulled out the lucky fishing rod he had received from the system and approached the river, hoping to catch a Water-type Pokémon.
After all, it would be too dull to challenge gyms with just Charmander and using Salamence would be unfair.
He baited the hook and cast it into the water, eagerly watching for any movement.
Soon, he felt a tug on the rod and quickly reeled it in.
To his disappointment, it was just a regular Magikarp.
Undeterred, Luke released the Magikarp and decided to keep fishing, curious if he could catch something better without relying on his lucky chance.
He caught a series of Magikarp, along with a few other Pokémon like Goldeen and Shellder, but mostly just Magikarp.
Just when he thought he was stuck in a rut, he hooked something different: a Corphish!
However, he soon lost hope and decided to use his rod one lucky chance.
"Seriously? Another Magikarp? Wait! No, it's golden! A Shiny Magikarp?" Luke exclaimed as he examined the Pokémon he had caught with his lucky chance.
Magikarp (Shiny)
Length: 1.8 meters
Weight: 20 kg
Type: Water
Ability: Swift Swim: Speed doubles in rain or heavy rain.
Strength: Novice
Potential: Elite Four
Moves: Splash, Tackle, Flail
Description: An exceptional Magikarp. Once it evolves into Gyarados, it will become a powerhouse, surpassing even the beautiful 'Milotic' and reaching the pinnacle of aquatic life!
"Not bad at all! I've hit the jackpot!" Luke grinned widely after reading the details about the Magikarp.
"Magikarp, you will be my Pokémon! I'll help you evolve soon!" he said to the Magikarp that was bouncing on the ground.
"Karp karp!" Magikarp replied, looking at Luke seriously.
"You're saying you want to battle me and I have to win? Not bad, you've got some guts!"
"Charmander, time to battle!" Luke called out to the resting Charmander.
"Char" Charmander opened its eyes and responded, walking forward to face Magikarp.
"Charmander, charge in and use Scratch!" Luke commanded.
As Charmander sprinted forward, Magikarp lowered its body and then vigorously flapped its fins, flails aimlessly to attack.
Flail: The user flails about aimlessly to attack. It becomes more powerful the less HP the user has.
"Charmander, use Ember on Magikarp" Luke instructed.
Even though Ember wasn't very effective against the Water-type Magikarp, Charmander had limited moves available.
Ember struck Magikarp directly.
Magikarp withstood the attack, let out a "Karp" sound and dove towards Charmander below!
"Charmander, be careful and dodge!" Luke cautioned.
Bam!
Charmander evaded the Tackle and took the opportunity to unleash a series of Scratch
Although it was pushed back by Magikarp Splash and took another Tackle, it ultimately managed to defeat its opponent!
"I didn't expect this Magikarp to have such good battle instincts!" Luke said as he caught Magikarp.
After storing his two Pokémon, Luke made his way to Viridian City.
As for Ho-Oh flying by later? Forget it, it was specifically coming to see Ash!
Besides, Luke had no interest in that legendary bird.
***
Viridian City was a quaint place, surrounded by forests, known as the "City of Evergreen."
"Nurse Joy! Please take care of my Pokémon!"
"Of course! It's my responsibility!"
Luke arrived in Viridian City by evening and handed Charmander and Magikarp' Poké Balls to the lovely Nurse Joy.
He also booked a room and then went to the video phone to call Lorelei and let her know he was safe.
"You little brat, you left in the morning without a word! Did you think you could just run off after doing some perverted things to your big sister?" Lorelei scolded him as soon as she saw him.
"How could I? You're so amazing, I couldn't bear to leave you! I just didn't want to wake you up!"
Luke quickly flattered her.
"Hmph! I suppose you do have some decency! I'll let it slide this time!" Lorelei replied, her anger softened by his sweet words.
Indeed! Flattery is a powerful tool with women, especially those in love!
After chatting with Lorelei for a bit, Luke retrieved his Poké Balls and had dinner at the Pokémon restaurant.
As he left the restaurant, he noticed a boy rushing towards Nurse Joy, cradling an injured Pikachu.
That must be that 'idiot' Ash!
Ash was scolded by Nurse Joy, then watched as Pikachu was sent into the emergency room, sitting dejectedly in a chair.
System: Ding! You've encountered the protagonist of this world. How can you not show off a bit to demonstrate your superiority?
Mission: Befriend Ash!
Reward: One sacred fire ash of Ho-Oh!
Ho-Oh Sacred Ash: Has a tremendous effect on Fire-type Pokémon!
Is this an unexpected surprise?
"System, why are you being so generous lately?" Luke was greatly surprised.
System: As someone chosen by Ho-Oh, Ash has many seeds left on him by Ho-Oh to ensure his safety! The system just took one, it was no trouble!
"So it turns out you stole from someone!" Luke looked down on it.
"Well if you're going to steal, why not steal a few more?" Luke said greedily.
System: Please mind your words, host! It's taking, not stealing!
The tsundere system was displeased!
Tch, It's the same thing!
But Luke didn't dare say that out loud.
"Yes, yes, yes! Then why didn't you 'take' a few more? You can never have too much of a good thing!" Luke said.
System: Taking too many would be noticed by Ho-Oh. If the host isn't afraid of being hunted down by Ho-Oh and the three legendary beasts all over the world, then the system can take them all for you!
"Uh! As a hero, how could I take something meant to save someone else's life? One is enough!"
Ash is really lucky, No wonder he's fine after all kinds of near-death experiences in the anime.
Turns out he's Ho-Oh's illegitimate child!
Luke walked up to the dejected Ash and said.
"Hey, Illegitimate child! Oops! I mean... Hello! May I ask what's wrong with your Pikachu?"
"Hello, My Pikachu was seriously injured because of my recklessness. It's all my fault, I couldn't even protect my own Pokémon" Ash said, blaming himself.
"People need to go through hardships to grow, It'll be alright, you need to believe in Nurse Joy and Pikachu" Luke comforted him.
"That's right! I believe Pikachu will be fine. We still have to travel together, Thank you I'm Ash, a new trainer who just set out from Pallet Town" Ash, who had recovered quite a bit, said!
"I'm Luke, Also a new trainer. I just got my Pokémon from Professor Oak this morning" Luke introduced himself too.
System: Ding! Mission completed! The reward has been placed in the system space!
At this moment, a girl carrying a piece of charcoal rushed over, immediately getting into an argument with Ash.
It was Misty!
Seeing the bickering couple, Luke didn't disturb them and went back to his room to rest.