Stars scattered across the night sky as a cool breeze swept over the grassy field where three Pokémon lay resting.
Ray Chu reclined comfortably on the grass, eyes half‑closed as he patted his full belly. It was the first time in a long while he'd felt this satisfied.
"Bulba, bulba." Bulbasaur lay beside him, letting out a cheerful cry.
That made Ray Chu glance toward the peculiar shiny Farfetch'd. Under the moonlight, the Farfetch'd stood atop a small hill, leaning on its leek. Its dark eyes gazed quietly upward. The night wind stirred the yellow tuft on its head and the blue‑and‑white feathers along its body, making them shimmer faintly in the silver glow.
This Farfetch'd definitely has a story, Ray Chu thought. There was a certain quality about it—something difficult to put into words.
For the next two days, Ray Chu didn't go anywhere. Instead, he followed the Farfetch'd around, watching how it helped the weak, drove off troublemakers—usually aggressive wild Pokémon—and assisted the townspeople.
Because of that, the Farfetch'd enjoyed an excellent reputation among the locals. Many even called it the guardian of the town.
Of course, plenty of visiting Trainers tried to capture the rare shiny Pokémon. But Farfetch'd was extraordinarily strong, and the leek in its wing moved with dazzling mastery. Not a single Trainer had managed to defeat it in a one‑on‑one battle.
Most of the time it wasn't even in the city. Instead, it roamed the nearby forest, helping weaker Pokémon and gathering delicious ingredients. Only then did Ray Chu realize where the ingredients from that meal had come from—the small forest nearby was essentially Farfetch'd's personal pantry. Every day it collected ingredients and experimented with new recipes.
Cooking, it seemed, was its other great passion.
Meanwhile, when Ray Chu trained Bulbasaur, Farfetch'd often stood nearby watching curiously.
"Bulbasaur, do you know the most important quality for a battle‑type Pokémon?"
"Bulba bulba!"
"Mm, not bad. Moves and level," Ray Chu said. "But those take time to build up. A truly excellent trainer also pays attention to cultivating battle instinct."
As he spoke, Ray Chu suddenly picked up a stick and tossed it toward Farfetch'd. The leek in Farfetch'd's wing flashed—crack!—and the stick split cleanly in two before hitting the ground.
"You see? Even without preparing in advance, it reacted instantly the moment the stick flew at it. That's instinct."
Farfetch'd: "…"
"Bulba!"
"You want to learn? Good. You actually have a natural advantage when it comes to training battle instinct. Now—use [VINE WHIP]."
Bulbasaur obediently extended two vines from the bulb on its back. They swayed in the air, ready for instructions.
Ray Chu weighed a Poké Ball in his paw. "In a moment, I'm going to throw this Poké Ball at you. Your job is to knock it away with your vines."
"Bulba bulba!" Bulbasaur didn't think much of it. It had already dealt with Bug Catchers in the forest who tried to capture it—its Vine Whip had always swatted their Poké Balls away easily.
"Oh? Is that so?" A strange smile spread across Ray Chu's Pikachu face.
He suddenly hurled the Poké Ball.
The ball screamed through the air toward Bulbasaur. Startled, it instinctively dodged to the side.
Thunk!
The red‑and‑white ball embedded itself deep in the ground, still spinning violently.
A bead of sweat appeared on Bulbasaur's head as it stared at the crater. Its expression seemed to say: Are you trying to kill me?!
Ray Chu shook his head with a look of deep disappointment.
"That speed scared you? And here you were talking about becoming a Venusaur—maybe even Mega Evolving and ruling the forest someday! I'm disappointed."
Bulbasaur wilted. Even the leaves on its bulb drooped as it let out a pitiful "Bulba…"
After letting the moment hang for a bit, Ray Chu coughed lightly.
"I know it's difficult. But if you think that was the limit, you're still too naive."
"Watch closely!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a surge of aura erupted from Ray Chu's body, blasting outward and scattering grass clippings.
In the next instant, he hurled another Poké Ball.
This time the ball shot forward wrapped in a howling gale, blasting straight through several tree trunks as it streaked into the distance.
Almost simultaneously, the ground where Ray Chu had been standing exploded upward in a spray of turf. His body had already turned into a streak of yellow lightning.
He caught up with the flying Poké Ball in an instant and snatched it out of the air.
BOOM! BOOM!
Two long trenches tore through the ground as his feet skidded to a stop.
Bulbasaur stared with its mouth open, two small fangs showing. The tuft on Farfetch'd's head twitched slightly, and the leek in its wing dropped to the ground without it even noticing.
"Well?" Ray Chu said, clenching his paw. The Poké Ball in his grip shattered into fragments with a crisp crack. "Train under me, and you can reach this level too."
Bulbasaur nodded frantically. Its triangular eyes shone with pure admiration for its boss.
With a clear goal now in mind, Bulbasaur threw itself into training with renewed determination. When Poké Balls came flying toward it, it no longer dodged. Instead, its vines lashed out repeatedly, trying to catch or strike the balls midair.
Its focus and attitude were completely different from before.
Behind Ray Chu, dozens of Poké Balls floated in the air. At a flick of his finger they shot out, curved back, launched again, curved back again…
Nearby, Farfetch'd watched for a while before quietly picking up its leek and practicing its swings. Its movements were precise and powerful—clearly the result of disciplined training.
...
Time passed quickly.
Once Ray Chu felt Bulbasaur's Vine Whip had reached a decent level of control, they moved on to the next stage: farming experience.
The method was simple.
Ray Chu hung up a sign in the busiest part of Pewter City that read: [Looking for a trainer.]
As a rare Starter Pokémon, the "garlic frog" naturally attracted plenty of attention. Challengers came one after another.
"Pidgey, use [QUICK ATTACK]!"
"Bulba!"
"Sandshrew, use [FURY CUTTER]!"
"Bulba!"
"Vulpix, use [EMBER]!"
"Bulba…"
After Ray Chu's special training, Bulbasaur's combat awareness and move power had improved dramatically. With a steady stream of rookie trainers volunteering as experience fodder, its level climbed rapidly.
Of course, there were also shameless middle‑aged trainers with scraggly beards who sent out Pokémon far stronger than Bulbasaur, hoping to capture the talented little "bulb turtle."
Whenever that happened, Ray Chu stepped in.
A quick combo beatdown later, the challengers would leave questioning their entire life.
Since when had the ordinary Pikachu found everywhere in the forest become this terrifying?
Maybe… they should change their main Pokémon?
...
[DEFEATED NUMEROUS MEDIOCRE CHALLENGERS | LEVEL +1]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 29]
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T/N: lmao remembered the system here had capslock so uhhh yeah im not hmmmmmmmmmm nah to olazy to go back no wait yeah ill go back at least 5 chapters to see if theres any system stuff to capitalize