A flash of red light burst from the Poké Ball, and Charmander reappeared inside Lin Yu's tiny studio apartment.
Lin Yu straightened his posture. "Charmander."
The little lizard immediately stood at attention, muscles tensing, eyes alert.
Lin Yu froze for a moment.
Just being called had made it nervous.
He could almost picture how it had been treated before.
It must not have been good.
Otherwise, it wouldn't react like this.
His tone softened.
"Hey, relax. Trust me. Your talent isn't weak at all. You just had a small accident when you were born."
With the Gold-tier trait [Purification], Charmander's congenital flaw would definitely be erased.
"And don't worry," Lin Yu continued, smiling, "I'll take you all the way to the Championship."
After more than two centuries of coexistence, humanity had established a clear ranking system for Pokémon:
Beginner → Standard → Elite → Gym → Lord → Master → Heavenly King → Champion → Grandmaster.
Charmander was currently Level 4—mid-Beginner tier.
Champion, on the other hand?
That title was reserved for the annual winner of the World Pokémon Championship.
It was an enormous goal.
"Char!"
Charmander's tense muscles gradually relaxed. The guarded look in its eyes faded.
Seeing this, Lin Yu swiped the interface.
Three traits transformed into streams of light and flowed into Charmander's body.
Above its head appeared three glowing labels:
[Purification]
[Effort Always Pays Off]
[Thick Hide]
With a tap, Lin Yu hid the display.
The labels vanished—but he knew they were still there. Traits could be removed and reassigned later.
At present, each Pokémon could equip up to three traits.
Without hesitation, Lin Yu activated Eye of Insight.
When he saw the word (Weakened) disappear beside Charmander's name—
And its Talent return to Heavenly King-tier—
He burst out laughing.
Heavenly King-tier talent.
That meant with proper training, reaching Heavenly King rank was almost guaranteed.
In all of Huaguo, there were only eight publicly recognized Heavenly Kings.
They were national superstars.
That raincoat guy had no idea what kind of treasure he'd thrown away.
"Char?"
Charmander blinked in confusion—but it could feel it too.
Its body suddenly felt lighter, as if something long lost had returned.
Was a temporarily downgraded Pokémon truly incapable of learning moves?
No.
It simply lacked sufficient internal energy due to early developmental damage.
Now that the energy had been restored—
Basic moves like Ember were effortless.
Orange flames gathered in Charmander's mouth, swelling rapidly—
About to erupt like a fountain—
Only for Lin Yu to clamp a hand over its snout.
"Whoa, whoa! This is indoors! You trying to burn down the apartment? Ow—hot, hot, hot!"
He jerked his hand back, now red and stinging.
For a brief moment, he wished he had "Pallet Town Protagonist Physique."
"Char…"
Charmander looked stricken with guilt, stretching out a claw timidly.
"It's fine," Lin Yu reassured. "From now on, just trust me. I'll make you stronger."
Medical technology in this world was advanced. A minor burn like this would heal quickly with a bit of treatment powder.
What mattered most right now was restoring Charmander's confidence.
"Char!"
This time, the determination in its eyes was unmistakable.
"Good. Then let's walk the road to the Championship together!"
Hey—he was a transmigrator. Dreaming big was allowed.
He clasped Charmander's claw and raised it high.
For a moment, it felt like their hearts beat in sync.
Afterward, Lin Yu dismantled the [Drift King] trait, earning thirty Trait Coins, and exchanged them for premium Pokémon energy cubes.
Watching Charmander devour them enthusiastically, Lin Yu couldn't help but smile.
Five days later.
Inside an abandoned, half-constructed building on the city's outskirts.
"Charmander—use Flame Rain!"
"Char!"
Gone was the earlier dejection. Charmander was bursting with vitality.
It tilted its head back and unleashed a torrent of fire.
The flames shot upward like a blazing pillar—then exploded midair, scattering like a blooming rose of fire.
Each ember was the size of a fist.
When they struck the concrete floor, they scorched it pitch black.
This wasn't Ember anymore.
This was an ultimate technique.
So Lin Yu had named it: Flame Rain.
The Heavenly King-tier talent far exceeded his expectations.
This level of destruction was normally something only Standard-tier Charmanders could produce.
And Charmander was only Level 6.
Still in the Beginner stage.
This wasn't a video game. Pokémon didn't level up simply by battling.
They had to train, grow, improve—then use battles to test themselves.
Before, Charmander had taken a full month to rise from Level 1 to Level 4.
Now, in just five days, it had jumped from Level 4 to Level 6.
That speed was astonishing.
Of course, it wasn't just talent.
Charmander worked hard.
With [Effort Always Pays Off], every day it trained, visible growth followed.
When Lin Yu first adopted it, Charmander had been around seventy centimeters tall.
Now it was pushing ninety—and growing stronger by the day.
According to official data, most Charmanders averaged eighty centimeters.
But his still showed signs of further growth.
With its talent restored—
It was terrifying.
"Incredible. Seriously incredible."
Lin Yu handed it a premium energy cube as reward.
"Char!"
Charmander trained with relentless enthusiasm.
It had always been hardworking.
Now that it could see results, it only pushed itself harder.
As it munched happily, Lin Yu opened the System to check today's daily trait.
The past few days had yielded mostly White-tier traits—some useful, some not. He'd dismantled the less helpful ones for coins.
He now had thirty Trait Coins saved.
One of the more interesting pulls had been:
[White Trait — Drunkard: Fighting-type moves deal increased damage after drinking alcohol.]
Not exactly useful… but not useless either. Maybe someday he'd catch a Fighting-type.
Out of habit, he picked up his phone to check the time—
Only to see his class group chat buzzing.
Their teacher had tagged him.
Teacher Qin:
@DivineBeastsCanFly
@Lin Yu
Why do you two still not have your first Pokémon?