With the capture of Bulbasaur and Oddish, the progress of two related tasks also advanced accordingly.
[Delia Emotional Line Task advanced, progress: 1/3]
[Kanto starters Task advanced: Bulbasaur captured!]
Pika-pi~
Pikachu also patted the grass clippings off its body at this time, running back "lively and energetic," rubbing against Roy's pant leg with a face that said "begging for praise."
The acting was quite on point!
Roy smiled and rubbed its little head.
"Roy, thank you."
Melanie walked up to Roy and spoke sincerely.
Her eyes were filled with relief and determination.
"Without your plan, I'm afraid everyone in the yard would have had a hard time regaining their courage so quickly... and I would have found it hard to make up my mind to leave."
Roy waved his hand: "It was just a small favor. Didn't you also help me capture Bulbasaur? Anyway, what are your plans next?"
"I plan to go to the Pokémon Center in Viridian City for further studies first." Melanie clenched her fist, her eyes shining: "I want to systematically learn Pokémon nursing knowledge, and then... go to more places that need help!"
Seeing her full of energy, Roy was also sincerely happy for her... As Bulbasaur and Oddish were taken into poké balls by Roy and Delia.
Melanie began to pack her bags, preparing to set off, and said her final goodbyes to Delia and Roy.
Roy found a quiet corner to check the system prompts and rewards from just now.
First was the change in Bulbasaur's level.
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Level: lv25 → lv28]
Joining the team directly triggered a level reward.
Roy stroked his chin.
It was already level 25?
This discovery surprised Roy a bit.
Level 25 was already far past the level 16 threshold where Bulbasaur could evolve.
But it had been suppressing its evolution all along.
It seems the issue with its flower bud is even more serious than I imagined... Roy frowned.
Suppressing evolution for a long time might maintain the flexibility of a small body, but it also limits the growth of its strength.
No wonder its level isn't low, but the combat power it showed in actual battle had a clear gap compared to the Elite-grade Pidgeotto.
Helping it solve this later will probably be a bit troublesome.
Should I... find James later and try his Evolution Kick?
This ridiculous thought suddenly popped into Roy's head.
In the anime, James's kick "helped" quite a few Pokémon evolve!
Of course, that was just a joke.
To truly solve it, he had to rely on science... or the system.
Roy couldn't wait to pull up Bulbasaur's detailed panel.
A light screen expanded before his eyes.
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur]
[Type: Grass, Poison]
[Level: lv28 (Common Grade)]
[Potential: Champion Grade]
[Ability: Chlorophyll — In sunny weather, Speed will increase.]
[Skills: Razor Leaf, Seed Bomb, Leech Seed, Vine Whip, etc.]
[Held Item: None]
[Special Enhancement: None]
Champion Grade potential?
Even though Roy was mentally prepared, his heart couldn't help but race when he saw this line of text.
Capturing a Pokémon with Champion Grade potential in the wild?
The probability of this was lower than winning the lottery!
One must know that many Trainers never encounter a Pokémon with Elite Grade potential in their entire lives, let alone Champion Grade.
Although the potential floor for starters everywhere is generally high, Champion Grade... that's a level that can compete for the League Championship!
In the original script, it was actually sent to be a nanny in the backyard?
Roy shook his head, feeling it was a complete waste of natural talent.
But on second thought, it might have been the flower bud issue that prevented its combat power from rising normally, forcing a compromise.
But it's different now.
"Since you've followed me, I will definitely make sure you fully realize your Champion Grade potential!"
A sharp light flashed in Roy's eyes.
He immediately took two things out of his system backpack.
Everstone!
Miracle Seed (Premium)!
The effect of the Everstone was very special—after a Pokémon held it, even if it didn't evolve, it could gradually master skills that only evolved forms could learn.
For the current Bulbasaur, this was simply a god-tier item made to measure.
Not evolving, maintaining the agility of a small body, while simultaneously unlocking powerful skills from after evolution through the Everstone... The more Roy thought about it, the more perfect he felt this plan was.
Especially since Bulbasaur's ability was "Chlorophyll"!
Its speed doubles in sunny weather.
If it later learns the skill "Sunny Day" through the Everstone to create its own sunny field... that picture would be too beautiful!
A Bulbasaur with explosive speed and a deep move pool would absolutely be an enemy's nightmare on the battlefield!
He had to invest heavily in it!
Without hesitation, Roy used the Everstone and the Premium Miracle Seed together on Bulbasaur's poké ball.
Two flashes of faint light passed, and the item binding was complete.
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur is now holding "Everstone"]
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur is now holding "Miracle Seed (Premium)"]
Done!
Using the two items didn't make Roy feel stingy; after all, Champion Grade potential was worth the investment... The matter of the capture came to an end.
Roy's group of three chatted with Melanie for a while longer, mainly about insights into Pokémon nursing.
Melanie truly lived up to being a "nurse" who had cared for so many injured; many of her experiences were highly beneficial to Roy.
In particular, he listened exceptionally carefully to the maintenance details for Grass-type and Bug-type Pokémon, since the team now had Bulbasaur and Butterfree.
Once they had talked enough, the moment of parting arrived.
"Well then... I'm heading out!"
Melanie shouldered her pack and waved to the three of them.
"Good luck, Melanie!" Delia encouraged gently.
"See you again if we get the chance!" Misty also said with a smile.
Roy nodded: "Take care."
Melanie took one last look at this yard full of memories, turned around, and walked toward Viridian City with firm steps.
The sunlight spilled over her, making her silhouette appear exceptionally bright.
Roy withdrew his gaze.
It was time for him to continue his own journey too... After saying goodbye to Melanie, Roy, Misty, and Delia once again set out on the road to Vermilion City.
With two newly captured Pokémon in the team, the atmosphere became even more lively.
As soon as Oddish was released, it happily circled around Delia, occasionally rubbing her leg with its leaves, being incredibly affectionate.
Eevee was a little jealous at first, but was soon amused by Oddish's silly appearance, and the three little ones started playing together again.
Bulbasaur, on the other hand, followed quietly by Roy's side.
It occasionally looked up at Roy, its eyes carrying scrutiny and curiosity.
Clearly, it was still observing this new Trainer.
Roy wasn't in a hurry either.
Trust takes time to cultivate, especially with a Pokémon of steady character like Bulbasaur.
He had plenty of patience.
On the road, Roy began to train his Pokémon systematically.
The Vermilion Gym had a specific task for Pikachu, so his resource allocation was very obvious.
High-quality energy cubes were provided in abundance, and targeted training was scheduled densely.
Add to that the "vip experience badge" Pikachu was carrying, which gave a bonus to experience points gained from defeating wild Pokémon... The result was that Pikachu's level soared like a rocket!
[Pokémon: Pikachu, Level: lv29 → lv33]
The other Pokémon weren't left behind either.
Relying on combat accumulation and Roy's resource investment, Bulbasaur successfully broke through to level 30, officially stepping across the threshold of the Elite Grade.
[Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Level: lv28 → lv30]
Pidgeotto, as an established combat force, made steady progress and rose to level 32.
[Pokémon: Pidgeotto, Level: lv30 → lv32]
Butterfree was a bit weaker in direct combat, but because its level was low and its experience bar was short, after tagging along for a few battles, its level also reached 23.
[Pokémon: Butterfree, Level: lv20 → lv23]
Now, except for Butterfree, the whole team was Elite Grade.
Roy looked at the team panel and nodded with satisfaction.
There was no need to rush with Butterfree; it evolved early and required less experience, so it would likely catch up quickly after a few more battles.
A team entirely composed of Elite Grade Pokémon was already quite competitive for the current journey...
In addition to training, Roy didn't forget "business."
He needed to hurry up and grind Misty's favorability.
Ever since this girl's leg injury improved, she had returned to that high-energy state, and her "straight girl" attribute was back.
Roy tried a few "unintentional" physical contacts.
For example, shoulders lightly touching while walking, or "accidentally" touching fingers when handing things over... But Misty either didn't notice at all, or just boisterously slapped his hand away:
"Roy, what are you doing? Just walk properly!"
Roy: "..."
Truly a steel-straight girl.
It seemed conventional ambiguous tactics didn't have much effect on this girl.
He had to wait for an opportunity for an "event-based" impact.
But Roy wasn't discouraged.
The journey was long anyway; he'd just slowly grind down Misty's Iron Defense.