Chapter 12: I Can Finally Level Up!
"Clang, clang, clang," "Bang, bang, crash."
Many Pokémon were attracted by the commotion on the valley's flat ground and gathered to watch.
"Come, come, put this wooden stake here."
"You, help spit some silk, and this delicious Berry is yours."
"Brother Machop, please help chop here again, thank you."
"…"
After a burst of enthusiastic construction, what appeared before the numerous Pokémon were some contraptions they had never seen before.
Looking from left to right, they were:
Dozens of wooden stakes of varying heights, shaped by Machops using the move [Brick Break], were inserted into the ground, forming plum blossom stakes used for training fighting footwork.
"Dumbbells" and "barbells" of various weights, made with the help of Geodude—circular stone discs of different weights on both ends, with a sturdy wooden pole in the middle.
Using the tough silk produced by Caterpie, various wooden and stone components were connected to create apparatus similar to power racks, parallel bars, and horizontal bars.
"Whew, finally done."
Rio wiped the sweat from his head, looking with satisfaction at the various training equipment he had assembled at "great expense"—the cost being all the Berries in his [Backpack] "bribed" to the Pokémon who helped with the work. Even the treasured few "Oran Berries" and "Pecha Berries" were not spared.
He stepped forward, gripped the wooden pole of a "barbell" with both hands, and did a deadlift. The familiar feel made Rio smile with satisfaction. "Feels like I'm back in the gym, ha."
Nearby, Mankey, Machop, Geodude, Oddish, Squirtle, and other Pokémon, bursting with curiosity, crowded around, asking Rio questions about the equipment one after another.
"…"
After finally dispersing the crowd of curious Pokémon, Rio couldn't help but wipe the cold sweat from his head.
Heaven knows how an Oddish without hands thought of trying to lift a dumbbell, or how a Geodude without legs showed great enthusiasm for the plum blossom stakes, while Mankey, Machop, and other Pokémon, with their agile limbs, climbed up and down the parallel and horizontal bars.
But now that the Pokémon had all left, the remaining time was his own.
Even though night was already beginning to fall, Rio decided to train a little.
He picked up a dumbbell and started doing bicep curls, extending and retracting his left and right arms.
"Oh, this familiar feeling."
Feeling his biceps passionately squeezing and releasing, Rio felt so good he wanted to shout out loud.
In his previous life, besides being a professional freestyle fighter, he was also a fitness enthusiast, extremely keen on various aerobic and anaerobic exercises, and knew movements like curls, deadlifts, and rows like the back of his hand.
"Dong, experience points gained, level up: lv5 => lv6."
Just as Rio was excitedly performing various exercises like dumbbell curls, push-ups, and pull-ups, an unexpected notification suddenly popped up in the bottom right corner of the light screen before his eyes.
"Training my body can actually earn experience points!"
Rio was startled. As a former Pokémon player, he naturally knew the importance of levels for Pokémon. After his birth, he had tried countless times to gain experience points to level up. For example, he once provoked a Caterpie, wanting to level up through battle. However, after throwing a few stones, the Caterpie, with a swollen lump on its head, chased him furiously and angrily hit him with [Tackle] until he yelped. Just as he was about to use various freestyle fighting techniques familiar from his past life, the Caterpie used the move [String Shot] to spit out a large amount of extremely sticky silk netting, firmly sticking his entire Pokémon self to the spot. He could only be beaten relentlessly. If Caterpie hadn't been a relatively kind Pokémon, Rio might have experienced whether having his HP depleted meant dying like in reality or falling into a "fainting" state like in the games.
Another example was when he fantasized about finding Rare Candies, those divine level-up items of the Pokémon world, in some corner of the forest. So, he searched frantically in every corner of the forest, stuffing any suspicious-looking object into his mouth. As a result, he even got a stomach ache from eating the wrong thing and had a terrible bout of diarrhea.
Yes, Pokémon also needed to eat, drink, poop, and pee. Whenever Rio recalled that experience with diarrhea, he could still feel a faint ache in his rear.
Returning to the main topic, seeing the notification that he had finally leveled up, Rio eagerly opened [Status] to check his stats after leveling:
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[Status]
Pokémon: Elite - Riolu (Male)
Level: lv5 => lv6
Type: Fighting
Ability: Inner Focus (Prevents flinching)
HP: 27 => 30
Attack: 20 => 23
Defense: 12 => 13
Sp. Atk: 11 => 13
Sp. Def: 10 => 11
Speed: 17 => 19
Special: ??
Moves: Quick Attack (lv0), Detect (lv0), ?? (lv?)
Evaluation: Swift as a startled rabbit, a valiant and battle-skilled Fighting Pokémon, also possessing unknown immense potential.
————————————
"Attack increased by 3 points, Special Attack by 2 points, Speed by 2 points, but both Defenses only increased by 1 point. It seems I'm not destined to be a super tank this life."
For Fighting-type Pokémon, since most Fighting-type moves are primarily physical attacks, the higher the Attack stat, the more significant the boost to the move's power. Moreover, higher Speed also provides considerable bonuses for some moves.
Rio was quite satisfied with his stats.
However, looking at this attribute panel, which resembled a game interface, Rio couldn't help but think of other things.
"This HP, in the games, if HP runs out, the Pokémon enters a fainting state. After all, it's a game aimed at children, so there's no death in the true sense. But now, in this real world, if HP is truly depleted, what will happen?"
Although Rio really wanted to treat this world like a game, whether it was the gentle breeze blowing past his face or the hot sun shining on his body, everything reminded him that this was a real world.
If his HP ran out, he might really die.
Rio shook his head, banishing this somewhat heavy thought from his mind.
"No matter what, I have to work hard to level up and become stronger. Having finally transmigrated to a new world, I can't just die in obscurity like this."
He stared absently into the distance, as if seeing through Newmoon Forest to the vast world beyond.
…
At this moment, somewhere in Newmoon Forest.
On the top floor of a mysterious building.
"Finally, finally, it's complete."
The burly figure stood before a glass container over 2 meters tall, his extremely excited expression reflected on the glass.
Behind him, a white-haired old man and a middle-aged-looking couple were being restrained by guards. There were also some researchers in white coats, watched over by several ferocious Pokémon, not daring to move a muscle.
"You can't do this!"
The old man was furious, shouting loudly even while being restrained.
The burly figure turned around, revealing the face of a man with sinister eyes.
At this moment, a disdainful look appeared on his face.
"Why can't I? Old fool, in this world, I only believe in power."
"As long as I have this unrivaled power, there's nothing that can make me hesitate."
The burly man laughed wildly.
"Speaking of which, I still have to thank the two great scientists for their help. I'll give you credit for it, hahaha."
The middle-aged man took a deep breath and said, "We completed the experiment according to your instructions. So, shouldn't you release my son now?"
"Don't be hasty, great scientist."
The burly man put his arm around the middle-aged man's shoulder in a feignedly friendly manner, a hypocritical smile on his face.
"There's still some time before 'His' awakening. Perhaps during this time, we might still need your help." With that, the burly man ordered the guards on either side. "Men, take our two great scientists and the others back to their rooms. Treat them well."
The middle-aged man's originally gentle face couldn't help but show anger now. The woman beside him held his hand, which made him remain silent.
After the guards had "escorted" the middle-aged couple downstairs, the burly man dropped his fake smile, looking at the old man expressão (expressionlessly).
"Give up now while you still can. What you're doing will bring disaster to the world."
"You will not be able to control 'His' power."
The old man said gravely.
The burly man waved his hand impatiently and ordered the remaining guards, "Lock this old fool in the basement. Hmm, put him next to that wretched brat."
Then he glared fiercely at the old man.
"Old fool, count yourself unlucky for getting lost and stumbling upon our greatest secret."
"Don't worry, we won't take your life now. As long as you're willing to cooperate with us, your knowledge is still somewhat valuable to us."
"But for now, you'd better stay locked up and think things over."
As the guards led the old man away, only the burly man and the glass incubator filled with green liquid remained on the top floor of the building, amidst the hum of various instruments.
The burly man obsessively caressed the glass incubator again and again, as if stroking some priceless treasure. His eyes, aside from fanaticism, were filled with a greed as deep as an abyss.
The liquid in the glass incubator continuously bubbled. The tubes connected to the incubator constantly changed the liquid, draining the dimmed liquid and re-inputting fresh liquid, in an endless cycle.
In the container, a curled-up dark figure continuously absorbed the liquid.
Suddenly, "Gurgle gurgle," a series of bubbles emerged from the dark figure and floated to the surface.
At this moment, not even the burly man noticed that the surface of the liquid in the glass incubator was constantly rippling with faint yet real concentric circles…
…
Outside the mysterious building, a pink ball of light floated leisurely past.
"Mew, what a terrifying yet familiar aura," a clear voice came from within the ball of light.
Afterward, the ball of light circled the building a few times, and as if finding nothing, it lightly flew away again.
…
In another corner of Newmoon Forest.
"Ah-nom, ah-nom, munch munch."
A Pokémon with a rounded physique, narrowed eyes, and an endearingly simple and honest demeanor was sitting on the grass, continuously tossing fruits piled beside it into its large mouth with both hands.
Soon, the few piles of fruit, stacked as high as small hills, were all eaten by this Pokémon.
"Hmph hmph, so full."
The Pokémon patted its belly, a satisfied smile on its simple, round face.
Then it fell backward,cfacing the sky, and soon entered dreamland.
"Hmm," the sleeping Pokémon seemed to sense something and shivered all over. It unconsciously scratched its head with its hand and then continued to sleep soundly.
Only, on its originally simple and honest face, a trace of ferocity inexplicably appeared.