With the Sprout Cup freshman challenge confirmed for three days' time, Silas's next step was clear: continue Gible's special training and promote its growth.
"Given Gible's overall strength, dominating the newbie tournaments should be easy enough," Silas thought, conducting tactical deductions in his mind while Gible practiced. "But I only have one Pokémon. If I run into a trainer who's good with Fairy or Ice-types, or even just a Pokémon with an Ice-type coverage move, I could be in serious trouble."
Gible's Dragon/Ground typing was excellent, leaving it with only three weaknesses: a 2x weakness to Dragon and Fairy, and a crippling 4x weakness to Ice. The first two were manageable. But that quadruple weakness... it was practically a standard feature among the Pokémon world's strongest dragons.
"Maybe..." he wondered, "I could have Gible use Dragon Dance to physically block or deflect an incoming Ice Beam or Icy Wind?"
He vividly remembered a tactic used by a Bug-type trainer from the Johto region, whose Scyther had used Sword Dance to slice apart a super-effective Flamethrower. It was a novel and effective strategy, worth learning from. He could become a "Copy Ninja."
"It's a feasible strategy," he concluded, "but without actual combat tests, I can't be sure how effective it will be." Pokémon battles in the real world weren't as rigid as the turn-based games.
"Of course," he mused, "there is a more reliable, 100% effective tactical solution."
That was to have Gible hold a Yache Berry. It was one of the higher-grade berries in the Pokémon world.
[Yache Berry: When held by a Pokémon, this berry will lessen the damage taken from one super-effective Ice-type attack.]
Its effect was to halve the damage once. A 4x super-effective hit would be reduced to a much more survivable 2x hit. In Pokémon battles, you could build your defenses to withstand 2x damage. 4x damage was often incurable.
"Yache Berry... Yache Berry..."
Silas searched for the item on the online marketplaces. He found plenty of merchants selling various berries. The more basic types, like Oran and Pecha Berries, were cheap—about 50 to 100 Poké Dollars each. Berries with better effects, like the Sitrus Berry which could restore a quarter of a Pokémon's health, were much more expensive.
The Yache Berry, with its specialized effect, was priced at 500 Poké Dollars per berry.
It was expensive... but not that expensive. The problem was that it was a consumable; once eaten, it was gone. His current wealth was nowhere near enough to let Gible eat Yache Berries as a daily snack.
"It's okay to buy one or two just in case," he decided. "But using them for daily training is out of the question."
He shook his head. Raising a Pokémon wasn't that expensive. But raising one well, with specialized training and equipment? That was a different story entirely.
Should he buy it or not?
Silas stared at the ice-blue Yache Berry on the shopping app, frowning in deep thought. The Super Rocket gift from his one generous fan was enough to buy two of them, but it felt incredibly luxurious when four berries cost more than his entire month's living expenses.
"Wait," he said aloud, a reckless idea sparking in his mind. "If I want to build resistance to Ice-type damage... why not just use ice cream? For the price of one Yache Berry, I could buy hundreds of 'Small Pudding' ice cream bars!"
He was a man of action. After training ended for the day, he took Gible to the school supermarket and, through his own efforts, bought a large box of the cheap ice cream bars.
Logically, a Pokémon with a 4x weakness to Ice should be terrified of the cold. Yet, in the Sinnoh region, Garchomp tribes lived and thrived on snowy mountains. Silas had no idea how their bodies tolerated the temperature. Perhaps this paradox was why the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia was such a famous ice cream lover.
Unsurprisingly, Gible showed immense interest in the frozen treat. As long as it was edible, Gible would try it.
"Gib-gib~!"
With a cry of excitement, Gible grabbed the entire box. Without even bothering to unwrap them, it poured the whole lot directly into its huge mouth, swallowing them in one go.
"Zzzzzz..."
Under Silas's stunned gaze, a chill that seemed to cold-snap the very air emanated from Gible's body. Its eyes turned into dizzying swirls, and its two short legs gave way. It fainted on the spot.
Before its first official battle, Gible had lost its "first blood" to a box of cheap ice cream.
Oh crap... ice!
With a speechless look on his face, Silas carried the fainted Gible and made his second trip of the week to the school infirmary. He was here again to help the "Angel of the Infirmary," Nurse Mimosa, with her performance metrics.
"Gib... Gib..." Gible lay weakly on the small Pokémon bed.
"It's nothing serious," Nurse Mimosa said, her voice a mixture of gentleness and amusement. "He just ate all the ice cream at once, causing a sudden drop in body temperature and some nerve spasms. He'll be fine after resting for half an hour." She smiled. "Any person or Pokémon who eats ice cream that fast would have the same reaction. Besides, Pokémon like Gible are particularly sensitive to the cold. As its trainer, you should be more careful."
"Uh... I was just thinking about letting it develop some resistance to the Ice attribute," Silas explained, looking embarrassed. "I didn't expect the 'dosage' to get out of control."
"It's afraid of something, and you force it to face it head-on?" Mimosa's brow furrowed, her gentle expression turning stern. "Your training methods are more devilish than those of any Battle-major students I know."
As a doctor, she couldn't stand seeing Pokémon mistreated.
"There's a saying," Silas said, his expression becoming serious. "'The best way to eliminate fear is to face it.'" He wisely chose not to add the meme-worthy second half of the phrase.
"Silas, I remember you're not even a student in the Battle Department," Mimosa said, tilting her head, confused. "Why are you training it so hard?"
"If a person has no dreams," Silas replied, his voice filled with conviction, "what's the difference between him and a Magikarp who can only splash?"
A comfortable life in the Pokémon world was a tempting option. But what Pokémon fan didn't dream of standing beside their partners on the world's grandest stage?
This was the Pokémon world's version of the old saying, "If a person has no dreams, they are no different from a salted fish." The latter had been said so many times it had become a cliché, often leading to the even more despairing conclusion, "Even if a salted fish flips over, it's still a salted fish."
But the former... hearing Silas say it for the first time, it sounded simply deafening.
Nurse Mimosa, who had always aspired to become a Pokémon medical teacher but had grown discouraged after repeated failures, felt a renewed spark.
"I really admire your and Gible's courage," Mimosa nodded, though she couldn't help but question him. "But... can you really do it? It's not easy for a non-Battle major to defeat students who specialize in it."
"We will win," Silas stated, his voice full of a strange, almost manic certainty.
"GIB!" Gible, having fully recovered its spirit, did a flip off the medical bed, landed perfectly, and raised its two shark fins in a muscular, powerful pose. In that moment, there was no time to mourn for fallen anime heroes; Silas and his Gible were ready to rush to the battlefield.
"Then, teacher wishes you a successful start," Mimosa said, her eyes narrowing into a gentle, supportive smile.
The University "Sprout Cup," as the name suggested, was a tournament exclusively for new students. To keep things manageable, the matches were simple 1-on-1 battles. After all, most freshmen wouldn't have the time or energy to raise more than their single starter Pokémon. It was an event designed to encourage and guide new talent.
After three days of intensive training, Silas and Gible were adjusted to their peak condition. Now was the time to gain valuable real-world combat experience. The entire reason "late bloomers" were called such was their long growth cycle; they required more experience to level up and evolve.
Therefore, Silas couldn't wait to show his skills. As a non-major, he had to start from the very first round of qualifiers. He was like a hungry shark swimming into a fish pond, unwilling to waste a single, precious experience point.
"The Sprout Cup freshman challenge begins now!"
The competition was held in the university's huge sports stadium, with over 300 participants creating a lively, noisy scene. As one of the school's doctors, Nurse Mimosa sat in the medical area off to the side, ready to treat any injured Pokémon.
"Round three of the D-group competition is between Silas Gray from the Department of Business Administration and Wang Yilun from the Department of Pokémon Cultivation. Please make your way to the field."
The broadcast sounded three times before Silas finally arrived at his designated battlefield. He saw no need to show up early; while he knew a Gible was rare, he didn't think it would cause that much of a stir. So far, the people who knew—Leo, the gym admin, Nurse Mimosa—had been curious, but that was it. Villains were, he reminded himself, a minority. Still, keeping a low profile was never a bad thing.
"Please take your positions," the referee announced. "Send out your Pokémon on the count of three. 3... 2... 1...!"
"Go ahead, Munchlax," Wang Yilun said, sending out his partner.
Silas was surprised. Munchlax, a notorious "big eater" Pokémon, was an expensive partner to raise. A trainer who could afford one must have a restaurant at home, if not a whole gold mine. So it's true, Silas thought with a grimace. Even in the Pokémon world is full of rich kids.
Still, this was a good thing. A Pokémon with high HP was the perfect sandbag, offering up a wealth of experience points.
Silas tossed his own Poké Ball. "This is your first real battle. Go, Gible!"
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