Chapter 8: More Tanky Than Expected and Deals High Damage
"I'll just take a quick look," Lu Ye thought initially. But as he opened the document, he was immediately drawn in by the extensive terminology and in-depth nurturing knowledge within, completely absorbed by it.
It was like a beginner Trainer who had just left the starter village, suddenly receiving a foolproof guide from a pro strategist.
From Gastly's diet and habits to its move training, every detail was covered—almost more thorough than an academic paper. At the bottom of the document, sources were meticulously cited: Cynthia Shirona's On the Study of Whether Ghost-Types Can Be Incorporated into Companion Beastology, and Agatha's The Source of Fear—From Gastly to Gengar.
In the acknowledgments, Green mentioned that there seemed to be some sort of connection between Kanto's Ghost-type Elite, Agatha, and his grandfather, Professor Oak. Using Professor Oak's scientific approach and Agatha's experiential insights, Green synthesized this nurturing method.
It seemed like Green wanted to publish this paper under Professor Oak's name to help resolve their issues. But in the end, it went nowhere, leaving Lu Ye with a valuable resource.
"What a filial grandson," Lu Ye felt touched. "If this got auctioned, I bet it'd fetch a good price!"
A nurturing guide from the "Nurturing Legend," Green, was at least an epic-level quality item. While it may not reach the level of Giovanni's Secrets of the Earth, for Ghost-type Trainers, it's a rare gem.
"What a pity," Lu Ye sighed. "It's not of much use to me."
"Some of the methods are about what I imagined… Ah, might as well let Haunter play around with it."
Lu Ye had little interest in nurturing Pokémon. But since it was just sitting there, he figured he might as well let Haunter study it. A flash of red light appeared, and Haunter, a ball of black mist, blinked its large eyes as it curiously observed its new home.
"Stay put and don't wander around," Lu Ye said, dodging Haunter's outstretched tongue. "I'm about to start streaming!"
"Haunterhaunter?"
"Bored, huh? Well… here, take this little comic to read!"
Haunter looked at Lu Ye with an "are you kidding me" expression. A comic without a single illustration, packed with dense text and full of academic terminology?
"Eh? You can read?" Lu Ye held up the freshly printed Gastly Nurturing Guide in front of Haunter. "Alright, let me quiz you. How many uses of Confuse Ray are mentioned in this paper?"
Confuse Ray is one of the moves that Gastly can learn early on. Green believes that due to Gastly's affinity with light pollution, it has a natural compatibility with Confuse Ray. Because of this, Gastly's Confuse Ray has significant training potential—Lu Ye had no intention of training it, though.
He didn't want Haunter interrupting his stream, but he didn't want to keep it locked in its Poké Ball either. He thought, "I might as well let it learn something useful!"
"Haunter!?"
Haunter was stumped by Lu Ye's question, its face turning pale as it hovered dejectedly in mid-air. But after a moment, Haunter steeled itself and pressed its eyes against the document, fully focused.
"Haunter haunter!"
I'm going to master this paper today!
Lu Ye nodded approvingly. "Oh, and there are berries in the cabinet. If you get hungry, just help yourself!"
After giving Haunter instructions, Lu Ye moved to his computer and opened the streaming platform.
"Huh? I've got 60,000 subscribers already?" Lu Ye rubbed his chin. "In a few more weeks, I should be able to complete the task!"
(Task: "I'm Not Just a Pretty Face Streamer!")
(Task Description: Reach 100,000 subscribers.)
(Task Reward: 1,000 BP, a random level 1 skill, and a 'Substitute' TM.)
Lu Ye had asked the system if this "Substitute" was any good. The system responded that it wasn't about being "good" or "bad"—it was just… dirty, great for stacking with other moves in combos. Lu Ye felt a bit let down.
"I was hoping for something like Killer Queen or Star Platinum, but it's just Substitute, huh?"
When he opened the stream, the audience, who'd been waiting eagerly, poured in.
"Time to eat!"
"First-time viewer here. Is this the Battle Legend's stream?"
"Teacher Lu, let's have another tutorial on Substitute-Protect-Toxic!"
Lu Ye glanced at the comments. "Today, I'll show you guys something different."
Opening his team editor, Lu Ye dragged a Shroomish into his team, which caused a flurry of question marks.
"What's the point of using Shroomish??"
"It has low stats, weak resistances, it's useless!"
"Bulbasaur's better! Replace it with another Pokémon!"
Ignoring the comments, Lu Ye clicked on the matchmaking screen.
"Oh no, Teacher Lu's about to throw the game!"
In the virtual arena, Lu Ye matched with a player from Sinnoh, an official ID certified player.
(Gardenia, Eterna City Gym Leader from Sinnoh, ID: Sai So.)
"What the—! It's the Grass-type Gym Leader from Sinnoh!"
"This is a legit Grass-type expert! Isn't using Shroomish against her a bit like showing off?"
"Wait, the opponent also sent out a Shroomish first!?"
It was obvious that Gardenia was using her personal image for her player card. On a lush green field, a spirited young girl with orange ear-length hair, a green cape, brown shorts, and a bare midriff threw her Poké Ball. A red light flashed, and two Shroomish—one large, one small—appeared on the field.
Clearly, Gardenia's Shroomish was better trained than Lu Ye's!
"Uh-oh, this is going south!"
"LOL, does anyone actually think Teacher Lu can beat a Gym Leader?"
"He didn't even bring a Hidden Ability! And he dares to use it for battle?!"
In the virtual arena, Gardenia's Shroomish took the initiative. Rushing forward at incredible speed, it delivered a Mach Punch to the abdomen, sending Lu Ye's Shroomish flying three meters back!
"Like planting rice right into my mouth!"
"Didn't we tell you not to use Shroomish? Stick with Bulbasaur!"
The situation was critical, but Lu Ye calmly explained: "The opponent's Shroomish likely has the Hidden Ability 'Technician.' But my Shroomish's Ability is 'Poison Heal!'"
The Mach Punch hit a weak spot, but Lu Ye's Shroomish didn't fall. It wobbled but stood firm, letting out a piercing cry as its injuries visibly began to heal!
"What the—?! Is that Shroomish holding Leftovers? It's recovering so fast!"
"It's a Toxic Orb! Teacher Lu's Shroomish is holding a Toxic Orb!"
With Poison Heal, a Pokémon recovers health while poisoned. The Toxic Orb poisons a Pokémon when held. Together, they created a near-broken level of recovery!
The two Shroomish continued exchanging blows, but while one's health steadily declined, the other was regenerating faster than it lost.
A string of question marks flooded the comments.
"???"
"Spooky!"
"Can't handle it, can you?"
After nearly a hundred rounds, seeing no chance of winning, the tormented Gardenia finally conceded. In the storm of question marks, the stream's popularity soared to 600,000 views.
"Teacher Lu, that was inhumane!"
"Absolute genius… with guts!"
"Is this the legendary Ultimate Poison Technique!?"
In the virtual arena, Lu Ye recalled his Shroomish, a faint smile on his face. "The Toxic in Substitute-Protect-Toxic isn't Toxic; it's the Poison from Poison Heal!"
Countless gifts flooded the screen, subscriber numbers spiked, and Lu Ye's BP kept rising.
"Did you hear that? Is that even human language?"
"What the—?! Even a Gym Leader gave up?!"
"Teacher Lu, you're amazing!"