Chapter 19: Sitting at Home, Trouble Falls from the Sky
In just one night, Gastly had already become proficient in using the move "Substitute." This left Lu Ye feeling a bit puzzled. Sure, "Substitute" is a relatively simple move, but most Pokémon take at least 3 days to learn it.
But you? Just one night, and you've got it down?
Feeling a bit of a headache, Lu Ye rubbed his temples. Stay calm!
Although Gastly managed to form a Substitute, it might just be a low-quality version and not necessarily reliable. However, seeing "Substitute" clearly listed in the system's move list still left Lu Ye a bit stunned.
"Whoa, it really learned it?!"
Gastly still looked tired, but it couldn't hold back a smug grin at the corners of its mouth. Lu Ye patted Gastly's head and sighed, "You worked hard!"
Since Gastly had drained a lot of energy while training, Lu Ye used Applin Berries to make a new Pokéblock.
[Applin Berry Block: Restores Pokémon's energy after using moves and slightly extends training duration.]
In the game, Applin Berries restore a Pokémon's PP, which means the number of times it can use moves. But in real life, there's no PP; there's only a maximum threshold of how many times a Pokémon can use a move. Moves with high energy consumption, like Stone Edge and Earthquake, are hard to practice even a few times a day without a steady supply of Applin Berries. Converting it into a Pokéblock also slightly improved the nutritional efficiency of the Applin Berries.
"Here, open up!"
Gastly opened its mouth wide, swallowed the sweet and sour Applin Berry Block, shivered with delight, and looked blissfully happy.
Gastly: (≧▽≦)
Lu Ye chuckled. "Alright, eat up and get some rest…"
Before he could finish, Gastly went right back to training. A puff of thick smoke flew out from Gastly's black mist again. 2 Gastlies formed in mid-air, cackling wickedly. Gastly was now able to summon and dismiss the Substitute at will and was thoroughly enjoying itself!
"Training moves can be this much fun for you?!"
"Gengaaa!"
Gastly had a small goal in mind. After all, its Trainer had said its Group Stage opponent wouldn't be able to handle it at all. So it figured it should train hard and aim for the finals!
Gastly: (✪ω✪)
Over the next 2 days, Gastly began experimenting with ways to combine Substitute with its other moves. Sometimes it darted around the room like a popped balloon, other times it stood perfectly still, like a wooden post.
Lu Ye, who was having trouble concentrating, finally offered Gastly a bit of advice.
"You can't train like this," Lu Ye said seriously. "If both the original and the Substitute use the same move, it's pointless. For example, even if both use Confuse Ray, it only confuses the opponent. But if the original uses Will-O-Wisp and the Substitute uses Confuse Ray, then you can inflict 2 different status effects at once."
Lu Ye grinned. "Once you master Double Team, you might be able to stack four, even five status effects!"
Sleep, Paralysis, Burn, Poison, Confusion…
Just imagining all those status effects piled onto one opponent made Lu Ye (cross out) a bit excited. In that moment, Lu Ye felt a little sorry for Gastly's future opponents. And if you add in the Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy, Gastly would have terrifying battle power even before it evolved!
"Gengaaa!"
Gastly's eyes sparkled as if it had just discovered a new world. With a pencil between its teeth, Gastly spread a piece of paper on the floor and eagerly took notes.
Watching Gastly's enthusiasm, Lu Ye looked a bit troubled.
"All I did was make a casual suggestion…"
"Is it actually going to figure out the Substitute-Protect-Toxic combo?"
For now, Gastly only had a makeshift "Substitute-Protect-Toxic." It could replace "Toxic" with "Will-O-Wisp" for now. But the key move, "Protect," was still missing.
The official "Protect" TM costs at least 100,000. Which only goes to show how much money being a Trainer can drain. With only 10,000 left to his name, Lu Ye felt the financial pinch. And in the system's store, the "Protect" TM costs 10,000 BP. It's a bit cheaper than in real life, but still not something Lu Ye could afford right now.
Lu Ye sighed, "The path of a Trainer is a long one indeed!"
"I should probably stick to being a content creator in the Gaming category!"
The views for his series, "Teacher Lu Teaches You Battle," episodes 3 and 4, had surpassed 2 million and were heading for 3 million. Episodes 1 and 2, however, were deleted by Lu Ye himself due to poor editing and a lack of satisfying tricks.
In just a month, Lu Ye's follower count had surpassed 700,000 and was still growing at an astonishing rate. Each view brings in a tiny amount of BP. Cumulatively, about 100 BP for every 100,000 views. While it doesn't accumulate as fast as battling, it's much safer than a Pokémon battle.
[Remaining BP: 2380]
Lu Ye thought about doing a 10-Pull, but hesitated, thinking of Gastly's dedication to training.
"Better save up 10,000 BP and get a 'Protect' TM instead."
Time flew by, and it was Saturday morning. The first round of the Group Stage in Group A kicked off. As the rumored star of the show, Lu Ye's Gastly immediately attracted everyone's attention as soon as it appeared. Even more surprising to the crowd was that Gastly's Trainer wasn't even present!
"We can see that Lu Ye still hasn't shown up!" the commentator said, astonished. "And his opponent today is also a freshman in the Battle Department, Jiangnan University's Wang Hao!"
Gastly floated in mid-air, sticking out its tongue and making faces, taunting the Vigoroth in front of it. The hot-tempered Vigoroth couldn't handle the mockery, roaring furiously and waving its arms wildly.
Wang Hao didn't expect to be up against a Pokémon with no Trainer commanding it. Amid the whispers of the audience around him, Wang Hao looked rather uncomfortable.
"Does Lu Ye think I'm that easy?"
"Maybe he's just really confident in Gastly's strength?"
"Oh wow, look at that speed!"
As soon as the match began, a shadowy figure surged toward Vigoroth like a specter. The shadow formed into a grinning Gastly surrounded by 3 sinister black Will-O-Wisps, hurling toward Vigoroth!
Wang Hao started to panic and shouted, "Vigoroth, Pursuit!"
"Kyaa—!"
The motivated Vigoroth crossed its arms to block the Will-O-Wisps and then slashed out with its sharp claws!
"The Dark-type move 'Pursuit' is a serious threat to Gastly!" the commentator shouted.
Before the words were out, a wisp of black mist peeled off from Gastly's body. Vigoroth's claws slashed through the mist but passed right through, leaving Vigoroth stunned.
At the same time, 2 identical Gastlies floated mid-air, cackling maniacally!
"Using Substitute to dodge damage at the last second?"
"No way, who does this Gastly belong to?!"
A strange glow flared from the Substitute, forcing Vigoroth to close its eyes. Meanwhile, Gastly teleported behind it, and 3 blazing Will-O-Wisps surged toward Vigoroth with a "boom!"
[Admiration from onlookers: BP +1, BP +1, BP +1…]
[Gastly, dodge! BP +10]
[Victory in battle: Rating—Just This? (BP +50)]
At that moment, back home editing videos, Lu Ye massaged his forehead in exasperation.
There he was, minding his own business, and somehow he was winning battles. He had even advanced in the Group Stage. And it actually won?!