The morning air in the Green Forest Reserve was crisp, the scent of wet leaves mixing with the faint sweetness of wild berries. Lin Shou pushed through a curtain of hanging vines, the forest floor soft beneath his boots. The sun's rays slipped through the canopy in narrow, golden streams, illuminating drifting motes of dust.
Today's goal was clear: push the mission progress forward. He flexed his fingers, feeling the faint soreness from yesterday's string of victories.
[Pokémon Defeated: 131/200]
Only sixty-nine more. At his current pace, he could hit the target within three days. The thought made the corner of his mouth curl upward—until the underbrush ahead rustled violently.
From the bushes stepped a Pokémon with an air of simmering hostility: a Sceptile. Its lean frame was all coiled muscle, each movement a silent threat.
Lin Shou recognized it instantly. Not just any Sceptile—the Sceptile that had nearly dislocated his shoulder last week during a brief skirmish.
He blinked once, then raised both hands in a lazy half-wave. "Relax, buddy. I'm just passing through."
The Sceptile's golden eyes narrowed. The leaf-like appendages on its arms swayed as it shifted its stance, lowering its center of gravity like a coiled spring ready to launch.
In the livestream chat, the comments exploded.["Oh, here we go!"]["That's the one from last week! Boss, you have unfinished business!"]["Run, host, RUN!"]
Lin Shou kept his expression neutral. "Nope. Not here to fight. Totally not picking a fight."
And yet… he subtly angled his left side forward, adjusting his footing. The kind of shift that any experienced fighter recognized as preparation.
The Sceptile's pupils contracted. In a flash, it launched itself forward, claws gleaming in the filtered sunlight.
Lin Shou reacted instantly, ducking low as the Leaf Blade cut through where his neck had been a heartbeat earlier. His counter came sharp and fast: a sweeping kick to the Sceptile's back leg.
The Pokémon staggered but didn't fall, spinning into a sweeping slash. Lin Shou twisted away, catching the edge of a leaf across his sleeve, leaving a neat tear in the fabric.
"Ouch… that was my favorite jacket," he muttered.
The fight blurred into a dance—dodges, feints, sudden bursts of speed. At one point, the Sceptile used Quick Attack to vanish from view, only for Lin Shou to pivot at the last second, his elbow grazing the side of its neck.
The chat went wild:["Boss is actually keeping up with a Sceptile?!"]["I thought humans weren't supposed to be this fast!"]["Somebody report him for hacking reality!"]
Finally, with a perfectly timed feint, Lin Shou baited the Sceptile into overextending. He pivoted behind it, locked his arm around its torso, and drove it down into the mossy earth.
[Pokémon Defeated: 132/200]
He released his grip, standing over the fallen Sceptile. "Told you I wasn't here to fight. You picked the fight, pal."
As he stepped back, the Pokémon pushed itself up slowly, eyes still sharp but no longer burning with rage. It gave a low growl, almost like a grudging acknowledgment, before melting back into the forest shadows.
——
The rest of the morning was a gauntlet of challenges: a Rhyhorn that tried to gore him with its horn (and missed by inches), a Feraligatr whose Aqua Tail nearly knocked down an ancient tree, and a pair of Machokes who seemed to think they could intimidate him through sheer flexing.
By noon, his progress bar had jumped to:
[Pokémon Defeated: 145/200]
Lin Shou sat on a rock by a stream, splashing water on his face while staff refilled his canteen. His breathing was even, but sweat plastered his hair to his forehead.
One of the cameramen leaned in. "Boss Lin, people in the chat keep asking—why not just catch one of these guys already?"
Lin Shou glanced at the lens, a faint smirk playing on his lips. "Because the right partner isn't just about strength. It's about connection. You don't marry someone just because they can win a fistfight, right?"
The chat responded instantly.["Uh… depends who you ask."]["Boss, this is Pokémon, not a dating show."]["Milotic still on your wish list?"]
He chuckled. "Hey, a man can dream."
——
By mid-afternoon, a new kind of opponent emerged: ones who didn't attack on sight. They lingered at the edge of the path, watching him with unreadable expressions, as though measuring his worth.
One particularly bold Absol stepped forward, silent as a shadow. Lin Shou felt the faint prickle of unease—Absols were said to appear before disasters.
It held his gaze for a long moment before turning and vanishing into the undergrowth.
"Huh," Lin Shou muttered. "Not every meeting has to end in a fight."
The chat disagreed violently.["Coward!"]["You should've tried to fight it!"]["Missed opportunity for epic loot!"]
He ignored them, pressing deeper into the forest.
By sunset, his counter read:
[Pokémon Defeated: 156/200]
The golden light filtered through the canopy, casting dappled patterns across his path. As he headed back toward the resort, he caught sight of the same Sceptile from the morning, perched high in a tree.
This time, it didn't attack. Instead, it gave a single, short nod before disappearing into the gathering shadows.
Lin Shou's lips curved upward. Maybe… just maybe… the forest was starting to acknowledge him.