Chapter 7: Reward From the System
A night passed.
"Bang!"
"Ha, take this punch!"
"Bang bang bang!"
"…"
Rio woke up amidst the clamor of the Pokémon. Having finally had a good night's sleep, he felt full of vitality. Previously, when he was wandering aimlessly in the forest, he would just find a clean patch of grass every night and lie down to sleep. Sometimes when it rained in the forest and the grass was full of water, Rio could only climb some trees with dense canopies that could shield him from the rain and spend the night lying on the branches. Thanks to the fine fur on Riolu's body, he didn't feel cold even when the forest nights were cool.
However, even if a Pokémon's body could get used to the wild environment, being able to rest on a "bed" now made Rio secretly thrilled.
"Ugh, again!" Suddenly, a familiar palpitation appeared in Rio's heart.
At the same time, the fur on his body bristled as if stimulated by something.
"What's going on? Could it be that my heart disease came with me to this world?"
Rio frowned, smoothing down his bristled fur.
This sudden, inexplicable feeling made his whole Pokémon self feel unwell. He even suspected if the heart disease from his previous life had also come with his transmigration to this reborn body. But when he felt the strong beating of his heart and the sense of power in his body, he overturned his own wild guess.
"Could it be some danger that I sensed?... Forget it, I won't think about it so much."
Rio mocked himself and decided not to dwell on it. Just then, he noticed the lively sounds coming from outside.
"Hmm, why is it so noisy outside?"
Rio stretched lazily and then, somewhat curious, walked out of the shed.
On the sandy, gravelly flat ground outside the shed.
Machop, Geodude, Oddish, and other Pokémon had formed a circle around the flat ground. In the middle, a Machop and a Mankey were battling fiercely. The various spectacular moves and explosive battle scenes made the Pokémon on the sidelines gasp in amazement.
Rio subconsciously opened the [Pokédex]:
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[Pokédex]
Encounter Progress: 16/25
Battle Progress: 0/10
[Real-time Analysis]
Pokémon: Normal - Machop x1
Level: lv13
Type: Fighting
Ability: No Guard (Moves will always hit)
Moves: Low Kick (lv1), Revenge (lv1), Focus Energy (lv0)
Pokémon: Normal - Mankey x1
Level: lv12
Type: Fighting
Ability: Vital Spirit (Prevents sleep)
Moves: Fury Swipes (lv1), Leer (lv0)
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"Take this, [Fury Swipes]!"
Mankey's footsteps quickened, and at the same time, the sharp claws on its hands extended. The constantly waving claws formed a net of cold, glinting light that swept towards Machop.
"Ugh!" Machop crossed its arms in front of its body, staunchly taking Mankey's continuous barrage of scratches.
"Swish swish swish!"
Mankey, striking with both left and right claws, left bloody marks on Machop's arms and body. But eventually, its strength waned, and after continuously expending stamina to attack, Mankey showed a slight sign of fatigue.
"Now's the chance!"
Machop, who had been passively defending, keenly caught the sluggishness in Mankey's attack, and its eyes flashed.
"[Revenge]!"
Its left hand still blocking Mankey's claws in front, Machop's right hand quickly retracted downwards, brownish-red energy enveloping its clenched right fist.
Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Mankey thought of pulling back its attack and retreating.
But how could Machop, having already seized the rhythm of the battle, let its opponent dodge its move? So, its left hand made a reverse grab, snagging the retreating Mankey and pulling it forward. At the same time, its right fist, carrying that imposing energy, slammed upwards fiercely!
"Ha!"
The brownish-red energy exploded on Mankey's body. The powerful force of the punch even kicked up the fine sand on the ground.
"Urghhh—"
Mankey took Machop's powerful punch, and its whole body flew backward, then crashed heavily onto the ground. Its round body curled up as if unable to bear the impact, its face contorted in pain.
[Revenge]: If damaged by an opponent's move, counterattacks with 2x the damage.
"Great counterattack!"
Rio's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but exclaim softly in admiration. In his previous life, it was precisely this kind of fist-to-flesh combat that he loved, which led him down the path of a professional fighter. Now, seeing his preferred type of battle again in the Pokémon world, he couldn't help but feel his blood boil with excitement.
Two streams of verdant green light shot from the sidelines towards Mankey and Machop.
"[Aromatherapy]."
As the clear voice sounded, the verdant green light began to flicker. Mankey, enveloped in the light, saw the painful expression on its face slowly become peaceful, and the wounds on Machop's body on the other side also gradually healed.
A Pokémon with a giant flower on its head walked out, a hint of displeasure on its face. "How many times have I told you, control your strength even during morning practice. If you keep messing around like this, I won't heal you anymore..."
Vileplume rattled off a lecture at Mankey and Machop, making both Pokémon break out in a cold sweat, continuously nodding and bowing in apology.
The other Pokémon on the sidelines, as if also afraid of Vileplume's nagging, all dispersed silently.
Rio looked at the Vileplume's data displayed on the light screen:
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[Pokédex]
Encounter Progress: 17/25
Battle Progress: 0/10
[Real-time Analysis]
Pokémon: Elite - Vileplume (Female)
Level: lv28
Type: Grass + Poison
Ability: Effect Spore (Direct contact may cause the attacker to fall asleep, become poisoned, or paralyzed)
Special: Fragrance (The scent of its petals can delight the healer, strengthening the healing effect)
Moves: Petal Dance (lv3), Aromatherapy (lv3), Grassy Terrain (lv3), Poison Powder (lv2), Absorb (lv1), Sleep Powder (lv1), Stun Spore (lv1)
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"This level, and these moves," Rio secretly clicked his tongue. "Among the many Pokémon in this valley, it's second only to the Squirtle Boss."
After Vileplume finished lecturing the two Pokémon, it noticed Rio, the unfamiliar face. After a moment's thought, it smiled at Rio and said, "You must be the new Pokémon from yesterday, right? My naughty little ones must have troubled you."
"Not at all, not at all, I was just running away with them."
Remembering the scene of being frantically chased by the Pidgey flock yesterday, Rio couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
Vileplume shook the flower on its head, and a small bottle fell out from between the petals. It contained a golden, viscous substance, and a sweet fragrance wafted from the bottle.
"Here, this is Flower Nectar collected from the forest this morning. If you don't mind, take it and try it."
"O-Okay, thank you very much."
The sweet scent of the Flower Nectar enticed the gluttonous bug in Rio's stomach. Rio couldn't help but open the bottle and take a sip.
"This taste!"
An explosive sweetness continuously bombarded Rio's taste buds, and a sense of satisfaction reached deep into his brain.
"This Flower Nectar is usually hard to find. I could only collect this small bottle this morning. Enjoy it."
Vileplume watched Rio's delighted expression and said with a眯 (narrowed-eyed) smile.
"I should get going. You're welcome to come and play with our Oddish clan. However, I suggest you find Machop to train a bit. After all, you're too weak right now."
With that, it turned and left.
Rio fought back his craving, screwed the cap back on the bottle, and placed it into his [Backpack].
He had used the [Backpack] function many times while wandering around. Just like the backpack function in games, Rio could put any non-living item he was holding into it and take it out when he needed to use it. As for how to put things in, it was relatively simple. He just had to concentrate his mind on the item he wanted to put in or take out, and silently think "Store" or "Retrieve," and he could store the item in the [Backpack] or take it into his hand.
It was worth mentioning that items placed in the backpack would be automatically sorted and categorized by some unknown force. Moreover, when Rio concentrated his mind on a certain item, besides being able to store and retrieve it, he could also see the detailed effects of the item.
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[Backpack]
Normal Items: Weeds x2, Broken Stones x2
Recovery Medicine: None
Berry Pouch: Oran Berry x3, Pecha Berry x1, Normal Berry x10
TMs: None
Battle Items: None
Special Items: Water Stone x2, Flower Nectar x1
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"Flower Nectar: Sweet and delicious nectar that can change the form of specific Pokémon."
"Water Stone: A clear blue evolutionary stone, containing rich Water-type energy."
Casually placing the Flower Nectar into the [Backpack], Rio muttered the detailed information about the nectar while suddenly seeing something incredible.
"Water Stone? Where did the Water Stones come from?"
Rio was completely baffled, constantly searching through the light screen, trying to find out the origin of the Water Stones. Finally, he noticed the forgotten notification message in the bottom right corner.
"[Pokédex]: Pokémon Encounter Progress has reached 10/10. Reward (Water Stone x2) has been sent to [Backpack]. Please check in time."
It was actually a reward from the Encounter Progress, which he thought was useless!
Rio hurriedly opened the [Pokédex] to investigate:
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[Pokédex]
Encounter Progress: 17/25
Battle Progress: 0/5
[Real-time Analysis]
None
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"I remember the reward message appeared just when I entered 'Sunrise Valley' and was talking to Machop. That means, this 'Encounter Progress' should refer to the number of Pokémon I've met. Based on this, when I meet 25 Pokémon, the 'System' should issue another reward."
"So, this 'Battle Progress' probably refers to the number of Pokémon I've battled. What's strange is that my conflict with the Pidgey wasn't counted, so it must be battles under certain conditions that count towards the progress."
Rio analyzed carefully.
All along, he had thought that his system was at most a Pokémon detector and an extra-dimensional backpack. He never expected it to have a hidden achievement reward system. Rio felt quite pleased.
Taking out the two clear blue Water Stones, which had some small air bubbles inside, from the [Backpack] and playing with them for a bit, Rio finally remembered the important matter.
"There are so many genuine Fighting 'Pokémon' here. Isn't this the perfect opportunity to ask them how to use moves?"
The "fake" Pokémon Rio suddenly had a flash of inspiration.