"Awake? Do you feel any discomfort anywhere?"
The moment he noticed Charmander moving, Gu Yuan gently asked.
Hearing this, Charmander shook his head, but his eyes were filled with guilt as he looked at Gu Yuan.
Clearly, the little fellow was blaming himself for losing the battle.
"Silly, you did great already. It was my tactics at the start that gave the opponent a chance."
"Don't dwell on it. Your job now is to train and get stronger, sharpen your moves. My job is to improve as a trainer and give better commands."
Gu Yuan kissed the little lizard's head while stroking its scales. They only met for the first time a few days prior, but his fondness for this little one was growing by the day.
"One day, when both of us are stronger, we'll win back what we lost."
Gu Yuan hugged Charmander while making a solemn promise, though, in his mind, he quietly pushed that day far into the future.
Encouraged by his words, Charmander's fighting spirit reignited, the flame on his tail flaring brighter.
"Char!"
"Good! That's the spirit. Then let's begin our training right away!"
"Char!"
With renewed determination, Charmander started moving according to Gu Yuan's instructions.
The first move they worked on was Ember.
If Charmander could master it, the next time they faced a Zubat, Gu Yuan would be able to handle things far more calmly.
For now, Gu Yuan had no better training methods, so he simply stayed by Charmander's side, silently supporting him. In doing so, he strengthened the bond between them.
Ding!
[Quest Three completed]
Gu Yuan, who had been watching Charmander practice, suddenly heard the familiar voice of the system echo in his mind.
He checked his stats and saw his points had risen to twenty.
So the mission's requirement must have been roughly for Charmander to grow by one level.
After all the effort of the past several days, plus their recent battle, it looked like Charmander had taken that step forward.
At that moment, Guyuan finally understood why raising a Pokémon's strength was so difficult.
The Child Rank and Rookie Rank were supposed to be the easiest stages for growth, yet it had still taken Charmander nearly ten full days to gain a single level.
At this pace, breaking into the Junior Rank would take at least three months, assuming he didn't get stuck at the bottleneck before it.
To go beyond that… Gu Yuan didn't even dare imagine the time it would require. But it also made him realize just how valuable points really were.
After a while, Shadow returned and casually tossed him a tablet loaded with countless battle recordings.
A few of them were standard matches like the one Guyuan and Shadow had just fought, ones that the League supported, but most of the recordings showed clandestine battles where Pokémon were even allowed to attack the opposing trainer.
Of course, such things would never happen in official battles. But in real life-or-death fights, no one would play by the rules.
Sitting a bit away from Charmander, Gu Yuan began watching the videos, hoping to absorb new knowledge.
Beside him, Charmander continued training, steadily improving his mastery of Ember.
As a Fire-type Pokémon, it naturally had a strong affinity for learning Fire-type moves.
Sure, in the real world, you could try teaching a Fire-type Pokémon an Ice-type or Water-type move, if it were even compatible. But even if it could technically learn it, the power would often be pathetic, and improving its proficiency was nearly impossible.
That's why no sane trainer, no matter how rich, would waste resources forcing mismatched moves. Instead, they chose the most suitable ones.
Perhaps because Charmander had an exceptional learning ability, or maybe because the earlier battle had fired him up, before Gu Yuan could even finish his third video, the system voice rang in his mind again.
Opening the system panel, he saw his points had increased to thirty, and a new set of quests had appeared:
Quest 1: Train Charmander to level up once more. Reward: 15 points.
Quest 2: Train Charmander to level up twice more. Reward: 30 points.
Quest 3: Train Charmander to level up four times more. Reward: 60 points.
Quest 4: Raise the proficiency of two of Charmander's moves to Intermediate. Reward: 10 points. (Progress: 1/2)
Quest 5: Raise the proficiency of three of Charmander's moves to Intermediate. Reward: 25 points. (Progress: 1/3)
Seeing the refreshed list, Gu Yuan guessed it was because he had completed the beginner missions, and now the system was giving him clearer, more precise objectives.
With his current points, Gu Yuan could raise Charmander's level a few times, complete the first 3 quests, and then use the points of the rewards to push it all the way to the Junior Rank.
But he didn't want to rush. If Charmander got too big a power-up, he would need more time to stabilize and master all of this power.
Not to mention that Shadow could grow suspicious if his Pokémon grew too fast for no reason.
In his opinion, it was better to take it step by step.
With that thought, he invested five points to raise Charmander by another level. Mission One was instantly cleared, his total rising to forty points. Missions Two and Three updated accordingly.
Immersed in training, Charmander didn't notice his strength had already advanced again. Meanwhile, Gu Yuan threw himself into the battle videos, determined to sharpen his tactics and make up for his own weaknesses.
And so the days passed.
In the mornings, Gu Yuan trained alongside Charmander. In the afternoons, he studied with Shadow, learning about Pokémon and improving his battle knowledge. At night, he pored over the tablet's recordings, absorbing every detail.
Within ten days, Charmander's learning ability shone through. Without spending any points, he managed to raise the proficiency of Growl to Intermediate, earning Gu Yuan another ten mission points.
Eventually, Gu Yuan couldn't resist his perfectionist urge. He spent points to steadily push Charmander further, about one level every two days, until nearly all the system's tasks were complete.
Finally, he used the last of his points to finish the remaining mission, claiming the full rewards. By then, Charmander's Bite had reached 60 power exactly, a critical threshold, squeezing every ounce of value from his hundred points.
"Alright, Charmander. That's enough training for now. Get some rest, tomorrow will be the real test of everything we've done."
Guyuan gently patted Charmander's head, his heart filled with anticipation.
After ten days of hard work and transformation, just how far could he and Charmander push Shadow in battle now?
The next day, well-rested, Gu Yuan once again took Charmander into training.