In Bai Chen's perception—
The world wasn't exactly "4K Ultra HD."
Now tinged with color, the 500-meter radius around him looked more like an amateur oil painting than reality.
He could tell who someone was, what they were doing, even sense their emotions—
But their faces were a blur.
So, peeking at someone taking a bath? Yeah, not happening.
He opened his system panel and glanced at the newly fused sensory skill.
Super Perception (Rarity 6):Sharpen all five senses, allowing one to detect nearby life forms, emotional fluctuations, and incoming danger. With sufficient mastery, the user can even foresee several seconds into the future.
Reading that description, Bai Chen honestly didn't know what kind of expression he should be making.
If the system said it could predict the future, then it could actually predict the future.
He tested it carefully.
The range was immense.
Sky, ground—his awareness reached everywhere.
It was as if he stood inside a transparent sphere with a 500-meter radius, and the whole world pulsed inside it.
"In the Pokémon world, there's something like this too… the Aura ability—some can sense targets kilometers away.
But compared to that, mine's more… comprehensive. I can read emotion, gauge strength, even anticipate and evade attacks mid-battle."
Bai Chen couldn't find a single thing to complain about.
In fact, it exceeded all his expectations.
"Once I level this up, the clarity and range should grow too…"
Finally digesting all the progress from the past four days, Bai Chen shared dinner with Nergigante before throwing himself straight back into training—
grinding the proficiency of Spirit-Blade Breathing and Nature's Force.
He trained until midnight.
Then, sitting at his desk, hunter's manual in hand, he began pondering the big question—
Who should be his third partner?
During his return trips to the Monster Hunter world, he'd encountered—and captured—many creatures.
Two, however, stood out.
Barroth and Banbaro.
As for apex monsters like Diablos or Rathalos—forget it.
Those map rulers were level 45 and above, danger rank 6.
Only after his next visit would he even stand a chance at taming one.
Flipping through his manual, he focused on the two candidates.
Barroth—a creature of the Wildspire Waste, mid-tier in the food chain, rarity 3.
Its signature was the massive armored crown on its head, hard as stone; an adult could reach fourteen meters in length.
What attracted him most was its charge ability.
Bai Chen already had a skill combo that would mesh perfectly:
Dominant Aura + Heavy Impact + Iron Defense.
Dominant Aura increased size and mass—boosting Heavy Impact's damage.
Iron Defense reinforced durability.
And Barroth could learn all three.
The downside?
It couldn't inherit Elder Dragon Blood.
He tapped his pen against the desk, sighing.
"If I'm going to raise a monster, it can't drag the team down.
If it can't keep up with me and Nergigante later, then raising it's just a waste."
Every monster had its own "Monster Blood" skill.
Barroth's rarity-3 variant gave it far more vitality than a Great Jagras—
But compared to Nergigante's Elder Dragon Blood, the difference was astronomical.
Not every creature could withstand that kind of pressure.
With a reluctant stroke of his pen, he crossed Barroth off the list.
Next up—Banbaro.
A gentle-natured herbivore.
Rarity 4, but among its class, one of the strongest.
A full-grown Banbaro stretched to twenty-five meters—
The largest of all Brute Wyverns.
It could learn Dominant Aura and Heavy Impact too…
But once again—no Elder Dragon Blood, and no Iron Defense.
"So I'd have to use skill-enhancement stones to make up for that?"
He immediately shook his head.
Even without knowing the exact drop rate, he could feel how rare those stones must be.
"If one skill can solve a problem, don't waste precious resources."
Leaning back, he ruffled his hair in frustration.
On the bed, Nergigante was already curled up, asleep.
Bai Chen sighed, scooped her up, and muttered,
"You really are a little menace, you know that?"
The annoyed dragonling flicked her tail, breaking free, then trudged off to curl around her favorite Clefairy plush, using it as a pillow.
Bai Chen didn't get angry.
He just folded his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.
"First, a god-slaying Elder Dragon… then a master smith who commands a divine forge…
You guys really set the bar sky-high for anyone who comes next."
Nergigante's tail lazily swished again—
as if saying, "Not my problem."
"Yeah, yeah, not your fault," he murmured, "but now finding your next teammate's a nightmare.
At this rate, anyone less than Elder Dragon-tier won't even qualify."
He did, however, have one particular expectation for his next partner:
A creature capable of altering the battlefield itself.
"Ideally, one that can use Grassy Terrain, Misty Terrain, Electric Terrain, and Psychic Terrain."
Right now, his Nature's Force skill depended on such terrain control.
The logic was simple:
Nature's Force drew power from the surrounding environment to unleash supernatural attacks.
In the Ancient Forest, it mostly channeled Grass-type energy.
In caves—Ghost-type.
In volcanoes—Fire-type.
Sounds versatile, sure…
But monsters living in those habitats usually resisted those very elements.
"If I'm fighting Teostra in a volcano and using fire attacks… I'd just be embarrassing myself."
He scoured his past-life Pokémon knowledge.
"There are only two Pokémon capable of learning all four terrain skills—Mew and Arceus."
The more he thought, the more his head hurt.
"If I could catch either of those, I wouldn't even have to think this hard…"
"Do monsters like that exist here?"
He pondered—then one name surfaced:
Alatreon.
The forbidden Elder Dragon that could wield every elemental power.
"Of course… It's always the high-tier ones that can do everything," he groaned.
"Why can't there be something a little more down-to-earth for once?"
He mentally ran through every possible Pokémon candidate—
And one stood out.
Ditto.
Simple, goofy, endlessly adaptable.
Like Mew, it had the Transform skill—
and might just be capable of manipulating multiple elemental terrains.
But he wasn't sure if that was due to its transformation ability—
Or because its genetic code truly held fragments of all Pokémon species.
After thinking until his brain felt fried, Bai Chen finally gave up.
"Let tomorrow-me handle this. I've got training with the sword master for Rarity-7 Spirit-Blade Breathing anyway…"
He yawned, casting his Rest move.
And instantly, his consciousness slipped away—
deep, undisturbed slumber.
Only twenty minutes later—
Click.
The lock on his door turned.
A pink silhouette burst inside, sprinting straight for the bed.
It was the Master Smith, back from her workshop.
She looked down at the peacefully sleeping Bai Chen—
Then, without an ounce of pity, he grabbed him by the collar and shook him like a rag doll.
"Yamaa! Yamaa!!"
Dragged out of his Rest state by sheer force, Bai Chen blinked blearily—
just in time to hear her excited shout:
"Wake up! Wake up! We're going monster-hunting!"
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