Ten days later, in a Pokémon Secret Realm located in the suburbs of League City.
"That's it, Zorua! Finish with Shadow Sneak!"
Zorua leaped high into the air, unleashing a powerful Shadow Sneak that struck the Scyther directly.
The Scyther, hit by the purple-black spectral energy, plummeted from the sky and carved a long groove in the ground below.
The fallen Scyther struggled, flapping its wings in an attempt to take flight and continue the battle, but after several unsuccessful tries, it finally gave up. Zorua had won this match.
Seeing that Scyther had completely lost its ability to battle, David quickly stepped forward and fed it an Oran Berry to restore its stamina. He then skillfully treated its wounds with a Potion.
Come to think of it, over the past few days, treating the wounds of these Pokémon had significantly improved David's proficiency in basic Pokémon care.
It was difficult to find this many willing "patients" for students to practice on during practical sessions at school.
If his golden finger wasn't a Trainer system but rather some kind of proficiency system, David figured his head would probably be displaying "Proficiency +1, +1" notifications by now.
After completing this familiar routine, he finally turned around and knelt down to stroke Zorua, who had bounded over to him, seeking praise after the victory.
"Yo~ Yo! (David, I'm so amazing! I won! ＾－＾)V"
"Yes, yes, you're the best. Well done, Zorua. These days of hard training weren't wasted—you did very well."
David crouched down and praised Zorua warmly.
At this moment, the Scyther nearby had mostly regained consciousness.
"Take care, Scyther!"
After saying goodbye to the recovered Scyther and leaving behind a box of energy cubes, David and Zorua began their journey back.
To maximize the system rewards, David and Zorua had come to the Secret Realm almost every day for the past ten days, starting early each morning and not leaving until the sun was about to set.
Fortunately, the system's deadline was exactly ten days. If it had been even one day longer, it would have interfered with the start of the Imperial City Rookie Cup. It seemed the system was quite considerate after all.
Name: Zorua (Hisuian Form) (Disguised)
Type: Normal/Ghost
Energy Level: 16 (Ordinary)
Aptitude: Red
Ability: Illusion
Held Item: None
Moves: Hone Claws, Shadow Sneak, Double Team, Hex, Icy Wind, Extrasensory, Will-O-Wisp, Agility, Shadow Claw, Taunt, Knock Off, Calm Mind, Swift, Aerial Ace...
David summoned the system's Pokédex panel and reviewed the gains from the past few days.
Under continuous high-intensity battle training and Secret Realm exploration, the little fox had made incredibly rapid progress.
First, through constant battles over these days, Zorua had fully adapted to the speed increase from the X Speed he had consumed earlier.
David then naturally gave him a second X Speed, which further boosted Zorua's already impressive speed.
At the same time, Zorua's move pool had expanded greatly.
David's Zorua could indeed be called exceptionally talented. Not only had he learned the very practical moves Taunt and Knock Off through leveling up, but he had also learned Swift and Aerial Ace by observing and imitating other Pokémon during battles in the Secret Realm these past few days.
Other Pokémon might not even master a single move proficiently in ten days, but the little fox was not only able to learn moves automatically through training—he could also directly copy them from opponents during battle.
This talent could only be described as "terrifyingly powerful."
If this were a fantasy world, it would undoubtedly be met with the exclamation, "This child will surely become a great threat in the future."
No wonder the system rated him with red aptitude.
He then switched to the quest page, and David directly submitted the quest.
Today was the last day, and the League City Rookie Cup was starting tomorrow.
David planned to rest with Zorua for the afternoon. Besides, that old Scyther—barely a Veteran-level Pokémon—was already the strongest in this low-level Secret Realm.
There would be no further gains from continuing to battle, so he and the little fox naturally had no need to waste more time here.
"Ding... Detecting host submitting limited-time quest... Currently processing."
"Detecting current host's Secret Realm exploration progress: 71% (√); Current Pokémon defeated in Secret Realm: 1 Veteran-level, 21 Normal-level, 15 Novice-level (√)."
"Hehe! Looks pretty good. Let me see what great rewards I'll get this time."
"Ding~ Extracting rewards..."
"Congratulations, host. You have received the following items: System Points × 3000, Special Attack Enhancer Type I × 2, X Speed Type I × 2, Mega Evolution Key Stone × 1."
"...Hiss..."
Looking at the generous rewards, David gasped sharply, contributing yet again to global warming.
Although he was prepared for the quest completion rewards to be good, he was still shocked by their generosity.
Among the three rewards, regarding points—his system points had barely surpassed the 10,000 mark with the effort of these past few days plus these 3,000 points.
As for the two enhancers, their value was clear just from the previous X Speed's effect on Zorua.
The newly appearing Special Attack Enhancer in this reward was also very suitable for Zorua.
Zorua's evolved form, Zoroark, is a Pokémon known for its high Special Attack and Speed stats.
Of course, compared to the last item, all of these seemed somewhat insignificant.
Taking it out from the system space and examining the colorful orb in his hand, David's heart couldn't help but pound rapidly.
Mega Evolution first appeared in the sixth generation of the Pokémon games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y.
It is a form of evolution that allows certain Pokémon, already considered to be in their final evolutionary forms, to break through their limits and achieve further evolution.
This evolution only occurs between Trainers and Pokémon who share a strong bond.
When a Trainer holds a Key Stone and their Pokémon carries its corresponding Mega Stone, the resonance between them causes the Pokémon, already in its final evolved form, to unleash the immense power hidden deep within its genes, temporarily evolving into a Mega form.
"This reward is incredibly generous!"
"As long as I obtain the corresponding Mega Stone later, won't I be able to try Mega Evolution directly?"
David couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
The Pokémon species discovered in this world were already very comprehensive—things like Eevee's eight different evolutions, trade evolutions, and so on were all well-documented.
The Pokédex had been updated with at least nearly seven hundred species, probably close to the level of the Galar region.
Before David's transmigration, the latest games—Pokémon Scarlet and Violet—as well as the anime Pokémon Horizons, he had only watched some clips online. He was a complete casual viewer and hadn't even watched much of the anime because Ash was no longer the protagonist.
However, through detailed inquiries over these past few days, David had unexpectedly discovered that, perhaps because related items and data had not yet been found in Secret Realm ruins, phenomena like Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamaxing had not yet appeared in this world.
That's why David was so excited. This Key Stone was not just an evolutionary item—it was a key to opening the door to Mega Evolution in this new world!
"It's a pity that Zorua, whether in its original form or Hisuian Form, doesn't have a Mega Evolution."
Thinking of this, David couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
"But it doesn't matter. Ultimately, it still depends on one's own strength. As long as I'm strong enough, not being able to Mega Evolve isn't a big deal."
Mega Evolution didn't just happen whenever one wished. Besides the item restrictions and bond requirements, any single Mega Evolution placed a considerable burden on both the Trainer's body and mind.
Therefore, the imagined scenario of everyone Mega Evolving their Pokémon would never occur.
David then looked at the 10,000 points he had accumulated.
After some thought, he decided not to save them, as he was about to participate in the Rookie Cup.
Although the little fox's strength was already quite formidable, it was still necessary to add some trump cards.
The good items in the shop were too expensive, so he decided to try the system's lottery function.
"System, give me a ten-pull of the regular lottery."
"Ding... Detecting host command... Lottery in progress..."
The system page flashed rapidly, and then, after a dazzling bright light, streaks of different colored meteors appeared before David's eyes.
His heart was extremely nervous at this moment—he was hoping for good items!
These 10,000 points were his entire fortune, and it would definitely be impossible to gather another 10,000 points again in a short time.
He just hoped this lottery would yield something worthwhile!
Please, please, don't let it be a complete bust.
"Ding... Congratulations, host. You have received..."