Chapter Thirty-Two: Do Not Pick Up Things Left by the Roadside

“Koi King, do you know what day it is today?” Zhao Fang sat inside his hastily assembled tent, busy preparing food.

Koi King couldn’t speak, but continued to leap about energetically, leaping higher than ever.

Although Zhao Fang could make dishes that increased base stats, he couldn’t tell where those stat gains were actually applied. Thus, he remained unsure about the actual growth in strength of his two Pokémon.

“It should be the Mid-Autumn Festival,” Zhao Fang mused, lifting his gaze to the sky above. It was still daylight—the sun had not yet set—but he seemed able to glimpse the outline of the moon already.

Since arriving in this world, Zhao Fang had secretly kept track of the lunar calendar. The Pokémon world’s calendar was somewhat similar to the Gregorian system, but before crossing over, Zhao Fang had been aware of the upcoming Ghost Festival, so he retained some knowledge of lunar dates.

After crossing over, he transferred those lunar dates onto the local calendar, earning a scolding from his mother for his efforts.

Today, Zhao Fang planned to shape the food for Koi King and Dragomessia into mooncakes. Though he lacked flour or an oven, crafting their meals into the likeness of mooncakes wasn’t too much trouble.

[Two ordinary rice burgers—consuming them increases base stats by 0.3.] The familiar message appeared.

Zhao Fang set the rice burgers before Koi King and Dragomessia, then took a sandwich from his backpack—his own lunch.

He could have bought better portable foods, but for the sake of the Pokémon’s growth, he stuck with simple sandwiches. Once he started earning more, he’d consider improving his own meals.

Chewing his sandwich, Zhao Fang flipped through a map. Though it only showed certain routes, it was comprehensive enough—likely designed to prevent overly curious trainers from getting lost. Soon, Zhao Fang spotted the central island in Petalburg Woods.

“I should be here…” Zhao Fang pointed to a spot on the map—a distinctive first bend.

“So, the distance to the lake island is… rather far.” He frowned. Judging by the scale and his recent journey, it would take at least a day or two to reach the island.

He wasn’t planning to seek out Celebi there; with his current strength, encountering any strong wild Pokémon along the way could mean disaster, let alone reaching the island.

The reason Zhao Fang wanted to find the lake island was because, in his memory, a manor stood nearby. It was a gathering place for ghost-type Pokémon, where he intended to train Dragomessia.

“That won’t work,” Zhao Fang sighed, pinching his brow. He’d have to abandon the manor for now; at his current strength, it was out of reach, and the map marked it as extremely dangerous.

“Never mind, we won’t go. Dragomessia, finish your meal and we’ll find wild Pokémon to train with. Koi King, your training today is still Splash and Tackle.” Zhao Fang summarized. For now, there was little else Koi King could train. He just hoped that, after eating these miraculous dishes, Koi King would evolve soon.

With Koi King’s training arranged, Zhao Fang found a wild Weedle nearby and sent Dragomessia into battle.

He intended to train Dragomessia’s speed. Any player knows that, besides base stats, Pokémon have individual values—so-called IVs. Hatching a perfect 6-IV Pokémon is every player’s dream.

Of course, individual values are a nuanced subject; serious trainers tailor max stats according to a Pokémon’s role and type.

In the real world, Zhao Fang realized this concept translated into nurturing—better nurturing, stronger Pokémon. Take Sinnoh’s champion Cynthia, whose Garchomp was expertly raised.

“Dragomessia, your goal is to provoke this Weedle and continually dodge its attacks,” Zhao Fang instructed.

Dragomessia lazily flew over, circling Weedle with indifference, narrowly dodging its attacks several times.

Zhao Fang imagined himself in an animated show, black lines of exasperation appearing above his head.

“Dragomessia! If you keep slacking off, you won’t get dinner!” Zhao Fang threatened.

Dragomessia shuddered instantly, and visibly improved its attitude, much to Zhao Fang’s amusement. His Dragomessia truly was a glutton, but that made training easier.

Once Weedle was exhausted to the point it could no longer produce silk, Zhao Fang let it go. Against Weedle, Dragomessia’s evasive ability was impressive, but it didn’t provide much challenge. Zhao Fang decided to call Koi King and bring over three Weedles and Caterpies at once, so they could gang up on Dragomessia.

With that plan in mind, Zhao Fang recalled Koi King, then turned to see Dragomessia emerging from the grass.

“Dragomessia~” Dragomessia made a pleading sound, and Zhao Fang noticed something strange clutched in its claws.

“What’s that?” He looked curiously at what Dragomessia held—had it just found that on the ground?

“Po…power…” came the familiar telepathic message.

Power?

Zhao Fang was even more puzzled, but he called Dragomessia over. As it drew closer, the item in its claws became clearer. Upon inspection, Zhao Fang realized what it was.

A ring, with a missing piece. Something had once been embedded there, but was lost, leaving only this silver-like ring.

“You really are like those Western dragons, attracted to shiny things,” Zhao Fang sighed, taking the ring from Dragomessia’s claws.

[A ring imbued with mysterious power. It seems able to teleport somewhere.]

The message flashed as soon as Zhao Fang took it.

“Huh?” Zhao Fang was stunned. Teleportation?

A flash of light enveloped them, and Zhao Fang and Dragomessia vanished from the spot.