Chapter Four: An Increase of 0.3 in Racial Value?

“So this is Route 101?” Zhao Fang stood at the exit of Whitestone Town, gazing at the road ahead with a hint of curiosity.

Originally, Zhao Fang had assumed that Route 101 would be teeming with Pokémon—Poochyena, Wurmple, and the like—but to his surprise, the path was exceptionally clean and tidy, with a stone-paved road stretching straight into the distance.

On further reflection, it made sense; if, in reality, one had to brave wild grass and risk attacks from wild Pokémon just to leave Whitestone Town, only Pokémon Trainers would dare venture out.

Without hesitation, Zhao Fang stepped off the main road and into the woods. His main purpose for coming out today was to train his Magikarp and find a way to help it evolve into Gyarados. Even during his battle with May earlier, Zhao Fang’s intent was to observe what moves Magikarp had mastered.

But a Magikarp was still just a Magikarp. That previous battle had made it clear to Zhao Fang: his Magikarp only knew Splash and Tackle—nothing else.

“This really is a nightmare start,” Zhao Fang muttered, shaking his head as he pulled an Oran Berry from his pocket. He was starting to feel hungry, and it was also time for Magikarp to eat.

Of course, Zhao Fang had no intention of eating Magikarp’s Oran Berry; he had a bento prepared by his frugal parents. Still, once he reached Rose Town, he’d need to restock on ingredients, or else he might really end up eating berries alongside Magikarp.

Out in the wild, things were simpler. Zhao Fang released Magikarp, who, after its treatment, was back to its usual self. Its vacant fish eyes still made people want to laugh, but remembering the battle with May, Zhao Fang felt this Magikarp possessed remarkable qualities.

“If only my cheat could show me things like base stats or effort values, training would be so much more precise,” Zhao Fang thought, stroking Magikarp’s slick scales.

He tossed an Oran Berry into Magikarp’s mouth, which somehow swallowed it without moving its lips. Magikarp seemed even more energetic, hopping about.

“You’d better stay in the water for now,” Zhao Fang said, picking up Magikarp and placing it gently in a nearby stream.

This was a campsite Zhao Fang had chosen deliberately. Although Magikarp wouldn’t die of dehydration if left on dry land, Zhao Fang felt that a fish belonged in water. Once Magikarp evolved into Gyarados and gained the power of flight, things might get much easier.

Watching Magikarp swim back and forth, Zhao Fang finally relaxed and began preparing dinner for both himself and Magikarp.

His own meal was a simple bento that only needed reheating. For Magikarp, however, Zhao Fang needed to put more thought into it. Just as Brock prepared different foods for Ash’s Pokémon in the anime, Pokémon meals were often distinct from human fare. Although Zhao Fang had never researched Pokémon cuisine, he’d always enjoyed cooking for himself, so it wasn’t likely he’d burn anything.

His parents had also prepared Pokémon food for him. One of the ingredients was chicken, which reminded Zhao Fang of a dish he’d enjoyed in the past.

“Maybe I should try adding Oran Berries?” Contemplating the Pokémon food before him, Zhao Fang hesitated, then tossed in two Oran Berries and seasoned the dish to taste like Kung Pao Chicken.

Almost as soon as the Kung Pao Chicken was ready, that familiar text box appeared before Zhao Fang’s eyes.

[A serving of ordinary Kung Pao Chicken brimming with flavor. After consumption, base stats increase by 0.3.]

“What?” Zhao Fang tapped out a question mark, wondering if he was seeing things. How could an ordinary Pokémon meal have the miraculous effect of raising base stats?

Even if it was only 0.3, that was a tremendous breakthrough. Most Pokémon’s base stats were immutable. Some, because their base stats reached the pinnacle just below legendary status, were called pseudo-legendaries—like Garchomp and Metagross, powerful and exceedingly rare. As far as Zhao Fang knew, only the Champion Steven possessed a Metagross in all of Hoenn.

But even pseudo-legendaries had base stats capped at 600. Any higher, and the Pokémon entered the realm of legends—like that flightless guardian of Hoenn, whose base stats soared to 670.

“Incredible… Could my cooking be the cheat code itself?” Zhao Fang stared at the Kung Pao Chicken, a storm raging in his heart.

It was no exaggeration; as long as his dishes held this miraculous power, he could, on this ability alone, become an honored guest of the Pokémon League… Or, with no power to protect himself, he might be reduced to a soulless cooking machine.

The villainous organizations would surely stop at nothing to capture or eliminate him. With a power like this, figures like Giovanni would never let Zhao Fang live in peace—assuming he could even escape Red’s pursuit.

“Surely I won’t trigger something like Team Rainbow Rocket?” Zhao Fang laughed and shook his head. What was the point of worrying now? His current strength was pitiful; forget Giovanni or Red—even a passing Bug Catcher might be more than he could handle.

“Magikarp, come and eat!” Zhao Fang called, and Magikarp promptly leaped out of the stream.

After devouring the Kung Pao Chicken, its vacant eyes seemed to gleam with a new emotion—Zhao Fang saw desire there for the very first time. Without further prompting, Magikarp polished off the entire plate.

Seeing no obvious changes in Magikarp, Zhao Fang couldn’t help but smile. The increase in base stats might be subtle, but he believed with certainty that his Magikarp would be the strongest in all of Hoenn—200.3 base points and counting!

If this cheat continued to work, raising a pseudo-legendary Gyarados didn’t seem impossible—and if there were no limits, perhaps he could even push the boundaries of Arceus itself.

With that thought, Zhao Fang’s heart swelled with confidence. Next, he would experiment further to uncover the true nature of his power.