LIGHT NOVEL Chapter 44: Beginning of the Rookie Trainer Competition
The date was May 30, 2024.
The Pokemon Alliance Branch in Manila was decorated with stickers of various Pokemon. At the top of the entrance, the word "Rookie Trainer Competition" was placed in large letters.
Today is the first day of the Rookie Trainer Competition. While the prize money for this competition is a bit small, and the participants are new Trainers, it is still something most people in the local community come to watch every year.
The profession of a Pokemon Trainer is something that the Alliance highly promotes among the people. Therefore, the general populace has feelings of admiration and yearning towards Pokemon Trainers.
The Rookie Competition is one of the public events where a Trainer first shows what he is made of. Some Gym Leaders, Elite Fours, and even Champions participated in this competition when they were young.
A stream of people were entering the venue, either participants or spectators. Among them are two teenagers walking side-by-side. One of them was a boy with white hair that had some red streaks. A Pikachu was standing on his shoulder, curiously looking around the surroundings.
"I don't think any new Trainers will be able to defeat both you and Pikachu. Seriously, how the hell did the two of you train?"
Beside him, the girl with ponytailed green hair was complaining slightly. In her arms, she was hugging a Shelmet who was looking at Pikachu with fighting intent.
The two teenagers were Dante Zulueta and Kuki Shinobu. A week ago, they held their sparring after Shelmet's racial limit was reached. According to the Alliance website, Shelmet's racial limits are the following:
HP: 50
Attack: 40
Defense: 85
Sp. Attack: 40
Sp. Defense: 65
Speed: 25
In every battle they had, Shelmet was always suppressed. Pikachu was so fast that she couldn't hit him. And even when Pikachu lets Shelmet's attack land, her attacks can't cause any significant damage. In their first battle, it only took Pikachu two Thunderbolts for Shelmet to faint.
On the day Spinda's Cafe opened, Dante and Pikachu took out all their Gummies (except the Blue and Fairy Gummies) from Kangaskhan's storage, and asked Spinda to make a drink. At that time, Spinda was a bit scared from the amount of Gummies Pikachu and Dante placed on the counter.
In the end however, he still patiently made drinks for the both of them. After finishing all the drinks, Dante and Pikachu were so full that they weren't able to go to the dungeon that day. Nevertheless, seeing their increased stats in the Team Menu made all the stomach pain worth it.
The rewards from the Exploration Federation also arrived the morning after. Their Guild rank was increased by 1 to Silver Rank. In addition, they gave their team the move disc for Swords Dance and Nasty Plot.
Swords Dance is a move Dante can learn which sharply increases the Attack stat. On the other hand, Nasty Plot was very suitable for Pikachu as it can sharply raise the Sp. Attack.
Dante suspected that either Chatot or Wigglytuff did some operations behind the scene. Only the two of them knew that he and Pikachu needed some stats increasing moves.
In addition to the move discs, the Federation also rewarded them three Ginsengs, a Gold Ribbon that can be sold for 6,000 Poke, as well as three Escape Orbs.
Chatot also came and gave them the Rock Climb HM for advancing to the Silver Rank. Their second stage of training began and Chatot's first task was for the two of them to familiarize themselves with their new moves first.
Currently, Dante and Pikachu's stats are as follows:
Dante (Hisuian Zorua)
Type: Normal/Ghost
Abilities:
Super Luck (Increases the critical hit ratio)
lllusion (Can disguise as another Pokemon)
Level: 30
HP: 69/69
Attack: 85 Defense: 58
Sp. Atk: 69 Sp. Def.: 63 Speed: 66
Item: Power Band (Attack +12)
Moveset:
- Leer
- Scratch
- Astonish
- Copycat
- Fake Tears
- Quick Attack
- Fury Swipes
- Shadow Sneak
- U-turn
- Brutal Swing
- Scary Face
- Burning Jealousy
- Hyper Fang
- Feint
- Extrasensory
- Swords Dance
Pikachu
Type: Electric
Abilities:
Static (Can paralyze attackers that made physical contact)
Lightning Rod (Draws Electric-type attacks and boosts Special Attack)
Level: 30
HP: 97/97
Attack: 68 Defense: 63
Sp. Atk: 83 Sp. Def.: 59 Speed: 65
Item: Special Band (Sp. Attack +12)
Moveset:
- Thunder Shock
- Growl
- Grass Knot
- Tail Whip
- Thunder Wave
- Quick Attack
- Electroweb
- Double Team
- Slam
- Draining Kiss
- Thunderbolt
- Feint
- Nasty Plot
Almost all of their stats have reached the 60th mark, with some even reaching the 70. Dante and Pikachu prioritized going to the Beach Cave to collect Gummies to increase their stats, leaving them to only gain 6 levels after two weeks. The increase in experience needed for each level was also another factor.
The two came to the Waterfall Cave thrice to search for a Special Band and 'persuade' Azumarill. Being a new dungeon, the Waterfall Cave was visited many times by curious Pokemon and other Exploration Teams, leading to many tasks for help being posted for that dungeon.
Azumarill was no longer as aggressive as he used to be towards the duo. He no longer attacked them and even accepted the food he was given as a token of friendship. However, he was still adamant about not leaving the dungeon. Dante knew it was only a matter of time, and he even began saving the Gummies for Azumarill.
At first, Dante wanted Pikachu to eat all the other Gummies except for the White, Purple, Blue, and Fairy ones. Because except for increasing his physical fitness, Dante will gain no other benefit in the real world from increasing his stats.
Pikachu, however, needed to battle others as his Starter Pokemon.
But after coming back to the real world for the first time, he realized that the increase in IQ by the Gummies had other effects on him.
Increasing the IQ allows a Pokemon to learn IQ Skills depending on their IQ group. The IQ level is indicated in the menu by the number of stars. When Dante reached 1 star IQ and returned to the real world, he realized that he can feel the flow of energy in his body more clearly.
After that day, he also tried drinking more Gummi drinks. After his IQ reached 2 stars, he finally achieved some basic control of the energy inside his body.
Although it was not enough to release moves, he can now use his Illusion Ability in order to change his appearance a little. He tried it, and he was able to mask his hair color, modify his facial features, as well as change his body shape to a certain extent.
"Haha, it's only normal training. Pikachu is just that strong."
"Pika pika!"
Pikachu on his shoulder nodded in agreement while making a posture of flexing his muscles.
"Hmm, fine. Keep it a secret. I don't care anyway."
Shinobu narrowed her eyes at the two of them for a while before turning away with a huff. In her heart, she swore to avenge all of Shelly's loss after evolution.
After Shelmet evolves into Accelgor, her speed won't be suppressed anymore, and she would even be much faster than Pikachu. Let's see if Pikachu can hit Shelly by then.
Looking at the pouting Shinobu, Dante smiled and patted her head.
"Don't sulk~ I promised to take you to the forest with me after the competition, right? At that time, you can observe our 'training' as much as you want."
Feeling Dante's hand on top of her head, Shinobu's skin turned a little red. Her face felt a little hot and she could feel her heart beating a little faster. She hurriedly adjusted her facemask in order to hide her expression.
"W-whatever! Anyway, the preparation area is just up ahead. I'm going to go ahead and prepare for my match."
"Alright, alright, good luck in your match!"
"Y-yeah, you too. Though I doubt you'll need it…"
Watching Shinobu's fleeing back, Dante tried to suppress the smile on his face.
"Pika~" (Someone's in love~)
Dante ignored Pikachu's words. Lately, Pikachu had begun watching romance dramas together with his mother and Luna. Every time Dante meets up with Shinobu, Pikachu will always tease him.
He headed towards his assigned preparation area, calm and ready for his first public Trainer match.
A/N: Volume 1 (Pre-University Period) is already finished on my Patreon! In order to prepare for volume 2 (University Arc), I will take a day off tomorrow to polish the outline. In the meantime, you can vote for Dante's next Pokemon for FREE at: patreon.com/Ked2002
To access the polls, click Collection and choose Polls on Dante's Pokemon. Thanks for reading!