“Congratulations, Xiao Zuo, you’ve finally finished.”
Grandpa Wu walked over, clapping his hands in approval.
“Thank you, Grandpa Wu. If it weren’t for you, Meowth wouldn’t have learned Thunderbolt so quickly. Thank you very much, Grandpa,” Xiao Zuo said, bowing to Grandpa Wu.
“Don’t mention it. I haven’t been this happy in a long time, old man. I’m glad I could help you.”
Ever since Xiao Zuo came to the farm, Grandpa Wu had been very happy. He often made delicious food for Xiao Zuo and personally guided him on how to train Meowth.
“Grandpa Wu, I plan to go out for my journey tomorrow. I won’t be bothering you tomorrow.”
Xiao Zuo was almost ready now. He had finished buying everything he needed in the past few days.
He prepared a hiking backpack, but it was just an ordinary one. After all, Xiao Zuo couldn't afford a spatial backpack like Ash’s.
“Hmm, wait a moment. I have something for you.”
Grandpa Wu had already guessed that Xiao Zuo would leave. After all, Xiao Zuo came to learn skills, and now that he had learned them, he would naturally leave.
“Here, take this.”
Soon, Grandpa Wu came out of the house with a cloth bag and handed it to Xiao Zuo.
“What is this, Grandpa?” Xiao Zuo took the cloth bag but didn’t open it.
“This is the equipment I used during my travels back then, and this too, I’ll give it to you.”
After Grandpa Wu finished speaking, he handed Xiao Zuo a box. Xiao Zuo opened it and saw that it was a pokemon illustrated handbook!
“This is a pokemon illustrated handbook? I can’t accept this, Grandpa. It’s too valuable.”
Seeing that it was a pokemon illustrated handbook, Xiao Zuo immediately returned it. A pokemon illustrated handbook cost 100,000 yuan. How could it be given away so casually?
“It’s fine. This pokemon illustrated handbook is old. It’s a pokemon illustrated handbook from two years ago, it belonged to my grandson, but he’s no longer here. It’s useless for me to keep it. I know your financial situation isn’t great, and you don’t have a pokemon illustrated handbook. Otherwise, when you first arrived, you would have taken out your pokemon illustrated handbook to check Meowth. At least I guided you for a while, so consider this my gift to you. You must use it well, I believe in you.”
Grandpa Wu handed the pokemon illustrated handbook to Xiao Zuo, which left Xiao Zuo utterly speechless with gratitude.
A pokemon illustrated handbook was indeed very important for a Trainer. It allowed them to know a Pokemon’s level and skills, and it also contained maps, identity information, and a bank card. It was like having the world in your hands with a pokemon illustrated handbook.
“Thank you, Grandpa,” Xiao Zuo bowed deeply to Grandpa Wu.
Grandpa Wu was the first person in this world, besides his mother and sister, who cared about him, and his help was truly immense.
“Alright, be careful from now on. Don’t be reckless in your actions, and also, don’t let your blood boil. When it’s time to run, run. Fleeing is not shameful; staying alive is the most important thing.”
Carefully putting away the pokemon illustrated handbook, his eyes gleamed with determination, “Grandpa Wu, I’ve remembered.”
Xiao Zuo stood at the farm entrance with his backpack, bidding farewell to Grandpa Wu.
“Go, child. May you become an excellent Trainer.” Grandpa Wu waved goodbye.
After bidding farewell to Grandpa Wu, Xiao Zuo first returned home to tidy up.
The cloth bag Grandpa Wu gave him was a spatial item. Although it wasn’t as good-looking as a spatial backpack, it was still a spatial item.
It had nearly thirty cubic meters of space. Xiao Zuo put all the items he had bought earlier into it.
There was a sleeping bag, a tent, pots, pans, and Pokémon food. When Grandpa Wu gave Xiao Zuo the cloth bag, it also contained a lot of beef jerky and some outdoor equipment, as if he treated Xiao Zuo like family.
After tidying up, Xiao Zuo took out his notebook and wrote down his next strategy.
First, he needed to set up his team lineup: Meowth first, then a flying Pokemon, which would be very useful.
A Water-type Pokemon to save himself in water.
A Fire-type Pokemon for strong offense.
Psychic-type Pokemon and Ghost-type Pokemon were too rare. If he encountered them, he absolutely couldn’t let them go, even if they didn’t have those skills.
As for the others, it would depend on the situation. Normally, as long as he used Water, Fire, and Grass types, he could basically deal with most attributes.
After tentatively planning, Xiao Zuo first went to a Pokémon Center to rename the pokemon illustrated handbook Grandpa Wu gave him, making it his own.
The name on that pokemon illustrated handbook was Ah Li, Grandpa Wu’s grandson. Now it was updated to Xiao Zuo’s.
Because the pokemon illustrated handbook had a lifetime warranty, he had it upgraded and updated at the Pokémon Center.
The next day, Xiao Zuo woke up early, ate breakfast, and packed up. Under the watchful eyes of his mother and sister, he left home.
Before leaving, Xiao Zuo left a letter at home, containing words for his mother, his parents’ rings, and 10,000 yuan.
“I will definitely succeed!” After walking a long distance, Xiao Zuo shouted towards his mother and sister’s direction, then headed into the forest.
As soon as he entered the forest, Xiao Zuo first took out his pokemon illustrated handbook and scanned Meowth’s pokemon ball.
“Meowth: Normal type, Level 10, Male, Ability: Pickup, Nature: Jolly, Held Item: None, Moves: Growl, Scratch, Fake Out, Thunderbolt. Meowth, the Cat Pokémon. It seems especially energetic at night and likes round objects. Once it finds one, it will immediately pick it up.”
Looking at Meowth’s description, he sighed with emotion.
“A pokemon illustrated handbook is so good! Even if I know how to combine things, I don’t have X-ray vision. With a pokemon illustrated handbook, it’s like having X-ray vision!”
After speaking, he released Meowth and had him follow, after all, Meowth was a god of wealth! He couldn’t miss him!
Xiao Zuo’s goal was Rainbow City, and he wanted to make the Grass-type Gym his first challenge.
Before setting off, Xiao Zuo had learned that when challenging any Gym, the Gym would first determine your level of strength and how many badges you had obtained to determine the strength of the Gym Pokémon you would battle.
If you didn’t have any badges or were a rookie just starting out, it meant your strength wasn’t high, and the Pokémon sent to battle you would be very weak.
If you already had seven badges or a high-level ID card, it meant you were very strong, and the Pokémon sent out to battle you would definitely be very strong.
This was also a special arrangement by the Alliance, used for training. Only by allowing Trainers to grow from weak to strong could they unleash their greatest potential.
As he walked, Xiao Zuo heard a strange noise. He became alert and had Meowth prepare for battle.
Suddenly, a green object fell from a tree not far from Xiao Zuo. Before Xiao Zuo could react, his pokemon illustrated handbook rang first.
“Metapod, Bug type, Cocoon Pokémon. The evolved form of Caterpie. Its body is protected by a hard shell. It is currently the fastest-evolving Pokémon discovered.”
Before capture, the pokemon illustrated handbook would not display the current Pokemon’s moves and abilities.
Xiao Zuo looked at Metapod because he thought that Metapod could evolve into Butterfree at just Level 10, and Butterfree could learn Psychic-type moves.
Compared to other Pokémon, Butterfree could be said to be the best choice for beginners in the early stages.
It was easy to catch, evolved quickly to its final form, and had many moves, making it an excellent candidate for the beginner protection period.
“Ha, I was just feeling sleepy and someone sent me a pillow. Meowth, go! I want it! Fake Out!”
Xiao Zuo had decided to capture this Metapod and ordered Meowth to act.
“Meow!” Meowth, upon receiving the order, rushed out in a flash and slapped Metapod. Metapod was sent flying a considerable distance but didn’t take much damage.
Metapod, steadying itself, turned around and charged at Meowth with Tackle.
“Oh, you dare to fight back? Meowth, dodge and use Thunderbolt!”
To deal with this defensive type, special attacks were needed.
Meowth easily dodged Metapod’s Tackle.
Then a Thunderbolt struck Metapod, and for a moment, Xiao Zuo felt as if he smelled roasted silkworm pupae.
“Alright, alright, stop quickly! It’ll be cooked soon!”
Xiao Zuo ordered Meowth to stop, looking at Metapod, whose eyes had turned into circles.
Xiao Zuo threw a pokemon ball, hitting Metapod. Then a red light absorbed Metapod into the ball. The red and white ball struggled twice and then stopped.
Xiao Zuo walked forward, picked up the pokemon ball, and said,
“I caught Metapod!” Then he took out his pokemon illustrated handbook and scanned it.
“Metapod, Bug type, Level 9, Female, Ability: Shed Skin, Nature: Timid, Held Item: None, Moves: Tackle, String Shot, Harden.”
Xiao Zuo put Metapod’s Poké Ball away on his belt and continued through the forest with Meowth.
Along the way, he encountered many Pokémon like Rattata, but he had no intention of catching them. His pokemon illustrated handbook kept ringing, which was its automatic identification function.
Walking to a small river, Xiao Zuo stopped to rest and released Metapod.
“Metapod, please take care of me from now on,” he said, taking out an Oran Berry to restore Metapod’s stamina.
Metapod nodded and happily ate the sitrus berry. After it finished one, Xiao Zuo gave it another, and also gave one to Meowth.
Then he took out an ordinary fishing rod. Xiao Zuo wanted to try and see if he could catch a Water-type Pokemon.
As soon as Xiao Zuo cast his fishing rod, Metapod, who was beside him, suddenly began to glow.
“What? No way? It evolved right after I caught it?”
Xiao Zuo was bewildered. Although in the Pokemon World, leveling up wasn’t entirely dependent on battles, self-growth also led to leveling up. However, an evolution as fast as Caterpie’s was unique.
Metapod glowed brightly, then transformed from a cocoon into a butterfly, becoming Butterfree.
“Butterfree, Bug/Flying type, Level 10, Female, Ability: Compound Eyes, Nature: Timid, Held Item: None, Moves: Tackle, String Shot, Harden, Confusion, Gust.”
“Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. The evolved form of Metapod. It has scales on its wings, allowing it to fly normally even in the rain.”
Looking at Butterfree, Xiao Zuo’s mouth slowly curved upwards.
“Hehehe, well, this happiness came too suddenly. I didn’t expect it to evolve so quickly. As soon as it evolved, it gained the Confusion move. This will be my biggest utility Pokémon from now on.”
That’s right, Xiao Zuo defined Butterfree as a utility Pokémon, because just Butterfree’s future three powder moves would make it a good helper against wild Pokémon.
“Gah!” At that moment, a sharp cry echoed through the sky. The sound was very piercing, like a falcon searching for prey.
Xiao Zuo dared not be slow and immediately became alert. He saw a brown figure rapidly flying in the sky, charging towards Xiao Zuo’s direction.
