Seeing the battle end, Roy walked over with a smile, squatted down, and reached out to rub Pikachu's little head.
"Pika pika~"
Pikachu squinted its eyes, its little face full of a tsundere expression that said "this was nothing," but its body honestly rubbed against Roy's palm. Its small paws were still clutching that half-eaten Ketchup bread, reluctant to put it down.
"Alright, alright, I know you're the most amazing," Roy laughed and rubbed its ears again.
Pikachu's ears were soft and felt especially good to the touch.
"Pika pi~"
Pikachu hummed in comfort, its tail wagging unconsciously.
Over there, the Mankey lying on the ground struggled to lift its head, just in time to witness this scene.
That terrifying mouse was actually so well-behaved in front of that human?
That lazy little expression and that enjoying look in its eyes were like a completely different mouse compared to the god of slaughter that had just sent it flying with a single tail strike.
Mankey's eyes were filled with confusion.
It began to doubt its life.
Could everything it just experienced have been an illusion?
Was it actually not sent spinning three and a half times by a single tail strike?
Was it actually not shocked until smoke rose from its body?
But the waves of sharp pain and numbness coming from its body told it—it was all real.
That mouse was truly fierce.
Roy finished rubbing Pikachu and pulled an empty poké ball from his waist.
The red and white sphere gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting Mankey's pathetic figure.
He looked at Mankey, shook the poké ball in his hand, and said with a smile on his lips, "How about it? Do you yield?"
Mankey lay on the ground, black smoke still rising from its body, its limbs twitching from time to time, and small puffs of black gas spitting out of its mouth.
It opened its mouth, wanting to say something, but a puff of black smoke came out first.
"Ji... gu..."
Roy's Aura Power translated simultaneously: [I yield... I yield...]
It truly yielded.
It had no choice but to yield.
That little yellow mouse, which looked harmless and was munching on a piece of bread with its cheeks puffed out, had sent it flying three and a half times with one tail strike and shocked it so badly with a single Thunder Shock that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it.
It had been around this forest for so long, having fought Spearow, Rattata, and even going toe-to-toe with a Fearow, but it had never suffered such a massive loss.
Crucially, it stole a glance at the massive Pidgeot over there, which was still buried in its food.
That giant bird looked like a small mountain just standing there. Its talons were bigger than Mankey's head; one swipe would probably turn it into monkey meatballs.
If that giant bird had stepped in, it would probably be a monkey pancake by now, right?
Thinking of this, Mankey lowered its head as if accepting its fate.
It wasn't shameful.
It really wasn't shameful.
Being beaten by a team of this caliber wasn't shameful at all.
Roy smiled and lightly tapped the poké ball against Mankey's body.
A red light shone out.
Mankey turned into a beam of red light and was pulled into the ball.
The poké ball landed on the grass and shook once.
Twice.
Three times.
"Ding!"
Capture successful!
Roy bent over to pick up the poké ball and weighed it in his hand, feeling the slight vibrations from inside—it was Mankey's reaction as it adapted to its new environment.
Just then, the system notification sounded in his ear:
[Ding! Mankey capture mission complete!]
[Mission Reward: 2 intermediate rare candies have been placed in the system inventory!]
Roy's eyes lit up.
Another two intermediate candies obtained!
With a thought, he opened the system inventory to take a look.
[intermediate rare candy: 8]
[Basic Rare Candy: 3]
[high-grade rare candy: 3]
The balance was clear at a glance.
Not bad, not bad.
He would find an opportunity later to feed a couple to the newly caught fellow and raise its level.
Once it evolved directly into Primeape, the team would have another fierce general.
With another thought, he opened Mankey's attribute panel.
[Pokémon: Mankey]
[Type: Fighting]
[Level: LV27 (Common Grade)]
[Potential: elite four level]
[Ability: Defiant—When stats are lowered, Attack will sharply increase!]
[Skills: Seismic Toss, Cross Chop, Assurance, Thrash]
[Held Item: None]
[Special Enhancement: None]
After browsing the panel, a satisfied curve formed on Roy's lips.
Level 27!
You had to know that usually, a wild Pokémon being in the early 20s was considered decent; those who could survive in the wild above level 25 were all something special.
This guy was straight up level 27, definitely at the level of a forest bully.
Once captured, it could immediately become a mainstay of his combat power.
No wonder in the original script, that unlucky guy James was chased and beaten by it for an entire episode after kicking it.
With this level and the Defiant ability, whoever provoked it was in for a bad time.
If you provoked it while its stats were lowered, it would backhand you with an enhanced attack to teach you a lesson.
This kind of fellow lived by the motto of just jumping straight into the fight.
But speaking of James's foot...
Roy thought of the original plot where James kicked out a Primeape, kicked out an Exeggutor, and... that foot was indeed uncanny.
He had kicked several Pokémon into evolving.
He didn't know if it was a matter of kicking technique or just luck.
Roy joked to himself as he continued to look at the potential,
elite four level!
Wild Pokémon having Gym-level potential was already something to be thankful for, and pre-elite four level potential was already rare.
elite four level potential?
Catching it was pure profit!
As long as there were enough resources to train it to its peak level, it would definitely be a trump card combatant.
Looking at the ability again: Defiant.
No wonder its temper was so explosive.
Pokémon with this ability were born battle maniacs; they felt uncomfortable if they didn't fight for a day.
They were looking for opponents anytime, anywhere, and were ready to scrap at a moment's notice.
"Alright," Roy said softly, looking at the poké ball in his hand with anticipation in his eyes, "In the future, I'll use your Defiant nature to help me overcome all obstacles!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
The system notification sounded again:
[Ding! Triggered Mission: Lead Primeape to win the P1 Grand Prix, refuse Anthony's request for the Pokémon, and educate Anthony to make him turn over a new leaf!]
[Mission Reward: Active Carry Slots +2]
Roy raised an eyebrow.
The P1 Grand Prix?
There was indeed such a competition in the original story, seemingly a tournament specifically for Fighting-type Pokémon, quite famous in the Kanto region.
Many Fighting-type Trainers would bring their partners to participate and compete for the championship title.
Anthony...
He had an impression of this name.
A Trainer in the original script who abandoned his wife and daughter because he was obsessed with fighting.
The Fighting Pokémon he raised himself were trash, and his fighting philosophy was also problematic. When he saw someone else's Primeape win the championship, he had the gall to run over and ask for it.
When they wouldn't give it to him, he was persistent and annoying, eventually getting his face slapped pretty hard.
That kind of guy indeed needed a good education to let him know what true fighting spirit was and what it meant to respect other people's hard work.
But what attracted his attention the most right now was the mission reward: Active Carry Slots +2!
Roy's eyes lit up instantly.
You had to know that for Trainers in this world, the Active Carry Slots were a fixed system.
Six.
It was just six.
No matter how powerful, famous, or rich you were, unless you had special permission from the League, it was six.
Any extra Pokémon captured would be transferred back to the place where your pokédex was issued or to various Trainer registration foster care sites.
The main reason was the computing power of the League's system.
A poké ball wasn't just a container for a Pokémon; it was also responsible for maintaining the Pokémon's survival state, recording data, transmitting information, receiving recovery energy, and so on.
If you carried too many, the poké balls wouldn't be able to help the Pokémon recover their stamina normally, nor could they transmit data in time, which could even affect the Pokémon's health.
Of course, for some outstanding researchers or Trainers who made significant contributions, the League would go to great lengths to individually modify their systems, adding one or two carry slots.
After all, these people's contributions to the League were right there, making them worth the extra system resources.
Two extra carry slots wasn't as simple as just carrying two more Pokémon.
It meant that training and research plans would be much smoother.
For example, if you were raising a rare Pokémon and needed to observe its state and adjust training plans at all times, having it by your side was definitely much more effective than remote guidance from a research institute.
More importantly.
For high-potential, rare Pokémon, the difference in combat power between being personally raised by your side and being leveled up by staff in a research institute wasn't just a small amount.
Research institutes used standardized cultivation, eating unified rationed food and using standardized training programs.
Unless it was someone like Professor Oak, who especially loved research and would set up some special programs for you.
But every Pokémon was a different individual; some were suited for this training method, while others were suited for that one.
Only by keeping them by your side could you truly teach them according to their individual needs and develop their maximum potential.
Roy was just worrying about how to coordinate subsequent captures now that his carry slots were full.
Right now, his team already had Pidgeot, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmeleon, Wartortle, Gastly, and Horsea, filling the six slots plus the legendary trial slot.
Any more captures would have to be sent to the research institute.
Now it was fine; two slots were added directly.
Perfect!
He snapped out of the joy of the reward and looked at the mission description again.
Anthony.
Educate Anthony to make him turn over a new leaf.
Fine, when he saw him, he would definitely give him a good education.
Let him know what real fighting was and how to be a proper person.
Roy closed the system panel and looked at the Mankey poké ball in his hand.
He pressed the button on the poké ball.
A flash of red light.
Mankey appeared on the grass again.
But this time it was much more well-behaved, lying on the ground, its two small eyes secretly sizing up Roy, and stealing a glance at Pikachu, who was still eating over there, with a hint of fear in its eyes.
"Alright, don't be afraid," Roy smiled and squatted down, taking another handful of pokéblocks from his backpack, "Come and eat."
Mankey's eyes lit up.
But looking at Pikachu, it hesitated again.
Roy followed its gaze and couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry, it won't hit you. That was a battle earlier; now that the battle is over, it won't bully you."
As he spoke, he pushed the pokéblocks forward a bit.
Mankey swallowed hard.
It took a tentative step forward.
Then another step.
Then it quickly grabbed a pokéblock and stuffed it into its mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
Its eyes lit up instantly.
Delicious!
It began to gorge itself, its two small paws working in tandem, wishing it could just pour the food directly into its mouth.
Over there, Delia and Misty finished packing up and walked over.
"You caught it?" Misty walked over, bending down to look at the gorging Mankey, "That fast?"
"Yeah," Roy nodded, "It went quite smoothly."
Misty curled her lip: "It was smooth alright; Pikachu solved it with one tail strike."
As she spoke, she glanced at Pikachu, who was still munching on the bread over there.
Pikachu noticed her gaze and looked up, "Pika?"
Misty: "...Just keep eating."
Pikachu went back to munching on the bread.
Delia squatted beside Roy, looking at the happily eating Mankey, and smiled gently: "It looks so cute."
"Cute?" Misty's eyes widened, "Sister Delia, didn't you see how fierce it was just now? It was baring its teeth at Roy and even protecting its food."
Delia smiled: "That's because it's not familiar with us yet. It'll be fine once it gets used to us, right?"
The last sentence was directed at Mankey.
Mankey looked up and glanced at Delia.
Then it went back to gorging itself.
Delia wasn't annoyed; instead, she smiled even more gently.
Watching this scene, Roy felt a warmth in his heart.
Delia was like this, gentle to both people and Pokémon; no wonder his Pokémon all liked her so much.
Just as he was thinking, there was suddenly movement from Mankey's side.
It finished the last pokéblock, licked its paws, licked its mouth, and then, a white light suddenly lit up around its body!
"Eh?" Misty's eyes widened, "This is..."
"Evolution?" Delia was also stunned.
The white light grew brighter and more dazzling.
Mankey's form began to change within the white light—
Growing taller.
Growing larger.
Its limbs became stronger.
The fur on its head became thicker.
Those small eyes became fierce and spirited.
A few seconds later.
The white light dissipated.
A Primeape stood before everyone.
With grayish-white fur all over, an angry face, thick limbs, and those eyes that were forever burning with battle intent.
It stood there, panting heavily, its nostrils flaring, exuding a "don't mess with me" aura from head to toe.
It looked down at the empty ground.
Then it looked up at Roy.
Then it looked back down at the ground.
That look seemed to say: Where's the food? Wasn't there some just now? Why did I evolve right after finishing it? I'm even hungrier after evolving, where's the food?
Roy: "..."
Misty: "...It wants to eat right after evolving?"
Delia covered her mouth and laughed out loud.
Roy helplessly pulled out another handful of pokéblocks: "Here, here, here, just eat."
Only then did Primeape lower its head in satisfaction and began to gorge itself.
Its eating manner was even more exaggerated than before.
Misty shook her head as she watched from the side: "You've captured another glutton."
As soon as she finished speaking.
Pidgeot, who was buried in its food, paused.
It tilted its head.
Its large eyes blinked.
Pikachu, who was munching on bread, also stopped.
It tilted its head.
Its ears twitched.
Eevee, who was resting on the ground, was also stunned.
It tilted its head.
Its small paws were still resting on its belly.
The three Pokémon all looked at Misty in unison.
The Glutton Trio had added another member!
Roy said with a chuckle, "Misty, your words have already triggered a group passive."
Misty shook her head: "Roy, your financial pressure is going to be huge in the future. I'll have to ask my sisters to send me more living expenses so I can help you share the burden."
Roy laughed and put his arm around her shoulder: "Are you sure it's not because you want to eat more yourself?"
Misty gave a playful huff and slapped Roy.
Delia watched the two of them tenderly from the side, her eyes full of happiness.
Roy held Misty and reached out with his other hand, pulling Delia over as well.
"Come here, don't stand so far away."
Delia obediently leaned in, pressing against his side.
Misty also snuggled into his embrace.
The three of them stood together like that, watching Primeape gorge itself.