Chen Xi left Yuanzhi Gym with a look of contentment; he was very happy to have successfully obtained his second badge.
Watching Chen Xi's smug, triumphant back, walking with an arrogant swagger, Zhen Xing on the side gnashed his teeth.
"Boss! This guy is too despicable! How could you give him the badge! We should have a rematch!" Zhen Xing said.
Shi Ying, hearing Zhen Xing's words, burst into laughter, clearly seeing Zhen Xing's unwillingness to accept defeat.
Shi Ying said, "Hahaha, he set it up with his own ability, what's so despicable about that.
Besides, according to Qiefeng Academy's Elite Class standards, anyone with Elite Trainer level before the age of fifteen qualifies for special recruitment.
Not to mention, his Floette is already a Master-level peak Pokémon."
Seeing Shi Ying laughing, Zhen Xing was full of frustration. Reason was one thing, but he just couldn't accept that guy Chen Xi!
However, Shi Ying's smile soon faded, and he spoke to Zhen Xing with a serious expression, "In a little over a month, the Wetland Shrine will hold a grand hunt.
Our Yuanzhi Gym finally managed to secure a few spots this time, and I'll take you all to see the world.
At that time, figures from Sinnoh's top families will be present, and you can broaden your horizons."
To be honest, Shi Ying thought highly of Zhen Xing. Although he had some cleverness and was a bit boisterous, that was typical of capable young people.
Before being beaten down by reality, weren't most of them quite jumpy?
At this time, it was important to take them out to see more of the world and interact with the outside, so they could broaden their horizons.
Truth be told, if he hadn't gone to Qiefeng Academy for a few years, at most he would have only been an Elite Trainer.
After all, just the hurdle of literacy alone would have been enough to stop someone like him with no background.
"Are they all young Masters from families like Chen Xi?" Zhen Xing asked enviously upon hearing Shi Ying's words.
"Pretty much, pretty much..." Hearing this, Shi Ying gave an awkward, perfunctory laugh.
Shi Ying was not like Zhen Xing, who hadn't seen the world. He naturally knew that those who qualified for the Sinnoh Elite Class test before attending school were either rich or noble in Sinnoh.
Coupled with that Master-level peak Floette, it would be strange if he didn't know who Chen Xi was.
Didn't Zhu Lan, once hailed as the Five Great Families' top genius, still become a stepping stone when she met Chen Xi?
However, Shi Ying had never regarded Chen Xi as his opponent or goal.
Because Shi Ying was very clear that, under normal circumstances, he and this young Master of the Yuan Family would have no intersection.
The end point for people like him might not even be the starting point for these young Masters from prominent families.
This statement might sound disheartening, but reality is often this cruel.
It's already quite good for an ordinary Trainer to achieve Elite level after a lifetime of effort.
But compared to these young Masters from prominent families, who, thanks to their ancestors' accumulations, start at Master level by the age of twelve—even those a bit less talented can reach Elite—not to mention the various knowledge and resources passed down by these families.
The world is just that unfair, and where can ordinary Trainers go to complain?
For Shi Ying, he also wanted to become a Tianwang Trainer.
But there was no way; he had no channels, no resources, and didn't even know how to become a Tianwang Trainer.
Even though he had studied at Qiefeng Academy, without personal guidance, simply relying on theory to become a Tianwang would be like trying to build a nuclear weapon based on E=mc².
A Tianwang Trainer is that formidable, that impressive.
While the saying "all beneath the Tianwang are ants" might be a bit extreme, in reality, the existence of a Tianwang Trainer transcends the significance of numbers.
Trainers at the Elite Four level already know that to become a Tianwang Trainer, one only needs to be able to manipulate natural energy.
But how to manipulate natural energy, how to achieve energy manipulation—sorry, that's a secret for each family.
Therefore, Shi Ying did not think that Zhen Xing and these young ones would have any interaction with Chen Xi; in fact, in Shi Ying's eyes, if a few Master-level Trainers—no, even just Elite Class Trainers—emerged from these young ones, he would be satisfied.
It would also be his way of showing support for common Trainers.
Meanwhile, Chen Xi had originally planned to immediately set off for the next Gym, the Shiyuan Gym.
But at this moment, the Pokémon Egg given to him by the Ju family emitted a glow.
This Pokémon Egg was about to hatch.
So Chen Xi stayed in the Elf Garden in Yuanzhi City, waiting for this Pokémon Egg to successfully hatch before continuing his journey.
At the same time, he began to access various family resources through the Elf Garden, especially Poison Type resources, to prepare for this little one.
Because the Pokémon that hatched was a Nidoran♂, a blue-ranked Hustle Nidoran♂.
Nidoran♂: Poison Type, Level 1, Potential Assessment: Blue.
HP: 30 (31)
Attack: 31 (31)
Defense: 30 (31)
Special Attack: 28 (31)
Special Defense: 29 (31)
Speed: 30 (31)
Overall: 178
Ability: Hustle
Growth Skills: Glare, Peck
Egg Moves: Endure, Sucker Punch, Confusion
A very important reason why Chen Xi accepted this Nidoran♂ was because of its Hustle ability.
Because a Nidoran♂ with the Hustle ability, when it eventually evolves into Nidoking, will possess the Sheer Force ability.
And Sheer Force, combined with a Life Orb, using moves like "Thunderbolt, Fire Punch, Ice Punch" and "Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam" (a common fan term for a set of powerful moves), would undoubtedly result in explosive damage.
It directly allows non-STAB moves to achieve STAB-level damage, and for some STAB moves, the damage breaks through the sky.
Furthermore, Pokémon like Nidoking have a truly wide attack coverage; they can fight from range or up close, and if they Master enough moves, it's not impossible for them to even play a support role, making them a rare and versatile Pokémon.
Of course, Chen Xi still had a slight suspicion: whether this Nidoran♂ might be a child left behind by Sakaki's Pokémon when he was staying with the Ju family.
After all, it's not strange for a Ground Type Pokémon from Kanto to appear in the Ju family's area; what's strange is that this Pokémon's quality actually reached the blue rank.
Unless it's a genetic mutation, it's normal for such a Pokémon to have powerful parents.
So Chen Xi naturally thought of Sakaki, who once had a certain degree of interaction with the Ju family.
Even if there was only a slim possibility, Chen Xi still chose to accept this Pokémon.
After all, if he could truly build a connection with Sakaki through it in the future, even if he had to grovel to the Alliance, he would at least have an ally.
With Nidoran♂'s birth, as a newborn Pokémon, it was actually quite troublesome.
Not to mention its occasional fussiness, more importantly, it was particularly clingy. And for the Growth of this little one, Chen Xi specifically ordered a batch of Miltank milk from the Mareep Ranch, airlifted from Chengdu, to ensure this little one could grow freely before weaning (Level 5).
Of course, occasionally, a small amount of toxins also needed to be added to promote Nidoran♂'s Growth.
He wasn't some kind of devil; he couldn't possibly force it to train before it was even weaned.
So, it was better to let it grow freely for a while, and once its body had developed sufficiently, then train it.
At the same time, Chen Xi also acquired Psychic, Ground Type, and Rock Type moves through family channels, along with the "Farmer's Three Punches" and "Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam," which he figured would keep the family busy for some time.
(Farmer's Three Punches: Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch. Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam: Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam.)
To be honest, if an ordinary Trainer wanted to acquire these moves, it would probably cost millions, if not tens of millions.
But for Chen Xi, the family quickly delivered the move discs in just about a week.
Psychic moves: Light Screen, Reflect, Calm Mind
Ground Type moves: Spikes, Stomping Tantrum, Magnitude
Rock Type moves: Sandstorm, Stealth Rock, Rollout, Rock Tomb
The Farmer's Three Punches hadn't been fully assembled yet, but a set of Thunderbolt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam was sent to him first.
It must be said that this was the advantage of a large family, especially since Chen Xi was now the family's young genius, and the family was even more willing to invest.
However, Chen Xi also knew that even for a large family like the Yuan Family, many moves could not be collected just by wanting to.
If they were Grass Type moves, it would be fine; the family could certainly gather them, and not just the discs, but also accompanying scroll analyses.
But for move discs of other types, if they were relatively common moves, it would be fine; the family might have backups.
However, for some powerful moves, even the family might not possess them.
For example, the Yuan Family did not have the move disc for Earthquake, one of the most commonly used Ground Type moves.
Of course, if they didn't have it, so be it. It was precisely because the family didn't have all these moves that Chen Xi's journey truly had meaning.
If the family had prepared everything for Chen Xi, allowing him to reach Tianwang by just lying down, then what would Chen Xi have to strive for?
Not much happened in Yuanzhi City this time, and his stay wasn't particularly long.
However, Chen Xi needed to find a way to correct the weaknesses exposed in his battles with Zhen Xing and Shi Ying.
For example, Grotle's attack system flaws, or Starmie's need for a mature tactical system.
All of these needed improvement, which is why Chen Xi asked his family for so many moves.
But a tactical system isn't built in a day. Without a relatively mature system to refer to, the only thing Chen Xi could do was try things out little by little.
In this regard, Grotle was much luckier than Staryu, because for Staryu, many things needed to be built from scratch, but for Grotle, it had the Yuan Family's legacy.
Chen Xi went back to consult his ancestors' records and quickly found a suitable tactical system for Grotle, such as a certain "grass on the grave" tactic.
Of course, that was a jest; the full name was the Grassy Drain System.
The prerequisites for this tactic were Grassy Terrain, Giga Drain, and Vine Whip. Simply put, Grassy Terrain served as the medium, Vine Whip was used for binding and positioning, and Giga Drain was used to drain the opponent dry.
Of course, Grotle couldn't learn Vine Whip, but what did that matter? Just replace Vine Whip with Growth and Leech Seed.
While Leech Seed siphoned the opponent's life force, Growth would be used to boost its effect.
Chen Xi wasn't sure if it would completely drain the target, but he imagined the opponent caught in it would definitely have a rather 'refreshing' experience!
Of course, this skill is currently only a concept. In this world, combining two skills is already quite extraordinary, and a tactical system formed by combining four skills is even more remarkable.
Right now, simply getting Grotle to apply the Growth skill to Leech Seed requires extensive practice and refinement.
After all, a skill system merely points out a direction, but to truly achieve the envisioned result, one ultimately needs to put in the sweat and practice.
And compared to Grotle, which had a template that could almost be directly copied, Staryu truly needed Chen Xi to painstakingly refine and construct its abilities.
In the battle at Yuanzhi Gym, Staryu's victory could only be described as a fluke.
But such a coincidence might win once, twice, but it couldn't keep winning indefinitely.
Therefore, a relatively presentable tactical system had to be built for Staryu.
The biggest gain from this Yuanzhi Gym battle wasn't how talented Staryu's Bubble Beam was, but the confirmation that Staryu's Illuminate ability wasn't some kind of crippled ability.
As long as there was suitable skill coordination, even the Illuminate ability could still play its corresponding role.
Compared to the Illuminate ability, what truly gave Chen Xi a headache was Staryu's Analytic ability.
Chen Xi didn't know how to utilize this ability. If it was simply interpreted as the ability itself—increasing attack damage when moving last—then this ability would be too much of a burden for Staryu.
After all, Staryu has a frail constitution; if it were in a situation where it attacked last, it would essentially be certain death.
Therefore, Chen Xi hoped to delve deeper into this ability and truly develop its potential.
A 30% damage boost, combined with Staryu's own Special Attack, if a combat system could be built around this ability, Chen Xi believed Staryu would definitely become a terrifying Special Attacker.
However, Chen Xi merely made a note about Staryu's Analytic ability, waiting to find a solution after he went to school.
Now, what Chen Xi needed to do was focus on Staryu's first ability, Illuminate, and build upon it.
After the battle at Yuanzhi Gym, Chen Xi felt he had underestimated the Illuminate ability a bit.
In fact, when Chen Xi reconsidered Staryu's Illuminate ability, he suddenly realized that this ability wasn't as useless as he had thought; on the contrary, it formed the foundation of Staryu's characteristics.
The light that Staryu can emit can communicate information with stars in the universe; in a sense, Staryu can do this precisely because it has the Illuminate ability.
In comparison, the Analytic ability, which can interpret information from stars in the sky, still comes after this ability.
Furthermore, if needed, Staryu could even emit colorful light.
Therefore, Staryu's Illuminate ability can not only make the Shinny move brighter, but also dim the Shinny move, making the light controllable.
Or, going a step further, could it emit the desired colors according to Staryu's own will, such as... a colorful black!