Urban Pokémon

If it had been before—

When Su Qingxue made such a suggestion, Uncle Ye would've considered it lucky just to avoid objecting. He certainly wouldn't have gone so far as to encourage it.

But things were different now.

With Nidoking and Nidoqueen under his command, Guo Yi had more than earned Uncle Ye's respect and attention.

That was the change power could bring.

Sure, this world wasn't purely ruled by the law of the jungle—even without powerful Pokémon, people could still live decent lives.

But having strong Pokémon undeniably brought respect—and a great deal of convenience.

Just like now, for Guo Yi.

Even so, he still turned down his student's offer.

"It's alright, Qingxue."

"I've gotten used to that little straw hut of mine."

"Besides, I'm only a few minutes away. If anything comes up, you can find me in no time."

Seeing how firm he was, Su Qingxue didn't press the matter.

"Alright then, Teacher."

"But you're not allowed to skip meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be personally delivered by me."

To that—

Guo Yi didn't object.

...

"Let's go, glutton."

Guo Yi gave Nidoking a pat, signaling him to gather his belongings and follow along with the rest of the family.

"Nido!"

Nidoking responded with a nod, hefted the large bundle over his shoulder, and followed behind Guo Yi with his wife in tow.

"Miss, where on earth did your teacher come from?"

"He's kind of mysterious, don't you think?"

Once Guo Yi had left, Uncle Ye couldn't help asking.

At first, he'd assumed Guo Yi was just a frustrated young man who'd retreated to the countryside after being shut out by the world.

But now—

It was clear Guo Yi's strength was anything but ordinary.

"Where he came from?"

"Does it matter?"

Su Qingxue gave a soft smile, then turned to head back into the villa.

She still needed to report her findings about Nidoqueen to her mother.

Uncle Ye was momentarily stunned by her response.

Then, it clicked.

She's right.

Guo Yi's background didn't matter in the slightest.

As long as he could help his student grow stronger—that was enough.

"You all show more respect to Professor Guo from now on," Uncle Ye warned the bodyguards around him.

The security captain gave a wry smile. "We're not idiots, Mr. Ye."

"With strength like his, who would dare cross him now?"

Uncle Ye nodded and turned to follow Su Qingxue back inside.

"Not bad at all—Nidoking and Nidoqueen were top dogs in that secret realm."

"They brought back quite the haul."

...

Back in his straw hut, Guo Yi was sorting through Nidoking's stash.

As for his rummaging?

The Nidoking family had zero objections.

Ever since they tasted those perfect-grade Pokéblocks, they'd reached a consensus: as long as Guo Yi fulfilled his sacred duty as their designated food-dispenser, everything else was secondary.

Possessions?

Can you eat them?

That said—

While Nidoking had hoarded a lot, most of it wasn't all that valuable.

"One mid-grade [Moon Stone], two elite-grade [Poison Barbs], one batch of elite-grade [Black Sludge]…"

"There's even [Silver Powder]? Shame it's only elite quality."

His eyes lit up when he saw the [Silver Powder].

That item could be very useful for Beedrill.

Unfortunately, the quality was too low.

With Beedrill growing as fast as it was, even Quasi-Elite Four level gear wouldn't last long—

Let alone something elite-grade.

Aside from those few semi-decent items, the rest were mostly raw materials or junk-grade trinkets.

"Wait a second… I remember the system store had a recycling feature."

He recalled seeing a [Recycle] option in the upper right corner while browsing the mall earlier.

Guo Yi called out in his mind, System, can I recycle these items?

[Yes.]

[But you'll only receive half of the item's original mall price in Trainer Points.]

"Half is fine."

"No one in a place like this would pay full price anyway."

"System—recycle everything except the [Black Sludge]."

The elite-grade [Black Sludge] could still be useful for Nidoran♂.

The rest? Not worth keeping.

Even the mid-grade [Moon Stone].

In Guo Yi's view—

Whether it was his own Nidoran♂ or Su Qingxue's Nidoran♀, when the time came to evolve, only the best [Moon Stones] would do.

Anything less would be an insult to his transmigrator dignity.

[Ding! Recycling complete. Total Trainer Points gained: 16,000.]

The individual items may not have been worth much, but quantity had its own kind of power.

Sixteen thousand Trainer Points!

Guo Yi finally exhaled in relief.

"Sixteen thousand… let's see what gear I can get for Beedrill."

Flush with points—

He went browsing the mall again, this time with confidence.

Though it was called "browsing," he had a pretty clear goal in mind.

Beedrill was Bug/Poison-type. So naturally, items that boosted either Bug or Poison moves gave the best value for their cost.

After all, when a Pokémon used a move matching its type, it already got a power boost—

And Beedrill didn't have many high-tier Poison moves to begin with.

So his gaze naturally settled on the item he'd scoffed at earlier:

[Silver Powder]

[Effect: A fine, shimmering dust that boosts the power of Bug-type moves by 20% when held.]

This item was extremely effective for Beedrill.

The real headache was deciding what quality of [Silver Powder] to buy.

Right now, Beedrill was gym-tier. In theory, gym-tier [Silver Powder] should be enough.

But the problem was—

Beedrill's growth rate was absurd.

In just a few days, it might hit quasi-Elite Fpur, or even full Elite Four level.

In that case, the gym-tier [Silver Powder] would become obsolete way too quickly.

Then again, going straight for the Elite Four-tier or Champion-tier versions was expensive.

The Elite Four-tier [Silver Powder] cost a whopping 10,000 Trainer Points.

As for Champion-tier?

Forget it.

He didn't have enough.

That version cost a full 30,000 Trainer Points.

Unless he captured another powerful Pokémon or group, there was no way he'd afford it any time soon.

After thinking it through—

Guo Yi made his decision.

"Alright. Ten thousand it is."

"I've still got six thousand left—that's enough to cover my expenses for a month or two."

In the end, he decided to go all-in.

If he was going to invest, he'd get Beedrill the best he could afford.

And so, with a swipe of ten thousand Trainer Points, Guo Yi purchased Elite Four-tier quality of [Silver Powder] and immediately equipped it for Beedrill.