Ye Mingcang followed his own tracks, making his way back to where the battle had erupted. He had fled alone, cautiously, but returning with Nidoking by his side made him much bolder. It didn't take long before he smelled the pungent odor in the air; days had passed, and the bodies had begun to rot.
Ye Mingcang quickly pulled out the spare underwater respirator from his backpack, which helped alleviate the churning in his stomach. As he got closer, Ye Mingcang heard the buzzing of wings flapping in the air. Upon closer inspection, he saw a large swarm of Zubat.
At this moment, dense data appeared in Ye Mingcang's eyes:
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Male
Category: Bat Pokémon
Type: Poison/Flying
Ability: Inner Focus
Aptitude: Red
Level: 12, Entry Class
Held Item: None
Moves:
(Hereditary) Gust
(Self-Learned) Quick Attack, Supersonic, Bite
...
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Male
Category: Bat Pokémon
Type: Poison/Flying
Ability: Inner Focus
Aptitude: Yellow
Level: 14, Entry Class
Held Item: None
Moves:
(Hereditary) Gust, Hypnosis, Whirlwind
(Self-Learned) Quick Attack, Supersonic, Bite, Haze, Poison Fang
...
Among a pile of Red and Orange aptitudes, a few Yellow aptitudes occasionally mixed in, and Ye Mingcang already felt his luck was pretty good. Suddenly, a flash of green appeared before his eyes, filling him with unexpected joy! He felt it was very likely because his past life self was always eager to help others!
Pokémon: Zubat
Gender: Male
Category: Bat Pokémon
Type: Poison/Flying
Ability: Infiltrator
Aptitude: Green
Level: 16, Entry Class
Held Item: None
Moves:
(Hereditary) Gust, Zen Headbutt, Brave Bird, Wing Attack
(Self-Learned) Quick Attack, Supersonic, Bite, Toxic Fang, Air Cutter
...
When he clearly saw the Infiltrator ability and the dazzling Brave Bird in its hereditary moves, he felt that his good quality of helping others must have moved Arceus, allowing him to encounter a Green-aptitude Zubat with a hidden ability in such an ordinary place.
Just as he was about to catch them all, his eyes lit up again!
Pokémon: Noibat
Gender: Female
Category: Sound Wave Pokémon
Type: Flying/Dragon
Ability: Telepathy
Aptitude: Green
Level: 11, Entry Class
Held Item: None
Moves:
(Hereditary) Dragon Rush, Defog
(Self-Learned) Gust, Supersonic
...
Green aptitude, Dragon-type Pokémon, hidden ability, Dragon Rush! Was this a flying dragon cheating, or a bat two-timing!
This could no longer be described as just helping others; it could only mean that his spirit of self-sacrifice in his previous life must have touched Arceus!
"Nidoking! Don't let a single one escape! Full power Thunderbolt!"
"Nido! Nido!" Dazzling lightning erupted from Nidoking's horn!
"Encore full power Thunderbolt!"
The crackling sound of electricity and the 'Eek eek ah ah' screams echoed through the cave, accompanied by Ye Mingcang's hearty laughter.
It was then that he realized how truly alive he was. It felt so good to be alive!
"Go Poké Ball * 7!" He happily acquired one Green-aptitude Noibat, one Green-aptitude Zubat, and five Yellow-aptitude Zubat. "Nidoking, your month's rations are settled!"
"Nido! Nido!" (Extra meal!)
"An extra meal when we get back?! No problem!" Since his Aura and Psychic abilities merged, besides his Data Eye, Ye Mingcang found that he seemed to have learned telepathy. Before, communication with Nidoking relied on tacit agreement and guesswork, but now he could understand him directly!
"Before we go back, let's Dig this place up and collect the points cards and ID tags from those five. We might even have enough rations for the next few months! Nidoking, use Rock Smash and Dig!"
Earthy yellow light glowed from Nidoking's claws. In no time, huge rocks were shattered, and soil was moved away. Ye Mingcang looked at the bloody, maggot-infested scene before him, silently chanting, 'I have a mosaic, I have a mosaic...' He suppressed the discomfort in his stomach and began to rummage through their clothes, eventually finding their ID cards and points cards. After putting the Poké Balls and these spoils into his spatial backpack, Ye Mingcang turned to Nidoking and said:
"Nidoking, use Dig upwards. Old buddy, we're going home!"
"Nido! Nido!" (Okay! Trainer)
An hour later, in a certain part of Rock Mountain Basin, a small mound of earth suddenly rose. Then, a wild man and a giant purple beast emerged from it.
The wild man's silver hair was already matted into a bird's nest, his face covered in mud and bloodstains, and his clothes were tattered. There were bowl-sized holes in the front and back of his abdomen, making beggars under overpasses look tidier than him. But his eyes shone brightly!
A song drifted from afar!
"Unleash full power, a hundred thousand volts of electricity,
What are winds and rains? Invincible, unstoppable.
Against the wind, charge forward,
You're with me all the way.
Pokémon, Pokémon,
We've overcome many hardships.
Look up, look forward,
Strong courage can break through."
"Nido! Nido?" (Trainer, what are you singing?)
"Sorry, Nidoking, this is Cantonese! You wouldn't understand! Never mind, let's switch to one you can understand!"
"Whether in fire, water, grass, or forest,
In earth, in clouds, or under that girl's skirt,
Although it's quite, quite,
Quite, quite difficult,
We must obtain it,
Obtain Pokémon.
Tired from battle, goodnight, rest.
Close your eyes, and it appears,
Flames burning fiercely, wind dancing,
That battle with deafening roars.
Yesterday's enemy is today's friend,
That's an old saying.
Today's friend is tomorrow's friend,
Yes, that's forever.
Ah, to become the longed-for Pokémon Master,
This wish,
Must be fulfilled!"
As he sang, Ye Mingcang cried, and crystal tears slid down his pitch-black face, leaving two streaks. Against the afterglow of the setting sun, one person and one Pokémon walked towards Xiaoshan City. Even from their backs, one could vaguely see the glistening specks in the air... Pokémon Master, it must be achieved!
Returning to the Team Rockets base, Ye Mingcang first had Nidoking lie down in Team Rockets' recovery pod to rest (Team Rockets' black technology: adding healing agents and nutrient solution helps Pokémon heal hidden injuries). Nidoking was severely injured and near death after this outing, so he needed a good period of rest; otherwise, the accumulation of hidden injuries would lead to a decline in his aptitude. This is also why high-level, high-aptitude Pokémon are rare in the wild.
As for Ye Mingcang, he returned to his room, took a hot shower, then lay in a human-use recovery pod for 2 hours. After changing his clothes, he walked out and stood in front of the mirror, finding the silver-haired young man in the mirror very familiar!
"Steven, are we long-lost half-brothers from different fathers?" Ye Mingcang chuckled self-deprecatingly. Then came an unavoidable bitter smile, because he had already seen the information for the Shinny Beldum.
Pokémon: Beldum (Shinny)
Gender: Genderless
Category: Iron Ball Pokémon
Type: Steel/Psychic
Ability: Clear Body
Aptitude: Light Purple (Declining!)
Level: 16, Entry Class
Held Item: Assault Vest
Moves:
(Self-Learned) Tackle;
Shinny Ability: Fire-type move damage halved!
...
Concise, yet incredibly luxurious data, an absolute core for team building:
1. Ability Clear Body, one of Metagross's better abilities (here, a complaint about Metagross's abilities: Clear Body is quite useful, but against Mold Breaker ability, it gets utterly silenced. Still, it's better than Light Metal. Light Metal only halves damage from moves like Grass Knot for Metagross but also affects the damage of many moves, such as Heavy Slam. Secondly, Beldum's moves: Beldum has no hereditary moves and cannot learn any moves other than Tackle. This is an official setting; it can only start learning moves after evolving).
2. Held item Assault Vest. The Second Generation was indeed single-minded; Beldum wasn't even caught yet, Metagross was nowhere in sight, but the Assault Vest was already prepared. It's the most common held item for the team's core Metagross (Assault Vest: boosts Special Defense by 50% but prevents the use of status moves. In the ninth generation, it's an epic buff for Metagross, making it a singles battle menace. Later, the team and moves will be built in this direction. The only pity is that Metagross lacks stat-boosting moves. If it were given Bulk Up, Swords Dance, or, even better and most popular, Shift Gear, the impact would be more explosive than Garchomp getting Dragon Dance. Later, I plan to create a storyline where it learns this move. Shift Gear: a Steel-type move that raises the user's Attack by 1 stage and Speed by 2 stages. Such a Metagross would be a true monster).
3. Its aptitude is a terrifying Purple. If nurtured well, it might evolve into Gold, which would be a Master Class Pokémon, capable of clashing with Legendary Pokémon. Although it shows 'declining,' the cause of the decline must be found and a way to compensate or even improve it must be devised.
4. Shinny ability, Fire-type move damage halved (original creation), simply terrifying. Regular Metagross only has four weaknesses that take double damage: Ground, Fire, Ghost, and Dark. Or perhaps only three, because Metagross can use Magnet Rise upon entry, turning Ground-type attacks into 'no effect' from 2x damage. The remaining three are Ghost, Fire, and Dark. Originally, Metagross feared Ghost-types, especially against Gholdengo, where it would be forced to switch out. However, the epic boost in the ninth generation is due to Tera Normal, which can turn Metagross into a Normal-type. Ghost-types won't switch out and can't beat Metagross; if they do switch, Metagross's STAB Explosion can one-shot anyone. For the remaining Dark-type, it can only be said that there are too few powerful Dark-type Pokémon. If encountered, Metagross can use Hammer Arm after a speed reduction and still one-shot them. Therefore, with Fire-type move damage halved, Metagross can stay on the field almost from beginning to end.
...
After reviewing the data, Ye Mingcang was very pleasantly surprised, but also had a faint hidden worry. He recalled all of the original owner's memories but found no reason for Beldum's aptitude drop, nor any solution. Although he had some suspicions, after all, as a transmigrator, who hasn't read web novels?
Regarding how to solve this problem, he already had ideas. One was to go to the "Tianmao & Hanyue Breeding House" located on the outskirts of Solaceon Town to find relevant information. The second was to email Pokémon Professors in various regions for help. The third was to find relevant information through Team Rockets. However, no matter which method, Ye Mingcang dared not expose that he possessed a Purple-aptitude Beldum, because once someone knew, he probably wouldn't survive three days. Even if he successfully escaped, he would face endless bounties and pursuits. Thinking of this, he pulled out the Pokémon world's computer. To be fair, the electronic technology of the Pokémon world was not just a little bit worse compared to before his transmigration. As a programmer in his previous life, Ye Mingcang could definitely be considered a senior hacker, but to be completely undetected, human effort alone was impossible; he still needed the power of Pokémon. Indeed, he still needed the Pokémon Porygon.
Porygon can digitize its body into digital data, allowing it to transform its entire body into program data and enter cyberspace, with the ability to move freely within electronic space. It's the best choice for home travel, stealing data, and forging online information! This kind of Pokémon is not available on the market, but it's in Team Rockets' points exchange list! He could consider exchanging for one if the situation allowed. If he could get a high-aptitude Porygon, evolving it into Porygon2 would be perfect for Metagross as a Trick Room setter. At the same time, Porygon2 is already one of the regular members of beast teams, its terror comparable to a pink nightmare.