Chapter 12: 12. This Is Love!
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"Special Defense + Speed 2V"
"The 1V of Special Attack"
"No V"
Chris looked at the warehouse filled with hundreds of Ralts and sighed deeply.
After catching Froakie, he had been catching Ralts for six days straight, capturing nearly 30 Ralts each day.
Still no shiny Ralts.
On the bright side, Torchic had reached level 16 on the third day and evolved into Combusken.
[Combusken (Fire, Fighting)]
[Level: 16]
[Ability: Speed Boost (Increases Speed by 1 stage at the end of each turn)]
[Individual Values: HP (28), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Ember, Growl, Tackle, Double Kick, Flame Charge, Detect, Sand Attack, Quick Attack]
[Held Item: None]
What surprised Chris was that Combusken didn't have a limit of four moves like in the games. As it leveled up, it learned many moves without needing to forget old ones.
It was quite a relief.
Now, with Combusken's Fighting type, Chris was ready to challenge the Rustboro Gym.
He had planned to take on the Rustboro Gym this time, but since he hadn't caught a high-IV Ralts yet and had Froakie on his team, he thought it might be better to train Froakie to level 16, evolve it into Frogadier, and then challenge the gym.
Frogadier, being a Water-type, would provide a solid backup plan.
So, Chris continued to grind levels diligently.
His daily training regimen was set to 10 hours. Aside from rest, he also took an hour each day for physical exercise and spent the rest of his time reading.
Mostly, he read books on Pokémon breeding.
He already had his eye on the school he wanted to attend: Dragon University.
It was the top Pokémon college in China, renowned nationwide for its breeding program. Additionally, it was one of the most popular Pokémon universities for Water-type trainers, given its proximity to the sea.
Chris was focused on the breeding major, and he'd researched the specific entrance exam subjects online.
The exam was divided into two parts: a written test and a practical test.
Even though his major was breeding, he still had to take the battle test. After all, breeding wasn't just about feeding Pokémon. Many breeders ventured into dangerous areas to gather rare berries or to study Pokémon behaviors for extended periods in hazardous environments.
There were also many breeding students who participated in the National College League.
However, compared to battle majors, the breeding major leaned more toward theoretical knowledge. The grading system differed as well—battle majors had 20% basic knowledge and 80% battle performance, while breeding majors had a more balanced emphasis.
Dragon University's entrance exam was divided into three parts: Pokémon breeding knowledge, general knowledge, and Pokémon combat, with a total score of 450 points, 150 points per subject.
The general knowledge score was based on the college entrance exam. Chris had done well, scoring 640, which, when converted to Qiantang University's 150-point system, gave him 128 points.
For the combat section, with Combusken and soon-to-be Frogadier on his team, Chris felt confident.
His main focus now was on Pokémon breeding knowledge, so he had been spending a lot of time studying.
Chris had already bought a train ticket, and he was headed to Dragon University for the exam in three days.
These three days would be his last chance to work hard. If he couldn't pass the test, he would have to find a lower-level school.
"Beep!" There was a knock at the window.
When he opened it, a small head with red and white feathers poked through—it was a Delibird, and on its head sat a Togepi.
"(≧▽≦)ゞ"
"Is today delivery day? Hello!" Chris waved at Togepi and handed over an Oran Berry, which it happily licked.
Who wouldn't love a cute Pokémon like Togepi?
"Dei lee dei lee~~" Delibird took a glowing colored orb from its white sack and handed it to Chris.
"Hey, that's not what I ordered! I asked for beef brisket rice!" Chris exclaimed in frustration. This was Delibird's signature move, *Present* and it was a bomb.
"Dei li dei li..." Delibird quickly panicked, realizing the mistake. It was its first day on the job, and it still wasn't used to things.
After fumbling around in its seemingly endless white sack, Delibird finally pulled out a box of beef brisket rice and handed it to Chris.
After confirming the order was correct, Delibird sighed in relief, waved goodbye, closed the window, and flew off to make the next delivery.
"Goodbye!" Chris waved at Togepi. "If I ever encounter a wild Togepi, I'm definitely raising one!"
He put the lunchbox aside, intending to power down his handheld and watch some videos while enjoying his meal.
But when he looked down, the handheld was already in battle mode. On the opposing side stood not a Seedot, but a Ralts.
"Huh?"
Chris squinted, making sure he wasn't seeing things. This Ralts didn't have green hair—it had blue hair!
"A shiny... a shiny Ralts!" Chris gasped, his excitement adding to global warming with each breath.
"Wait, calm down. It's not time to celebrate yet. You can celebrate after you catch it," he reminded himself, taking a deep breath and regaining composure.
But his hands were still trembling. After all this time, he had finally found the shiny Ralts he had been searching for. How could he not be shaking?
He couldn't attack or risk switching Pokémon. No, he'd throw a Poké Ball right away—there was no way he'd hurt Ralts!
He had hundreds of Poké Balls on hand, courtesy of the Zigzagoons that had scavenged all day. Low-level Ralts didn't use *Teleport*, so he could keep trying until he caught it.
The first Poké Ball was thrown.
The shiny Ralts was sucked inside. After a brief shake, the ball clicked shut with a satisfying thud.
[Congratulations, you caught Ralts! ]
This was love! (super loud)
But there was no time to relax!
Chris immediately had his in-game character run back to the Pokémon Center in Petalburg City. He quickly retrieved the shiny Ralts from the PC. Without even looking at the stats panel, he saved the game.
[Do you want to save and exit? ]
"Save."
[Saving...]
[Save complete, exiting the game]
As soon as the screen went dark, piles of items clattered to the ground, nearly covering Chris's room.
These were the results of the Zigzagoons scavenging for nearly ten hours, and he had forgotten to sell them earlier.
Chris quickly fished out the Poké Ball containing Ralts from the pile of items and released it.
The ball opened, silver light flashed, and the blue-haired Ralts floated gently to the floor.
Join my Patreon for 40 more chapters and earlier updates for all members( For free members too):
patreon.com/Tempest_29
100 power stones=1bonus chapter
7 reviews=1bonus chapter
Check out my other novel Pokemon: A different ash (Also in patreon )