Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

Keep in mind that even a regular B-level mission only yields around two or three hundred thousand coins, so you'd have to do two B-level missions every day to break even.

He clicked his tongue in amazement; what a money-devouring beast!

Adding to the ongoing special period of mantle rock and the cost of raising high-level Pidgeots, a simple calculation shows that the daily cost of raising them alone is around 90.

No wonder most trainers encounter a long bottleneck when raising three Pokémon to elite level. In fact, Tetsuya is about to face the same situation.

How could anyone afford to support someone without financial resources? Besides, Tetsuya is benefiting from Miss Joey's treatment, and he's even more efficient at making money.

Considering the training issues, he could only take on a maximum of three B-level missions every two days, which would barely amount to a daily income of around 45.

If you factor in the extra income earned during the process, it's barely enough to sustain this rate of expenditure.

Normal civilian trainers could never do this; even in this situation, they are already among the best of the best among people of the same status.

Of course, their training needs are definitely not as high as those of Tetsuya's three high-potential Pokémon.

However, one issue is that they require higher training costs to achieve the same results, and the other is that their strength is lower and they earn money more slowly.

Therefore, we can only rely on time to slowly improve.

Tetsuya's thoughts were racing.

"Xia Mo~"

Blaziken's shout brought him back to reality; Blaziken had already retracted all its flames.

"Well done," Tetsuya said with a smile, praising Blaziken.

Subconsciously, he wanted to pat the other's head as encouragement, just like he did when he was a strong chicken.

But looking at the enormous body in front of him, he suddenly realized that he couldn't really touch it; he couldn't very well jump up.

Blaziken noticed its trainer's predicament, so it moved to the side, bent one knee to lower its height, and brought its head close to Tetsuya's hand.

"You've grown up too."

Tetsuya was quite moved, stroking the white feathers on its head.

"Basam~" Blaziken grinned and cried out.

"Serge!~" "Dangoro!"

Pidgeot and Mantle Rock were also celebrating for the Blaziken nearby.

Tetsuya then turned to the Scyther, which was leaning against a tree to the side.

Chapter 80 Departure

"Shatelai~"

Scyther knew exactly what he was going to say, after all, the two had gotten along very well after spending twenty days together.

It knew that the human in front of it was a decent person, and that the suggestion made was very reasonable.

But it cannot accept this.

So before Tetsuya could speak, it shook its head preemptively to express its refusal.

Tetsuya also shook his head helplessly, and had no choice but to give up his idea.

Prior to this, he had been communicating with Scyther, hoping it could stay with him for a while and continue to be the teacher of Combusken, which has now evolved into Blaziken.

Although Blaziken has been learning from Scyther for a while, there are still many things it hasn't fully mastered.

He even made arrangements for his subsequent resettlement.

However, Scyther naturally had its own principles and pride, and decisively rejected him.

Even now that Combusken has evolved into Blaziken, and the person and their three pets are about to leave, it hasn't changed its mind.

Tetsuya understood and respected Scyther's choice.

Even though I felt very sorry for it, I didn't force it.

After all, for him, it would be a simple matter to forcefully subdue Scyther, but that's not what he wants, and it wouldn't bring him any benefit.

"Xia Mo~"

Blaziken also looked at Scyther.

Scyther shook its head firmly.

"Tere~ Satere!"

Then, with a flap of its blade-like wings, it leaped into the air, preparing to fly away into the distance.

"and many more!"

Tetsuya quickly called out to Scyther and took out a bag of energy cubes that he had prepared beforehand from his spatial backpack.

"Here, take this and eat it sparingly. It should last you a long time."

The flying praying mantis silently hooked the bag on the ground with its foot.

With its two sharp scythes crossed forward, it bowed slightly to the man and his three pets, turned around, and then flew away.

Tetsuya clapped his hands as he watched Scyther leave.

"Alright, we're getting ready to leave now."

The three elves finally looked away with reluctance.

During the 20 days of guidance, Scyther did more than just act as Merach's teacher, as initially stated.

Its mastery of fighting skills is not its specialty; it's just that the Scyther race, as natural warriors, possesses extremely high talent even without fighting attributes.

In addition, its rich experience makes it appear extremely shrewd.

Its true skill lies in its flying technique, but now, due to its declining physical condition, it can no longer use many of these techniques.

The Scyther taught Pidgeot all its skills.

Although many techniques are not applicable to Pidgeot due to differences in size and habits, it can still learn by analogy. Under the guidance of Scyther, Pidgeot's flying skills have indeed improved a lot.

For a Flying-type Pokémon, this undoubtedly means a huge increase in strength.

Then there's Mantle Rock. During the last ten days, Scyther mostly served as Mantle Rock's sparring partner.

Because Blaziken and Pidgeot are far stronger than Rock Mantle, many of their skills are so similar that it's impossible to tell the difference between them.

While Scyther possesses elite strength, its age undoubtedly limits its performance, making it a perfect fit for mantle rock.

Taking the gravity skill that was just tested as an example, Tetsuya hopes that the mantle rock can control gravity by random multiples.

Simply put, within the area of ​​gravity skill, the gravity level is different in each different area, and can even be manipulated and changed at will.

The Pokémon on the other side may be enjoying normal gravity at this moment, but the next moment or the next step may suddenly bring it to a gravity zone of ten times or one-tenth of the normal gravity.

This sudden change will undoubtedly catch the opposing elf off guard.

Even with heavy loads or training in a gravity chamber, a Pokémon's body still needs time to adapt.

Excessive or insufficient gravity can cause them to lose control of their bodies.

Initially, progress on mantle rocks was very slow, because although it sounds easy, it is actually very difficult to achieve.

First, you need to have a good understanding and comprehension of the skills. Second, you need to have a high degree of control over the attribute energy. Then, you need to learn to multitask to avoid being unable to manage multiple things at once. Finally, you need to practice a lot until it becomes a subconscious reaction.

The mantle rock is indeed of good quality, and it quickly achieved the first step: a stepped gravity field distribution.

That means the gravity starts at 0.5 times the outermost ring, then increases to 1 times, 2 times, and so on for the inner ring.

This was a great training ground for the then-powerful chicken, as it could effectively help it get used to gravity and train, otherwise it would have been a waste of time.

However, in actual combat, such gravity skills may not be as useful as they were originally.

This tiered distribution actually made it easier for the enemy to adapt, so further improvements are needed.

To this day, in just ten days, the mantle rock has been quickly improved to the point where it can be used in actual combat, based on the firsthand experience and feedback from the flying mantises, namely, to create a gravity field with a basic disordered gravity multiple.

The basic disorder is because most of it is still arranged by the mantle rocks themselves, and there are certain patterns in it.

In other words, only Tetsuya, who spent every day with and guided Zero, could barely find the so-called pattern, which was completely imperceptible to outsiders.

Of course, further improvements are needed in the future, until it reaches the level he envisioned.

Coming to their senses, the three spirits all stared at Tetsuya.

He patted his cheeks and raised his hands.

"Alright everyone, we're getting ready to leave!"

Next target—Cerulean City!

"Oh my god!" "Boohoo!~" "Dangoro!"

Blaziken, Pidgeot, and Mantle Rock also responded to their trainers with great excitement and enthusiasm.

Although they were saddened by the departure of their mentor and friend, the mantis, they knew very well that the forest was the best home for the mantis.

Similarly, for them, their best home is with their trainer.

"Forward! Forward!"

Tetsuya led the charge towards Cerulean City.

The three elves were taken aback. Were they planning to run over there?

Then, the mantle rock quickly swung its three arms forward, otherwise it might be able to get ahead of its trainer.

Blaziken lowered its body slightly, preparing to run. With a push of its feet, a fiery red figure could be seen darting through the forest and arriving at Tetsuya's side.

The last Pidgeot lazily spread its wings and, like an old man taking a stroll, weaved through the dense trees and branches, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Chapter 81 Cerulean City

"Finally arrived in Cerulean City!" Tetsuya stretched and muttered to himself while sipping his coffee.

After Pidgeot unloaded him from its back at the landing point outside the city, he had now arrived at the Pokémon Center in Cerulean City, booked a room, and made a reservation for the gym challenge.

Just kidding, he overcame his fear of heights a long time ago, okay? He's not a coward.

The main reason is that he fell from a great height in his past life and has psychological trauma. Although he has excellent physical fitness in this life, he doesn't dare to try falling from a height of several hundred meters to see if there will be any problems. He is not a humanoid elf like a fighter.

However, as Pidgeot grew larger and he became more confident in its strength—after all, Pidgeot would have plenty of time to catch him even if he fell from several hundred meters, though the sensation was a bit like bungee jumping—he started traveling directly on Pidgeot's back.

As he sat there, he discovered that it really felt great.

When you're hundreds of meters above the ground and look down, you can see all the beautiful scenery of mountains, forests, and lakes, and you feel really relaxed.

The only problem is that he needs to wear goggles and find a good angle to keep himself still, otherwise Pidgeot's speed can easily blow him away, making him tear up and stagger, even though for Pidgeot it's already like taking a walk.

However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. This not only saved time, but he also sold his previous electric scooter and bought a bicycle instead.

Occasionally, ground transportation is still needed, as there are places where eagles cannot perform their functions.

Speaking of which, what's it like riding on the back of the mantle rock? Wouldn't it be a bit uncomfortable and chafing? Maybe I'll try it sometime next time.

Tetsuya's hands swayed over the cold coffee cup, his mind wandering.

He couldn't stay in a state of intense training indefinitely; neither he nor the elf's body and mind could withstand such torment.

The key to training is a balance of tension and relaxation.

So, does that mean bicycles aren't really that useful? No, no, they are actually quite useful. You can ride a bicycle to warm up with Blaziken later, which is better than running on your own.

One idea after another popped into Tetsuya's mind.

who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I go?

He began to feel like a philosopher.

Tetsuya placed the more human-shaped Blaziken outside and sat it with him at a table.

The final forms of the handsome and powerful starter Pokémon inevitably attracted many envious and admiring glances.

Picking up the seemingly useless but delicious berry salad, Blaziken happily squinted its eyes. It tasted so good; no wonder it was Nurse Joy's specialty at the Cerulean City Pokémon Center.

As for the trainer in front of him, whose eyes were unfocused and whose spirit was extremely low, Blaziken said that this was not the first time he had seen him in this state, and he was used to it and could understand it.

Boys, after all, have a few days when they're not in the best of shape.

"Ding dong~"