A Geodude appeared flexing his arms. Seeing he challenged me after viewing my previous match if you can call it that, I thought he had a perfect counter to my Zubat.

Like a Fletchling or a tricky ghost-type Pokemon, but I can see where his confidence comes from, with poison-type attacks being not effective against rock-type and rock-type attacks being super effective on Zubat as he is part flying type.

But I already defeated a Graveler, what’s a Geodude gonna take to defeat?

Granted that Zubat had Hypnosis in its arsenal.

“Sandscreen and Agility, Cet,” I called out.

Connor looked confused upon hearing my commands.

As Cet roused dust as cover up to increase his speed unhindered, I thought.

‘ Maybe I should have Cet learn Hypnosis, On second thought he took more than the standard required time to learn agility, even with an elite Gengar helping him,’ I shook my head and looked at the battlefield as the dust cleared.

‘ As expected, he didn’t try to do anything because I ordered for a status buff move.’

‘Wrong choice,’ I thought and ordered.

“Absorb.”

The game of Cat and Mouse begins as Connor tries everything to stop Cet from using the super-effective move.

Ultimately, he failed.

After recalling his Geodude, he tried to walk away.

“Hey! You forgot about my meal Package,” I called out, blandly.

“It's illegal to bet things on a battle, I am letting you off easy. So, Scram!” he said smugly.

‘ He is not as smart as he thinks,’ I thought looking at his smug face.

“The participants can bet on anything below a certain price range. So, you better give me what I won, if you don’t want to have a black mark this early in the season,” I spoke with zero emotion in my voice, already tired of him.

“My father..” he began to say, but I cut him off.

“ I don’t care. You will give me a meal package and leave before I count down to three, otherwise, I will report you. ”

He glared at me and walked away leaving behind a meal package.

I examined it.

‘Wow, Costlier than Madlyn’s,’ I sniggered madly looking forward to eating it.

As I looked at the smug kid’s retreating figure, I regretted not hearing more about his father.

I shouldn't have interrupted him. I know this is not a Xinxia world, but having information and it going to waste is better than not having it when needed.

This was how I used to treat everyone before- curt and precise, even the ones who were nice.

As my day was full of work assigned to me by my parents, I subconsciously started paying less attention to things that I considered burdensome or irritable, to optimise the free time I had.

Now, all I have is free time. I shouldn't ignore things just because I consider them stupid or burdensome. Ignoring things can cause fatal repercussions.

‘If I have enemies, I will make sure whatever they do won't surprise me. I don’t want to be dumb like some novel MCs, as I don’t have plot armour to save me,’ I thought determinedly.

Thinking back on what I know about the smug kid, I analysed.

‘He owns a Geodude, which has no egg moves. His Geodude doesn’t have any power-boosting items. So, his father is not as important as he likes to think.’

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Hoping it wouldn't come and bite me in the back, I started walking towards Celadon once more.

After defeating two more trainers, I started to refuse challenge invites, making some trainers glare at me.

Defeating another Rattata and Oddish didn’t take much effort from Cet.

I only had two more days to prepare for my 1st gym battle, training Cet is more important than these battles for now.

I plan on using Nia only as a last resort, as Nia has only water-type moves and a wing attack, for which she must go into melee leaving her defenceless from most attacks.

‘Nia is suited for long-range combat and she will be a terror, that one,’ I remarked, my thoughts drifting to the intense adorable Ducklett.

Both the trainers who challenged me looked poor, with lowest-level league-issued gear and hand-me-down clothes.

‘Ah huh! My clothes made them think I was weak. This explains why well-dressed trainers didn’t challenge me other than that smug kid.’

League would have provided funds for any trainers who showed their intelligence through exam results and one would buy better clothes with those funds, unlike me who didn't give buying better clothes any priority.

So, trainers with hand-me-down clothes are generally considered dumb and weak as their starters won't be strong, like a Rattata, which doesn’t have any long or mid-range moves.

Making defeating easy when everyone only has their starter with them.

Chuckling at my situation, I started jogging ignoring some trainers' calls.

Now, a trained Rattata or Raticate can be as strong as any other Pokemon, but they hit their power growth plateau fast. Improving after hitting the plateau will be tough and slow, where the trainer can pick up the slack if he or she is very talented.

Talented here means Aura, I guess.

Aura wasn’t mentioned anywhere I searched, but the general concise on this issue is the same. Several distinguished Pokemon professors think so too.

I did allocate some time for meditation to get in touch with my Aura, which had no results until now.

I am apprehensive about Aura, so I didn’t want to mess with it too much until I knew more about it, making me reduce the time to 10 minutes per day and also whenever I am bored.

Celadon City’s arrival is heralded not by its humongous walls, but by the vast farms surrounding it.

The farms had everything, from common grains to rare berry clutches that were surrounded by common crops again, like diamonds amid pearls.

While I was strolling past the farms, I encountered a Growlithe pack that was patrolling the farms.

They were so cute and alert on their duty. Growling when I stopped to look at them, most likely trained to warn any trespassers who wanted to enter the farms.

As I moved near to the city, I noted every clutch of berries was being monitored by various Pokemon, mainly from the sky, ranging from an odd Fearow to a rare Giant Pidgeot.

‘Huh! They are using a Pidgeot for patrolling. Is it the rangers or the farmers?’ I thought looking at the speedy form of the bird of prey, patrolling the skies.

The walls of Celadon spanned nearly ten times the area covered by my starting city.

Deep Grey coloured and pristine they looked imposing and majestic.

I was able to get into the city without any problems after they checked my trainers' License.

I think I saw a couple of Kadabra’s patrolling on the walls. Impressed by the security guarding the crops, I stopped for a moment to take in the bustling City.

The City looked too green like everyone's favourite decoration for their house is plants or most precisely creepers, still, the city looked pretty awesome and the fresh air.

'Ah! The fresh air,' I thought inhaling like I just ran a marathon without any training.

Satisfied, I moved towards the Pokemon Centre.

The Pokemon in the city mirror the Gym it hosts. Grass-type Pokemon are a frequent sight, followed by bugs and flying-type Pokemon.

The city has 3 Pokemon Centres near each of its entrances and these colossal complexes sprawl across acres of land, overflowing with trainers and their Pokemon.

On showing my scheduled gym match with Erika, the pink-haired male receptionist allotted me a room to stay in for free.

I have to vacate the room after my match or pay more to extend my stay.

My room came with a bathroom attached and even had a bathtub.

Happy with my living arrangements, I took Cet and Nia for a bath.

After chasing and scrubbing the puppy in the form of a bat, I relaxed as Nia allowed herself to be washed properly.

As my tent didn’t have a bathtub, I took some time and relaxed in the tub.

I nearly drifted off to sleep, but woke up, startled, as Cet draped himself across my face.

Recalling him and the sleeping Nia, I made my way across the centre to call Joy.

Seeing Joy didn’t lift the call, I sent a recorded video saying I reached the Celadon and introduced Nia.

Making the little Ducklett glare at me as I disturbed its sleep.

After a treat, dinner and some coaxing, Nia went back to sleep, making me yawn.

I fed Cet and went to the cafeteria, calling it a day.

I ate some dinner and went to bed early, making plans on how to best use my next two days.

The next morning, I woke up and went to the Centre’s training area, rejecting some battle requests.

I had Cet and Nia do their morning routine as I joined them in doing some exercises.

Just like every other morning, I had to stop Cet from deviating from his routine and trying to mimic my actions, making me shake my head at the over-energetic bat.

‘At least Nia is concentrating on her routine,’ I thought consoling myself.

I had Nia fire water guns and use Brine at ranged targets until today, as I can access Pokenet now, I am going to have her learn some flying maneuvres, just like Cet.

We spent the whole day training and taking frequent breaks.

Cet perfected his movement technique, making me thrilled for our upcoming battle.

‘One more day to go,’ I thought sleeping on my bed, utterly exhausted from training the whole day.