The annual “Piplup Cup” is a competition aimed at new Trainers. Most participants are third-year high school or first-year university students from Pokémon academies. As an official event recognized by the Association, placing well can aid in obtaining a Junior Trainer Certificate.
However, Lu Ye had no plans to become a Trainer, nor did he intend to participate.
It was a hot summer day.
Inside his rental apartment, the fan was whirring.
Lu Ye was seated at his computer, editing his next video for upload.
Gastly was in front of the fan, mouth wide open, with mist drifting out and echoing as the fan blew.
In terms of The Gastly Raising Guide, Gastly’s progress had reached the battle section—"How to Command Gastly in a Battle."
“Gastly’s personality is quite active and often displays unexpected behavior in battle…”
“Ghast!” (That actually makes sense!)
“Thus, rather than rigid training, it’s better to develop Gastly’s own battle instincts…”
“Gengarrr?” (How do I do that?)
“Different Gastly have different personalities, and battle styles vary; finding the right area of expertise is key.”
“Gengarrr, gengarrr!” (Got it, got it!)
Floating mid-air, Gastly grinned with a smug look, as if it had completely figured things out.
In just two days, Gastly had not only mastered Confuse Ray but was now adept with Night Shade.
And all this knowledge came from—
The Gastly Raising Guide, written by Green.
The book was now so worn and torn from Gastly licking it that the text was blurry.
This was the real deal—literally absorbing the material!
Glancing over, Lu Ye was still focused on his computer.
Gastly looked a bit discouraged.
Laying the book open on its face, Gastly started drifting in and out of shadows out of sheer boredom.
The MooMoo Milk in the fridge was gone, and the mysterious blue drink was also finished.
The “Speed Booster” drink had noticeably enhanced Gastly’s black mist speed.
As Gastly naturally had the ability to merge into shadows, its stealthiness had improved significantly.
While blowing bubbles, Gastly noticed a line in the Raising Guide and perked up immediately.
“How to handle your Pokémon’s low spirits.”
“Gengarrr!” (What’s the solution!)
“First, use items and food to increase the Pokémon’s friendliness.”
“Gah!” (But we’re out of everything at home Σ(°△°|||))
“Second, engage in activities like camping or picnicking with your Pokémon.”
“Ghast…” (He’s totally ignoring me. (╬▔皿▔))
“Third, inspire your Pokémon with a victory in battle.”
“Gengarrr!” (That’s it! (✪ω✪))
Gastly pondered this for a while.
Suddenly, it remembered seeing something about a competition on the phone yesterday.
Floating slowly to Lu Ye’s side, Gastly licked his cheek and blinked.
“Oh,” Lu Ye understood instantly.
“Hungry? You can use the phone to order delivery!”
With the phone in its possession, Gastly couldn’t help but laugh.
“…What’s up with you? Why are you laughing so creepily?”
Grinning, Gastly moved aside, swiping through the screen with its tongue.
A Nessa photo shoot? Not this…
Chic Show by Erika? Not this either…
Just what kind of weird stuff does he normally look at?
Gastly’s face was puzzled, but then its eyes sparkled.
[“Piplup Cup New Trainer Tournament—Inviting all aspiring young Trainers to participate!”]
Registering would require Lu Ye’s ID.
Gastly searched through drawers, finally finding the ID card.
Using its sharp teeth, it painstakingly filled out the registration form, taking over half an hour before it finally sighed in relief.
[“Mr. Lu Ye, your registration has been approved. Your participant ID is: 3534”]
[“The preliminary round will start next Wednesday. Please note the schedule.”]
Satisfied, Gastly’s eyes burned with determination.
I’m going to win this for my Master!
Having finally finished editing, Lu Ye stretched.
He turned around and saw Gastly deeply absorbed in The Raising Guide.
Lu Ye’s feelings became slightly complicated.
Without any involvement from Lu Ye, Gastly was taking care of its diet, tactics, and training entirely on its own.
Lu Ye’s expression turned strange, feeling for a moment like he was just dead weight.
“System, can you show me the moves Gastly currently knows?”
[Would you like to spend 500 BP to unlock VIP1 access to the Pokédex?]
“Yes,” Lu Ye muttered, “Is there even a VIP8?”
[Searching…Target confirmed!]
[Type: Ghost + Poison
Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Mean Look, Will-O-Wisp, Curse, Night Shade]
After seeing the list of moves, Lu Ye was shocked.
In reality, there’s no four-move limit, so the number of moves a Pokémon knows can reflect its strength.
Most of these moves were probably learned with the help of Green’s Raising Guide, but this was impressive enough to shock Lu Ye!
“It’s really this strong?”
“And I caught it with a single Poké Ball!”
Looking over the list again, Lu Ye couldn’t help but marvel.
“Dirty. It’s absolutely dirty!”
Of the six moves, five inflict status conditions. If Gastly weren’t my Pokémon, I’d really feel sorry for my opponent.
Confuse Ray causes confusion, Lick can paralyze, and Will-O-Wisp causes a burn.
Mean Look prevents escape, while Curse continually drains the opponent’s HP.
If you added Toxic and Hypnosis to this mix…
Then it would be an absolute nightmare!
Status conditions can stack in real life, which is why Lu Ye’s Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy is so nasty.
Now Lu Ye felt he’d stumbled upon a new way to push these annoying tactics to the extreme.
Confusion, paralysis, burns, poisoning…all these status effects could stack up!
Gastly truly is the king of dirty tricks!
Despite having set the training direction, Lu Ye still didn’t want to train.
Becoming a Trainer just doesn’t pay!
Streaming to make easy money—that’s more like it!
The livestream subscribers were already at 80,000, just a bit more to hit the goal of a face reveal.
At this critical moment, the system issued a new mission.
[Mission: “I’m Not a Million-View Streamer”]
[Mission Details: Publish a video that gets over a million views]
[Mission Rewards: 1000 BP, Random Skill LV31, Random Purple Item1]
Lu Ye had already experienced the benefits of system items.
Just the enhanced Speed Booster alone had greatly increased Gastly’s speed.
If he could get a high-value item worth hundreds of thousands, he’d be set!
The video Lu Ye just edited was exactly what he planned to post.
[“Teacher Lu’s Battle Guide 04: Evasion Team”]
If there’s anything more annoying than Substitute-Protect-Toxic…
It’s an Evasion team, led by none other than the pink demon, Chansey!
Holding an Eviolite, Chansey boasts sky-high special defense and can keep raising its evasion with Minimize.
Can’t hit it, can’t wear it down.
It’s tanky as anything and still deals good damage—
Chansey might just be the coolest Pokémon ever!
A knowing smile spread across Lu Ye’s face.
He moved the mouse and clicked “Upload.”
[Uploading…Your new video has been published]
[Click to view “Teacher Lu’s Battle Guide 04: Evasion Team”]