Chapter 41: Brimming with Confidence!

On the very first day living at Meteor Falls, a third of the food Hu Yang had brought was already gone. That was supposed to be enough for him, Poison Rose, and Ancient Moon Bird for five whole days! Hu Yang watched Yaya devouring its meal with growing dread.

Damn! Could it have turned into a gluttonous Snorlax? With such a voracious little Pokémon, was he really capable of providing for it?

Unlike Poison Rose, who was a vegetarian Pokémon, Yaya's diet consisted mainly of various fresh meats rich in protein. It would nibble on berries too, but only as a treat after a hearty meal.

After finishing its food, Yaya went to the side and began grinding its teeth on a stone.

Hu Yang felt a pang of distress and retreated to a corner, opening his backpack to take stock of the ores Ancient Moon Bird had fetched. Still not enough. It just wasn’t enough.

Good heavens, raising Pokémon was truly expensive! Hu Yang thought he was already being as frugal as possible. The New Year was approaching and he hadn’t even bought himself a new piece of clothing!

“Caw?”

At that moment, Ancient Moon Bird, who had been preening its feathers nearby, suddenly lifted its head and looked in his direction. Then, it flapped its wings and took to the air. Not long after, it landed before its trainer, clutching a hard, irregularly-shaped stone in its beak.

[Hard Stone: An unbreakable rock. When held by a Pokémon, increases the power of Rock-type moves.]

“Thank you, silly one,” Hu Yang said gratefully. Without Ancient Moon Bird, he might have been game over long ago.

Memories drifted through his mind. When he first arrived in this world and needed food, Ancient Moon Bird had gone fishing for him. Later, when he got a job and wanted to catch his first Pokémon, Ancient Moon Bird brought back a shy bud. When he wanted to mine ores for money and capture a second Pokémon, Ancient Moon Bird had…

Wait a minute!

Staring at the ores in his backpack and then at Yaya grinding its teeth nearby, Hu Yang suddenly realized something. All of Ancient Moon Bird’s actions seemed to be in direct response to his needs.

When he wanted food, Ancient Moon Bird brought fish. When he wanted a Pokémon, it brought a shy bud. And now, with his desire to mine for profit, Ancient Moon Bird was collecting stones.

All of this… surely, probably, perhaps, wasn’t just a coincidence? It couldn’t be, could it?

Hu Yang looked at Ancient Moon Bird in shock. Its eyes were blank and foolish, showing no other emotion.

“You… can actually understand what I’m saying, can’t you?” Hu Yang stroked its cheek, cupping its head as he spoke.

Ancient Moon Bird seemed not to understand, and simply replied with a meaningless, “Caw.”

Still, the idea had shaken Hu Yang to his core. He glanced around and fixed his gaze on a nearby stone, saying, “I want that one. Can you bring it to me?”

Ancient Moon Bird showed no reaction. Nothing happened.

No use…

Had he been overthinking it? No, that couldn’t be it. His mind raced, quickly discerning the difference between this request and the previous ones.

It was the intensity of his desire. Not just ordinary wanting, but “urgency,” “yearning,” a deep, burning “need.”

In the forest, when he was hungry and craved meat, Ancient Moon Bird brought him fish. At school, when he longed to embark on his journey as a trainer and catch his first companion, Ancient Moon Bird brought back a shy bud. And now, sensing his fervent wish to earn money…

So, could it be that Ancient Moon Bird could sense his thoughts?

To test this theory, Hu Yang focused on the idea: He desperately wanted more stones to sell for money, to give everyone the best possible training and care.

He looked at Ancient Moon Bird nervously, full of anticipation. Ancient Moon Bird blinked its vacant eyes, and in the next second, it moved.

Its orange body looked a bit clumsy as it flapped its wings and soared away.

It sensed it!

Hu Yang’s heart leapt with excitement as he watched Ancient Moon Bird’s silhouette disappear into the cave.

Twenty minutes later, the orange figure returned, clutching a silvery round stone, streaked with blue-green patterns and encased in hard rock, of which only a quarter was visible, and placed it in Hu Yang’s hands.

[Steelix Mega Stone: When held by a Steelix, this miraculous stone allows it to Mega Evolve during battle. It was once buried deep within the earth.]

Hu Yang stood stunned, staring at the Mega Evolution stone in his hand. In his mind, Ancient Moon Bird’s data appeared.

[Species: Ancient Moon Bird ♂ (Shiny)
Type: Flying, Water
Ability: Missile Launcher
Base Stats: 1530 (HP: 255, Attack: 255, Defense: 255, Special Attack: 255, Special Defense: 255, Speed: 255)
Known Moves: [Precipice Blades], [Origin Pulse], [Spacial Rend], [Roar of Time]
Current Mood: &#!+!#
Physical Condition: Perfect
Friendship: 100 (You are its most beloved Trainer; it loves you more than itself)]

No Pickup ability. No telepathy either. So, how was it sensing his thoughts?

After dropping off the stone, Ancient Moon Bird went mining again.

Gengar, unable to eat real-world food, would always return to its Poké Ball during meals and come back out afterwards. As it emerged, it saw Hu Yang standing dazed and floated over, asking in confusion, “What’s wrong with you?”

“I…” Hu Yang felt almost dizzy with joy. Supporting himself against the wall, he sat down and took a deep breath. “Nothing, I just figured something out.”

Gengar: “What is it?”

Hu Yang glanced at it and replied, “I think I might just be invincible now!”

It turned out, he wasn’t living the script of those humble, struggling trainers from those online fanfics. He had the script of an unstoppable, wish-fulfillment protagonist!

Gengar: “?”

“Gengar-san, let’s go punch Groudon, kick Rayquaza, and climb to the very peak of this world together!”

Gengar: “…”

It must be dreaming. Turning away, Gengar floated back to its Poké Ball, deciding to wait until it woke up to deal with all this.

Hu Yang: “…”

It took quite a while for Hu Yang to calm down. Even though he had figured out the secret to using Ancient Moon Bird, he didn’t plan to exploit it immediately.

After all, any one of Ancient Moon Bird's four moves could cause utter devastation. If he used it to challenge a Gym, the leader—along with their Pokémon—would probably be KO’d in a single blow. He might even level the entire Gym, like a certain world-destroying giant.

He had no intention of making the world his enemy. As a thirty-year-old man at heart, Hu Yang decided he would take a more laid-back approach.

World domination? Establishing a dictatorship? He had no such ambitions.

With Ancient Moon Bird by his side, at the very least, he could live worry-free in this world—provided no one was foolish enough to provoke him.

With that thought, confidence surged within Hu Yang.

Yes, becoming the world’s number one trainer would start with mining!