Gastly immediately lost its ability to fight.
It curled up into a ball, its injuries severe…
Palkia defeated Gastly.
Gained 900 EXP.
Palkia leveled up to Level 4!
(601/400) Palkia leveled up to Level 5!
(101/500) The experience gained from defeating a much stronger opponent was enormous.
Palkia jumped two levels in one go!
If this had been the Pokémon world, such heavy injuries would have immediately rendered a Pokémon unable to battle.
However, in this parallel world of Azure Star, wild Pokémon were far more tenacious.
The harsh environment of the wilderness simply didn’t allow them to lose consciousness or give up.
Once they lost the ability to fight, it usually meant they would lose their lives as well.
Although Gastly’s body trembled in pain, its eyes still burned with unyielding determination.
“Gastly…” It let out a weak cry.
Looking at the injured Gastly, Lucas stroked his smooth chin, a thought gradually forming in his mind.
He wanted to capture it.
Unlike the memories he had of simply throwing a Poké Ball to catch Pokémon, Pokémon in this world could only be obtained through taming, aside from one’s Bond Pokémon and Pokémon hatched from Eggs.
A Trainer had to either convince a Pokémon to follow willingly or incapacitate it with status conditions like paralysis or sleep before transporting it to the Pokémon Center at the base.
After paying a fee, a professional Breeder would tame and train it before returning it to its new owner.
The process usually took a long time, and it was said that Pokémon tamed this way often suffered side effects.
Their battle strength would no longer match their wild state, their eyes became dull, and their reactions sluggish.
Lucas wasn’t confident he could persuade this Gastly to follow him, but he was willing to give it a try.
Instead of approaching Gastly immediately, he first harvested all the Dragonfire Berries together with Palkia.
Gastly glared furiously but didn’t dare make a sound.
It could only watch with its large white eyes as this band of “bandits” stripped away every Dragonfire Berry it had guarded for an entire year.
Its injuries were far too severe.
Forget attacking—it was already fortunate that it hadn’t passed out.
It could only hope these “bandits” would leave it two berries after taking their fill…
Unfortunately, that tiny hope was quickly shattered.
They picked everything.
The ripe ones.
The unripe ones.
The good ones.
Even the imperfect ones.
They left nothing behind.
Gastly gritted its fangs in frustration but lacked the strength to protest.
Its stomach growled loudly.
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve eaten a few before they all ripened…
Instead, I let these bandits take everything…
Lowering its head, Gastly felt wronged beyond words, yet there was no one to complain to.
After all…
This world had always been one where the strong preyed upon the weak.
Thump.
Thump.
Suddenly, Gastly noticed two Berries fall in front of it.
Dragonfire Berries?
It looked up and found Lucas smiling gently at it.
“Would you like to come with me?” …
Although Poké Balls didn’t exist in this world, humans had developed countless methods of taming creatures since the dawn of civilization.
Take the cats and dogs living alongside humans today.
Their ancestors had once been wild mountain cats and proud wolves that looked down on mankind.
Yet after following humans…
Well…
Life turned out to be pretty good.
The same principle applied to Pokémon.
Even without Poké Balls, they could still be recruited.
As for Gastly…
Lucas successfully talked it into joining him using what could only be described as a Stockholm Syndrome strategy.
By the end of the night, he had gained ferocious beast materials, a harvest of Berries, and even a Pokémon.
Using Palkia’s spatial teleportation ability, Lucas returned home completely satisfied.
The following day, he brought Gastly and all the ferocious beast materials they had collected to the Pokémon Center.
The place was bustling with people.
At a glance, most of the Trainers present were One-Star and Two-Star Pokémon Trainers.
Occasionally, a Three-Star Trainer could be seen, while Four-Star Trainers were rarely found in such a small base.
Everyone had come for different reasons.
Some were there to heal their Pokémon.
Some came to purchase equipment.
Others were looking for teammates.
Without hesitation, Lucas first went to the Pokémon Center and temporarily left Gastly in their care.
Afterward, he headed to the affiliated Trading Center and exchanged all the ferocious beast materials from the previous night for contribution points and cash.
Normally, a One-Star ferocious beast was worth 1 contribution point, a Two-Star beast was worth 10 points, a Three-Star beast was worth 100 points, and so on.
A Six-Star ferocious beast could be exchanged for a staggering 100,000 contribution points.
Particularly rare beasts or those with special value were evaluated separately.
Generally, each beast’s reward was determined by its most valuable material, such as the complete pelt of a Little Fangwolf or the core root of a Snake Vine.
The Pokémon Trainer Center purchased ferocious beast corpses and materials.
Their meat served as nutritious food, while their materials could be crafted into equipment.
Teeth and claws could be forged into daggers or swords, while hides could be turned into leather armor.
Since ferocious beasts were humanity’s common enemy, killing one earned contribution points.
The materials themselves were then purchased separately for cash.
“The Blue-Scaled Lizard materials are worth 3,600.
The Snake Vine materials are worth 1,400.
The Little Fangwolf’s pelt was preserved exceptionally well, so it’s worth 1,000 by itself.
Including the claws, fangs, and meat, that’s 2,660.
The Armored Ball Bug’s poison sac is quite rare.
Together with the shell fragments, that’s 1,850.
Your total comes to 9,500.” The young woman behind the Trading Center counter looked at Lucas with unconcealed surprise.
He looked like nothing more than a One-Star Trainer—just a high school student.
How had he managed to obtain so many ferocious beast materials?
Lucas was overjoyed.
He had estimated everything would only sell for around 7,000.
He hadn’t expected to earn so much more.
“In addition, you’ll receive 5 contribution points.
Please provide your ID and Trainer Badge.” Lucas readily handed them over.
Under normal circumstances, contribution points were even more valuable than money.
Many items exclusive to Trainers could only be exchanged with contribution points.
Evolution items like the Oval Stone and Leaf Stone could only be redeemed this way.
It was nearly impossible to purchase them through legitimate channels with cash alone.
Beyond that, numerous special items, equipment, and Moves crafted from rare ferocious beast materials also required contribution points.
Being a Pokémon Trainer was an incredibly expensive profession.
Besides basic Pokémon food, teaching Pokémon new moves and purchasing life-saving equipment and weapons for Trainers were among the biggest expenses.
From Lucas ‘s observations, the number of moves a Pokémon could naturally learn seemed to depend on its Aptitude.
For example, Palkia had possessed four moves the moment it hatched.
His homeroom teacher’s Geodude, on the other hand, had only three moves even after reaching Two-Star status because of its Ordinary Aptitude.
Naturally, ordinary people had no way of knowing a Pokémon’s Aptitude.
To make up for the lack of moves, many Trainers spent large sums of money purchasing additional Moves.
The Pokémon Center mainly offered relatively weak moves for sale.
Fire-types could learn special attacks like Ember and Fire Spin, while physical attacks included Flame Wheel and Fire Punch.
Water-types had Water Gun, Bubble, and Whirlpool.
Grass-types could learn Vine Whip and Razor Leaf.
Although these moves became stronger with mastery, their inherent limitations meant they would never be particularly powerful.
Even so, these low-tier moves still sold for exorbitant prices.
Learning a single move generally cost hundreds or even thousands of contribution points.
As for the more advanced moves above them—such as Flamethrower, Ice Beam, and Thunderbolt—the price naturally skyrocketed.
Learning just one required over ten thousand contribution points.
Lucas had never dared dream of obtaining such moves before.
But after witnessing Palkia’s performance last night…
He realized that one day, he might actually be able to afford them.
Before that, however, there was something even more important.
After collecting so many ferocious beast materials and so much meat the previous night, he had immediately realized one major problem.
Carrying capacity.
With only himself, Palkia, and an injured Gastly, transporting everything had been a nightmare.
They had needed to make two or three trips just to haul everything home.
So now that he finally had contribution points, the first thing Lucas wanted was an item that would make carrying supplies far more convenient…