Chapter 68: The Combat Power of Pokémon

Ever since Cheng Cheng accepted the two tasks, his life had grown exceptionally busy. First and foremost, he needed to raise both his own reputation and that of his breeding house. The simplest way to achieve this was by selling Pokémon, thereby promoting his breeding house and his own name, which would draw more customers and, in turn, increase reputation.

Cheng Cheng logged into the League’s official website and found the breeding shop he had previously registered. He discovered that lately, his average daily page views were fewer than ten—a number far too low for his breeding house to thrive.

Determined to change this, Cheng Cheng decided to rewrite the shop’s promotional blurb. He replaced the old description with something new:

“Do you wish to own an adorably superpowered Psychic-type Pokémon? Do you want to gain psychic abilities yourself? If so, come to the Psychic Breeding House and purchase your very own Pokémon.

The Psychic Breeding House offers a wide variety of Psychic-type Pokémon and eggs. We hope everyone can find a Psychic Pokémon of their own and embark on an adventure exploring the wondrous world alongside them.”

He specially marked the name “Psychic Breeding House” and his own name to catch more attention.

At the same time, Cheng Cheng realized he needed more traffic: people must visit before they buy, and only when they buy would they remember, and only when remembered would his reputation grow. He found he could upload photos and videos to the website. This made things much easier; he could advertise his Pokémon with photographs—an effective strategy.

Cheng Cheng photographed each Pokémon and posted their pictures online, selecting several especially adorable ones for close-up shots. Yet images alone were not enough; to truly showcase the charm of Psychic-type Pokémon, nothing compared to a battle demonstration. Of all battle formats, the best was the Coordinated Battle.

To highlight the unique qualities of Psychic Pokémon, a Coordinated Battle was ideal.

Cheng Cheng handed a camera to Ali, then headed to the battle arena to record a Coordinated Battle. To attract more customers, he naturally chose the most appealing Pokémon: the beautiful and charming Kirulian, and the beloved Chimecho.

With a signal to Ali, the recording began.

“Chimecho, use Psywave.”

“Chime—chime—”

Chimecho’s voice rang out, melodious and sweet. Cheng Cheng intentionally had Chimecho produce its most entrancing sound, and it was delightful to hear.

“Kirulian, use Magical Leaf.”

Magical Leaf formed two chains that soared toward Chimecho, twisting around each other in midair, creating a captivating display.

“Chimecho, use Safeguard.”

Rather than having Chimecho use Protect, Cheng Cheng instructed it to use Safeguard. Chimecho’s rainbow-hued Safeguard enveloped it in an aura of mystery, and with Magical Leaf’s brilliance, Chimecho appeared even more lovely.

Cheng Cheng did not have the Pokémon truly battle; every move was meant to enhance each other’s appeal, with no aggression whatsoever.

“Kirulian, Teleport.”

Suddenly, Kirulian vanished and reappeared behind Chimecho—an impressive visual effect.

“Chimecho, use Bind.”

Chimecho quickly responded, binding Kirulian, who let out a pained cry.

Cheng Cheng thought that perpetual cuteness and beauty could become monotonous; a touch of hardship could elicit sympathy and emotional engagement from viewers.

“Kirulian, Teleport again.”

Kirulian used Teleport to escape Bind.

“Kirulian, Double Team.”

Kirulian split into four clones, and five Kirulians stood apart. Chimecho could no longer tell which was the real one.

“Kirulian, use Magical Leaf.”

All five Kirulians unleashed Magical Leaf simultaneously. Chimecho could have blocked the attack, but Cheng Cheng had it accept the hit. Soon, Chimecho was struck by Magical Leaf.

“Chime—”

“All right, everyone, the battle is over. Now, let’s heal each other!”

“Chimecho, use Heal Bell. Kirulian, use Heal Pulse.”

Both Pokémon unleashed healing moves to restore one another, creating a heartwarming scene.

Once the Pokémon were healed, the recording ended.

“Ali, thank you.”

“It’s no trouble. I was thrilled to witness such a spectacular battle.”

Spectacular? Cheng Cheng curled his lips. It was hardly a battle at all, merely a staged performance.

Cheng Cheng returned to the second floor and watched the recorded video. Through a series of edits, he selected the most exciting moments and uploaded the finished video online.

Whether it would attract viewers now depended entirely on luck.

With these tasks complete, Cheng Cheng checked the time—still early. He decided to train his Pokémon further.

Back in the eco-garden, he surveyed his Pokémon, wondering which to train first.

“Ding, system upgrade complete.”

The system’s voice sounded in his mind, and Cheng Cheng was a little excited to finally see what this ‘battle power’ was all about.

“System, explain, please.”

“The system measures Pokémon’s battle power based on their actual conditions. Battle power may fluctuate due to various factors.”

Cheng Cheng agreed that battle power could fluctuate—just like Pikachu, whose battle power could vary greatly.

“System, test the Pokémon’s battle power.”

He turned his gaze to the Pokémon, noticing a new set of numbers next to their base stats.

“Chimecho, battle power: 3760.
Kirulian, battle power: 1876.
Kadabra, battle power: 1201.
Gothita, battle power: 1320.
Natu, battle power: 810.
Spoink, battle power: 1121.
Slowpoke, battle power: 2709.
Mr. Mime, battle power: 3555.
Lunatone, battle power: 4570.
Sigilyph, battle power: 1462.”

After reviewing the battle powers, Cheng Cheng found the gaps astonishing—Lunatone was highest at 4570, while Natu was lowest at 810. While the system’s numbers might not be perfectly accurate, the differences were certainly significant.

For the next period, Cheng Cheng decided to focus on raising those with the lowest battle power first, to help them grow faster. He couldn’t rely forever on just a handful of Pokémon.

To facilitate training, Cheng Cheng grouped his Pokémon:

Natu vs. Kadabra
Spoink vs. Gothita
Kirulian vs. Sigilyph
Slowpoke vs. Chimecho
Lunatone vs. Mr. Mime

With the groups assigned, training would proceed accordingly.

Thus, today’s task was to train Natu and Kadabra.

Natu’s genes had some issues, resulting in slow growth and the lowest battle power. Cheng Cheng checked Natu’s stats and saw it had yet to learn Protect and Psychic. So, he decided to teach it these moves first.

“Natu, today I’m going to teach you a move called Protect. Protect is a defensive move—you need to channel your inner strength and establish a defensive barrier around yourself. I’ll have Kadabra demonstrate for you—watch closely and learn carefully.”

“Kadabra, use Protect.”

Kadabra summoned its power and flawlessly executed Protect.

“Release.”

Kadabra dispelled Protect.

“Once more—Protect.”

Cheng Cheng had Kadabra use Protect again, letting Natu observe closely.

“Protect again.”

“How about it, Natu—did you see clearly?”

“Cheep—”

“Now it’s your turn. Try using Protect.”

“Cheep—”

Natu fluttered its wings, preparing to use Protect. But after a minute, nothing happened.

“Natu, you must carefully sense Kadabra’s Protect and pay attention to the energy fluctuations.”

“Kadabra, Protect again.”

Kadabra performed Protect once more, though it seemed a bit unhappy.

“Natu, try Protect again.”

As expected, Natu still failed to execute Protect.

“Kadabra, Protect again.”

Cheng Cheng asked Kadabra to use Protect once more, but suddenly, Kadabra vanished into thin air.

Teleport!

“Kadabra, come back here!”

Cheng Cheng could sense the psychic energy trail and chased in that direction, with Natu flying behind.

When he caught up, he found Kadabra had Teleported back to their original spot.

“Kadabra!” Cheng Cheng shouted, genuinely angry this time.

Kadabra had always been mischievous. Cheng Cheng had hoped it would grow more disciplined after evolving from Abra, but apparently not.

After half an hour of chasing, Kadabra finally lost motivation and stopped Teleporting.

“Kadabra, your task today is to use only psychic power to bend a spoon.”

Kadabra swayed and hopped—such a thing should be simple. But when it saw the spoon Cheng Cheng produced, its face turned green. For better training, Cheng Cheng had specially ordered a super-thick, oversized spoon, nearly as tall as Kadabra and two or three centimeters thick.

“Kadabra, this is yours.”

Kadabra quietly carried the spoon away. Cheng Cheng smiled at the sight—serves you right for being so naughty! He then turned his attention back to Natu.

“Natu, let’s keep practicing Protect!”

Cheng Cheng had Chimecho help instruct Natu in using Protect. After a full afternoon, Natu finally mastered the move. Cheng Cheng rewarded it with a special energy cube.

Meanwhile, he’d forgotten that a Pokémon was still quietly figuring out how to bend that half-meter-tall spoon.