33 Bottomline

'Hmm...two days, and so far, no success...'

Wang Shóu thought, feeling a little frustrated as he tread among the forest.

In the past two days, he had been roaming the middle region, hoping to find heaven and earth treasures.

After training his fusion improvised move and growing stronger, Wang Shóu set his eyes on heaven and earth treasures.

While leveling is a slow steady way to grow stronger, evolution is a guaranteed way to immediately become stronger.

No matter how powerful the 1st stage Pokémon are, without exception, they would definitely lose to the 2nd stage Pokémon, their evolution form.

It is unavoidable after all. Every Pokémon is born with a familiar term for Pokémon players, called Base Stat Total or BST for short.

Base Stat Total is calculated by the Pokémon's six stats: health, attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed.

It is an indicator of the Pokémon race's upper limit, and those born with low base stat total will have a low upper limit while those born with a high base stat total have a very high upper limit.

Of course, the base stat total for each Pokémon can only be used as a reference.

Because there is another term called Individual Values or IVs for short, that every Pokémon is also born with.

To put it simply, it is an indicator of the Pokémon's potential within the same race. It applies to all six stats and can range from 0 to 31.

So if two same Pokémon, such as Pidgey with the same level, were to have Pidgey A with Attack IVs 0 and Pidgey B with Attack IVs 31, then Pidgey A would have a 45 attack stat while Pidgey B would have a 66 attack stat.

And the gap widens even further as Pokémon grow stronger.

There are even more terms that affect Pokémon's potential and base stats such as Effort Values or EVs for short and Natures, but that will be saved for later.

In short, every Pokémon race is imposed with a certain upper limit, which is almost impossible to break through.

And the only way to transcend that upper limit is by evolving. If that Pokémon is lucky enough, it can once again evolve, transcending its upper limit again.

Of course, there are a few Pokémon that are an exception to this rule.

Ash's Pikachu is the prime example of this.

Though Ash's Pikachu had lost many time, it is vehemently opposed to evolving into Raichu to gain strength.

Even though Raichu has a higher base stat and a higher upper limit than Pikachu.

And...yet in the end, Pikachu had confronted and defeated a legendary Pokémon, who is literally a god in the Pokémon universe.

An achievement that even the most talented Raichu couldn't accomplish.

What is even more outrageous is that Pikachu has even injured Arceus, the literal Creator and God of Pokémon!

Although Arceus was severely injured and does not carry Earth Plate, a ground-type plate granting immunity to electric, it is still outrageous!

But while it is amazing that Ash's Pikachu was able to break through his race's upper limit and confront legendary Pokémon, not everyone can do that.

Pokémon like Ash's Pikachu, breaking through their race's upper limit is an extremely rare case among the Pokémon universe.

So while Wang Shóu admired Pikachu for having the strength and determination to break through his race's upper limit, he doesn't intend to imitate his path.

Since he is in an extremely peculiar state, similar to the Pokémon in the Pokémon game, rather than the reality of the Pokémon universe.

He doesn't have any IVs, EVs, or Natures, and he doesn't have any way to break through his limit just like Ash's Pikachu.

So his only choice is to evolve if he wants the power to live safely in this dangerous world.

'Though in the future, I may no longer have to face this problem anymore.'

Wang Shóu thought idly. He doesn't have any basis for it, but he had a hunch that this problem will naturally disappear as he grows stronger.

'Of course, whether that is possible depends on my system...'

'But for now, let's keep searching for heaven and earth treasures. Of course, flying or steel heaven and earth treasures would definitely be preferable...'

Rookidee is the only Pokémon that hasn't evolved among the Pokémon Wang Shóu can turn into.

Having reached level 26, Rookidee has already satisfied the level required to evolve and has even become stronger now.

But now, as Wang Shóu fights stronger and stronger spirit beasts, it is no longer enough.

Because the middle region and inner region too are filled with spirit beasts with powerful bloodlines, and even Xiong Yong, who possesses the bloodline of Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, is not 100% safe.

If this keeps up, Wang Shóu suspects that his Rookidee form will die sooner or later in the future.

Though he doesn't know what the consequence is when that happens, he doesn't intend to find out anytime soon.

To ensure that doesn't happen, Rookidee needs to evolve, thus raising the upper limit and be able to contend against stronger spirit beasts.

He also hopes to find fire heaven and earth treasures too since Charmeleon has reached level 36 and is now able to evolve.

But Wang Shóu knows that the chances of finding one are extremely slim.

According to his estimation, only a five thousand years old or ten thousand years old fire heaven and earth treasure would be able to satisfy the condition for Charmeleon to evolve into Charizard.

But heaven and earth treasures are extremely rare, let alone ten thousand years old heaven and earth treasure.

Even a five thousand years old heaven and earth treasure is extremely rare, and to obtain it in the middle region would be a dream.

The only chance of obtaining it is likely in the inner region, which is too far from his reach now.

And even so, whether it is a fire heaven and earth treasure is extremely unlikely, considering that he is in the Great Star Dou Forest.

'Sigh, those protagonists got it easy. Getting those super rare objects as if it is a worthless coin left lying on the road...'

Sighing like a wilted flower, Wang Shóu suddenly receives a reminder from the system.

[Wang Shóu, I have found multiple nearby heaven and earth treasures detected 87 meters away]

'Really? Multiple heaven and earth treasures?! Awesome, show me the direction!' Wang Shóu said, suddenly energized and ready to go.

[But I do have to remind you. There is a red spot near the heaven and earth treasures. It is suspected to be guarding the heaven and earth treasures]

Hearing that, Wang Shóu fell into deep thought.

'Oh, that certainly poses a dilemma...'

He doesn't want to steal or forcibly take away another being's possession, but the problem is that he desperately needs it.

To take or not to take...

After some hesitation, he finally made up his mind.

'Alright, if it doesn't have what I need, then I will leave it alone. But if it does...emm, hopefully it won't get too mad if I just take what I need.'

Wang Shóu thought with conviction. After living in the Douluo world for a while, he understands that the law and morality of his previous life may not apply here.

In other words, kindness may actually kill him in this world.

He knows that to survive, he will need to adapt to this world but at the same time, he does not want to let go of his principles that make him who he is.

So after some thinking, he had come to a conclusion.

He will adapt and change to this world, but he will not compromise his principles nor his bottom line.

He will never do heinous acts, and if it is convenient, continue to do good, but he will kill if it is absolutely necessary or has harmed his loved ones.

That is his last bottom line.

And it will never change even if he had to die for it.