Chapter 2 Grinding

I never thought my life would turn out like this. Sitting here below the shade of a large tree, just watching the clouds float by. 'So peaceful. I wish I could spent all my life relaxing but...'

*Sigh*

Well I should get back to work. 'First and foremost I need to make sure I'm well hidden.' I knew I would be really powerful in the future but right now I was weak. I needed to bid my time and keep training, learn a few more moves and increase my stats as much as I could. Seeing that the system was giving me free stats just for learning and leveling up my moves I wasn't in a rush to battle any wild or tamed pokemon for levels. For me levels were just an icing on the cake.

I stood up and looked around the forest. I slowly and quietly searched if there were any other pokemon in the nearby vicinity. After finding that the coast was clear, I returned below the same tree I was sitting under. Walking a few steps back. I started to pump myself up.

'Ok. This should work. If I learned Tackle by basically tackling the ground than this should be a piece of cake.'

I ran forward and jumped. With my claws in front of me, I did a swiping motion against the tree bark. There was a clear *creek* sound and pieces of bark flew in the air. Three distinct claw mark were left on the tree bark.

And what do you know. I was right. The blue semi-transparent screen appeared in front of my face reading:

Scratch learned!

+1 ATK

Looks like my theory on learning new moves were right. Just following through various actions seemed to generate new moves and repeatedly using them levels them up.

'Hmm... well this is odd.' Even though I expected that different moves to give me different stats but what surprised me was that the stats I gained from Scratch was lower than Tackle.

"Moves. Show more."

Calling out the Moves Screen I took a look at the new move I gained.

Scratch Lvl: 1 (0%)

Scratch with sharp claws dealing 50% of ATK as damage.

'Seems like Scratch and Tackle are basically the same with Tackle providing additional stat point on DEF. Why was that?' I thought to myself.

Contemplating it for a few moments I came to the conclusion that the moves not only followed Game logic but also real world logic when necessary.

Because I had to connect my whole body in order to use Tackle, I was basically damaging myself however little it was. Even though it was never mentioned in the Games, Tackle was a low-powered version of Takedown. And since I was damaging myself as well, the move provided me with DEF point as well.

Nodding to myself for that well thought out logic and patting myself on the back. It never occurred to me that it might had something to do with my Gamers Mind ability.

'Ok. Now since both Tackle is a bit better than Scratch, I should max out Tackle first if I can.' Thinking that I set out to basically punish myself. But this time I should do something different to train Tackle. Falling on my face and repeatedly eating dirt wasn't a fun way to keep training.

Like before I took a few steps back and rushed forward slamming the trunk of the tree with my shoulders.

*Hit*

'Damn. It stings a bit.' Even with the raised pain threshold provided by Gamers Body, it didn't completely negate the pain I felt.

"Move. Show more."

Tackle Lvl: 2 (50%)

A full-body charge dealing 60% of ATK as damage.

'Looks like the increase is still 10%. I should do this 5 more times for it to level up.'

I backed myself again and proceeded to slam against the trunk again.

*Hit* *Huff* *Huff*

Again

*Hit*

*Hit*

*Hit*

*Hit*

After the fifth time the blue screen appeared again.

Tackle leveled up by 1

+1 ATK

+1 DEF

I pulled out the Move screen again.

Tackle Lvl: 3 (0%)

A full-body charge dealing 70% of ATK as damage.

Looks like every time the move levels up that damage also increases by 10%. Nice.

'Ok. Let's keep doing this until nightfall or until I get bored.'

Few hours later

The sun was dipping down the horizon but the forest was already getting considerably darker.

*Hit*

*Hit*

*Crash*

On the last rush I completely missed the trunk and flew past the tree, tumbling on the ground.

*Huff* *Huff* I took a few long breaths. Even though I wasn't tired, my body stung all over the place.

Looking around from where I fell down, I noticed the sunlight shrinking giving way to darkness. Even though I wasn't tired I needed to find a safe place to sleep if possible. I could continue doing this all through the night but I didn't know what type of pokemon roamed during the night. Even though I didn't encounter any pokemon during my training session I couldn't count on my lucky streak to continue. I needed to be careful, at least for the first night. Once I gathered more information on what kind of pokemon roamed around and their levels, I could strategize more.

Slowly picking myself up, I tiptoed around trying to find a resting spot. A place where it could provide me with a natural shelter. After a couple of dozen minutes, I found a hollowed out hole on a tree. Kind of like where various birds and critters used to live in my past life.

It seemed to be a good place to rest but I didn't know if it was occupied or not. So, I ducked down under a bush to keep myself hidden and scout out the place.

I waited for like hour or so and it seemed like the hollowed hole was abandoned. I couldn't hear anything coming from inside it and didn't see anyone going in or coming out of it.

Trying my luck. I neared the tree and tried to climb it. Which seemed to be a bad idea. Using only my claws I could get about halfway through the trunk before I slipped down and landed on my butt.

*Baam* *Oof*

'Ok. Let's try this again.' This time I took a couple of steps back so I could get a running start.

*Step* *Step* *Step*

*Baam* *Oof*

This time I got a few more steps in and was almost near the hole. 'Ok. Aga...'

Before I could finish my thought, the blue screen appeared in front of my face again. Weird.

Scratch leveled up by 1

+1 ATK

Looks like trying to climb a tree with only my claws counted as using Scratch. 'At least something good is coming out of this.'

'Ok. I'll try this few more times. I know I can get this.'

I took a few more steps back and ran forward like my life depended on it.

*Step* *Step* *Step* *Step*

'Almost there...'

*Step* *Step*

'Yes!' Just the last step. 'Oh no!' My eyes widened. I was slipping, I tried to claw as much I could and I started flapping my tiny wings as well.

*Scratch* *Scratch* *Flap* *Flap*

'It wasn't working' I did the last thing I could think of. I tried to headbutt the tree. And as luck would have it because of pure coincident my beak pierced the bark of the trunk and I dangled there for a few seconds.

'*Phew*. That was close.' I had almost forgotten about my beak. As I tried to lift myself using my beak and claws, the blue screen appeared in front of me again. 'Not now system.' I thought to myself and the screen minimized itself in the corner of my eyes. 'Hmm. I could do that as well? Cool.'

I heaved myself into hole which was a bit larger than myself. I settled in and maximized the screen again. It showed:

Peck learned!

+1 ATK

'Nice, Peak.' But I don't need to train it currently. After maxing Tackle I was thinking about trying to learn Ember if possible. I don't know how to go about it but having one maxed out melee move, one maxed out ranged move and one escape move should be my goal in the immediate future.

"Moves. Show more." I called out.

Tackle Lvl: 8 (20%)

A full-body charge dealing 120% of ATK as damage.

Scratch Lvl: 2 (80%)

Scratch with sharp claws dealing 60% of ATK as damage.

Peck Lvl: 1 (0%)

Jabs the foe with a beak or horn dealing 45% of ATK as damage.

'Ok. Tackle leveled up to 8. Don't know how many more levels it needs to go before maxing out. Scratch level up by 1 by accident. And Peck seems it deals a bit less damage compare to Tackle and Scratch but it was a different type so it was all good.' Speaking of types, why couldn't I see it anywhere on the stat page.

"Type. Turn on." I called out and the type detail was shown together with the description.

Tackle Lvl: 8 (20%)

Type: Normal

A full-body charge dealing 120% of ATK as damage.

Scratch Lvl: 2 (80%)

Type: Normal

Scratch with sharp claws dealing 60% of ATK as damage.

Peck Lvl: 1 (0%)

Type: Flying

Jabs the foe with a beak or horn dealing 45% of ATK as damage.

'Don't know why it was hidden as a default.' "Stats". Looks like my type was also added to the stat page. Nice.

Name: (Blank)

Species: Torchic

Lvl: 5 (XP required to lvl up: 268)

Type: Fire

ATK: 23 (+9)

DEF: 17 (+6)

SP. ATK: 10

SP. DEF: 11

SPD: 9

Ability(+)

Conditions(+)

Moves(+)

For the first day my stats were looking good. 'From tomorrow I need to start increasing my training.'