This Is Love!

Special Defense + Speed 2V."

"1V in Special Attack."

"No IV."

John looked at the hundreds of Ralts in his storage and sighed deeply.

After catching Froakie, he had been farming for six days straight, catching nearly 30 Ralts each day.

No sign of a Shiny Ralts yet.

On the bright side, Torchic had leveled up to 16 by the third day and evolved into Combusken.

[Combusken (Fire/Fighting)]

[Level: 16 Ability: Speed Boost (Increases speed by one level at the end of each turn)]

[IVs: HP (28), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (31)]

[Moves: (Ember, Growl, Tackle, Double Kick, Flame Charge, Detect, Sand Attack, Quick Attack, Peck]

[Held Item: None]

One thing that surprised John was that Combusken wasn't limited to just four moves, like in the games. As it leveled up, it retained all the moves it learned. No need to delete old moves—a pleasant change.

Now, with a Fighting-type in Combusken, he was ready to challenge the Rustboro Gym.

Initially, John planned to take on Rustboro Gym right away. But he hadn't found a high-IV Ralts yet, and he still had Froakie to train. Better to get Froakie to level 16 and evolve it into Frogadier before attempting the Gym.

Frogadier, as a Water-type, would serve as a backup.

And so, John continued his intense training routine.

He trained for ten hours each day. Besides taking time to rest, he spent an hour each day exercising and used the rest to read books—particularly those on Pokemon breeding.

John had already set his sights on Riverstone University, the top Pokemon college in Dragoncrest City, renowned across the nation for its breeding program. Additionally, it was a popular choice for Water-type Trainers, given its proximity to the sea.

He aimed to major in Pokemon breeding and had studied the exam requirements online.

The exam was divided into two parts: a written test and a practical test. Although his focus was on breeding, he still needed to pass a battle test. After all, breeding wasn't just about feeding Pokemon; many breeders ventured into dangerous areas to find rare berries or observe Pokemon behavior up close.

In fact, many breeding majors participated in the National College League.

Compared to the battle major, breeding was more theory-based, with a different scoring system: basic knowledge was worth 20%, while Pokemon battle skills made up the remaining 80%.

The Riverstone University entrance exam had three sections: Pokemon breeding knowledge, general knowledge, and Pokemon battle, with each section worth 150 points, for a total of 450.

John had scored 640 on the college entrance exam, putting him among the top students. Converted to the University's 150-point scale, his score was 128.

With Combusken and Frogadier by his side, he felt confident about the battle portion.

The main challenge lay in the Pokemon breeding section, so he dedicated his free time to studying.

His train ticket to Dragoncrest City was already booked, and he'd be taking the exam in three days.

These next three days would be his last chance to prepare. If he failed, he'd have to settle for a lower-ranked school.

Suddenly, a knock sounded on his window.

John opened it to see a small head with red and white feathers—Delibird, with a santa hat on its head.

"De-delibird! (≧▽≦)ゞ"

"You're the delivery guy today? Nice to see you!" John greeted, handing the Delibird an Oran Berry, which it eated happily.

Who wouldn't be charmed by a cute Pokemon like Delibird ?

"Deli-deli~~" Delibird rummaged in its white pouch, eventually producing a glowing, colorful orb.

"Hey, wait! I ordered beef brisket rice!" John exclaimed, recognizing the orb as Delibird's Present move—a bomb.

"Delibird-deli…" Delibird stashed the orb back hastily, clearly flustered on its first delivery run.

After some frantic digging in the pouch, it finally retrieved the box of beef brisket rice and handed it to John.

Once John confirmed it was the right item, Delibird sighed with relief, waved goodbye, and flew off to the next delivery.

"See ya! If I ever find a wild Delibird , I'm definitely raising one," John said, waving as Delibird left.

Putting the meal aside, John closed his handheld, planning to browse videos while he ate.

Just as he looked down, he noticed his Gameboy had entered a battle screen. Opposite his character stood a Ralts with a distinctive blue mushroom-shaped head.

"Huh?"

John's eyes widened. That wasn't a regular Ralts—it was a Shiny!

"A Shiny Ralts…!" John gasped, taking a deep breath to steady himself.

Stay calm. Don't celebrate just yet—only after I've caught it, he reminded himself, though his hands were already shaking. He'd been searching for this Shiny Ralts for so long, it felt surreal to finally see one.

No attacks, no switching Pokemon—just a Pokeball, right away. No way I'd risk hurting it!

He had hundreds of Pokeballs stocked up, courtesy of the Zigzagoon who'd been scavenging for him daily. Ralts at this level didn't know Teleport, so he could catch it at his own pace.

The first Pokeball flew.

The Shiny Ralts entered the ball, and after a few brief shakes, it clicked shut.

[Congratulations! You caught Ralts!]

This is love!! 

Still, no time to relax.

John had his character immediately run to the Pokemon Center in Petalburg City, where he pulled the Shiny Ralts from storage. Before he even checked its stats, he saved the game.

[Do you want to save and exit?]

"Save."

[Saving…]

[Save complete, exiting game.]

As the screen went dark, a cascade of items poured onto the floor, nearly burying John's room.

These were the results of ten hours of scavenging by the Zigzagoon pack, items he'd forgotten to sell.

Digging through the pile, John finally pulled out Ralts' Pokeball and released it.

The ball opened, casting a silver light, and the blue-headed Ralts floated to the floor.

"Ralts~~ o(〃-〃)o"