Chapter 5: False Hope

After waking up, Lian didn't want to get out of bed yet. He rolled over and continued lying there, carefully sensing any changes in his fire energy following the upgrade to Ember.

The energy was noticeably stronger; he could now precisely perceive and skillfully control it. However, the exact improvements would only be evident when actually using the move.

Once fully awake, Lian leisurely got up, swishing his tail as he emerged from the cave.

Another beautiful day! This carefree, laid-back life was exactly the dragon existence he desired.

The only downside was the lack of diverse food options. Although Pecha Berries were delicious, eating them repeatedly became monotonous.

As for hunting other Pokémon for sustenance, Lian couldn't bring himself to do it. If he were still human, it might have been different, but being a Pokémon himself felt incongruous with such actions. Despite the principle of survival of the fittest, it just seemed inappropriate.

Perhaps if cooked delicacies were presented to him, Lian might eagerly partake, but actively hunting prey himself was unthinkable.

Entering human settlements would likely offer more culinary delights, but gaining access wasn't easy unless Lian was captured by a Trainer.

Otherwise, if wild Pokémon appeared near towns, their only fate would be capture and sale, eventually becoming some kid's starter Pokémon. This was especially true for Charmanders, known for their gentle nature and immense potential.

After exiting the cave, Lian headed straight for the Pecha Berry tree, ready to begin another monotonous yet delightful day.

Once well-fed and rested, he comfortably basked in the sun before taking a nap. Upon waking up, Lian prepared to test his Ember move.

He decided to conduct the experiment on this grassy patch. Firstly, the surrounding damp soil and morning dew-covered foliage ensured safety.

Let's begin.

Gathering flame energy at the back of his throat, Lian attempted to split it into two streams but failed; he could only release it all at once.

Huff!

Lian opened his mouth, exhaling a scorching burst of flames towards the ground. As soon as the fireball shot out, he immediately focused on observing its behavior.

The fireball was noticeably larger and slightly faster, albeit just by a bit, with not much significant change.

Rubbing his chin, Lian suddenly realized that the usual sense of emptiness after using Ember had vanished. Instead, within the depths of his body, he felt a gradually intensifying warmth emerging.

He realized it now! Lian had a sudden epiphany about what those five Combat Points enhanced with Ember. It appeared to be the recovery speed of Fire-type energy.

Firstly, Pokemon require energy to execute moves, and this energy cannot be infinite. After using a skill, they need to recover energy before being able to cast again.

By spending Combat Points on Ember, he increased not its power but rather the recovery speed of Fire-type energy. This indirectly boosted the number of times Ember could be used consecutively.

With faster energy replenishment, one could continuously unleash moves. However, at present, the recovery speed was merely average.

Lian waited quite some time before feeling ready to use Ember again. In battle, casting Ember twice would likely prove challenging.

He wondered if his remaining Combat Points were sufficient to enhance the recovery speed enough for two quick successive casts of Ember, pondering internally.

Although he understood how spending Combat Points improved Ember's effectiveness, Lian still had a question: Attack moves seemed reusable multiple times, such as Claw. Despite being a Normal-type move, Claw did not consume energy or, more accurately, can be utilized as long as the user has limbs capable of performing the action.

As for that Bellsprout, its Vine Whip move was Grass-type, but since it's a physical attack rather than special, Bellsprout could rapidly use it in quick succession.

Does this imply that Special moves consume energy, while Physical attacks do not?

Alternatively, there's another possibility: as the level increases, the energy recovery speed also improves. Consequently, Bellsprout might be able to continuously unleash Vine Whip due to enhanced recovery, which seems plausible.

In that case, what changes would occur if I upgrade the Claw move further? Will its power increase?

At midnight, Lian once again regained consciousness from his sleep and entered the System space.

His arrival here came as no surprise; he had already surmised that after activating the System space, every night upon falling asleep, he would enter this realm at least once, regardless of whether he fought or not.

The data panel before him remained unchanged from the previous day, indicating that only new battles would refresh the combat statistics.

With 97 Combat Points remaining, Lian decided to invest them all into the Ember move. After all, Ember is his primary offensive tool, and previously, he even boosted his Special Attack by twenty points.

If Lian could rapidly unleash Ember twice during combat, although not guaranteeing a damage-free victory against that Level 11 Trumpet Flower, it would certainly be too much for his opponent to withstand.

He continuously clicked the plus sign next to Ember, watching the Combat Points swiftly decrease. Only when the plus sign turned gray did Lian stop, leaving him with a pitiful three Combat Points remaining.

In total, he added Ember nineteen times, making it twenty overall, including the previous upgrade. While unsure how quickly fire energy would now recover after using Ember, he anticipated it would be significantly faster.

As a basic move, Ember was destined to become obsolete eventually. If spending one hundred Combat Points couldn't enable Lian to use Ember more than twice rapidly in battle, then he might as well give up.

With almost all his Combat Points depleted, Lian felt no regret; these points were meant to be spent on enhancing his abilities, and he believed he had allocated them wisely.

Thinking about exiting the space, Lian's consciousness returned to his dream state within seconds, until dawn arrived.

Upon waking, the first thing Lian did was stand up and immediately release Ember towards the rock wall, carefully observing the recovery speed of his fire energy.

Moments later, Lian's expression lit up with surprise.

In just this brief span, he felt ready to unleash Ember again. With a burst, another scorching flame erupted from his mouth.

The consumption of 100 Combat Points significantly accelerated his energy recovery speed, transforming what was once a cooldown of approximately one hundred seconds into mere seconds for a small skill.

"Heh heh."

Lian suddenly had an idea. Previously, since he could only use Ember once, he had to carefully select targets for optimal evaluation scores. However, now, quantity could compensate for any shortcomings.

By defeating more than ten Pokemon in a day, even if each battle resulted in merely F-grade evaluations, the cumulative score would still surpass one hundred.

Although Lian generally disliked fighting due to its physical toll, when it came to overwhelming opponents with instant kills, he found great enjoyment.

Let's go!

With a joyous wag of his tail, Lian began searching for Grass- and Bug-type Pokemon. For these creatures, that day became their most unfortunate in the forest.

A frenzied Charmander roamed the forest, relentlessly seeking out Bug and Grass-type Pokemon. Upon encountering them, it unleashed a burst of flames, causing weaker creatures to hide away, too afraid to emerge.

Even some powerful Bug-type Pokemon united, planning to drive this Charmander out of the forest.

Unaware of these developments, Lian proudly tallied his day's achievements. He had defeated sixteen Grass-type Pokemon, mostly Oddishes, along with seven Bug-type Pokemon, including Kakunas and Cascoons.

Notably, none of these Pokemon perished; they are remarkably resilient, with many species capable of surviving for hundreds of years.

In total, he vanquished twenty-three Pokemon, each one instantly defeated by his Ember move. Despite their relative weakness, several were evolved forms, leading him to estimate that at least ten of these battles would yield E-grade Combat Points.

As for D-rank, Lian estimated it was unlikely this time. He deliberately targeted weaker opponents like Metapods and other Bug-types; those likely evolved into Butterfree above level ten. Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt confident to engage them.

Despite dominating the battles, Lian was exhausted and immediately fell asleep upon returning to his cave.

At midnight, Lian's consciousness suddenly awakened as he found himself back in the system space. With anticipation, he approached the data panel.

"No!" Lian let out a despairing cry, his face turning pale as he collapsed backward, feeling utterly devastated, as if he had just swallowed something foul.

The data panel displayed only the statistics from Lian's first battle of the day, with no record of the subsequent encounters! It seemed all his efforts were in vain.

In that moment, Lian felt insulted by the system's apparent mockery, unable to vent his growing anger.

To make matters worse, as a precaution, Lian chose a Wurmple for his first battle, resulting in a mere F+ combat rating.

Despite Lian achieving instant kills against Level 2 Wurmples, the final reward amounted to only a pitiful thirty-plus Combat Points.

The F+ rating might seem significantly higher than his first battle, but Lian was no longer satisfied with earning just dozens of Combat Points each time.

This experience felt like a major loss, not only wasting his time and energy but also undermining his intelligence due to the system's insult.

The sole positive aspect for Lian was seeing his level on the data panel increase from 5 to 6, clearly reflecting his full day of continuous battles.

Although each encounter ended swiftly, it still took considerable effort and left him exhausted.

Now, Lian's attributes panel displayed Level 6, with noticeable improvements across all ability values.

Charmander (Lian)

Gender: ♂

Type: Fire-type

Level: Lv.6

Ability: Blaze

Moves: Claw, Growl, Ember

Stats: HP 207, Attack 112, Defense 102, Special Attack 142, Special Defense 110, Speed 128