Chapter 13: IRL Candies!

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After completing a full round of tests—

Along with a brief assessment of Litten's physical endurance and its ability's effect on humans—

The moves Ember, Scratch, Growl, Crunch, Nasty Plot, and Heat Wave were tested.

Six moves in total, each practiced several times.

Unfortunately, the coveted move Fake Out wasn't among them.

However, Li Xiang wasn't worried. He had already confirmed that inherited moves in this world could be learned the same way as in Generation VIII—by practicing with other Pokémon of the same species.

Here, "same species" refers to Pokémon with the same Pokédex number.

In other words, Litten could only learn from other Litten—not Torracat or Incineroar.

This meant that, just like in Pokémon games with the Furfrou mechanics, Pokémon in their pre-evolved and evolved forms were treated as separate species.

Conveniently, the daycare center had a Litten that knew Fake Out. It was a stolen Pokémon whose original owner had yet to be found.

Given Purugly's connections in the daycare, Li Xiang could simply ask for help when the Pokémon were let out for exercise.

If that didn't work, he could always turn to the local forum to find someone willing to teach for a fee. There were plenty of Litten capable of using Fake Out, not just one or two.

And if that still didn't work, the academy he was about to attend would undoubtedly have resources to teach the move.

One way or another, Litten would learn it. Move mastery didn't need to be rushed—everything should be done step by step.

For now, the priority was building rapport with Litten.

"Maybe next month," Li Xiang thought. "Next month, we'll learn it."

"Good job!"

He crouched down and ruffled Litten's head before pulling a lollipop out of his pocket and handing it over.

"Meow~"

Litten, who had zero resistance to catnip, let out a delighted purr. Using its front paws, it eagerly grabbed the lollipop, licking and sniffing it with relish.

Though its gaze remained clear—unlike Purugly, who became glassy-eyed and wriggled like a caterpillar when exposed to catnip—it purred loudly and rubbed its face against Li Xiang's hand, radiating contentment.

Curious, Li Xiang gently tried to pull the lollipop away from Litten's paws and mouth.

He had expected resistance—a swat at least—but to his surprise, Litten let go without a fuss, looking up at him in confusion. It obediently crouched on the ground as if asking, "Why are we stopping already?"

Impossible!

Cats exposed to catnip are supposed to lose all sense of reason!

Could it be that the potency of the catnip wasn't strong enough?

Li Xiang was puzzled but didn't forget to scratch Litten under its chin, praising it, "How are you such a precious little treasure, huh?"

Adorable, obedient animals always won people's hearts.

In the end, the lollipop went back to Litten. A kitten this endearing deserved a reward.

Delighted, Litten hugged the lollipop and resumed licking it enthusiastically.

"Meow~"

Under the shade of the fruit tree—

Purugly squinted, glancing at the lollipop. Something about it seemed familiar…

It must be a coincidence. After all, Purugly had seen Li Xiang put two new lollipops into his bag that morning. There was no way he'd give its treat to Litten… right?

—But he totally would.

Thankfully, Purugly didn't know this, or it would've pounced on Li Xiang to teach him a lesson.

Suddenly—

"Ah!"

A startled cry echoed from the distance!

Purugly jolted awake, alarmed, and began scanning its surroundings in panic.

"Meow? Meow??" it called out, wide-eyed.

'What's going on? Is something on fire?!'

Following the source of the noise, Purugly saw Li Xiang staring blankly at his palm. Even Litten was startled by him, its catnip lollipop dropping to the ground and picking up dust.

So, what exactly had happened?

—Li Xiang didn't know either.

All he knew was that as he stood up after giving Litten the catnip, something small and hard had mysteriously appeared in his palm.

Looking down, he saw a blue-and-white triangular pill—or candy?—no bigger than a fingertip.

"What… How did this end up in my hand?"

Li Xiang's eyes widened in disbelief. He wracked his brain but couldn't recall putting anything like this in his pocket. This outfit was freshly changed yesterday, and all it had held was catnip—no candy, no pills, nothing out of the ordinary.

Besides, when he handed Litten the lollipop, his palm had been empty. This thing had appeared out of nowhere!

Completely baffled.

No warning. No mental preparation.

'Could this be a prank by a Psychic or Ghost-type Pokémon?'

That was the first thought to pop into Li Xiang's mind.

Psychic-types had a myriad of strange moves, like Trick, which swaps held items, or Telekinesis, which manipulates objects. Ghost-types, meanwhile, were known for their stealth. As long as there was a shadow, they could operate undetected—even face-to-face.

Planting an unknown candy or pill in his hand would've been child's play for them.

Could it be Meowstic's doing?

Or perhaps a wild Pokémon hiding nearby?

"There might be a wild Pokémon nearby! Purugly, take Litten and search the area!"

Li Xiang gave the order and rushed back into the house, dragging the drowsy Meowstic from its spot on the rocking chair.

Regardless of whether it was responsible, Meowstic was his best bet at finding the culprit.

Li Xiang, as an ordinary human, had no means to detect hiding Pokémon.

Though confused, Purugly followed his instructions, leading Litten around as it sniffed the air for any unfamiliar scents.

The sleepy Meowstic, suddenly yanked awake, was bewildered and nearly swiped at Li Xiang's face.

But after hearing a brief explanation, it graciously forgave him and began scanning the surroundings with its psychic power for any unusual traces.

In the end—

The entire commotion cost them ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, Meowstic returned empty-handed and irritated, clearly convinced Li Xiang had wasted its time.

Purugly felt similarly but said nothing, retreating back to the tree shade for another nap.

Only Li Xiang sat on the steps, the Litten by his side, staring curiously at the triangular candy in his hand.

It seemed to be candy.

Earlier, Li Xiang had scraped a tiny bit off, placed it on his tongue to taste, and confirmed it was sweet. He didn't dare swallow it, though, rinsing his mouth repeatedly with a big bucket of water.

But what exactly was this?

Wait... triangular candy!

Li Xiang's pupils widened slightly—he might know what this was!

—Quick Candy!

From Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

If he wasn't mistaken, this was one of the candies with stat-boosting functions! Specifically, one that enhanced a Pokémon's Speed!

Candy Mechanics.

Introduced to reduce the difficulty of raising Pokémon and clearing the game, this system originated in Pokémon GO and was refined in Let's Go!

The mechanic divided the six stat categories into different colored candies, each coming in regular, Large (L), and Extra Large (XL) sizes, with varying levels of stat boosts per candy.

A bit convoluted, honestly.

But in the end, it allowed any Pokémon to gain up to 200 points in each stat.

To put it in perspective: 200 extra points could make a Caterpie's stats comparable to a typical Rayquaza!

If this triangular item truly was Quick Candy, then Li Xiang felt his future was smooth sailing.

That kind of boost was absolutely broken!

200 points for every stat, totaling 1,200?!

Still…

In the games, candies were obtained through capturing, transferring, or occasionally finding Pokémon.

So how had this one appeared in his hand?

Li Xiang's expression turned contemplative. He didn't dare feed it to Litten right away—if something went wrong, he'd have nowhere to cry about it.

What if he was wrong about it being candy?

Let's Go! was already a two-year-old game by the time he crossed into this world. When he left, it was the era of Sword and Shield. That generation was practically a relic.

How could he be sure of anything here?

Better not rush. Let's wait.

If it truly was Quick Candy, then where there was one, there might be more. No need to be hasty.

And he still didn't understand what triggered the candy to appear.

Was it training Pokémon? Did some hidden condition activate it? Could it have been tied to Litten's level-up?

Li Xiang went inside, retrieved something resembling a thermometer from the study, and held it against the release switch on Litten's Luxury Ball.

The greenish display on the back flickered before settling at Level 4.

It was Level 4 before, too, meaning no level-up had occurred.

Releasing Litten back out, Li Xiang frowned in thought. This matter was far too important to take lightly.

Additionally...

If the candy mechanic worked the same way, then repeatedly capturing a particular Pokémon might yield Pokemon Exclusive Candy. (Species-specific Candy)

Exclusive Candy, after all, boosted all stats at once.

Much better value than the standard candies.

But sitting here, theorizing for so long—who was to say game mechanics applied in this world? This could very well be a new system he didn't understand.

"Ahh… if only some system could explain this stuff to me," Li Xiang muttered, grumbling as usual despite his good fortune.

He was someone who disliked complications, and this candy was the definition of troublesome. If it operated under the old mechanics, that would make things even more annoying.

"Meow?"

Litten didn't quite understand Li Xiang's worries, gazing curiously at the candy as if tempted to poke it with a paw.

"Don't even think about it."

Li Xiang stopped it just in time—poking was fine, but what if it tried to eat it?

Heading back inside, he found an old metal biscuit tin, placed the candy inside, and shoved it under his bed in his luggage.

Once he confirmed the situation, this candy would become his ultimate trump card.

As expected—crossing into another world without any cheats just didn't cut it.

...

In the afternoon.

Li Xiang lay sprawled on the sofa, watching TV while nibbling on a Baumkuchen cake. Litten, curled into a ball beside him, was sound asleep, clutching its catnip lollipop after a grueling morning of training.

Mrs. Yin yawned as she descended the stairs. "Li Xiang, what did you have for lunch? Why didn't you call me?"

"Noodles. You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to disturb you."

"Noodles? Since when could you cook noodles? Wait, you used the stove?!"

Mrs. Yin's expression changed as she rushed to the kitchen, expecting chaos. Instead, she found it neat and clean, save for a pot slightly out of place.

Li Xiang waved casually. "Just plain noodles with soy sauce—not exactly rocket science."

Mrs. Yin gave him a surprised look. "Well, well! Who knew you had this skill? Good, at least I won't have to worry about you starving to death on your own in the future."

Seriously? Just how low are your expectations of me?

Li Xiang felt drained trying to respond. Besides, wasn't there always delivery in the future?

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