Chapter 8

Tetsuya took the incubator containing the Torchic egg and walked upstairs to his room.

He carefully secured it on the table, then lay on his bed, turned on the projection mode of his newly bought watch, and began browsing through research papers published by Alliance scholars.

As the night deepened, silence enveloped the room completely.

Tetsuya gradually drifted into a deep sleep.

Only the incubator on the table, and the Torchic egg inside it, flashed a faint red light from time to time.

—

Two days later, the midday sun shone brightly.

Tetsuya had just finished his morning training session with Pidgeot and returned home to prepare lunch.

Suddenly, the egg in the incubator began to glow white.

Tetsuya's heart leapt—this was it. The same thing had happened when Pidgeot had hatched back in the day.

Timing-wise, it made sense. The Torchic egg had been in the incubator for a little over 50 hours, aligning perfectly with standard hatching times. No premature birth, no abnormalities.

In his mind, it felt like time had slowed as he watched the brilliant light pulse and shimmer. Finally, it began to fade.

"Chamo!"

A soft, high-pitched cry rang out as a tiny orange-bodied Pokémon with two small wings appeared before Tetsuya.

Torchic blinked its round eyes and looked up at the tall, imposing figure in front of it.

Most newly hatched Pokémon instinctively recognize the first creature they see as their guardian. Torchic was no exception.

"Hello, little guy!" Tetsuya greeted with a smile.

"Cha!" Torchic chirped, eyes narrowing happily.

Tetsuya reached out carefully, cradling the newborn chick in his hands, running his fingers through its slightly ruffled feathers. The fluffy down covering its body made it feel incredibly warm in his palms.

A newborn Pokémon's body was still fragile, and Torchic soon dozed off under Tetsuya's gentle care.

He carefully placed the sleeping chick into the small bed he had prepared in advance—custom-made for young Pokémon.

Silently, he commanded, "Zero, analyze and open Torchic's panel."

A translucent blue panel—visible only to Tetsuya—appeared before his eyes.

[Torchic]

Category: Chick Pokémon

Type: Fire

Height: 0.18m (average: 0.4m)

Weight: 1kg (average: 2.5kg)

Ability: Blaze (Boosts Fire-type move power when HP is low)

Hidden Ability: Speed Boost (Continuously increases speed over time in battle until reaching the limit)

Moves: Scratch, Peck, Growl, Double-Edge (Inherited), Burn Up (Inherited), Agility (Inherited)

Level: 1 

Potential: Champion

Training Recommendations: The juvenile stage should focus primarily on development. Necessary materials include: nutritional supplements, Miltank milk, vitamin tablets…

After the larval stage, prioritizing leg muscle training is recommended. Current developmental rate is 1.44 times higher than average, with the potential for further growth through training. (Recommended post-training diet includes: Jigglypuff eggs…)

Additionally, mixing Spelon Berries with Chople Berries is advised to enhance internal Fire energy, with a gradual increase in Chople Berry proportion over time.

Note: Detected Fire energy intensity is 0.5 times higher than the species' average, indicating an exceptional Fire affinity. Adjusting Spelon-to-Chople Berry ratio from the standard 5:1 to 3:1 is recommended.

Furthermore, initial reflex assessment suggests reaction speeds at least twice the species' average, indicating outstanding battle instincts. Further analysis required.

Regarding Speed Boost ability development—refer to Dr. Birch's doctoral thesis, "Research on Hidden Abilities: An In-Depth Study of Speed Boost in Torchic."

Tetsuya took a deep breath as he processed Zero's analysis.

Putting Torchic's talents aside for a moment—what the hell were these inherited moves?

Double-Edge, Burn Up, Agility—each one was either an incredibly powerful attack or a highly tactical move.

And they belonged to three different types: Normal, Fire, and Psychic.

Who were its parents? How did it inherit such a bizarre mix of moves?

Ordinary Torchic couldn't inherit Double-Edge or Agility naturally.

This completely shattered everything Tetsuya had learned about Pokémon genetics over the years.

Moreover, these inherited moves explained its exceptional battle and Fire-type potential.

Inheriting a move like Burn Up—a high-level Fire move—meant Torchic's internal Fire energy reserves were already exceptionally strong. Pokémon with lesser potential wouldn't be able to inherit or execute a move like this at all.

Meanwhile, Double-Edge and Agility pointed toward further enhanced physical abilities and reaction speeds.

Genetic inheritance and natural talent complemented each other—stronger Pokémon tended to inherit stronger moves, and inheriting strong moves often resulted in greater natural ability.

Looking at this panel, Tetsuya felt like he had just won the lottery. If someone told him now that this Torchic would never become a champion, he wouldn't believe it for a second.

Pidgeot, who had Champion-level potential, had only inherited Whirlwind—not even a particularly powerful move.

But looking at Torchic's inherited skills, its entire status screen might as well have been flashing: "Born to be elite."

Not to mention, Zero's data indicated that Torchic far outclassed its peers in multiple aspects.

You had to understand—these decimal-based multipliers, when converted into percentages, could range from a 30-40% advantage to as high as 80-90%. That was insane.

In high-level battles, a mere 10% advantage could be enough to suppress an opponent. Torchic had overwhelming advantages across the board.

Put simply, Tetsuya estimated that at equal levels (before reaching champion-tier), as long as the opponent's Pokémon wasn't a literal Legendary, Torchic could probably sweep three opponents in a row.

And if it had type advantages? It wouldn't even be a fair fight.

How many Pokémon in the world had both Champion-level potential and these kinds of inherited moves?

Even if they existed, at best, they'd only have an even matchup with Torchic.

More importantly, Tetsuya had absolute confidence in his battle strategy skills. He wouldn't be a weak link holding his Pokémon back.

After all, he was talented too.

Once again, he found himself fantasizing about the future.

If this thing evolved into Blaziken? Good luck to anyone who dared challenge him.

But his excitement quickly faded as a troubling realization hit him.

"The Spelon-to-Chople Berry ratio has been adjusted from 5:1 to 3:1."

Zero's simple remark carried a weight of financial doom.

Tetsuya's mind raced—the increased Chople Berry proportion meant an overall cost increase of roughly 60%.

After adjusting for the Spelon Berry cost, his total training budget would need to increase by approximately 50%.

If his original estimate for raising Torchic to elite level was around 8 million, then at this rate…

He needed to invest nearly another 4 million!?

Tetsuya did some quick calculations and found that, after all his recent purchases, he had about 5.8 million left—including the 1.8 million he had set aside for additional training costs.

…Damn

Tetsuya stared ahead with lifeless eyes, unable to believe the result of his calculations.

He pulled out his calculator and ran the numbers again, just in case—after all, even a genius brain could make mistakes.

But the numbers on the screen told him the harsh truth: he hadn't miscalculated.

If he didn't take on missions, he might… actually go broke before Torchic even reached the elite level.

Because it was unclear exactly how many resources a Pokémon with champion-level potential would require, Tetsuya had revised his initial training plan based on both his own experience and Zero's calculations.

By estimating that it would take around seven to eight months to train a Fire-type Pokémon to elite level, he first compiled a simple data table using known resource requirements for elite Fire-types. He listed out all the necessary training materials and calculated their costs.

He also gathered data on Pokémon with quasi-King and King potential, running the same calculations.

After getting a rough estimate, Tetsuya doubled the projected costs—what he thought was an extremely generous buffer.

After all, even Pidgeot had only cost around 2.3 million so far.

He knew that investing heavily in the beginning would significantly shorten the time needed to reach the same level of strength.

But considering the numbers, if he spent another 1 or 2 million, he could raise a Pokémon to elite level in about eight months.

So, Tetsuya assumed that Torchic's costs should be double that, meaning an estimated 8 million.

Who could have imagined that the moment Torchic hatched, all of those estimates would turn out to be ridiculously low?

For a normal young Fire-type Pokémon, the standard Spelon-to-Chople Berry ratio should be ten to one.

Since Torchic had such high potential, Tetsuya had gritted his teeth and doubled the amount of Chople Berries. This was already the amount used for training standard elite-tier Pokémon.

But then, when he tested Torchic's energy levels, he found that even a five-to-one ratio wasn't enough—it needed a three-to-one mix instead.

If this trend continued, before it even reached elite stage, Torchic might require a one-to-one ratio just to maintain its energy quality and reserves.

Not to mention the increased need for other high-grade materials.

Tetsuya felt a headache coming on just thinking about it.

Originally, he had hoped to have around 3 million left over as emergency funds, but now, that dream was dead.

As for taking on missions before Torchic reached elite level?

Tetsuya decided against it. If anything unexpected happened, he'd have no one to blame but himself.

He glanced at the sleeping Torchic and smiled helplessly.

You have to take proper care of your Pokémon, no matter the cost. Besides, this investment would definitely pay off.

"Just!"

At that moment, Torchic, who had only been asleep for a little while, suddenly woke up.

It wobbled toward Tetsuya, chirping loudly.

"Chamochamo! Chamo!"

Oh, right. Everyone in this world had a peculiar ability—the ability to roughly understand what Pokémon were saying. Even though Tetsuya was a reincarnator, he wasn't exempt from this rule.

Tetsuya picked up Torchic with a chuckle. "You're hungry, aren't you? Don't worry, I've got it all ready for you."

He carried Torchic to the dining table and placed it before a special feeding dish that had a large Torchic logo printed on the bottom.

He poured 200ml of Miltank milk into the bowl, added a dose of nutritional supplement, tossed in a multivitamin tablet, and finished it off with a few spicy Energy Cubes.

That was Torchic's lunch. Dinner would be the same, but breakfast omitted the vitamins and Energy Cubes.

Torchic sniffed around, licked the food, and then began eating happily.

Tetsuya sighed as he watched the little chick devour the expensive meal.

This is all money, little guy…

In less than ten minutes, Torchic had cleaned the entire bowl.

Tetsuya looked at the tiny Pokémon in disbelief. Where did all that food even go? Torchic wasn't that big yet, and the portion was practically the size of its entire body.

"Cha! Chamo!"

Full and satisfied, Torchic hopped off the table and wobbled toward its bed, ready for a nap.

"Hold on a second," Tetsuya called out, stopping it in its tracks.

This little guy was way too cute.

Smiling helplessly, he picked up a Luxury Ball and crouched down to meet Torchic's gaze.

"Little one, do you want to be my Pokémon? If you do, press the button in the center."

He extended the Luxury Ball toward Torchic.

Torchic tilted its head before pressing the button without hesitation.

A flash of red light swallowed it up, and the ball clicked shut without any struggle.

Barely half a minute later, another flash of red light signaled Torchic's exit.

"Chamo! Chamo! Chamo!"

Torchic chirped excitedly, hopping around.

"Oh? You like the space inside?" Tetsuya asked with a smile.

"Cha!" Torchic nodded happily before running toward its bed.

"Chamo!" Torchic pointed at the bed and called out to Tetsuya.

"Alright, I'll store it for you," Tetsuya said, understanding its request.

He picked up his watch and tapped a few commands.

In an instant, Torchic's bed was neatly packed away.

This was another piece of advanced tech from Silph Co.—Tetsuya didn't know the exact science behind it, but normally, objects like beds couldn't be stored inside Poké Balls. However, thanks to Silph Co.'s product integrations, trainers could store linked equipment seamlessly.

Yet another way for corporations to make money.

Seeing its bed disappear, Torchic happily ran back to Tetsuya.

Chuckling, he recalled Torchic back into the Poké Ball.

For young Pokémon, most of the day was spent sleeping to digest energy. Only a small portion of the day was dedicated to light exercise, usually before and after meals.

After putting away Torchic's Poké Ball, Tetsuya headed to the backyard to check on Pidgeot.

Torchic didn't need training just yet, but Pidgeot's training couldn't be neglected.

And so, Tetsuya and Pidgeot continued their daily grind.

—

Twenty days later.

The morning mist was thick, and Tetsuya stood in his carefully renovated backyard with Torchic.

The garden had changed significantly. Several fruit trees had been transplanted to the edges, leaving the center open for training.

A strange device resembling a tennis ball launcher sat nearby, along with small wooden stakes slightly taller than Torchic. Various training props were scattered throughout.

After twenty days of heavy spending, Torchic had finally outgrown its larval stage and was ready to start training.

By now, Torchic stood at 0.6m tall and weighed 4.5kg—far larger than the species' average of 0.4m and 2.5kg. Compared to its peers, Tetsuya's Torchic could be considered a powerhouse.

During this time, it had also naturally learned Ember and Quick Attack.

A lively little troublemaker, Torchic had been using these moves to wreak havoc around the house—much like a hyperactive Growlithe pup.

Of course, that didn't mean it was actually strong. One look at its plump body and clueless expression made it clear that any Pokémon with real battle experience could still wipe the floor with it.

"Alright, Torchic, today we officially begin training!"

Tetsuya took a deep breath, focusing his determination.

Torchic chirped enthusiastically in response.