A blond young man, looking about two or three years older than Nathan, swaggered up to Treecko and said in an extremely arrogant tone,
"Hey, become my Pokémon! I'll make you famous on the national stage!"
"Treecko!"
Without the slightest hesitation, Treecko shook its head and turned to leave.
At this moment, the blond man still refused to give up. He pulled out a Poké Ball and sneered,
"If you won't come willingly, then I'll force you! Come out, Kingler!"
With a flash, the Poké Ball opened, and a commander-level Kingler appeared.
Nathan couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth as he watched Kingler entangle Treecko.
"Seriously? Is there a master of reverse typing in this world too?"
Just to be clear, he wasn't mocking anyone!
He just really couldn't hold back a little amusement!
The real world had some mechanics that were far more realistic than in the games.
For example, pokemon's evolution, or how Pokémon learned moves—
As long as the training was good enough, even gym-level Pokémon could master elite-level techniques!
But when it came to type advantages, it was even stricter than the games!
In general, Pokémon of similar rank—Grass-types absolutely could not defeat Fire-types.
Not to mention situations involving quadruple weaknesses, where even an underdog could pull off miraculous victories!
In short,
reverse-typing masters really had no future in this world.
It was like trying to evaporate a comparable volume of water with fire—it would still take time.
But if you poured water onto fire, it would extinguish it instantly!
(Unless, of course, it was some kind of special flame.)
Back to the battle between Treecko and Kingler—
Even though Kingler had a huge advantage in level, it still couldn't immediately take down Treecko.
However, the gap in strength, speed, and endurance was simply too wide to be bridged by type advantage alone.
And the blond guy shamelessly kept giving commands!
Before long, Treecko began to falter.
"Watch your left! Kingler's aiming a Water Gun there!"
Just as Treecko was about to take a hit, a voice suddenly rang out.
Without much hesitation, Treecko quickly dodged to the left!
A jet of water narrowly missed hitting Treecko!
Both the blond man and Treecko turned toward the source of the voice.
There was no need to guess—
It was Nathan!
"Asshole, how can a famous genius trainer who is hailed as a rising star be so rude?!"
The blond man gritted his teeth as soon as he recognized Nathan.
He knew he couldn't possibly beat Nathan in a battle.
So he could only attack with words!
At this age, pride was everything.
The blond man was betting that Nathan wouldn't take insults lightly!
But to his shock, Nathan didn't seem to care at all. He smiled and said,
"Putting aside whether someone like you even deserves my respect, I just think it would be a huge waste for Treecko to follow a Trainer like you."
The blond man's face darkened instantly.
In this world, no amount of trash talk could match the sheer damage of Nathan's words!
…
Simply put, what Nathan said was basically the equivalent of pointing at a man and yelling that he was impotent, ugly, and hopeless.
If anything, Nathan's words were even more insulting!
Of course, Nathan didn't feel like he was insulting him.
He was simply making a sincere evaluation.
"You… you have no manners at all! I'm not going to argue with you! Get lost already!"
The blond man's temper almost exploded, but knowing he couldn't win a fight, he could only snort coldly and endure it.
"Not happening. Like I said, it's a shame for Treecko to be stuck with someone like you."
Without even trying to hide his disdain, Nathan added,
"If your Kingler hadn't evolved, there's no way it could beat Treecko."
"And more importantly, your skills as a Trainer are terrible!"
"Choosing a Pokémon with a type advantage is fine if you're trying to win psychologically, but being bad at commanding and still being shameless about it? That's all on you!"
This wasn't the wilderness.
They were in Spring City—a city famous for Grass-types!
The blond man's behavior might not have provoked hatred from Pokémon, but contempt? That was absolutely guaranteed.
As Nathan and the blond guy kept arguing, a crowd of Trainers and Pokémon started gathering around them, becoming spectators.
Of course, they weren't just watching—they also began to murmur among themselves:
"I saw it too just now."
"Honestly, that guy's command skills are terrible!"
"Yeah, and he's so shameless on top of that. He's an embarrassment to all Trainers."
"He should just walk away and stop making a fool of himself."
The online opinion was completely one-sided—because the facts were clear.
And besides, Nathan was better looking and stronger than the blond guy!
"I don't accept this! If you've got the guts, use this Treecko to beat me!"
"If you can't even do that, what right do you have to call me trash?!"
Listening to all the disdainful remarks around him, the blond man's expression twisted with anger, and he shouted furiously.
And then…
Everyone around looked at him with even greater contempt and scorn.
Why do Trainers command Pokémon in battle?
Because Trainers can provide a "God's eye view"—seeing the whole field and guiding their Pokémon accordingly.
This was a basic, fundamental skill!
What the blond guy was doing was like—
Imagine someone who's Silver rank in Honor of Kings telling a Grandmaster to use a hero they're unfamiliar with, plus giving themselves a level and gold advantage, and still demanding a fair match!
It wasn't just shameless—it was almost breathtakingly shameless!
"I have to admit, among all the shameless people I've ever seen, no one surpasses you!"
"I, Nathan, willingly crown you the strongest!"
Taking a deep breath, Nathan declared with utter seriousness.
Coincidentally, many people around were already recording the scene on their phones.
It probably wouldn't take long for this moment to go viral online.
Unlike his previous life, in this world, Nathan's phrase "willing to call you the strongest" was pure sarcasm!
The blond guy's face turned ashen, but he still didn't leave. He clenched his teeth and shouted,
"Are you going to accept or not?!"
"If you win, this Treecko is yours!"
"Of course. No problem."
"Treecko, is that okay with you?"
"I'll help you defeat that Kingler!"
Nathan didn't hesitate at all. After nodding, he turned and asked Treecko directly.
Treecko looked at Nathan, then at the blond guy—and instantly felt a huge sense of contrast.
The gap between people was sometimes greater than the gap between Pokémon!
"Treecko!"
Without much hesitation, Treecko nodded in agreement.
The number of Trainers around them pulling out their phones to record skyrocketed!
"This is huge news!"
"Seriously, huge! A rising star of the League is about to battle with a massive disadvantage! Even with type advantage, it's almost impossible!"
"Yeah, that's why it's big news!"
"If he really does it, then the title of "Rising Star" will be completely established and become an honor!"
Everyone's eyes were glued to Nathan and the blond guy, discussing animatedly.
They were clever, too—not analyzing the win rate.
They just focused on what it would mean if Nathan won.
At this moment, the blond guy finally realized:
He had forced himself onto a cliff's edge!
If he lost, he would be a laughingstock for years to come!
"I absolutely can't lose! Kingler, Water Gun—now!!"
Gripping his fists, the blond guy yelled suddenly, almost like launching a sneak attack.
And Kingler, loyal as ever, followed the command instantly.
"King!"
Kingler's massive claws opened, firing a powerful Water Gun toward Treecko!
Even though water was weak against grass,
with the massive level difference, the Water Gun's impact was still strong enough to potentially knock Treecko down!
"Hmph! Treecko, dodge! Duck and move to the left front!"
Seeing through the Water Gun's trajectory at a glance, Nathan gave his command without hesitation.
"Treecko!"
Although it wasn't his own Trainer, Treecko only hesitated for a moment before obeying.
Fortunately, the Water Gun only barely grazed Treecko's head without hitting directly.
"What an incredible dodge!"
"Seriously, what's inside Nathan's head? Is that kind of prediction a result of experience turning into pure instinct?"
…
(TN: Chatgpt translations are good but sometimes they're worse than google translate.)