In the blink of an eye, before the charging Raticate could even react, Leon had already dealt with the three Rattata behind it.
Raticate was a Pokémon he knew very well. Over the past three months, he had used Pokémon of this kind countless times as practice opponents.
The belt at his waist vibrated lightly. A flash of red light streaked forward, and a red fish appeared on the battlefield.
Magikarp.
Its entire body was crimson red. A golden, crown-shaped fin sat atop its head, and two long yellow whiskers extended from either side of its mouth.
Magikarp was one of the most common Pokémon in the world, found near bodies of water almost everywhere. Even in polluted environments, it could survive. Its vitality was notoriously strong.
The moment Magikarp appeared, it flopped forward energetically, positioning itself in front of the three stunned Rattata. Its tail swung violently, cutting through the air with sharp whooshing sounds.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Three clean strikes landed in rapid succession, sending the Rattata flying.
Already dazed, the additional blows were too much. When they hit the ground, their eyes spun in circles.
They had completely lost the ability to battle.
The coordination between Leon and his Pokémon was smooth and efficient, without a trace of hesitation. It was immediately apparent that they worked together with remarkable synergy.
And that was no coincidence.
"Ding. Three Rattata were defeated. 9 Battle Points obtained."
The system notification echoed in Leon's ear.
"Not bad. That's three more."
Leon was quite satisfied. He had already tested this—system defeat tasks only counted if a Pokémon participated in the battle.
Even though his combat style with Magikarp was somewhat unconventional compared to standard Trainers, as long as the task was completed, that was enough.
He acted as the main force.
Magikarp handled support—and finishing blows.
It couldn't be helped. When he first chose his starter Pokémon, he had no idea why he had ended up with a Magikarp Poké Ball.
But after three months together, Leon had no regrets.
With system rewards and his relentless effort, everything was moving in a positive direction.
His Magikarp was nothing like the dull, vacant-eyed Magikarp most people knew. Instead, it was driven—just like him—yearning for strength, chasing the faint light of a future where it could rise above its fate.
Leon had invested the majority of his resources into Magikarp, and over these three months, they had grown together.
"Rati—!"
Only now did Raticate react.
Seeing the state of the Rattata, it was instantly enraged—and at the same time, it realized that this prey was far more dangerous than expected.
It took a deep breath and straightened its body. A faint light surfaced around it as its aura subtly intensified.
"Focus Energy…"
Leon tightened his grip on the metal rod, his expression turning serious.
In this state, Raticate was dangerous. If he got injured here, things could become troublesome very quickly.
At the same time, the system panel in front of him displayed Raticate's information.
This was another system function: Eye of Appraisal, allowing him to inspect the data of observed Pokémon.
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Name: Raticate (Male)Type: NormalAbility: Run AwayPotential: HighLevel: 20
Moves:
-Tackle
-Tail Whip
-Quick Attack
-Focus Energy
-Bite
-Pursuit
-Hyper Fang
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"Level 20, and it still hasn't learned Sucker Punch or Scary Face," Leon muttered."As expected, reality really is different from the games."
In his previous life, aside from watching the anime, he had also played the Pokémon games. He clearly remembered that Raticate would normally learn moves like Scary Face and Sucker Punch around this level.
But in the real world, differences in survival conditions—or even nutrition—could lead to significant variations.
He had already confirmed this across many Pokémon.
While Leon was thinking, Raticate finished focusing its energy and charged again. Its large incisors gleamed with cold light, its momentum far more aggressive than before.
Leon didn't confront it head-on.
He shifted his position repeatedly, using the surrounding terrain to evade Raticate's attacks.
During the exchange, Leon discreetly took out a brown, pill-like object. With a squeeze of his fingers, he crushed it into powder, which dispersed into the air as he continued to engage Raticate.
"Rati—!"
Attack after attack failed to land, and Raticate began to grow impatient.
Snap—!
Another Hyper Fang missed, biting into empty air.
"Ra—?"
A moment later, Raticate sensed something was wrong.
Its body felt sluggish. Its strength was draining away.
"Alright," Leon said calmly."You've attacked enough. My turn."
Seeing that the timing was right, Leon stopped dodging.
In a flash of light, he used Teleport, reappearing directly behind Raticate. He raised the metal rod and swung it with practiced precision toward its head.
Bang!
Raticate's vision exploded into stars.
It wasn't that it didn't want to dodge—it couldn't. Its awareness was there, but its body refused to respond. Instinctively, it knew this was the work of the human in front of it.
Bang! Bang!
Before it could recover, two more strikes landed squarely on its head.
Raticate's consciousness wavered. In its haze, it almost felt as if it saw an elderly ancestor calling out to it from a distance.
It reached forward weakly—
Then a flash of red appeared.
A fish tail.
SMACK!
Its body flew through the air, and everything went dark.
"Ding. Raticate defeated. 10 Battle Points obtained."
The system notification sounded once more.
"Ten Battle Points," Leon said with a soft chuckle."That's not bad—far better than three Rattata."
Battle Points were calculated based on the relative strength between combatants. Earning ten points meant the system considered them roughly comparable in power.
"A high-potential Raticate should fetch a decent price too."
Leon took out an empty Poké Ball and tossed it toward the unconscious Raticate.
Thunk—
There was no resistance.
Capture successful.
As for the three Rattata, Leon checked them with the system. Their potential was average—nothing special.
After a brief moment of consideration, he still took out three Poké Balls and captured them as well, placing the Poké Balls into a separate compartment of his backpack.
Leon's backpack was a spatial backpack, featuring multiple compartments. The main compartment contained a storage space of over twenty square meters, capable of holding objects—but not living beings. Poké Balls containing Pokémon also couldn't be stored there, which was why they were placed in another section.
Spatial backpacks were one of the great inventions of this world, created using space-folding principles. They were incredibly convenient for Trainers exploring the wild.
Leon finally understood why, back when he watched the anime, the protagonists always seemed to pull out endless supplies without ever carrying anything visibly.
With a spatial backpack, it all made sense.
This particular backpack—a twenty-cubic-meter model—had been a reward for his outstanding performance.
Among this batch of recruits, very few possessed one.
It was certainly not something everyone had.