After eating his fill without interruption, Mankey's attitude toward Kazuki clearly improved.
Seizing the moment, Kazuki started the capture attempt.
"How was it, Mankey? Had a good meal?"
"Raargh!"
Mankey pumped its fists enthusiastically, clearly satisfied.
"Then how about coming with me? Meals like this, every day, no more sleeping rough under the stars!"
Mankey stared at Kazuki for a moment, then gestured with a clenched fist—clearly a challenge. Beat it in battle, and it would follow.
A duel capture, then—but since Mankey initiated it, there was no risk of it flying into a rage from being provoked.
"Alright then! Let's have a match!"
"Go, Gastly! Spar with Mankey!"
Kazuki sent out the lowest-level Pokémon in his team—even lower than the wild Mankey.
But Mankey was a Fighting-type, and Fighting moves were nearly useless against Ghost-types.
In battles like this, if you can use a type advantage, you absolutely should.
Gastly's wispy, unpredictable form made most of Mankey's attacks miss entirely. After draining most of its stamina, Gastly ended the battle with a string of Shadow Balls.
And since it had taken down a higher-level opponent, Gastly leveled up as well.
[Pokémon: Gastly | Level: Lv.22 → Lv.23]
Mankey, defeated but not enraged, was promptly caught by Kazuki.
[Pokémon: Mankey]
[Base Stats: 305]
[Level: Lv.27 (Advanced)]
[Potential: Elite Four Tier]
[Ability: Defiant — When any of its stats are lowered by the opponent, its Attack greatly increases.]
[Moves: Seismic Toss, Cross Chop, Low Kick, Thrash, and more!]
An Elite Four-tier potential, just as expected from a scripted encounter Pokémon—clearly built for greatness.
Its Ability, Defiant, was rare too. No wonder in the original storyline, after being booted by James, it kept chasing Team Rocket down nonstop.
And at just one level away from evolving, with this kind of potential, it was definitely worth special training.
Kazuki wasn't about to follow the original script and give it away just because someone asked.
[Ding! Congratulations on successfully capturing Mankey!]
[3× Basic Rare Candy has been added to your System Inventory.]
[Calm Aura has been loaded.]
Perfect—three Basic Rare Candies, just in time. Without hesitation, Kazuki took them out and fed them to the freshly caught Mankey.
Chomp, chomp—Mankey scarfed them down, and in a flash of white light, evolved into Primeape, its level jumping into the elite tier.
[Pokémon: Primeape]
[Base Stats: 455]
[Level: Lv.30 (Elite)]
[Potential: Elite Four Tier]
[Ability: Defiant — When any of its stats are lowered by the opponent, its Attack greatly increases.]
[Moves: Seismic Toss, Cross Chop, Low Kick, Thrash, and more!]
Compared to Mankey, Primeape was visibly more muscular, and now sported sleek iron bands around its wrists and ankles—enhancing the force behind each punch.
"Whoa! Kazuki, you really lucked out!"
"You just caught Mankey and it already evolved—and leveled up too!"
Misty walked over to take a closer look, but stopped short halfway.
"Ka–Kazuki! Come here for a second! Your Primeape looks super angry!"
"Back away before it kicks you!"
"Hmm? Hahaha, it's fine. That's just its resting face," Kazuki said as he reached up and gave Primeape's head a friendly rub, showing Misty how calm it really was.
Only then did Misty cautiously approach, peeking from behind Kazuki's shoulder.
"Huh... but when it looks at you, its expression does seem more relaxed."
"Must be the food I gave it," Kazuki said casually.
"Ugh, if I'd known, I would've tried feeding it too! Now I'm too scared to even get close."
"It's fine. With me around, it's not going on a rampage." Kazuki continued petting Primeape when a system prompt chimed in his ears.
[Ding! Mission Triggered — Fighting Champion: Enter Primeape in the P1 Grand Prix and win the championship! Also, reject Anthony's request to take Primeape.]
[Reward: Focus Band — Greatly enhances a Pokémon's fighting spirit when used in battle. Grants a 10% chance to survive one-hit-KO moves. (Note: Works best with compatible personalities!)]
A Focus Band? That's practically made for Primeape's Defiant nature!
This was one mission Kazuki had no plans to skip.
And as for the part about refusing to hand over Primeape—even without the system's prompt, there was no way Kazuki would do that.
In the original plot, that fighting fanatic Anthony had abandoned his wife and daughter to chase his championship dream for years—and never once succeeded.
The moment Primeape won the title, Anthony had the audacity to crawl out of nowhere and beg for the Pokémon, claiming he could help it become a champion.
What a joke. Primeape was already a champion—why would it need a failure like him for guidance?
Come on then. Let's win the championship with Primeape and see if you still think you're needed.
A couple of good punches to the face should fix that smug attitude.
Kazuki had originally planned to steer clear of this deadbeat entirely, but since a stat-boosting item was on the line, he figured he might as well teach the guy a lesson too.
After accepting the mission, he recalled Primeape—without the Calm Aura, it would've probably punched its way down the road already.
Once he had his team sorted out, Kazuki and Misty made their way toward Celadon City.
The moment Kazuki stepped foot into the city, a barrage of system prompts rang in his ears.
[Ding! Challenge Mission: Defeat Erika, the Celadon Gym Leader, earn the Rainbow Badge, and attend one of Erika's perfume classes!]
[Reward: Premium Perfume ×1 — Blocks all external odors for 24 hours. Also boosts your attractiveness to the opposite sex by 30%!
(Note: The attraction effect applies only to the host. No effect on surrounding individuals.)
Grass-type Boost: Miracle Seed held by Bulbasaur is upgraded to Legendary quality — Grass-type move power increase upgraded from 40% to 60%!]
Wait, what? A premium perfume?
Kazuki blinked, confused. Why the sudden perfume reward?
It's not like I have the kind of constitution that needs it…
Then again, that 30% attraction bonus might come in handy under certain, let's say... spirited conditions.
Alright, let's attend that perfume class first.
Besides, the Grass-type bonus was a huge buff for Bulbasaur.
Now at the elite level, Bulbasaur's current Miracle Seed had already been upgraded after defeating A.J. and his streak of victories.
This new upgrade to Legendary status—with a 60% boost—would make Bulbasaur a near-unbeatable force among Grass-types in its tier.
Still, Erika's team wasn't to be underestimated, even if she specialized in a single type.
Her Grass-types had a reputation for holding their own, even against counter-types like Fire.
Let alone fighting on equal footing with same-type matchups.
So Kazuki made up his mind—he'd let Bulbasaur solo Erika's entire team.
Grass and Poison versus Grass and Poison. No type advantage, no gimmicks. Just pure strength.
Having settled his strategy, Kazuki checked his next system prompt.
[Ding! Hidden Romance Mission: Help Misty catch Psyduck!]
[Reward: Psychic Power upgrade to Intermediate level!]
What did I say!?
Who says you can't power up your Psychic Power unless you're doing... well, that?
You just need a god-tier system that transcends all logic.
Although... the warm, damp, tight method still feels more rewarding, let's be honest.
Kazuki turned back to check the task.
So the mission was linked to Psyduck—Misty's destined partner Pokémon, huh?
Oh yeah, in the original story, Psyduck showed up in one of Celadon's districts—HopHopHop Town.
Seriously, who named that place?
Psyduck's popularity was nearly on par with Pikachu's, even back then.
While its battle power wasn't anything impressive, its comedic timing was absolutely unmatched.
With the Duck God on the team, things were about to get a lot more fun.
Alright then, Psyduck can wait. First, I'll get that Rainbow Badge.
Having accepted both missions, Kazuki grabbed Misty's hand, humming a little tune as they strolled toward the city center.
Before heading to the Celadon Gym, Kazuki took Misty to a renowned perfume shop downtown.
It happened to be Erika's own store.
Turns out Gym Leaders in this world were seriously loaded—each one running some sort of business empire on the side.
Kazuki had assumed Erika's shop would be just a quaint little boutique.
But when they arrived, he found a massive three-story flagship store.
"Wow! Kazuki, you brought me to pick out perfume the moment we got to Celadon?"
"So you really have been listening to me all along—love you!"
Misty leapt forward, hooking her arms around Kazuki's neck in one fluid motion.
Ah, two birds with one stone. Boosted his girlfriend's affection too.
Just then, the shop doors swung open.
Three elegant women in pink pencil skirts emerged, wafting sweet, exotic scents as they came forward to welcome them.
"Welcome, honored guests!"