"Come on, everyone—time to grow some brains!"
Putting the giant Dragonite out of mind, Adrian started handing out the rewards.
"Pii~"
"Roar~"
[Remember this site's domain: leisure-time Taiwan novel picks—super relaxing.]
At those words, both Gyarados and Pichu were visibly thrilled.
Growing brains was their favorite part.
Only Dratini, clueless, eyes shining with pure innocence, craned its neck in curiosity.
"First up, Gyarados—I'm going to upgrade your Icy Wind."
Adrian called the big-brother Gyarados forward; the latter let out a strange roar, its draconic cry shaking the sky.
Krabby is a Water-type pokémon, but Water and Ice aren't truly separate.
Especially Water-types—they can almost always pick up an Ice move or two.
So this time Adrian had plenty of Icy Wind tms, enough to push Gyarados's proficiency from Skilled to Expert, with several left over.
"Next, little Pichu—time to boost your Agility."
Adrian beckoned Pichu, who trotted up proudly, head held high.
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
Three Agility tms activated in a row; instantly Pichu's mind filled with knowledge of the move, all of it sinking in and saving who-knows-how-many days of arduous training.
Before long, Pichu's Agility rose from Skilled to Expert.
"Pii~"
After digesting the tms, Pichu opened its eyes again, beaming.
Its best move right now was Electro Ball, whose power hinged on speed.
With Agility now Expert-level, Pichu was faster and its damage output soared—two birds with one stone.
"Last one: Dratini."
Adrian looked at the adorably blank Dratini and smiled. "You've got the most to learn this time—brace yourself."
Dratini had been caught yesterday, but inside the Dragon Sanctuary Adrian hadn't taught it any moves yet.
Now that they were out, Adrian had no reservations.
Time to go all-out!
"Yooor~"
Dratini gave a soft cry and excitedly scooted forward.
It didn't understand what Adrian had done to Gyarados and Pichu, but it could tell it was something good.
Trainer, let's see what tricks you've got!
"Relax, I'm just going to teach you a few moves."
Adrian knelt, gently stroking Dratini's smooth little head. "The first time might feel weird, but it'll pass in a second."
He activated the Extreme Speed tm.
"Yooor~"
An unfamiliar way of channeling energy appeared in Dratini's mind, every step crystal-clear.
Involuntarily it followed the steps; a hazy white glow flickered across its body.
Whoosh!
In the next instant—
Its body flashed and Dratini vanished.
When it reappeared, it found itself dozens of meters away over the sea, stunned.
"Extreme Speed really deserves its name—so fast most pokémon couldn't even react, let alone defend; they'd just take the hit."
Adrian watched, very satisfied with the move's power.
Teleport was faster and trickier, but it dealt no damage.
Overall, Extreme Speed was clearly the better ace.
"Yooor~"
Out on the water, Dratini was both shocked and delighted.
It knew Extreme Speed well—one of its little friends back home had always pranked the others with it.
They could never catch up.
Even if you're the emperor of fighters, if your horse is slow you still eat dust.
That's reality.
Dratini had coveted Extreme Speed for ages, but it was brutally hard to learn.
The elders said if you weren't born with it, you'd have to wait until you evolved into Dragonite.
But now—
"Yooor~"
Dratini gazed at Adrian, eyes practically sparkling.
It knew it had chosen the right trainer!
What it didn't know was that Extreme Speed was only the beginning; Adrian followed up with Protect, Water Pulse, Water Gun, Haze, Icy Wind and more, fattening its move list by a huge margin.
For Water Pulse and Water Gun, Adrian had stockpiled heaps in his fishing space, so he maxed Dratini's proficiency straight to the terrifying Pinnacle level.
By the end, Dratini's head was spinning; it had lost the ability to think.
Uwah—too fast!
Learning too fast!
Before, it had to watch elders closely, listen hard, practice forever—and still might fail.
Now moves were cramming themselves into it!
It wanted to refuse, but the skills wouldn't take no for an answer.
Waaah!
In that moment, little Dratini felt… defiled by moves.
And the fact it got everything without effort left it uneasy.
That clashed with everything the elders had taught in the Dragon Sanctuary.
"And this Speed Enhancer—since it came from you, it's yours to use!"
Patting Dratini to bring it back to its senses, Adrian tipped a special drink into its mouth.
A tingling spread through its body.
"Yooor~"
Once the potion was fully absorbed, Dratini found its swimming speed noticeably higher.
He'd planned to teach it Dragon Cheer, but that move raises allies' critical-hit rates, doubled for Dragon-types.
So in the end he taught Dragon Cheer to Gyarados for maximum effect.
"Take fifteen minutes to get used to everything, then we move out."
With that, Adrian found a corner and started editing today's Krabby-fishing video.
At the end he added: "Live tonight at eight—see you there."
"All right, off to Vermilion City's Pokémon Center."
Once the upload finished, he recalled Gyarados and Dratini, hopped on his bike with Pichu and rode off.
Fifteen minutes later he arrived at the Pokémon Center.
There he saw several pokémon, charred black, resting on beds.
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "Must be Lt. Surge's handiwork."
Lt. Surge of the Vermilion Gym ran a tough style; his Raichu hit challengers hard, so the Center stayed packed.
"But I'm not like those trainers."
Adrian smiled and checked in.
After feeding everyone poffin and taking a nice shower, he pulled out his phone.
"Haven't posted or streamed in ages yet followers still rose—nice."
On PokéStation his count had hit 150 k and he grinned.
"Let's stream."
With eight o'clock near, he went live.
He knew fans would be mad about the hiatus; a stream would soothe them better than any clip.
"Yo boys, dinner's served!"
Cam on, he waved.
Plenty of fans were already waiting.
The moment he appeared, chat exploded.
"Whoa—missing person returns!"
"Tell grandpa the Streamer he followed is back!"
"Bowls out—best part of the day is watching Streamer!"
"Streamer, you're alive? Thought you used your body as bait and became a martyr."
"Streamer, I heard you've been kept by a sugar mommy—true or not?"
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