Pokémon: I have no choice but to do this old thing?

It's been a whole day since we left Masago Town.

After a chaotic day of travel, Zhang Jianying and his three Pokémon finally returned to Black Gold City, a city famous for its mining industry.

Their goal was clear: to challenge Hyota at the Black Gold Dojo.

However, before challenging the gym, some internal issues urgently needed to be resolved. Furthermore, Zhang Jianying harbored a slightly speculative thought: what if he could actually find an Everstone in the mine? Wouldn't that be a huge windfall?

"so…"

Zhang Jianying's forehead twitched. Looking at the three Pokémon sitting in a row in front of him, he tried his best to make his expression serious.

"Tortoise, you learned the Crunch move not for battle, but because Garchomp said it looks really fierce in fights?"

The forest tortoise proudly raised its head, making a muffled "ooh" sound in its throat, trying to show off its sharper teeth. After evolving, besides its increased size, it seemed to have completely lost its brain.

"And this power of the earth, was it also taught to you?" Zhang Jianying continued to ask.

The turtle moved its claws, and a yellowish-brown energy enveloped its body, then—

"Thump!"

With a loud bang, a large hole appeared in the ground, and the culprit had disappeared into the bottom of the hole.

Looking at the hole in the ground, Zhang Jianying felt utterly exhausted: "Luckily, you weren't allowed to demonstrate in the guest room at the Pokémon Center, otherwise we'd probably be blacklisted by the Pokémon Center in the future."

Other people's Pokémon use Earth Power as an attack move, it looks incredibly powerful.

My own turtle, on the other hand, has switched to digging burrows.

The tortoise, having finally managed to pull itself out of the hole by tying a knot in the grass, looked up and met its trainer's helpless gaze, and immediately gave an awkward grin.

"Umm~" (Just learned it, will practice some more, and I'll definitely be able to use it silently in the future!)

"So, what they teach is proper earth magic, but you've mutated it into a burrowing specialization?"

Zhang Jianying sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Never mind, Garchomp was just trying to help. Perfect, I'll leave the digging to you later, at least you won't have to worry about getting trapped in the cave."

He stroked his chin, then suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Wait, how long does it take you to dig a hole with this skill at the fastest? Let me try again."

Upon hearing this, the forest tortoise immediately dug another hole at top speed, accompanied by another loud bang. He glanced at his watch; two seconds.

"Not bad!"

His eyes lit up. "If used well in battle, it can probably dodge a lot of skills. For example, when the opponent uses Hyper Beam, you can just burrow underground... Hehe, who would have thought that Turtle would have the Dig skill?"

Upon hearing this, the forest tortoise got so excited that it immediately gave its trainer a passionate bondage play by tying grass knots together.

"Loosen, let go... no, loosen the grass!" Zhang Jianying shouted, struggling.

Gastly immediately floated up a few inches, its face revealing an undisguised mockery, and its two claws slapped loudly.

Zhang Jianying finally managed to break free and turned to Gastly with annoyance: "And you! What are you laughing at!"

"Why don't you learn something proper? What have you learned? Flame Fist, Ice Fist, Lightning Fist."

"Well, so the farmer landed three punches? With that kind of attack power, you're trying to punch a Pokémon? Are you going to give it a massage or are you planning to get yourself killed?"

Gastly's smile froze instantly, its lips drooping in a wronged manner. It cackled and gestured with its paws, saying, "Boss, didn't you tell me I finally grew arms and shouldn't use Poké Balls unless I practice more? Well, I've been practicing obediently!"

Looking at Gastly's aggrieved expression, Zhang Jianying silently complained to the game developers: "Times have changed, Gastly. It's not like the days before Generation III where Specialists and Specialists were inseparable anymore. What a waste of those memories..."

But of course he wouldn't say these words aloud.

Coming to his senses, Zhang Jianying patted Gastly with a pained expression: "I know you're practicing diligently, but we need to choose the right direction!"

"Chiru..."

Kirlian, standing nearby, couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle.

It sat gracefully to one side, the hair clip Cynthia had given it glittering in the sunlight. Compared to its two goofy companions, it was practically the only one with any intelligence in the group.

Zhang Jianying sighed deeply, feeling utterly hopeless.

Since the Purple Idea King joined the team, these two seem to have developed some kind of wonderful chemistry.

One or two are running wildly down the path of mindlessness and silly fun, and there's no way to pull them back.

With ideological education temporarily put aside, Zhang Jianying looked at the mine entrance not far away, where trainers were allowed to experience it, and his mind started to wander.

Since the gym is still under renovation, it's good to take these kids there to let them release some energy, so they won't torment this young trainer every day.

"Since we're already here..."

He rubbed his hands together. "I heard that you can occasionally dig up good things in the mines of Black Gold City, such as everlasting stones or fossils."

Memories of his past gaming experiences began to surface, the allure of opening blind boxes becoming irresistible. And wouldn't hurt to utilize Turtle's digging skills...

Five hours later.

"I swear... I never want to see another piece of broken stone in my life!"

Zhang Jianying slumped on a bench in the rest area outside the mine, covered in dust and dirt.

He felt that his arms no longer belonged to him from constantly swinging the pickaxe.

Beside him, the forest tortoise, with its immense strength, smashed through quite a few rock walls, but all it gained was a pile of... larger, ordinary stones.

Gastly tried to pry open a crevice in the rock with its claws, but after the claws materialized, it forgot how to change them back and got stuck in the crevice. In the end, Kirlia used her psychic powers to "pull" it out.

Kirlian herself tried to sense the area with her telekinesis, but aside from sensing that "there are many stones here, and they are very thick," she gained nothing.

It helplessly stated that its superpowers had not yet evolved to the point where it could discern the internal structure of a rock.

Summary: A busy day, but nothing to show for it: zero.

I didn't even see the immutable stone or fossils I had imagined; instead, my bag was filled with a bunch of useless broken stones that I could only sell to a store for a few change.

Gastly spread itself out into a purple pancake and placed it on Zhang Jianying's head, pretending to be dead, while making ghostly cackling noises.

The forest tortoise, however, was full of energy, playing with what it considered to be the most perfectly shaped rock it had dug up, and was so fond of it that it even tried to stuff it into its shell.

Kirullian thoughtfully used the water in the bottle to wipe the dirt off Zhang Jianying's face, but the effect was minimal. Instead, it made him look like he was covered in mud, making him look more like a disaster victim.

"As expected, reality is not a game. There are no save/load events, and no fixed item spawn points."

Looking up at the sky, Zhang Jianying felt a profound emptiness, as if he had gained nothing from his labor. "This was a huge loss; it was just a pure experience of life."

However, seeing his companions, who were also covered in dust but still stayed by his side, the sense of defeat seemed to dissipate a lot.

At least... this was a unique team-building event? It was just a bit costly, and his arm was almost ruined.

He suddenly had a wild thought: Since there are Aura users and psychics, could he learn some psychic abilities from Kirlia? He doesn't need to be as strong as humanoid Pokémon like Sabrina or Caitlia, just being able to use his psychic abilities to help carry things and save some effort would be great!

Thinking of this, he looked at Kirullian with longing.

After sensing the trainer's nonsensical thoughts, Kirlia replied helplessly, "I don't know if I can help Sword awaken his psychic powers. I can only try slowly through meditation."

They didn't plan to stay at the Pokémon Center, since if Torterra got excited and used Earth Power, he probably wouldn't be able to stay there again.

So they chose to camp, and Zhang Jianying watched as three Pokémon with very different personalities gathered around the campfire.

The forest tortoise sheltered him like a reliable little mountain, while diligently polishing its precious stone, seemingly intending to make it a family heirloom.

Gastly deliberately distorted his face, trying to scare everyone with a "ghost story," but as he was telling the story, he was startled by the shadow of the campfire and darted into Zhang Jianying's shadow.

Kirullian carefully guided him on the key points of meditation, although so far, the only "superpower" Zhang Jianying had experienced was that he was particularly prone to falling asleep during meditation.

This noisy, sometimes silly, yet incredibly fulfilling feeling is pretty good!

In the dead of night, after all the Pokémon had fallen asleep, he stared blankly in the direction of Professor Yamanashi's laboratory.

The image of Cynthia's earnest profile as she taught him under the moonlight, and the faint, delicate fragrance that wafted through his mind, flashed through his mind.

He then chuckled and shook his head, patting his face: "What am I thinking? The most important task now is to get stronger and get the first badge! Looks like I'm in puberty, my energy is really boundless."

Meanwhile, far away in Masago Town, Hirona was sitting in the study of the research institute, reading the research data shared by Dr. Yamanashi.

When she saw a report on "the influence of emotions on evolution," her pen paused slightly, and she seemed to see the fighting spirit in the eyes of that boy when he commanded Pokémon.

She picked up the cup of black tea beside her, a smile playing on her lips that she herself didn't even realize.

That interesting boy and his even more interesting Pokémon should be in Orichalcos City by now, right? Knowing their personalities, they might even go to the mines for a spin; after all, boys that age are always full of curiosity about strange and unusual things.

Thinking of this, her smile widened, and she gently shook her head: "I hope he won't be too disappointed."

"Alright! My mining career is officially over!"

The next day, Zhang Jianying stood up with renewed vigor, dusted off the dust that was no longer on his body, and attracted the attention of the three Pokémon.

"Both internal reforms and revenue-generating plans have failed. Now, our only goal is—"

He pointed to the iconic building of Black Gold City in the distance, exuding an imposing aura.

"Heh heh!" (A challenge to the boss!)

Gastly immediately chimed in excitedly. Although Zhang Jianying couldn't understand its "ghostly language" at all, its eager and gleaming eyes made its meaning self-evident.

"Ugh!"

The forest tortoise also let out a low growl, stomped its front paws on the ground, and was full of fighting spirit. It couldn't wait to try out its "drilling and dodging method".

Kirlia gently floated down beside Zhang Jianying, took his hand, and emitted a reassuring psychic energy wave.

Zhang Jianying smiled as he looked at his energetic companions and took the lead in heading towards the Black Gold Dojo.

As for whether the dojo owner, Mr. Hyota, will need to renovate his dojo? Well, that's not within his consideration.