Pokémon: Starting with a Bound Entry System

Chapter 191: The Firewall of the Network—Metagross!

Watching Lucario's departing figure, Hikaru felt a sense of loss.

Lucario had been raised by him since birth—

From a tiny Riolu egg, growing step by step into a fully evolved Lucario.

And now—

It was temporarily leaving his side.

Hikaru couldn't help but feel reluctant.

But—

This brief separation was for a better reunion.

Understanding this, Hikaru sighed deeply.

"I hope Lucario surprises me when we meet again."

After muttering to himself—

He reluctantly returned to experimenting with potions.

Before long—

Noon arrived.

One by one—

All of Hikaru's Pokémon gathered on time for their daily training session.

Seeing Lucario missing, the others were curious.

"Lucario went to train with another Lucario for now. It might be a while before we see it again."

"Huh?"

Everyone looked shocked.

Was there really a faster way to improve than staying with Hikaru?

Hikaru smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. That Lucario is incredibly strong. But, Charizard, Greninja—when Lucario returns, don't let it surpass you so easily, okay?"

"Char!!"

"Croa!"

Both Pokémon roared in determination.

Their strength was far beyond Lucario's right now.

How could it possibly catch up so quickly?

"Alright, alright."

Seeing their competitive spirit, Hikaru nodded approvingly.

Then—

He turned his attention to Bulbasaur.

"Bulba… Bulba…"

Bulbasaur seemed a bit nervous.

Recently—

Hikaru had been making it train hard.

Vine Whip—

Razor Leaf—

Leech Seed—

And combinations of various powders.

But—

The more it trained alongside the others, the more Bulbasaur realized something.

Hikaru's other Pokémon were insanely strong.

Even stronger than some of the elders in its former tribe!

And—

It had noticed something about Hikaru's training style.

Hikaru treated every Pokémon with absolute care.

He never neglected a Pokémon, even if it was weaker or had bad potential.

In fact—

He seemed to spend even more effort on the ones who needed it most.

And most importantly—

Bulbasaur had clearly felt its own progress.

For the first time in its life—

It realized that strength could improve so quickly!

But…

A new worry had begun to creep into its mind.

Bulbasaur knew it should have evolved by now.

But why…

Had it not evolved yet?

The fear of never evolving had begun to set in.

"Your talent should be improving soon."

After scanning Bulbasaur with his Aura Vision, Hikaru was quite satisfied with its progress.

From Gym-level to Leader-level—

With the help of the Plate and high-quality energy cubes, it should only take five days to reach the next tier.

"Not bad. Keep going."

Hikaru gently ruffled Bulbasaur's head.

But—

Bulbasaur kept its head down.

Hikaru frowned.

What was it worried about?

Releasing a small pulse of Aura energy, Hikaru quickly understood its thoughts.

But before he could speak—

Gardevoir floated beside Bulbasaur.

"Voi~" (Don't worry!)

It placed a hand on Bulbasaur's back, smiling gently.

"Voi…" (Since Hikaru brought you along, that means your worries are also his worries.)

"Voi!" (And Hikaru is amazing! He'll definitely find a way to solve your problem!)

Then—

Gardevoir turned to face the rest of the team.

"Voi~" (Right, everyone?)

"Mhm, Hikaru is amazing!"

"Char!!"

"Mew~!"

Mew giggled as it floated beside Bulbasaur.

It was very curious to see how Hikaru would train a Bulbasaur that couldn't evolve to surpass a powerful Salamence.

Watching Gardevoir comforting Bulbasaur, Hikaru smiled warmly.

Nice.

Gardevoir had finally learned to help him share the burden.

"Bulba… Bulba…"

Bulbasaur hadn't expected everyone to care about its feelings.

Small tears welled up in its eyes.

Hikaru gently wiped them away.

He couldn't help but laugh.

This little one—

It had endured so many injuries fighting Raticates without shedding a tear.

But just a few words of encouragement had it crying?

"Take it slow. No need to rush."

"Bulba!!" (Got it!)

Bulbasaur lifted its head high.

Determination burned brightly in its eyes.

Hikaru suddenly had a bold thought.

What if he got a Trait that let Bulbasaur retain its unevolved form but still have Venusaur-level stats?

Normally—

When Bulbasaur evolved into Venusaur, its base stats increased significantly.

But there was a downside.

Venusaur's bulky body made it much slower and less agile.

And—

Let's be honest—

Venusaur wasn't exactly cute.

No way.

Bulbasaur was way cuter.

And way more agile.

Since it couldn't evolve anyway, why not just wish for a Trait that let it retain its form but gain Venusaur's full power?

---

Kyoto…

As the capital of Huaguo, Kyoto housed one of the world's strongest intelligence networks.

Inside the Intelligence Bureau—

Monitors flickered endlessly, displaying real-time information from across the country.

Dozens of Rotoms flitted between the screens, responding to commands from analysts.

The room echoed with—

"Roto!"

"Roto~!"

The Rotoms were constantly recording and analyzing—

Tracking newly discovered dungeons, monitoring Pokémon outbreaks, and detecting sudden crises.

For example—

If a Master-ranked or Elite Four-level Pokémon suddenly went on a rampage, the Bureau would dispatch forces immediately to contain the situation.

And—

Overseeing it all were two Elite-level Metagross.

Aside from their insane battle prowess—

Metagross had immense computational power.

Together with Rotoms—

They were the ultimate firewall of Huaguo's cyber intelligence.

And—

A major asset in uncovering foreign intelligence.

Many other nations envied Huaguo's massive Metagross population.

Creak.

The door opened.

A red-haired man, draped in a flowing cape, entered.

It was Lance.

Walking up to one of the analysts, he asked—

"Any updates on the Ghost-type dungeon I inquired about?"

The staff member immediately stood up.

A Rotom flew out of the screen.

"Roto~!"

"There are currently over 1,000 Ghost-type dungeons discovered nationwide. Based on your request, filtering for…"

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