Infinity Edge, Giant Slayer, Bloodthirster!
In less than a second, veteran player Ethan Vale had already run through the possible upgrade paths involving basic items and the B. F. Sword.
On the surface, Infinity Edge seemed like the optimal choice.
It would most likely increase the chance and damage of landing critical hits, pushing raw burst output to the extreme.
But did Sprigatito really lack damage?
It did—though not desperately so.
Every Pokémon could always use more damage; the more, the better.
However, Ethan Vale's long-term plan for Sprigatito wasn't to turn it into a one-shot, all-in assassin.
With the Protean ability, Sprigatito could freely change its typing, allowing it to take on defensive roles as needed.
Not to mention the Grass-type bond and Trinity Force, two powerful trump cards that already provided it with impressive bulk.
This was practically the perfect template for an all-rounder!
Which meant the final missing piece was obvious—
Sustain.
Having figured that out, Ethan Vale didn't hesitate.
"I choose Negatron Cloak—combine into Bloodthirster!"
[Negatron Cloak forged successfully!]
[Successfully combined Bloodthirster:
+10% Physical Attack, +10% Special Defense.
Unique Passive: Physical attacks heal the user for 20% of the damage dealt!]
Tsk. The numbers are a bit nerfed, and the shield effect is gone too—did it fail the visa check?
Ethan Vale muttered a brief complaint, then equipped Bloodthirster onto Sprigatito.
As long as the lifesteal was there, everything else was secondary.
After finishing the equipment setup, Ethan Vale guided the system with his thoughts to the [Pokémon] interface. Sprigatito's chibi avatar sat there all alone.
[Sprigatito]
[Type: Grass]
[Ability:Protean ]
[Gender: Female]
[Level: 13]
[Stats:
HP 38 (+22)
Physical Attack 24 (+18)
Defense 20 (+12)
Special Attack 22 (+13)
Special Defense 20 (+15)
Speed 28 (+17)]
[Moves: Flower Trick, Bite, Shadow Claw, Magical Leaf, Hone Claws, Acrobatics, Protect, Sketch…]
[Equipment: Trinity Force
(+33% Physical Attack, Special Attack, Physical Defense, Special Defense, Speed, HP, and skill release speed!)]
[Equipment: Bloodthirster
(+10% Physical Attack, +10% Special Defense. Physical attacks heal for 20% of damage dealt!)]
[Bonds:
Dark Type (2) — Defeating opponents accumulates Fear. Every 100 Fear grants 5% bonus damage and a Fear Chest. Opening a Fear Chest grants rewards!
(Fear Chests evolve with stack count. Current Fear: 0, Bonus Damage: 0%)]
[Bonds: Grass Type (Not activated)]
[Bonds: Speed-Type (Not activated)]
[Special: Chosen Pokémon
(All stats +20%, Dark-type bond +1, Exclusive Skill Enhancement [Pending activation])]
Oh? It even came with the classic "information eye" every old-school Pokémon web novel protagonist had.
That said, this function seemed to be a nerfed version—it could only display information for his own Pokémon, and even then only basic stats and moves.
Despite his complaints, Ethan Vale actually liked this feature quite a bit.
Stats didn't represent everything—but they were still the most direct reflection of strength.
And these numbers revealed an important piece of information:
The way equipment and bond bonuses were calculated seemed to follow a much more exaggerated multiplicative model.
The all-stat boosts from Trinity Force and Chosen Pokémon weren't simply 20% + 33%.
They were 120% × 133%, resulting in a 1.6 multiplier.
Which meant that any future equipment or bond bonuses would multiply on top of this 1.6 coefficient!
"As long as I stack enough bonds, I'll kill even Arceus for you!"
Ethan Vale was about to boast—then remembered that this world was literally created by that big shot, and swallowed the disrespectful words back down.
No matter what, Sprigatito's current strength had already surpassed that of most Pokémon at the same level.
At the very least, competing in a low-spec tournament like the Shanghai Pokémon Cup now came with some confidence.
But that didn't mean Ethan Vale could just sit back and do nothing.
No matter how powerful the system's equipment and bonds were, they were still ultimately icing on the cake.
Only when the Pokémon itself was strong enough could Brother System's effects be fully realized.
As Professor Grant 's rhythmic lecture droned on, Ethan Vale found videos online from Erika, the Grass-type Gym Leader of the Kanto region, and started his own online classes.
Since he'd never seriously planned on becoming a professional Trainer before, he knew very little about Pokémon training—whether for Sprigatito or others.
He had to admit: Miss Erika's general Grass-type Pokémon training insights were genuinely—no, truly—excellent.
At least for Ethan Vale, who'd never systematically studied Pokémon training before, it was like clouds parting and sudden enlightenment.
He hid his phone inside his textbook, wore earphones, and frantically took notes while listening.
At the same time, he had to pretend he was paying attention in class, occasionally looking up at Professor Grant on the podium and nodding as if struck by realization.
This left Professor Grant deeply gratified. In his mind, that talented but previously wayward student had finally turned over a new leaf.
After diligently attending online classes all morning, the moment the dismissal bell rang, Ethan Vale couldn't wait to head to Silph Co to buy everything he'd learned about.
Meanwhile, Professor Grant , seeing Ethan Vale stride eagerly toward him, secretly felt pleased and deliberately slowed down his packing of lecture materials.
He cleared his throat and said, "Ethan Vale, about that Giratina you mentioned in class last time…"
Professor Grant had originally intended to say something like, "You've finally given up on that fabricated mythical Pokémon called Giratina. I'm very pleased. I hope you'll read fewer unofficial histories from now on."
But Ethan Vale was in a rush to shop at Silph. He grinned at Professor Grant and said,
"Teacher, do you want to hear the legend of Giratina's exile? I'll tell you next time—I've got somewhere to be right now!"
With that, he walked straight past poor Zhou and headed out the door.
Professor Grant 's raised hand froze midair, his stiff expression twitching slightly at the corner of his mouth.
"…"
If I ever believe this kid has turned over a new leaf again, I'm a Growlithe!
With no classes in the afternoon, Ethan Vale went on a shopping spree at Silph.
Even though it was Team Rocket's business—and every cent spent there might end up funding some evil scheme—
Alright, that was going too far.
Silph's product quality was genuinely top-notch, but their prices were also genuinely outrageous.
Pretty much all the money Ethan Vale had earned from streaming over the past two months went into that store—and it still wasn't quite enough.
If he wanted to clear the entire shopping list with his current finances, there was only one move left—
"Come on, hand over your phone. I'll upgrade your cabin!"
Thankfully, Ethan Vale wasn't in that much of a rush. After buying enough supplies for Sprigatito's training needs over the next month, he decided to head back to the dorm.
"Sprigatito, don't you think this place is getting a bit small?"
After putting everything away and looking around, Ethan Vale said thoughtfully.
Now that he had officially captured his starter Pokémon, he'd begun finding flaws in the dorm he'd been quite satisfied with just a few days ago.
"There isn't even a proper place for your daily training."
Sprigatito obediently shook its head. "Meow-feh~"
After wandering the wilds for so long without even a fixed shelter, having a place to keep out the wind and rain already made it content.
Ethan Vale believed in the saying, "No matter how poor you are, don't skimp on education; no matter how hard life gets, don't let the kid suffer."
But given his current financial situation, renting a place outside simply wasn't realistic.
So he could only set the idea aside for now.