Chapter 13: Observation Log of Du Jianqiao

Whoosh—

50,000 Poké Dollars credited!

Though Awaji seemed to doubt him, for someone of his caliber, fifty thousand Poké Dollars probably wasn’t enough to buy a cloak—he was said to regularly buy identical cloaks at the department store, filling an entire closet!

As for shipping, it would still go through Vermilion City, just like the Evolution Stone. But considering Awaji’s hometown was apparently Vermilion City himself, the Champion might even be inside Vermilion City right now. So, would Awaji work as a delivery person?

“Another item sold! Perfect timing, Aura Sash! You’ve arrived just in time!”

“Keep going! There are still other items left to make! Our goal is to revitalize the workshop and dominate all item shops in the Kanto region!”

“In the future, Kanto trainers going to battle against trainers from other regions will have to use items!”

Besides the Aura Sash, there are also the Aura Headband, Expert Belt, and Black Belt.

But the old martial arts uniforms and Fighting Pokémon materials had no black ones—so if the belts made weren’t black, could they still be called Black Belts?

With this thought in mind, Guang Tai made several more Aura Sashes, then began crafting the remaining three items.

First to be completed was naturally the Aura Headband.

“Completed a task, obtained ‘Aura Headband’!”

“Effect: A powerful sash crafted from Pokémon materials and special techniques; when carried, it sometimes allows the bearer to survive a move that would otherwise reduce them to 0 HP with just 1 HP remaining.”

“Unique Effect: Near-Death Immunity—When using a move that causes self-KO (e.g., Self-Destruct), there’s a 5% chance to retain 1 HP!”

“Acquired Knowledge: 1”

“Aura Crafting: Aura-item crafting efficiency +5%.”

“This is amazing!”

Guang Tai paused, stunned by the Aura Headband’s unique crafting effect—but a 5% chance wasn’t high, even with the Heaven’s Grace trait boosting it to only 10%.

Hmm, it looked impressive but was practically useless—unless you built a novelty team specifically to use Self-Destruct; winning one battle could make you feel great all day.

But this time, crafting the Aura Headband didn’t yield any “Random Material Clue”—was it because its effect was too similar to the Aura Sash, and the original effect was already overwritten by the Aura Sash?

Next, Guang Tai crafted the Black Belt.

“Completed a task, obtained ‘Black Belt (Red)’!”

“Effect: Though called a Black Belt, it’s red; when carried, the power of Fighting-type moves increases.”

“Unique Effect: Contact—Power of contact moves increased by 1.1x.”

“Acquired Knowledge: 1”

“Fighting Crafting: Fighting-item crafting efficiency +5%.”

“Oh, contact moves get a boost—this is like a low-tier Power Band, and it overrides the Power Headband.”

One item serving as two—but nobody would carry a Power Headband anyway; in the games, you can use the Choice Band, which is far superior, right?

Speaking of Choice, he couldn’t craft Choice-series items yet—something he regretted.

Besides that, Du Jianqiao had been helping him work, but since the work was of the same nature, Guang Tai’s screen displayed:

“Du Jianqiao helped you complete a craft, gaining experience and growth!”

“Du Jianqiao’s level increased! Du Jianqiao’s Attack EVs increased!”

No new moves or knowledge gained—apparently, repeating the same task only yielded experience and EVs.

The next day.

After earning a small profit, Guang Tai took out farming and clearing tools from the workshop, preparing to tidy the overgrown land choked with weeds, rocks, and branches.

And when it came to this kind of work, Du Jianqiao immediately perked up!

“Yoh!”

These weeds, rocks, and branches were perfect targets for testing his blade!

“You want to help? Oh, excellent.” Guang Tai, pleased by Du Jianqiao’s eager stance, pointed at the weeds: “Start by clearing these.” Then he began gathering branches himself.

“Yoh!”

Without hesitation, Du Jianqiao spun midair, its blade sliding smoothly from its sheath; the sheath was seized by blue ribbons, and Du Jianqiao’s gaze sharpened. It flew to a patch of tall grass, then its blade trembled violently!

A glowing white blade swept through the weeds with explosive force, instantly clearing them entirely!

“Is this… Iaijutsu?”

Guang Tai stared at the familiar effect, memories surfacing. Iaijutsu in generations before the fourth could clear entire map patches of grass.

“Iaijutsu clears grass and branches, and Rapid Spin, as a Bug-type move, is also devastating against Grass-types.”

Guang Tai watched Du Jianqiao sweep through the weeds like autumn wind clearing fallen leaves, slicing branches into fragments too; the move had shifted from Iaijutsu to Rapid Spin.

Rapid Spin increases in power with each consecutive hit, so now the white glow on Du Jianqiao’s blade had grown massive—each sweep cleared vast swathes of grass!

“Yoh!”

Du Jianqiao seemed excited!

Cutting weeds was far more satisfying than chopping logs—this must be what “grinding” felt like!

“Yoh!”

Soon, Du Jianqiao finished weeding, hovering midair, now eyeing the rocks with interest. It selected a medium-sized rock, spun, and slashed!

Clang—!

Du Jianqiao struck the rock, producing a sharp ring; its blade trembled, its eye widening, and the rock only slowly cracked open after a moment, dusting the ground with stone fragments.

“Iaijutsu can’t easily cleave rocks—natural rocks are Rock-type constructs; you need Fighting- or Steel-type moves to break them.”

Guang Tai, wielding a pickaxe, smashed the cracked rock into smaller pieces, watching Du Jianqiao’s numb, shaking state, and shook his head:

“This won’t work! Without learning the right-type moves, brute force won’t cut it. Normally, learning Fighting-type Rock Smash would shatter rocks easily—or Steel-type Iron Head.”

Du Jianqiao’s blue ribbons scratched its hilt, its gaze puzzled.

Rock Smash? Iron Head? Never heard of them!

“Right. Show me what moves you know.” Guang Tai asked Du Jianqiao to demonstrate.

Since its revival, it no longer fell under the category of ancient artifacts—the ancient treasure hunters could no longer see its data.

Du Jianqiao first demonstrated Iaijutsu and Rapid Spin—the energy and glow during each strike differed, making them easy to distinguish; Rapid Spin was continuous, Iaijutsu a single instant strike.

Then came the screeching sound of its body rubbing, alongside a similar metallic scraping noise!

“That’s Screech and Metal Sound—but unless you listen closely, you can’t tell them apart.”

Then came a simple tackle.

“Tackle.”

Then it tossed its sheath away, and a red glow rose along its blade, instantly accelerating its movement!

“Tossing the sheath… is this ‘Body Lightening’—shedding useless parts to drastically boost speed?”

Guang Tai was speechless.

Steel-type Pokémon using Body Lightening usually shed iron filings or plating—they regrow it easily. But you? You’re a sword, and you use this move by ditching your sheath!

“Yoh!” Du Jianqiao was displeased with Guang Tai’s reaction!

Just tell me—did it speed up or not?!

Sure, retrieving the sheath afterward is awkward—but so what?!

Then came Shadow Sneak; under daylight, the move was clearer—Du Jianqiao’s shadow blade shot out rapidly, forming a shadowy sword with red eyes, darting behind a rock to ambush.

Guang Tai had experienced this move firsthand.

After Shadow Sneak, Du Jianqiao followed with a heavy, downward slash—different from Iaijutsu’s technique.

“Is this ‘Slash’? If only it were Break.” Guang Tai sighed.

The final two moves were the agile aerial cut known as “Return,” and closing its single eye to fall asleep—“Sleep.”

Then silence fell—but Du Jianqiao woke up quickly, assuring Guang Tai it hadn’t overslept.

To ease your worry, Du Jianqiao woke up on its own!

“No, I wasn’t worried at all—but are those all your moves? Only Body Lightening as a Steel-type?”

“What about Protect and Reflect? Can you use them?”

Guang Tai rubbed his chin, disappointed; Du Jianqiao shook its blade:

“Yoh? Yoh!”

Protect? Reflect?

I’m an offensive weapon! Weapons don’t need defense—go find a shield. Wait until I evolve twice into Shieldon!

But under Guang Tai’s questioning, Du Jianqiao demonstrated one final move.

It paused in place, leaving behind a silhouette identical to its form!

“Shadow Clone? No, this is…”

Guang Tai touched the silhouette—it was tangible!

This was “Substitute!”

In the games, Substitute appears as a dinosaur-shaped doll; in the anime, it’s a visual replica of the Pokémon itself!

“This is great!”

With Substitute, you can pull off unexpected tactics—but Du Jianqiao dismissed it, thinking it wasted HP.

“But reducing HP can create immense value when needed—you’ll understand later.” Guang Tai smiled, patting Du Jianqiao’s hilt.

The two spent the entire day clearing the wasteland, removing most rocks and branches; weeds were easiest to clear. They ate berries for lunch, and at sunset, stopped work, carried wood into the workshop, stacked stones in a corner outside, then prepared dinner.

Next came the berry issue—they’d need to enter the forest to find them. Mago Berries were pure luck—but if the climate around Shen Du resembled Sinnoh’s, similar berries should grow here too.

After dinner, darkness fully settled.

When work ended, thoughts in his mind coalesced into information.

“Du Jianqiao helped you complete a task, gaining experience and growth.”

『Acquired knowledge: Cut Grass — speed of clearing weeds increased by 5%.』

『Mastered technique: Stop at the Point.』

Dokken Qiao once again mastered a new technique and was now slashing at the air, but when Guang Tai watched, he felt a momentary daze — as if it were an illusion, as though each strike using Stop at the Point somehow canceled its recovery animation entirely.

Wait, is that Stop at the Point?

Just fiddle around a bit, then start canceling.

Guang Tai shook his head, then took out a notebook from inside the house and recorded details about Dokken Qiao from the day, his personal observation journal of it.

Today’s focus was observing techniques.

『Mastered techniques: Iai Slash, Screech, Metal Sound, Slash, Tackle, Hold Firm, Lighten Body, Shadow Sneak, Substitute, Swanna Return, Stop at the Point, Sleep.』

Hmm, what a productive day — time to sleep!

(End of Chapter)