Chapter 591: Magical Girl!

Before officially starting.

Baimu glanced at his stockpile.

The level rewards still only kept the 【Lv90 and below +5 levels】 entry; everything else that could be fed was fed dry.

The move rewards were 【String Shot】, 【Endure】, 【Brave Bird】, 【Pay Day】, 【Ice Breath】, 【Close Combat】, 【Earthquake】, and seventeen skill blind boxes.

The 【Magic Shine】 and 【Trick Room】 he'd been saving for over half a year were both given to the shiny Gengar, and the normal-sim moves all had Pokémon that could learn them — very nice.

The biggest winner among them was Aggron.

Counting the three normal sims before the Gambler's, it had obtained a total of four moves: 【Dark Pulse】, 【Horn Leech】, 【Brick Break】, and 【Pursuit】.

And Pursuit, a move whose power scales with the user's Defense, would surely unleash extraordinary destructive force in Aggron's hands.

As for the Pokémon leads, still the same three —

Designated type, Designated type (Excellent), and the Legendary lead.

There was no chance to use that last lead at this stage; perhaps later, when things freed up, he could use it to chase after some sub-Legendary.

Baimu couldn't help but recall Lei Gong — that tsundere big cat whose words and heart never matched.

What? A saber-toothed tiger?

In front of him, the difference between cat and tiger wasn't really that big. Didn't everyone see how Lei Gong had gone from being resistant at their first meeting to rubbing against his hand, scratching, and purring later on?

If only he got the chance to meet that fellow again.

He smiled and tapped open the sim options.

【Choose your birthplace ▽】

The Gambler was Kanto, so this time it was the neighboring Johto's turn.

【Choose your gender ▽】

Male last time, so female this time.

【Choose your Pokémon ▽】

Misdreavus?

Rare for someone to start with a Ghost type — what kind of person would the sim subject be? Someone like Lorelei who could commune with spirits?

Baimu pressed the talent option with a hint of anticipation.

Fixed Talent:

【☆ Magic Apprentice (Mastery of basic Pokémon magic)】

Optional Talents:

【☆ Skilled Raiser (Pokémon have higher overall stats)】

【☆ Kind Hearted (Eager to help others)】

【☆ Maternal Aura (Skilled at caring for young Pokémon)】

【☆ Appearance Reflects the Heart (More likely to attract Pokémon matching one's looks)】

Truly a double-blue talent!

The fixed talent Magic Apprentice… Magic!?

Baimu's pupils dilated; he nearly thought he was seeing things.

After all, magic on the surface didn't really seem to match Pokémon — ninjas, shamans, psychics, those kinds would fit much better.

Magic? Are you kid—

Hm?

Baimu suddenly recalled that there really were Pokémon mages in the anime's plot — ones who had even turned Ash from a human into a Pikachu.

The episode count was right in the late Original Series, when Ash traveled to Johto.

But the magic in that plot, rather than being magic, leaned more toward alchemy — mixing various Pokémon body structures to brew wondrous potions.

There was no Harry Potter-style wand-waving Avada Kedavra at people, nor anyone flying around on broomsticks.

Overall it was a bit like the Pharmacist and the Perfume Sister from his previous sims, but one was a chemistry-and-bomb maker focused on "killing," the other made healing perfumes focused on "curing."

And both basically only needed Grass-type Pokémon.

Pokémon magic was different — it even needed specific moves used by specific Pokémon, even the dust from under a certain Pokémon's fingernails.

Clearly, Pokémon magic only wore a skin of chemistry; at its core it was still alchemical mysticism.

A potion that can turn you into a Pokémon…

He grew more and more eager to see this sim's outcome.

Among the optional talents, the blue one was a must-pick; the remaining three all looked good, and for once they were all positive talents.

Perhaps Appearance Reflects the Heart had a catch?

Surely he wouldn't end up simming the witch from Princess Bai Xue?

Recalling the rather elderly Gambler, Baimu's curiosity swelled, so he simply chose 【Appearance Reflects the Heart】.

If he simmed into a little old lady, that might be pretty fun too.

Begin sim!

Baimu pressed confirm, then suddenly reached out and pulled Chansey into his arms for a couple of rubs, venting his little anticipation. The sudden little action startled the shiny Gengar beside him.

"Hm?"

It crept over to the book and peeked down for a couple of glances, wondering what content could make its Trainer react so strongly — but alas, it couldn't read.

Looking back at Chansey, her expression was as usual, as if nothing had happened.

The shiny Gengar unconsciously turned its head to look at the Pokémon scattered around. When it saw the "just as expected" look on their faces, it started beating drums in its heart.

Maybe it should quietly withdraw?

Fortunately, after Baimu hugged Chansey and rubbed her, he made no further moves and continued to focus on his "reading," which let the shiny Gengar breathe a sigh of relief.

——

【Simulation Start】

The light screen unfolded, revealing blue sky, white clouds, and a dense forest.

The image stretched upward, and a grey castle that looked somewhat eerie occupied most of the screen.

A little figure wearing a wizard's hat poked out from the main gate, carrying a pink little suitcase in hand, while Dream Eaters resembling ghostly flames circled around her nearby.

Narration appeared.

【At fifteen, you, as a magic apprentice, successfully obtained the qualification for outside training from the Dean】

Magic school! Hogwarts!

All Baimu stared at the castle in surprise.

He had assumed these self-styled mages — who were actually alchemists — would, like in the anime plot, take ancestral books and do their own research, never expecting there to actually be an organization.

But she's only fifteen though……

Magical girl?

Speaking of which, what era is this?

He was a little curious, and immediately saw a smiling face expression float up on the mage's forehead.

【You have long looked forward to this training, because only this way can you challenge the League Conference, and this is one of the most reliable methods to realize your dream】

Dream?

What the heck, is the dream to become a regional champion?

All Baimu blinked, and within the light screen the mage pulled out a small book that rapidly enlarged to occupy nearly half the screen, displaying clear but completely unreadable ancient script.

"Seems like…… the script of the Third Dynasty."

Thanks to the calligrapher's ancient language memories, he had done a little research on the more popular ancient languages of the time.

If he wasn't mistaken, the ancient script in the screen originated from a Pokémon civilization called the "Third Dynasty" from long ago in the Johto and Kanto regions.

Unfortunately this kind of script wasn't popular in the Sinnoh region's calligraphy circles, so All Baimu didn't recognize them.

Explanations continued to pop up beside it.

【The magic tome in your hand records a potion called 'Nirvana', which claims to be able to bring the dead back to life】

【You discover the key material — Ho-Oh's Sacred Ash is impossible to find, so you can only pin your hopes on a substitute of the same kind — Ho-Oh's Sacred Fire, and it just so happens to be accessible when challenging the Silver Conference】

So she set out traveling to make a resurrection potion.

Is there some important person she wants to revive?

All Baimu guessed at the mage's motive — after all, wanting to make something like this, apart from pure interest, comes down to only a few reasons.

In the picture.

The mage closed the magic tome, cheerfully carried the little bag, and traveled through the forest with the Dream Eater.

Interestingly, although she hadn't chosen the 【Kind-Hearted】 talent, whenever the mage saw injured wild Pokémon, she would still step forward to treat them, just like Miss Fragrance.

The treatment fee was some kind of usable material from their bodies.

Just as All Baimu was about to sigh at how simulation characters who draw materials from Pokémon are all good people, the mage sent the Dream Eater to catch a passing Hoothoot passing by, forcibly pluck its eyelashes, and then traded berries for them.

【You obtained Hoothoot's eyelashes, the 'Bright-Eye' potion's raw materials are complete, making you overjoyed】

Bright-Eye Potion — after drinking it, you can read all night without your eyes getting tired.

The narration kindly attached the potion's effects.

All Baimu: "……This."

He suddenly had a bad premonition.

And the premonition was quickly confirmed.

In the picture, the mage, like a butcher, swept through the entire forest with the Dream Eater, taking some harmless materials from various Pokémon.

But her methods were quite peculiar.

For example, halfway through walking she would suddenly squat down and dig the ground, dig out a Geodude sleeping underground, grind its head with an iron ruler, and take the lime from the top of its head.

Or she would go to a pond, find Poliwag singing, catch it and make it spit water, then only take the last drop from the water sac.

It gave quite the déjà vu of kicking every dog that passes by.

【You obtained the lime from the top of Geodude's head, the main material for the 'Resilience' potion is ready, it can make the body as hard as stone for one minute】

【You obtained the last drop of water from Poliwag's water sac, the main material for the 'Moisturizing' potion is ready, it can keep the skin moist for a certain period of time】

Magic potions don't seem very magical?

All Baimu muttered to himself, but what he wanted to complain about even more was the mage.

From almost every Pokémon she could find materials she could use, and the little suitcase in her hand was like a bottomless pit — no matter how much she stuffed in, it never filled up.

Simply comparable to a Pokémon Hunter…… no, ordinary Pokémon Hunters aren't this exaggerated.

She's clearly a Monster Hunter Azure Star!

The Dream Eater is the insect glaive's kinsect she controls.

What?

You ask whether the wild Pokémon resist?

This was another point that left All Baimu silent — he hadn't expected to see a real drug-battling specialist.

Every time she encountered wild Pokémon that the Dream Eater couldn't handle with hypnosis alone, the mage would feed the Dream Eater a bunch of potions that temporarily boosted various stats.

Wild Pokémon had never seen such a shameless trainer, so naturally they couldn't win.

They could only let the mage "bully" them — clipping nails and plucking feathers were still mild; she even forced wild Pokémon to defecate and cry. She was simply a demon.

"Hmm……"

All Baimu watched the wild Pokémon being bullied by the mage in the picture, and for a moment didn't know what to say.

Not a witch, but no different from one.

What wild Pokémon would she attract?

There really was one.

【You encountered a Murkrow whose crown feathers you'd plucked before; it wants to follow you, and you agreed.】

This Murkrow, also wearing a "witch's hat," according to the narration, follows the principle of "if you can't beat them, join them."

【You caught Murkrow; your magic crafting materials have increased.】

Intent!

What a horrifying description!

Baimu figured that pharmacists also like to harvest things from Pokémon, and the narrator was about the same—so why did the sorcerer's look so weird?

Maybe their styles really do differ.

The only thing he was curious about was whether the League could detect the potions the sorcerer had been feeding to her Murkrow.

If they were chemical potions, they'd definitely be detectable—but what about magical potions?

While Baimu was pondering, the sorceress finally let the wild Pokémon of the forest go and arrived at a quaint little town—

Ecruteak City.

Seeing the low, neon-styled houses in the town, he immediately understood that this simulation's timeline definitely wasn't that early.

The chance of the League detecting it dropped once more.

Good grief.

So you're cheating too!

As fellow cheaters, Baimu roughly figured out how this run's guaranteed champion came about.

【You arrived at Ecruteak City, but instead of rushing to challenge the Gym, you found the local ninja master.】

The sorceress stood inside a quaint dojo, surrounded by a group of young ninjas in distinctive training outfits, their scarves long enough to rival nooses.

At the very back of the dojo, a white-haired old man knelt in seiza.

【You tried to peddle an Invisibility Potion, because you figured ninjas would really need something like this—and once you sold it, you'd get travel funds. A win-win.】

The sorceress pulled out a potion and pushed it hard.

The sorceress was chased away.

【You were kicked out of the dojo; the other party said they wouldn't buy this suspicious potion, even though you actively demonstrated its effect to them—hiding the body below the head.】

Good grief.

No way anyone would buy that.

Baimu inwardly roasted the sorceress for bringing out such an unreliable potion—he'd actually been tempted for a moment.

He'd originally had great expectations for all the bizarre effects of magical potions, but now it seemed they were just as unreliable as shown in the original plot.

A 'Rebirth' potion really can be made.

Baimu put a question mark on that.

Inside the light screen.

The sorceress, having been given the cold shoulder, wasn't discouraged—since door-to-door sales weren't working, she chose to set up a stall right there.

Unfortunately, just like a fortune-telling old man under an overpass.

Nobody took the bait… ah, no, nobody came by.

【You squatted there for a whole day without selling a single potion; in anger, you decided to challenge the Gym to change your mood.】

Finally!

But challenging the Ecruteak Gym first—wouldn't the difficulty be a bit high?

Baimu was curious which age bracket of Morty would come out to greet the sorceress, or if it might not be Morty at all…

It probably wouldn't be.

Morty in the anime looked like he was in his early sixties, even a bit older than Professor Oak—he should have become the Gym Leader quite early.

Sure enough.

When the familiar pixel figure stood across the battlefield, even though the other party had black hair, he still recognized this man with the "triangular" hairstyle as Morty.

【You began challenging the Ecruteak Gym; Gym Leader Morty sent out his first Pokémon.】

Morty's first Pokémon was Seel.

The sorceress decisively sent out her drugged-up Murkrow.

【You had researched this Gym Leader beforehand and learned his nickname was 'Morty of Winter,' so before the match you fed every potion you had to your Murkrow.】

Truly a drugged-up style player.

Baimu watched the brilliant performance of Murkrow swiftly suppressing Seel, and found that the potions the sorceress made for people could only be called mediocre—or even unreliable.

But the potions she made for Pokémon were truly impressive.

Morty at this point was probably still relatively young—after all, he was in his black-haired phase—and his second Pokémon, Shellder, likewise failed to defeat Murkrow.

【You defeated Ecruteak Gym Leader Morty and obtained the Fog Badge.】