Chapter 31: Snorlax and the Weather Forecast

Snorlax was sucked into the Poké Ball without a hitch. Heath picked up the ball and gave it a light toss; it felt remarkably weightless, barely heavier than an empty one. It made him marvel once again at the black technology of the Pokémon world. He couldn’t recall Snorlax's exact weight, but it was certainly several hundred kilograms. The fact that the Poké Ball remained so light even with such a massive creature inside was truly mind-boggling.

"I'll be counting on you from now on, Snorlax." Heath smiled as he carried the ball back into his food truck. He rummaged through his cabinets and pulled out a book titled *Fundamentals of Martial Arts*.

"Trainer, are you going to learn... some kind of martial art?" Zorua hopped onto Heath’s shoulder, curious, and poked the Poké Ball with a claw, causing it to roll across the floor.

"I'd like to, though I'm probably too old for it now, aren't I?" Heath scratched his head. Which person from China didn't grow up dreaming of becoming a martial artist or a chivalrous hero? Especially those of his generation, who grew up watching TV dramas like *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*, they were all fascinated by those martial arts. He never expected that, after coming to the Pokémon world, he might actually have a chance to pick them up again.

"Hmm? Does this stuff have an age limit?" Zorua asked, eyeing the book in Heath’s hands with surprise.

"Of course it does. Back home, we emphasize laying a solid foundation from childhood and tempering one's constitution. My bones are pretty much fully developed now, so the results of trying to train them would be quite poor." Heath said with a chuckle. He wasn't entirely sure if that was true, but wasn't that what they always said in movies like *Ip Man* or *Fist of Legend*?

"I get it. It’s like how a little girl needs to be developed from a young age, otherwise she might not be able to accommodate your size, right?" Zorua said with a grin. Heath gave her a flick to the forehead, expressionless. This creature with a mind full of lewd thoughts was truly beyond saving.

Heath released Snorlax in the living room. As the massive Pokémon appeared, Heath couldn't help but nervously check the floor. Thankfully, it held up; it seemed that anything produced by his "Golden Finger" was of top-tier quality.

"I don't think we'll ever need air conditioning again," Zorua remarked, and Heath nodded in agreement. The moment Snorlax appeared, beyond making the living room feel a bit cramped, its most notable trait was the intense drop in temperature. The closer one got to Snorlax, the colder it felt, just like standing out in the open.

After adjusting the thermostat several times, Heath finally managed to stabilize the room at a tolerable level. It was still chilly near Snorlax, but the cold air radiating from the Pokémon actually made the room, which should have been quite warm, feel rather comfortable.

Heath sat cross-legged on the floor. Zorua had already scampered off to play with Snorlax, while Farfetch’d, juggling its leek, curiously pecked at Snorlax’s massive hand. Only Charmander continued to train diligently, showing no signs of slacking, though it did offer a friendly gesture toward Snorlax, which pleased Heath greatly.

Heath opened his *Fundamentals of Martial Arts* and began to read patiently. If he wanted to teach Snorlax and become a qualified master, he had to master the material himself first, which made him worry about his own aptitude. However, after flipping through a few pages, he realized that aside from basics like the horse stance, most of the fundamentals were similar to the combat techniques he had already practiced, which eased his mind.

But having Snorlax do a horse stance... Heath looked at the Pokémon. Snorlax's legs were so short—so short that Heath doubted it even had knees. Given its immense weight, if it did have knees, they would likely be under unbearable strain. Snorlax looked as if a massive boulder was simply resting on two stumps.

"Snorlax, can you do this move?" Heath called out, demonstrating a horse stance. Snorlax watched him and tried its best to mimic him, but it didn't look like anything changed at all.

Heath stroked his chin. It seemed Snorlax wasn't suited for the horse stance, or rather, it wasn't built for it. After all, the stance required knees, and Snorlax didn't have them. Heath had once wondered if Snorlax was like a rabbit, hiding long legs, but it seemed clear now that it truly had no legs to speak of. If Snorlax did have legs, the image would be far too surreal—Heath could almost visualize Snorlax lifting the blubber on its belly to reveal a pair of long, shapely legs. The mental image was vivid.

"Let’s save the horse stance for last. We can start with something else." Heath skimmed through the book. Indeed, apart from some uniquely Chinese training methods, the rest were quite similar to what he had learned in the Officer Jenny dormitory.

Speaking of the dormitory, Heath couldn't help but smile. His phone had been bombarded with messages last night from Officer Jenny May. Fortunately, he knew exactly what she was going to say, so he didn't even pick up. He simply sent a reply saying, "Please use it yourself," and turned his phone off to sleep. By the next morning, May seemed to have accepted reality; she sent a message saying, "Just you wait," and had been quiet since, which made Heath feel much more relaxed.

"Let me check the weather forecast for tomorrow." Heath opened the app on his phone. The screen transitioned from an Articuno flying across the sky to a Zapdos soaring through a thunderstorm. It looked like thundershowers were on the horizon.

This was a relief; Heath had been worried that if the weather remained as severe as it had been, he would be trapped on Victory Road indefinitely. The weather forecasts in the Pokémon world were quite interesting: in the Kanto region, they were usually represented by the Legendary Birds. Moltres meant sunny, a cloudy Moltres meant overcast, and a transition to rain meant the Moltres flew away as the sky turned rainy. Zapdos was different; its appearance meant one thing: lightning. It was only used for thunderstorms and similar phenomena.

Heath thought about suggesting the weather bureau use Kyogre or Lugia to represent rain... He paused, realizing that if that were the case, wouldn't the Hoenn region just use Kyogre and Groudon? He decided to look into it if he ever had the chance; he was quite curious about that.