It was no wonder then that the lonely Rotom used Confuse Ray, which Xia Huanao could barely withstand. What was more troublesome was that he couldn't solve the problem; even turning off the TV wouldn't help, as Xia Huanao couldn't stop Rotom from turning on a television.
Xia Huanao looked around. If he could find a staff member, perhaps they could recall this Rotom into its Poké Ball, thus ridding himself of this pest.
Seeing Xia Huanao looking left and right, Rotom spoke, "Stop looking. This mall is self-service, Rotom."
Xia Huanao didn't quite believe this. It was Zhang Hong who explained, "That's right. All the shops under the Rainbow Star Group are self-service, with no security guards. After all, no one in this world dares to cross the Rainbow Star Group. Even the Pokémon League maintains a good cooperative relationship."
Hearing this, Xia Huanao's heart sank. If he were to be pestered by Rotom, his shopping experience would definitely not be pleasant.
Seeing the dejected Xia Huanao, Rotom let out a slightly grating laugh, "Can't do anything now, Rotom!"
Xia Huanao was very angry, but the angrier he got, the faster his mind worked. Self-service and Pokémon present here meant that this Pokémon theoretically had no owner...
Xia Huanao and the system, after discussion, reached an agreement and decided to go all out!
Seeing Xia Huanao turning to go downstairs, Zhang Hong asked, "Where are you going?"
Xia Huanao didn't look back. "You'll know soon. You and Xiao Yu keep an eye on it. I'll be back soon."
Descending the stairs, Xia Huanao whispered his and the system's plan:
"According to the rules of Rainbow Star Mall, damaging skills cannot be used in non-battle areas below the ninth floor, so I can't reduce Rotom's HP.
Generally, to catch a Pokémon, you first need to calculate a data 'b'. The formula for 'b' is three times max HP minus two times current HP, then multiplied by the catch rate and catch modifier. Next, it's divided by three times max HP and multiplied by the status modifier.
According to the data the system just gave me, max HP is 26, Rotom's catch rate is 45, the Poké Ball catch modifier is 1. However, if my Pokémon's level is four times higher than the opponent's, the Level Ball's catch modifier is 8, and the status modifier for sleep is 2.5. I don't have Catch Power, O-Power, or Catch Charm, so no further modifiers are applied.
Plugging all these constants into the formula, the result for 'b' is 300. When 'b' is greater than or equal to 255, the capture is guaranteed to succeed. There's no need to worry about the second constant 'g' which might need to be calculated. The plan is complete!"
It must be said that game enthusiasts who understand data calculations can be frightening at times. Fortunately, in the past decade or so on Lingyao Star, Xia Huanao understood that this was not a world where victory was determined solely by data. Moves like "Stand Up" and "Quick Dodge" were genuinely useful.
Shaking his mind, which was almost influenced by the data, Xia Huanao began to revise the unfavorable factors in his plan. The first was the level of Xiao Meng, whom he had brought out today. However, judging from the time he cut his hand at home and Xiao Meng healed him with Heal Pulse, Xiao Meng's level was definitely above thirty-five.
Another variable was, how to make Rotom fall asleep?
Rotom would not fall asleep on its own. The usual methods would be using the move "Sing" or "Yawn." Unfortunately, Froakie, Snivy, and Fennekin couldn't learn these moves. Indeedee also didn't know "Sing," but it had "Yawn" as an inherited move on its move list...
Ah, yes, another inherited move. Before, when dealing with Wobbuffet, Xia Huanao had wanted an inherited move. Now, to catch Rotom, he needed an inherited move again...
"System, check what parent Pokémon are needed for Xiao Meng to learn Yawn."
The system, after checking, provided the answer: Cleffa...
Xia Huanao was not happy with this answer. Indeedee was already a rare Pokémon in Minglong Country, and the Clefairy family's rarity was a notch higher than Indeedee's.
Never mind, he'd have to give up on the plan to use moves to make Rotom sleep...
Originally, Xia Huanao had also planned to use Berries to make Rotom sleep, but it seemed there were no Berries that could induce sleep...
At this point, Xia Huanao was stuck. He and the system had thought of a great plan, but in the end, they were foiled by the inability to make Rotom fall asleep.
...
While Zhang Hong on the eighth floor was getting impatient, Xia Huanao came up with two bags. Seeing the "R" logo of Rainbow Star on the bags, Zhang Hong said to him with a sly grin, "Hey, you didn't go buy a Gardevoir doll, did you? You can come back for that kind of thing later. There are still girls here..."
Xia Huanao shoved Zhang Hong aside. "Shut up. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll buy you a shiny female Machamp doll for your birthday this year. Believe it or not!"
Zhang Hong immediately became quiet and obediently retreated to the side, watching Xia Huanao's performance.
Xia Huanao took out a red ball from one of the bags and handed it to the Rotom television. "I'll give you this. Won't you let me shop in peace? How about I buy my TMs and leave?"
Rotom took the red ball and, for the moment, let Xia Huanao go. "Okay, Rotom."
Xia Huanao, Zhang Hong, and Shen Yu walked only a few steps before turning behind a shelf to hide, watching Rotom from afar.
Zhang Hong quietly asked, "What are you up to?"
Xia Huanao looked like he had everything under control. "Just wait and see."
As time ticked by, Xia Huanao's breathing grew more rapid.
Suddenly, Xia Huanao circled out from behind the shelf, released Indeedee, and threw a Level Ball.
Following the lightning bolt-shaped mark on Rotom's head after the Level Ball struck, a red light shone on Rotom. Then, Rotom was caught inside the Level Ball.
Xia Huanao picked up the Poké Ball containing Rotom. "Rotom, get!"
Shen Yu and Zhang Hong came over to congratulate Xia Huanao. "Congratulations on catching Rotom."
Xia Huanao nodded. "Let's go. We'll buy our things first, then find a place to bury this Poké Ball."
Hearing this, Shen Yu was stunned. "What? Bury it?"
Zhang Hong also looked incredulous. "You're going to bury a Poké Ball and an unknown ball like that? You've really spent a lot to get revenge on Rotom."
Xia Huanao casually swung the Poké Ball in his hand and walked towards a Pokémon Restore device not far away. With a "ding, ding, ding-ding-ding!" sound, Xia Huanao recalled the Poké Ball and clipped it to his belt. "If there were no Pokémon management regulations, I'd definitely bury it in a landfill. Alright, never mind this, let's go shopping."
...
Now, let's explain how Xia Huanao actually caught Rotom.
According to the initial plan, Xia Huanao intended to deal with Rotom using the sleep status. However, as that plan failed, he had to shift his attention to the remaining negative statuses.
The three of them couldn't inflict the "frozen" status, and as an Electric-type, Rotom was immune to paralysis. Therefore, only poisoning and burning were left. Although these statuses didn't provide as strong a status bonus as sleep, they caused HP loss.
To make a Pokémon affected by poison or burn status, either the opponent's move had this effect, or it was affected by an ability during close combat.
However, Rainbow Star Mall did not allow combat in non-battle areas, so Xia Huanao had to resort to the last resort: having the Pokémon hold a Status Orb.
Poison and burn statuses required a Toxic Orb and a Flame Orb, respectively. Although poison status caused faster HP loss than burn status, Xia Huanao and the others did not have any Poison- or Steel-type Pokémon that could resist poison. Therefore, the Toxic Orb was useless. As for the Flame Orb, it could be given to Fennekin to hold after being switched out.
We must say that Rainbow Star Mall is indeed the world's largest mall. Although Flame Orbs were not easy to obtain, a few were still sold at Rainbow Star Mall.
The next step was to find a way to make Rotom hold the Flame Orb. As expected, Xia Huanao successfully tricked Rotom into holding the Flame Orb. Of course, this strategy was somewhat risky. This Rotom had been roaming the Rainbow Star Mall for years. If it recognized the Flame Orb, it would definitely know its effect. If it didn't wear it, things would get interesting.
Fortunately, this talkative Rotom was only talented in speaking, which allowed Xia Huanao's plan to succeed.
Returning to the trio of Xia Huanao, they browsed the floor selling TM for a long time but showed no intention of buying.
Too expensive! If the price of a Poké Ball at 250 could be endured, then the price of TMs was too outrageous. The cheapest ones cost five figures, while slightly more expensive ones could be hundreds of thousands. Comparing them to the TM prices in his memory, Xia Huanao finally confirmed that they were ten times the game price!
Patting the card in his pocket, Xia Huanao sighed. Although the card left to him by his parents had a certain amount of funds, it was only a little over ten thousand. After he spent a lot of money on the Toxic Orb and the Level Ball, he didn't have much money left. Even the cheapest TM was a luxury for them...
Fortunately, few people came to the eighth floor of Rainbow Star Mall. Otherwise, Xia Huanao felt that his bumpkin behavior would lead to social death here.
"Never mind, let's go to the ninth floor. The ninth floor is said to be a Pokémon Paradise. Let's go explore there."
As Shen Yu spoke, Xia Huanao dared not disobey. The three of them went up to the Pokémon Paradise on the ninth floor. On the other side, in the monitoring room of the Rainbow Star Group's Jinghai City headquarters, which, although self-service, was still monitored, a middle-aged man in a white coat stood up. "Someone come with me to Rainbow Star Mall."