Harry Wood City.
Located in the heart of the Eurubiian continent, it is part of the United States of Sahelta.
Harry Wood City is an ordinary town, not particularly notable in any way, yet it attracts a constant flow of visitors every day.
The reason? The famous Harimu Ruins.
The city itself owes much of its reputation to these ruins. In fact, Harry Wood City was built largely around the allure of the Harimu Ruins.
"Is this the Harimu Ruins, known as the 'Death Land'? It certainly lives up to its name..."
Ronnie stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows on the upper floors of the hotel, a vantage point that offered the best view of the entire city.
Looking out, he could clearly see the vast Harimu Ruins stretching out beyond the city limits.
To the average observer, the Harimu Ruins might seem like just another large archaeological site—nothing out of the ordinary.
But through Ronnie's keen gaze, he could sense something far more ominous. A powerful accumulation of death thoughts seemed to emanate from the very heart of the ruins.
It was almost palpable, the suffocating aura of death that seemed ready to swallow anyone who dared approach.
The ruins appeared as a massive, continuous dark cloud, obscuring the heart of the site. From this distance, the deeper regions remained hidden from view, with ordinary people unable to enter.
The Harimu Ruins are divided into two main sections. From an aerial view, the ruins have a roughly circular shape.
The outer section, free from the oppressive death thoughts, serves as a tourist attraction where visitors can enter and exit without issue.
The inner city, on the other hand, is steeped in death thoughts, a dangerous zone that remains closed off to most, only accessible to the wealthiest of individuals.
Among those who dare venture into the ruins, two types of individuals are most common: Relic Hunters and Treasure Hunters. However, rumors abound that no one has ever made it to the depths of the ruins.
The death thoughts in the inner city are so intense that they consume large amounts of Nen energy every second, and the further one goes, the stronger the thoughts become.
In truth, ruins like these are scattered across the continent, many of them still unexplored due to the death thoughts they harbor.
The Harimu Ruins are among the most dangerous of all. The intensity of their death thoughts far exceeds that of other ruins, which is why they've earned the nickname "Death Place."
As Ronnie stood there, his mind was busy processing information. He could feel the progress bar for the Pokémon Master ability in his mind advancing steadily.
"I didn't expect the first ruin I visit to give me such a surprise," he murmured to himself.
After killing Pies and Hoss and acquiring their identification certificates, Ronnie had set off on his journey. The next step? Visiting places described in the original plot, such as Sky Arena and Youkexin City. Even if those places weren't specifically part of his plans, they were famous locations, and Ronnie knew he had to visit them eventually.
Now that he was truly in this world, he realized that the places mentioned in the plot were just the tip of the iceberg.
The reason he had come to the Harimu Ruins was simple: it was close to the town where he had arrived. A bit of good fortune led him here, and he was curious to see if anything would come of it.
To his surprise, this first ruin seemed to have a real potential for Pokémon to be born.
Ronnie scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder if the probability of Pokémon birth is really high here, or if I'm just lucky."
Staring at the distant ruins, Ronnie was filled with a strong sense of curiosity. Even if he couldn't venture deep into the inner city, it would be worth it to observe the ruins from the outside.
For now, his plan was to explore the city, quietly waiting for the progress bar to fill up and then welcome the next Pokémon. He couldn't help but wonder which Pokémon it would be...
---
Though Ronnie had been occupied with his journey, he wasn't completely idle. He had spent a lot of time analyzing his Nen, and after much contemplation, an idea formed in his mind.
One thing had puzzled him ever since he first learned about Gardevoir: the lack of information in the illustrated book.
After thinking it through, Ronnie realized that there might be a way to not only fill in the gaps of knowledge in the illustrated book but also enhance the strength of his Pokémon!
This method involved something known as restrictions and oaths.
Simply put, it meant setting specific rules or vows in one's heart and then adhering to them strictly.
The more difficult the rules, the more powerful the resulting Nen ability.
A prime example was Kurapika. Fueled by his hatred for the Phantom Troupe, Kurapika had restricted his Nen use, declaring that he could only use his Nen abilities against the Phantom Troupe. This restriction granted him immense power and allowed him to catch up to even the most seasoned Nen users in the Troupe.
Restrictions and oaths were fair in that they provided power as long as the user stuck to their rules. But breaking an oath could result in severe consequences: not only could you lose your Nen abilities, but you might even lose your life.
For Ronnie, this presented an intriguing opportunity. By creating a restriction and an oath for his Pokémon, he could boost their strength significantly.
This was Ronnie's decision after much careful thought. When he first came to this world, he realized that his greatest advantage lay in his Pokémon Master Nen ability.
Secondly, the vast knowledge he had accumulated on Blue Star was invaluable. He knew much about Pokémon and could use that information to improve his Pokémon's abilities.
So, Ronnie decided to take the plunge and establish his own restriction and oath.
The rule he would set was simple: each Pokémon he obtained would be given a strict one-minute window to absorb as much knowledge as possible about its attributes, characteristics, abilities, and skills.
Within this time, Ronnie would need to fully analyze and record everything he knew about the Pokémon, including racial values, known abilities, and anything else of note. He would then repeat the process for each Pokémon.
The key point was that if his knowledge exceeded the average of 50% of what was typically known about the Pokémon, their strength would increase by a large margin—potentially even to the next level!
On the other hand, if his knowledge was less than 50%, the Pokémon's strength would decrease correspondingly.
This was Ronnie's gamble. By using the knowledge stored in his brain, he hoped to turn his understanding of Pokémon into tangible power.
If it worked, the benefits would be enormous. For example, Gardevoir, who was currently at B-rank, could be promoted directly to A-rank!
Despite the risks, Ronnie couldn't shake the feeling that there was something strange stirring in his heart—a sense of balance between effort and reward.
The restriction and oath were set.
---