This was a real challenge, wasn’t it?
If its opponents were always a bunch of helpless foes with no power to fight back, Murkrow would get bored too.
When it came to wiping out the Beedrill, Murkrow had never truly found the joy of battle; it had simply been strictly carrying out Aoki’s orders.
Aoki had noticed this as well, though there was little he could do about it.
But when the Beedrill leader appeared, he clearly felt a sudden, surging wave of excitement from Murkrow.
Gently stroking Murkrow’s sleek feathers, Aoki shook his head and laughed helplessly.
“You really are a warmonger, aren’t you?
So thrilled just because a decent opponent showed up.” “Kaa!
Kaa!” Against a powerful opponent, defeating it with its own two wings was the highest form of respect.
Thrilled, Murkrow flapped up and down, unable to contain its delight.
Aoki patted his aching head.
Right now, the Beedrill swarm was like a curled-up hedgehog—tricky to deal with.
Setting this troubling problem aside for now, he glanced at the sun hanging over the treetops and leaped down from the tree.
Night was about to fall; even if they were going to take on the Beedrill, it would have to wait until tomorrow.
Returning to the familiar small hillside, he lit a campfire and gave Murkrow a full-body massage as usual.
“Murkrow, if we’re going to pick a fight with that Beedrill leader, your current strength is still a bit lacking.
You’d better be prepared for a tough battle!” Aoki said, holding a wooden stick and roasting dried meat over the fire.
“Kaa!” Hearing this, Murkrow nodded solemnly.
As long as it could grow stronger, enduring a little hardship was nothing.
Aoki smiled faintly.
“Then let’s start right now with a post-meal exercise.” He picked up two logs from the ground, each weighing around five pounds, retrieved some rope he had prepared earlier from his storage space, and tied the logs to Murkrow’s wings.
Flapping its bound wings slightly, Murkrow felt a distinct weight pull down on them.
Flying—something as effortless as drinking water before—suddenly felt awkward.
Wobbling off the ground, taking flight clearly required much more effort.
After a while, Murkrow finally adapted to the extra pressure, though every beat of its wings demanded far more strength.
Seeing that Murkrow had adjusted to the weight, Aoki nodded.
“Got used to the feeling?
Now fly a hundred laps around this tree to start.” This was a massive tree that would take three people to span.
Its branches spread out wide, making a single lap around twenty meters long.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Murkrow began circling the tree, lap after lap, never stopping…
Night fell.
Aoki and Murkrow, having finished training, gradually drifted off to sleep.
Another day passed.
Four days had gone by since the last trial test; today was the fifth.
In two more days, it would be time for another trial test.
So whether or not they managed to deal with the Beedrill, they had to head back after one more day.
A figure lay crouched low inside a thicket, pressed tight against the ground, covered in leaves and brush.
A cloth headwrap covered his head, and thick camo paint was smeared across his face.
Hiding in the bushes, only his eyes were visible.
He gave off a strong scent of tree sap; unless someone looked very closely, it was impossible to tell a person was hiding there.
Pokémon after Pokémon—yellow-bodied with cunning, blood-red eyes—flew right above the thicket where he lay without noticing a thing, until the last one whizzed past.
That person hiding inside was none other than Aoki.
Having been a Team Rocket member in his past life, he had encountered all kinds of missions.
Simple camouflage like this was child’s play for him.
Why had things turned out like this?
Because right now, Aoki’s presence was holding Murkrow back.
If not for the need to protect him, the Beedrill could never catch up to Murkrow given its speed.
So Aoki simply stayed hidden on the spot, waiting until all the Beedrill went chasing after Murkrow before making his move.
And the Pokémon flying overhead were precisely those enraged Beedrill.
He waited for another ten minutes or so until a pitch-black, bird-like Pokémon landed beside the thicket and let out a soft cry.
“Kaa…” The Pokémon that returned was Murkrow, which had just led a swarm of Beedrill off at high speed.
Murkrow had followed Aoki’s orders, maintaining a controlled speed—fast enough to stay out of reach, but slow enough to keep the Beedrill pursuing.
Once they were far enough away, it used Tailwind and flew at full speed to completely shake them off before flying back to Aoki’s hiding spot.
Only then did Aoki, who had remained motionless, slowly stand up from the bushes.
He brushed the dirt off his clothes and stamped his numb feet.
This body hadn’t undergone proper conditioning yet, so it couldn’t easily handle remaining still for so long.
He took out a Dark Speed Berry Block from his storage space and fed it to Murkrow to replenish its stamina, nodding in satisfaction as a subtle smile touched the corner of his lips.
Now that the entire Beedrill swarm had been lured away, he could thoroughly explore the center of their territory.
Walking through the forest—clearly untouched by humans or other Pokémon—he found weeds and bushes growing everywhere, with hardly any animal tracks.
Nibbled leaves scattered the trees and ground, and strands of silk were wrapped around the treetops, likely left behind from their time as Weedle.
The air was filled with the fresh scent of crushed leaves.
Aoki and Murkrow cut straight through, heading directly toward the heart of the territory.
After walking for about ten minutes, Aoki and Murkrow finally reached the center of the territory: a giant ancient tree, nearly three times the size of the one where Aoki usually stayed.
On it rested a nest-like structure, though it was constructed from mud.
With Murkrow’s help, Aoki stood at the edge of the hive, his eyes wide in shock at the sight before him.
Inside the massive hive lay row upon row of nearly identical Pokémon Eggs!
They were all Beedrill Eggs.
If all of them hatched successfully, they would turn into swarms of Weedle, which would eventually evolve into another massive flock of Beedrill.
Bug-type Pokémon might suffer from short lifespans, but their reproduction speed was far beyond what other Pokémon could match.
Recovering from his shock, Aoki activated the Microchip to scan the data of every single Egg.
Streams of data flashed across his vision.
Most of the Eggs had Red potential, though an occasional Orange potential popped up, standing out clearly from the rest.
Given the sheer quantity, there were even one or two Eggs with Yellow potential.
Moments later, all the scans were complete.
Out of over 500 Beedrill Eggs in total, only three had reached Yellow potential, and twenty-five had Orange potential.
Taking a deep breath, Aoki felt a headache coming on.
What should he do with all these Eggs?
Destroying them held no value or meaning.
Besides, while Aoki was cold-hearted, that only applied to his enemies.
While Aoki was pondering in frustration, Murkrow suddenly nudged his leg.
“Kaa, kaa.” Murkrow tapped Aoki’s leg, raised its head, and pointed a wing toward the higher branches above.
Looking in the direction Murkrow pointed, Aoki spotted a smaller hive higher up in the canopy, crafted far more delicately and meticulously.
He had Murkrow carry him up to the higher hive.
*This must be the Beedrill leader’s nest,* Aoki thought as he looked at the three Pokémon Eggs resting inside.
Activating the Microchip once again, the scanned data left him stunned: out of the three Eggs, two had Yellow potential, and one actually possessed Green potential!
[Pokémon: Weedle (Egg Form) (Green)] [Gender: Female] [Level: 1] [Type: Bug, Poison] [Ability: Unknown] [Held Item: None] [Egg Moves: Bug Bite, Focus Energy] [Basic Moves: None] [Tutor Moves: None] [TMs: None] He swallowed unconsciously.
This was the first time Aoki had ever seen an unhatched Pokémon with Green potential.
Even though it was just a common Weedle, when a Pokémon’s aptitude reached the Green tier, racial limitations mattered far less.
This Egg was clearly the offspring of the Beedrill leader.
Judging by the potential of these three Eggs, the leader itself must have possessed Yellow potential, or perhaps even Green.
Under normal circumstances, unless something extraordinary occurred, a Pokémon’s offspring would inherit a potential tier within one rank of its parents.
That meant if both parents had Yellow potential, their offspring’s potential would be Orange at minimum, typically Yellow, and Green if exceptionally outstanding.
If the parents had different potential tiers, various outcomes were possible, but the lowest would be at most one tier below the weaker parent, and the highest would be no more than one tier above the stronger parent.
Therefore, the parents of this Green-potential Weedle Egg were very likely Yellow tier, or perhaps even Green.
Pulling a piece of cloth from his tunic, Aoki wrapped the Green-potential Weedle Egg, strapped it tightly to his back, and did a light jump to make sure it wouldn’t slip off.
Pokémon Eggs could not be stored inside spatial storage, as doing so would cause them to lose their vitality and turn into dead eggs.
Spatial storage was generally intended for inanimate objects; living beings placed inside would die immediately.
Aoki naturally wasn’t about to pass up an Egg with Green potential.
Whether he used it himself later or sold it to Team Rocket or someone else, it could be exchanged for resources he desperately needed.
Having once been a Pokémon Hunter in his past life, handling things like this was second nature to him.