Adrian discovered that catching valuable Pokémon was more tedious than it sounded.
The idea itself was simple.
Wild Pokémon had value.
Trainers wanted them, Daycares purchased them, and despite the League’s restrictions on private Pokémon sales, an enormous unofficial market existed throughout Kanto.
Team Rocket was deeply involved in that market, but Adrian had no intention of using Rocket channels for everything he did.
TRP was too valuable.
He needed ordinary money.
Pokéblocks had been on his mind ever since he’d started researching nutrition.
Croagunk was developing quickly on standard food, but Adrian knew that wouldn’t remain sufficient forever.
Properly formulated Pokéblocks could provide better nutrition for a Pokémon undergoing intensive training, and making them himself would be far cheaper than continuously purchasing high-quality finished products.
The problem was startup cost.
A decent Berry Blender wasn’t cheap.
Neither were enough berries to experiment with recipes, storage containers, nutritional additives, or the inevitable batches Adrian would ruin while learning.
His current savings wouldn’t cover everything.
His Rocket Points could.
Adrian refused to use them.
TRP could buy resources that normal money couldn’t easily acquire, and spending it on equipment available in an ordinary Cerulean store would be a waste.
That left one obvious solution.
Adrian stood among the tall grass northeast of Cerulean and watched another Pidgey fly away.
Red potential.
The fifth he’d scanned that morning.
Croagunk sat beneath a nearby tree, watching him.
“Don’t.”
“Croa.”
“I know.” Croagunk looked toward the direction the Pidgey had disappeared.
“We’ve been here two hours.”
Croagunk stared.
“You’re enjoying this far too much.”
The Poison-type’s mouth twitched.
Adrian sighed and continued walking.
The system was powerful.
That didn’t mean the wilderness suddenly filled itself with valuable Pokémon for his convenience.
He’d scanned better than thirty Pokémon since leaving Cerulean that morning.
Almost all of them were Red.
A handful were Orange.
Only two had been Yellow.
Nothing higher.
That distribution was precisely why potential-testing machines existed.
A trainer couldn’t look at two ordinary Pidgey and reliably determine which had the better long-term prospects.
Experienced breeders could notice physical characteristics, temperament, parentage, and other indicators, but none of those methods provided certainty.
Adrian had certainty.
And certainty was dangerous.
He had spent several nights thinking about how to exploit the Scan System without revealing it.
The answer was restraint.
If he walked into a buyer’s shop every week carrying Green-potential Pokémon, someone would notice.
If he somehow produced Blue potential, people wouldn’t merely notice.
They would investigate.
Yellow was different.
Yellow-potential Pokémon were good enough to command a respectable price without being so rare that finding one seemed impossible.
Trainers found them naturally.
Breeders produced them.
Hunters occasionally captured them.
An unknown teenager selling a Yellow-potential Pokémon wasn’t remarkable.
Doing it too frequently might become remarkable.
Which meant Adrian needed to lose sometimes.
Or at least appear to.
A movement in the grass caught his attention.
A Bellsprout emerged.
Adrian activated Scan.
Pokémon Scan
Species: Bellsprout ♀ Level: 6.
Rank: Baby Potential: Yellow Ability: Chlorophyll Moves: Vine Whip · Growth · Wrap · Sleep Powder Status: Healthy Evaluation: Good Individual
Adrian stopped.
Yellow.
Decent moves.
Healthy.
And Bellsprout was a useful species.
“That one.”
Croagunk stood.
The Bellsprout noticed them, leaves rising.
“Bell!”
“Don’t damage it too badly.”
Croagunk moved forward.
Bellsprout attacked first.
“Vine Whip!” Two vines snapped toward Croagunk.
“Forward.”
Croagunk accelerated.
The first vine missed.
The second struck its shoulder, and Croagunk barely slowed.
Adrian noticed the difference.
Several days ago, an attack like that would have disrupted its approach.
At level ten, Croagunk was noticeably sturdier.
“Fake Out.”
Croagunk vanished forward, its palm striking Bellsprout’s body.
The Grass-type stumbled backward.
“Poison Sting.” Adrian almost gave the command automatically.
He stopped.
Poison was effective against Grass.
Too much risk.
“Mud-Slap.”
Croagunk kicked dirt into Bellsprout’s face.
The wild Pokémon recoiled.
“Wrap!” Its vines shot outward blindly.
One wrapped around Croagunk’s arm.
Adrian watched Croagunk tense.
“Don’t Cross Chop.”
Croagunk looked disappointed.
“Pull.”
Croagunk grabbed the vine.
Bellsprout realized its mistake.
Too late.
Croagunk yanked, and Bellsprout flew forward.
“Fake Out.”
The second strike dropped it.
Adrian threw a Poké Ball.
Red light consumed Bellsprout.
The ball landed.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Click.
Adrian picked it up.
That was enough.
He wasn’t going to spend another six hours collecting every Yellow Pokémon his system found.
Doing that defeated the entire point of remaining inconspicuous.
They continued deeper into the route.
Adrian scanned another twenty Pokémon over the next hour.
Red.
Orange.
Red.
Red.
Orange.
Red.
Nothing worth a second look.
This was most of what hunting actually meant.
Long stretches of nothing, punctuated by the occasional reason to stop.
Then something made him stop for real.
A small Abra sat beneath a tree, its eyes closed.
Adrian scanned it.
Pokémon Scan
Species: Abra ♂ Level: 7.
Rank: Baby Potential: Light Green Ability: Synchronize Moves: Teleport · Confusion (Egg Move) Status: Healthy Evaluation: Talented Individual
Adrian stared.
Light Green.
In an entire morning of scanning, this was the first thing that wasn’t Red, Orange, or the one Yellow Bellsprout already on his belt.
His first instinct was immediate.
Catch it.
His second was more cautious.
Abra itself was valuable.
Psychic-types were sought after, difficult to capture, and Abra evolved into Kadabra and eventually Alakazam.
A Light Green Abra would be worth more than the Bellsprout he’d already caught.
Maybe too much more.
Adrian watched it.
Abra’s ears twitched.
Croagunk looked toward him.
“No.”
Croagunk tilted its head.
“We’re leaving it.”
The decision hurt.
But Adrian forced himself to walk away.
He had just started.
Catching the first unusually valuable Pokémon he encountered because his system told him to would be exactly how greed turned an advantage into a liability.
There would be other Pokémon.
He didn’t need everything.
That restraint was part of protecting the system.
The Pokémon appraisal shop was located in western Cerulean.
Adrian had chosen it deliberately.
It wasn’t connected to Team Rocket as far as he knew, and it wasn’t one of the larger League-affiliated facilities either.
A sign above the entrance advertised Pokémon appraisal, breeding consultation, and licensed transfers through associated Daycares.
The League officially prohibited unlicensed private Pokémon sales.
That didn’t mean Pokémon couldn’t be sold at all.
Licensed Daycares, breeders, and approved businesses acted as intermediaries, taking a percentage while recording transfers.
Adrian entered with Bellsprout’s Poké Ball.
A woman behind the counter looked up.
“Appraisal?”
“And possibly sale.”
“Species?”
“Bellsprout.”
“Wild caught?”
“Yes.”
She gestured toward a machine.
“Twenty-five hundred for a complete appraisal.
Waived if you sell through us.”
Adrian placed the Poké Ball into the slot.
The machine activated, several scanners passing over it.
Adrian already knew what it would find.
Species, sex, approximate age, health, potential.
The machine couldn’t provide the complete information his system could, but potential was exactly what mattered for the sale.
The display changed.
Bellsprout Health: Good Potential Grade: Yellow
The woman raised an eyebrow.
“Not bad.”
Adrian shrugged.
“Got lucky.”
That sentence was going to become useful.
She inspected the report.
“Female helps.
Healthy.
Yellow potential.
We can offer thirty-eight thousand.”
Adrian kept his expression neutral.
“Forty-five.”
She laughed.
“You’re fifteen.”
“Does Bellsprout know how old I am?”
The woman looked at him, then smiled faintly.
“Forty.”
“Forty-two.”
“Forty-one.”
“Deal.”
The transfer took ten minutes.
Forms.
Trainer identification.
Capture declaration.
Transfer authorization.
Boring.
Exactly how Adrian wanted it.
When he walked outside, his account was forty-one thousand Pokédollars richer.
Croagunk looked up at him.
“That,” Adrian said, “is why we’re not spending TRP on normal equipment.”
He spent nearly half of it before returning to the base.
The Berry Blender was the largest expense.
It wasn’t an industrial model used by professional breeders or Coordinators.
Those could cost hundreds of thousands or even millions.
Adrian bought a small household unit.
Enough for experimentation.
Then came berries.
Oran.
Pecha.
Cheri.
Rawst.
Persim.
Several inexpensive varieties he’d never encountered in the games.
He also purchased measuring equipment, storage containers, a small scale, and a beginner’s guide to Pokémon nutrition.
By the time he finished, his forty-one thousand had fallen below twenty thousand.
“Investment.”
“Croa.”
“Don’t judge me.”
Croagunk looked at the Berry Blender, then at Adrian.
“You’ll change your mind when you’re eating them.”
That got its attention.
Adrian didn’t use the Rocket cafeteria.
Instead, he borrowed one of the small food-preparation rooms available near the recruit dormitories.
The first batch was terrible.
He knew because Croagunk spat it onto the floor.
Adrian stared at the half-chewed Pokéblock.
Croagunk stared back.
“That bad?”
Croagunk slowly pushed the block away.
Adrian picked it up.
It looked acceptable.
Purple-red, firm, slightly uneven.
He smelled it.
Not terrible.
“You’re dramatic.”
Croagunk crossed its arms.
Adrian checked the recipe.
Too much Pecha.
Not enough Oran.
Possibly blended too long.
He wrote it down.
The second batch held together better.
Croagunk sniffed it.
Bit.
Chewed.
Paused.
Then swallowed.
Adrian leaned forward.
“Well?”
Croagunk considered, then reached for another.
Success.
Sort of.
These weren’t high-grade Pokéblocks.
They weren’t some miraculous resource that would make Croagunk gain three levels overnight.
They were food.
Better food, if Adrian learned what he was doing.
That mattered.
Croagunk was still developing rapidly; its training burned enormous amounts of energy, and every battle demanded recovery afterward.
If Adrian could improve the quality of its nutrition while controlling the cost, the benefits would compound over time.
He began another batch.
Different proportions.
Less Pecha.
More Oran.
A small amount of another berry the nutrition guide recommended for physically active Poison-types.
Croagunk watched from the table.
“You realize you’re the test subject.”
Croagunk stopped chewing.
Adrian smiled.
“Too late.”
Three days passed.
Adrian didn’t hunt Pokémon again.
That was deliberate.
He continued missions.
Training.
Battles.
And Pokéblock experiments.
Croagunk liked some.
Hated others.
One batch somehow came out hard enough that Adrian suspected it could survive a Cross Chop.
He threw those away.
But gradually, he improved.
The Blender became easier to control.
He learned which berries mixed well.
He learned that taste mattered almost as much as nutritional composition, because a theoretically perfect Pokéblock was worthless if Croagunk refused to eat it.
And Croagunk grew.
The breakthrough happened on the eighteenth day.
No battle.
No dramatic moment.
Adrian had finished a morning conditioning session and was removing Croagunk’s weights when the system appeared.
Pokémon Scan
Species: Croagunk ♂ Level: 11.
Rank: Low Beginner Potential: Blue Ability: Anticipation Moves: Poison Sting · Mud-Slap · Astonish · Taunt · Fake Out (Egg Move) · Cross Chop (Egg Move) Status: Healthy Evaluation: Extraordinary Individual
Adrian stared at the screen.
Beginner.
Croagunk noticed.
“Croa?”
Adrian dismissed the Scan, then smiled.
“You did it.”
Croagunk looked down at itself.
Nothing appeared different.
No glow.
No evolution.
But Adrian had seen enough Beginner-rank Pokémon now to recognize the subtler changes.
Croagunk stood a little straighter.
Its muscles were more developed.
Its breathing after training was steadier.
The energy contained within its body was stronger.
The difference between Baby and Beginner wasn’t a wall.
It was a threshold.
And Croagunk had crossed it.
Adrian looked toward the countdown displayed on the training terminal.
12 Days Until Trial Two.
Level eleven.
Low Beginner.
Twelve days remained.
Adrian’s target had changed.
Reaching Beginner wasn’t enough anymore.
By the time the second trial began, he wanted Croagunk at level fifteen.
Considering how quickly early-stage Pokémon could develop.
And how much better Croagunk’s training and nutrition were becoming.
Adrian believed they could do it.
He picked up the four training weights.
Croagunk’s celebration ended.
“Beginner doesn’t mean we’re stopping.”
Croagunk stared at the weights.
Adrian added another metal insert to each band.
Croagunk looked horrified.
“Congratulations.” Adrian held out the first weight.
“Training gets harder.”