Squirtle became a blur of water.
Aqua Jet carried it across the forest floor with enough speed that Adrian barely had time to finish his command.
“Fake Out!”
Croagunk moved.
The two Pokémon met between the trees.
Croagunk’s palm struck Squirtle’s shoulder a fraction of a second before Aqua Jet could connect properly.
Water exploded outward as Squirtle was knocked off course, but its momentum still carried its shell into Croagunk’s side.
Both Pokémon separated.
Croagunk slid backward across the damp earth.
Squirtle rolled once before planting its feet.
Neither fell.
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
This was different.
For most of the past week, Croagunk had possessed an obvious physical advantage over the Pokémon it fought.
Even when an opponent had been slightly higher in level, Croagunk’s Blue potential and conditioning allowed it to compensate.
Squirtle was different.
Level fourteen.
Light Green potential.
A month of serious training under a recruit competent enough to obtain two codes within the first day.
Darius hadn’t been carried here.
“Water Gun!”
Squirtle fired.
“Right!”
Croagunk moved before the stream reached it.
The attack followed.
Darius wasn’t firing once and stopping.
Squirtle swept Water Gun across the battlefield, forcing Croagunk farther to the side.
Adrian understood.
“Forward!”
Croagunk changed direction.
Instead of continuing to retreat, it rushed toward Squirtle.
Darius had expected it.
“Bite!”
Squirtle stopped Water Gun and lunged.
Croagunk shifted its upper body.
Squirtle’s jaws snapped shut beside its arm.
“Cross Chop, quarter!”
Croagunk struck Squirtle’s side.
The Fighting-type attack sent Squirtle skidding backward.
“Withdraw!”
Squirtle pulled into its shell.
Adrian stopped the next command.
Cross Chop was super effective against Squirtle, but striking the hardened shell unnecessarily would waste energy.
Darius smiled.
“Water Gun!”
Squirtle’s head emerged.
A blast of water struck Croagunk squarely in the chest.
It flew backward.
“Croagunk!”
Croagunk hit the ground and rolled.
Darius didn’t give it time.
“Aqua Jet!”
Water surrounded Squirtle.
Adrian watched the distance.
“Wait.”
Croagunk pushed itself upright.
Squirtle accelerated.
“Wait.”
Darius frowned.
Aqua Jet closed the gap.
“Now!
Mud-Slap!”
Croagunk didn’t aim for Squirtle.
Its foot struck the wet earth.
Mud exploded upward.
Squirtle flew directly into it, eyes snapping shut.
“Cross Chop!”
Croagunk crossed its arms.
Full strength.
The blow landed directly against Squirtle’s chest.
BOOM!
Squirtle was driven into the ground.
Darius’s expression changed.
“Withdraw!”
Squirtle pulled into its shell before Croagunk could follow.
“Back,” Adrian ordered.
Croagunk obeyed.
Darius blinked.
He’d expected Adrian to keep attacking.
That would have been stupid.
Croagunk had landed the stronger blow.
There was no reason to exhaust itself hammering against Squirtle’s shell.
Adrian glanced at Croagunk.
Its breathing remained controlled.
Aqua Jet had clipped it.
Water Gun had landed cleanly.
Neither had caused serious damage.
Squirtle had taken Fake Out, a reduced Cross Chop, and then a full Cross Chop.
The advantage belonged to Croagunk.
Darius knew it too.
Squirtle emerged from its shell.
“Keep your distance.
Water Gun!”
The strategy changed.
Good.
Darius wasn’t bad.
Water blasted across the clearing.
Croagunk dodged.
Another Water Gun followed.
Then another.
Adrian watched Squirtle.
Darius had realized that close combat favored Croagunk, so he was trying to turn the battle into a ranged exchange.
Croagunk only had one reliable damaging ranged attack.
“Poison Sting!”
Purple needles flew.
Water Gun struck them in midair.
Most were knocked aside.
Darius grinned.
“Again!”
Water Gun fired.
Croagunk moved.
Adrian said nothing.
Another blast.
Another dodge.
Squirtle controlled the center of the battlefield while Croagunk was gradually pushed around it.
Darius had found a workable strategy.
Adrian needed to break it.
He looked at the terrain.
Trees.
Roots.
Mud.
Rocks.
Croagunk didn’t need to cross the open ground.
“Left tree.”
Croagunk understood.
It moved behind the trunk.
Water Gun struck bark.
“Keep firing!” Darius ordered.
Squirtle adjusted.
Croagunk moved again.
Another tree.
Another Water Gun.
Darius frowned.
“Stop hiding!”
Adrian almost smiled.
Impatience.
Useful.
Croagunk disappeared behind a third tree.
“Circle.”
The Poison-type changed direction while hidden.
Darius watched the wrong side.
Croagunk emerged from the opposite direction.
“Poison Sting!”
Purple needles flew.
Squirtle turned.
“Water Gun!” Too late.
Several needles struck its shoulder.
Squirtle recoiled.
“Close!”
Croagunk rushed.
“Withdraw!” Squirtle disappeared into its shell.
Adrian expected that.
“Don’t attack.
Push it!”
Croagunk lowered its shoulder.
Darius’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Croagunk slammed into the shell.
Not with a move, just its body.
Squirtle rolled.
Croagunk continued pushing.
Straight toward a tree.
“Get out!”
Squirtle’s head emerged.
“Fake Out!”
Croagunk’s palm struck.
Squirtle flinched.
“Cross Chop, half!”
The strike landed before Squirtle could Withdraw again.
Squirtle crashed against the tree.
Darius clenched his fist.
“Aqua Jet!”
Water exploded around Squirtle at point-blank range.
Croagunk was struck before it could retreat.
Both Pokémon flew apart.
Croagunk hit the ground.
Squirtle landed on its stomach.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Croagunk pushed itself upright.
Squirtle did the same.
Adrian scanned Croagunk.
Status: Moderately Injured
Still capable.
Squirtle was harder to judge without the system showing damage in exact numbers, but its movements had slowed.
Darius wasn’t smiling anymore.
“You’re good,” he said.
“So are you.”
“Give me one code and we stop.”
That surprised Adrian.
Darius wasn’t stupid.
He understood the direction of the battle.
“You attacked me.”
“And now I’m negotiating.”
Adrian considered it.
One code.
They’d both drop to one.
Both would need two more checkpoints.
Terrible deal.
“No.”
Darius sighed.
“Had to try.”
Squirtle lowered itself.
“Water Gun!”
Croagunk dodged.
“Aqua Jet!”
The switch was immediate.
Squirtle accelerated behind its own Water Gun.
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
That was good.
Water Gun forced Croagunk’s dodge, and Aqua Jet targeted the landing point.
Croagunk couldn’t change direction in time.
Squirtle slammed into it.
Croagunk flew backward.
“Now!
Bite!”
Squirtle pursued.
Croagunk landed badly.
Darius had created his opening.
Adrian had less than a second.
“Fake Out!”
Croagunk attacked from the ground, its palm striking Squirtle’s jaw.
Bite missed.
“Up!”
Croagunk pushed itself upright.
Squirtle recovered.
“Withdraw!” It entered its shell again.
This time Adrian didn’t allow it to rest.
“Mud-Slap!”
Croagunk kicked mud over the shell.
Darius stared.
“Again.” More mud.
The shell became coated.
“Again.”
“What are you doing?”
Adrian didn’t answer.
“Poison Sting.”
Needles struck the ground around Squirtle.
Not the shell.
Darius’s expression shifted.
He understood.
Adrian was waiting.
Squirtle couldn’t attack from inside its shell.
It couldn’t see what Croagunk was doing.
Every second it remained protected allowed Croagunk to recover.
But emerging meant exposing itself.
“Come out!”
Squirtle emerged.
Its face met mud.
It recoiled.
“Cross Chop!”
Croagunk surged forward.
“Withdraw!” Too slow.
Both arms came down.
The attack struck Squirtle before its head disappeared.
Squirtle bounced across the ground.
“Finish it!
Poison Sting!”
Croagunk fired.
The barrage struck.
Squirtle tried standing.
One leg slipped.
Darius raised his hand.
“Enough!”
Adrian reacted.
“Stop.”
Croagunk lowered its arms.
Squirtle remained on the ground, breathing heavily.
Darius recalled it.
Silence returned to the forest.
Croagunk remained ready.
Adrian didn’t relax.
Darius still had two codes.
The battle wasn’t officially regulated.
There was no referee forcing him to surrender them.
Darius looked down at his wrist device, then at Adrian.
“How many?”
Adrian held up two fingers.
Darius laughed quietly.
“Of course.”
He approached.
Croagunk stepped between them.
Darius stopped.
“I’m transferring one.”
“Both.”
His expression hardened.
“You’re joking.”
“You attacked me for mine.”
“I lost the battle, not my entire trial.”
“Those aren’t different things out here.”
Darius stared at him.
Adrian didn’t look away.
He wasn’t going to beat Darius’s Pokémon and then politely take the minimum reward.
Mercer had been explicit.
Codes could be taken forcibly.
Darius had chosen this fight.
Now he had to pay for losing it.
“One,” Darius repeated.
“Two.”
“You only need one.”
“Then I have something someone else needs.”
That was the point.
A spare code had value.
He could lose one and still pass.
He could trade it.
He could use it to negotiate.
Darius looked toward Croagunk.
The Poison-type was injured.
But still standing.
Squirtle wasn’t.
Darius swore.
He tapped his device.
“Fine.”
Adrian held his wrist nearby.
The first transfer completed.
Codes: 3/3
Then the second.
Codes: 4/3
Adrian looked at the display.
Less than a day.
Four codes.
Trial requirement completed.
Darius’s device showed zero.
He looked furious.
“Enjoy having a target on your wrist.”
Adrian lowered his arm.
“Nobody knows I have four.”
“I do.”
“Then I’d suggest you don’t tell anyone.”
Darius laughed once.
“Or what?”
Adrian looked toward Croagunk.
Darius’s expression changed.
“Right.” He turned.
“Next time, I’m taking all of them.”
Adrian watched him disappear between the trees.
Only then did Croagunk relax.
It sat down.
Adrian exhaled.
“Yeah.” He crouched.
“That was rough.”
Croagunk rubbed its chest.
Adrian pulled out a Potion and began treating the worst injuries.
The trial wasn’t over just because they had three codes.
They still had more than two days before extraction.
Which created a new problem.
Everyone still searching for codes was dangerous.
And Adrian had become exactly the kind of target Mercer had warned them about.
They didn’t continue toward Checkpoint Three.
There was no reason.
Adrian changed direction.
He wanted distance from Darius and from every known checkpoint.
For the next several hours, they moved deeper into an area of the map containing no marked objectives.
Fewer recruits should have reason to search there.
Croagunk remained inside its Poké Ball while recovering.
Adrian traveled alone.
That made him more vulnerable, but unnecessary movement would worsen Croagunk’s injuries.
By late afternoon, he found what he wanted.
An abandoned ranger cabin.
The roof had partially collapsed, and vegetation covered one wall.
The door was gone, but the structure still provided shelter and concealment.
Adrian inspected it carefully.
No people.
No dangerous Pokémon.
He released Croagunk.
The Poison-type looked around.
“This is home.”
Croagunk looked unimpressed.
“Temporary home.”
That didn’t improve its opinion.
Adrian sat against the wall.
He checked Croagunk again.
Pokémon Scan
Species: Croagunk ♂ Level: 15.
Rank: Mid Beginner Potential: Blue Ability: Anticipation Moves: Poison Sting · Mud-Slap · Astonish · Taunt · Pursuit · Feint Attack · Fake Out (Egg Move) · Cross Chop (Egg Move) Status: Moderately Injured.
No serious damage.
Good.
Adrian gave it food and several Pokéblocks before eating himself.
They needed rest.
Not another battle.
That was the difference between strength and stupidity.
He already had four codes.
Fighting now gained almost nothing.
Night arrived.
Adrian slept in short intervals.
Croagunk took the first watch.
Adrian took the second.
Nothing happened.
Near dawn, he heard distant shouting.
Then an attack.
Then silence.
He didn’t investigate.
Someone else’s problem.
By morning, Croagunk’s injuries had improved enough to move comfortably.
Adrian considered staying in the cabin for the remainder of the trial.
Then rejected it.
Too predictable.
If Darius told anyone Adrian had multiple codes, hiding in one location for two days gave them time to search.
Better to keep moving through low-value territory.
They headed south.
No checkpoints.
No obvious trails.
No reason for other recruits to be there.
For several hours, the strategy worked.
Then Croagunk stopped.
Anticipation.
Adrian lowered himself.
“Pokémon?”
Croagunk looked ahead.
Not necessarily.
Adrian heard movement.
Human footsteps.
One person.
He moved behind a tree.
The footsteps approached.
A recruit emerged.
Adrian recognized him.
The Weedle trainer.
The same boy who had used batteries and String Shot to bypass the Voltorb.
He looked exhausted.
Mud covered his clothes.
Weedle rested on his shoulder.
The boy stopped when he saw Croagunk.
Neither moved.
Adrian looked at his wrist.
The boy covered it.
Too late.
Codes: 2/3
The Weedle trainer’s eyes dropped toward Adrian’s device.
Adrian covered his too.
Also too late.
He’d seen it.
Four.
Fear appeared.
Not greed.
That told Adrian everything.
The boy knew he couldn’t win.
He slowly stepped backward.
“I don’t want trouble.”
Adrian said nothing.
“I only need one.”
Still nothing.
The boy swallowed.
Then his expression changed.
Calculation replaced fear.
“I know where Checkpoint Twelve is.”
Adrian finally spoke.
“I don’t need a checkpoint.”
“I know.” The boy glanced at Adrian’s wrist.
“But you have four.”
Adrian understood where this was going.
“You want to buy one.”
“I want to trade.”
“For information I don’t need?”
“No.” The boy shook his head.
“I have something else.”
Adrian waited.
“There’s a recruit hunting people with completed devices.”
That got his attention.
“Who?”
“Girl with a Nidorina.
Level fourteen, maybe fifteen.
She’s not bothering with checkpoints anymore.
She waits near routes between them and takes codes.”
Smart.
Dangerous.
“Name?”
“Rhea.”
Adrian vaguely recognized it.
“Where?”
“North side.
Between Three and Seven.”
Adrian wasn’t going there anyway.
Not enough.
The boy realized.
“I also know two safe shelters and where one of the observer stations is.”
Adrian studied him.
He was doing it again.
Turning information into strength.
“What do you want?”
“One code.”
Adrian looked at Weedle.
Level nine.
Orange potential.
Objectively far weaker than Croagunk.
Yet its trainer had obtained two codes and survived more than a day alone.
That was exactly what this trial was supposed to measure.
Adrian respected that.
But respect wasn’t charity.
“Show me the shelters on the map.”
The boy hesitated.
“Code first.”
“No.”
“You could take the information and leave.”
“You could lie and leave.”
They stared at each other.
Finally the boy removed his map.
“One location.” He pointed.
A cave near the southern ridge.
Adrian examined it.
“Second after transfer.”
“Yes.”
Adrian held up his device.
The boy did the same.
A transfer request appeared.
Adrian confirmed.
Codes: 3/3
The Weedle trainer stared at the number.
For the first time, he smiled.
He had passed.
Assuming he kept them.
Adrian’s device dropped.
Codes: 3/3
Still enough.
The boy marked the second shelter.
Then pointed toward another location.
“Observer station.
Don’t get too close.
They don’t help unless you activate the beacon.”
“Rhea?”
“Last saw her here.” Another mark.
Adrian memorized it.
“Anything else?”
The boy considered.
“People are starting to realize completed recruits are easier than checkpoints.”
Adrian nodded.
He’d already assumed that.
The boy folded his map.
“Name’s Eli.”
Adrian paused.
“Adrian.”
“I know.”
Of course he did.
Croagunk was becoming recognizable.
Eli stepped away.
Then stopped.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t.”
Eli frowned.
“You bought something.” Adrian nodded toward his device.
“Now keep it.”
Eli understood.
There were still more than thirty hours remaining.
Passing wasn’t about obtaining three codes.
Not anymore.
It was about still possessing them when the clock reached zero.
Eli disappeared into the trees.
Adrian looked down at Croagunk.
Three codes.
Exactly enough.
The spare protection was gone.
But they’d gained information and reduced the incentive for someone to attack them.
Four codes meant profit.
Three meant survival.
Croagunk looked toward the direction Eli had gone.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Orange-potential Weedle.” Croagunk looked up.
“And he’s still here.”
Adrian folded the map and started south.
Mercer had been right.
A talented Pokémon made the path easier.
It didn’t decide who reached the end.