Pokémon: Master of the Rain Team

Day 13 back in the Orange Archipelago. Clear.

The sun was already strong when Reiji woke up, but he did not have to go anywhere today, so it did not really matter.

Daishi had taken the day off because of Reiji’s instructions last night. He and Gai were going to look into the gangs in the old district.

Naoki had not gone to work either. Reiji still had Diglett’s evolution to handle, and that meant another trade worth more than two hundred million. A job that big could only go to Naoki.

Yesterday, he had already cleared out the black-market Pokémon, a pile of random goods, and the Evolution Stones. So what could he sell this time?

Items, obviously.

The 4 Team Rocket members had left behind 5 Advanced-tier items. Reiji pulled out the Advanced-tier Soft Sand and set it aside. The other 4 could go. Together, they should be worth around twenty million.

The Advanced-tier Shell Bell was a special recovery item. Any Pokémon could use it, and it restored one eighth of the damage dealt. Reiji really did not want to sell it, but he was badly short on money. It should be worth about eight million.

He also had 11 Razor Fangs and Razor Claws. Of those, 3 were quasi–Elite Four tier. The only Pokémon that evolved with them were Gliscor and Weavile, and since Gligar and Sneasel’s evolutions had already been revealed for more than half a year, the mystery around the items had mostly faded. Even so, they should still be worth plenty.

The 9 Advanced-tier Razor Fangs and Razor Claws were basically equal to 9 high-grade Evolution Stones. The problem was that they only worked for specific Pokémon, so they were not as valuable as normal high-grade Evolution Stones.

Even the worst-selling Fire Stones had gone for twelve million when Naoki priced them. Other Evolution Stones ranged from twelve million to twenty million because the big forces were all buying high-grade stones, and supply was tight.

These 9 species-specific evolution items should still be worth around ninety million. If he sold them at ten million each, that was good enough.

The remaining 3 quasi–Elite Four-tier evolution items were closer to high-grade Evolution Stones, but they still had not reached top-grade level. They were around 70 purity. Anything above 80 purity counted as top-grade.

Those 3 quasi–Elite Four-tier items could probably sell for another four or five million above normal price at most. They were good enough for an auction, so Reiji did not plan to sell them yet.

So, the Shell Bell plus the 9 Advanced-tier evolution items came to around ninety-eight million. Close enough to a hundred million.

Then there were the Ground-type resources.

He still had some Ground-type items left: 2 Advanced-tier Soft Sand items and 5 Elite-tier Soft Sand items. Together, they were worth around twenty-five million.

He also had more than 100 Ground Gems, all picked up from the underground cavern at Grampa Canyon. Ground Gems were cheaper than most Gems. One could be bought for around four hundred thousand, so a little over 100 of them came to just over fifty million.

He used to have more than 200, but some had gone into Marshtomp’s evolution. Now only a little over 100 remained.

There were also a few Smooth Rocks. Those could help with Diglett’s evolution and improve its control over Rock-type moves.

All of those items and Gems added up to almost eighty million in resources.

Still not enough. Together with the hundred million from the first batch, he only had around two hundred million. He was still short by another hundred million.

Right. Cash.

Reiji took out the eighty-nine million in cash from the last raid, then the two million from the useless Pokémon hunters at Evolution Mountain.

Then there was the cash from the 4 Team Rocket members, the Pokémon hunters at Mt. Moon, and the Team Rocket group outside Gringey City. Added together, that came to another five million or so.

Without counting his own money, the cash from black-market sources came to ninety-six million. Added to the earlier two hundred million, he had almost three hundred million to work with.

That was a little less than he had spent on Magnemite. Once the inflated estimates were shaved off, the real value might only be around two hundred ninety million, but that should still be enough to push Diglett into Champion tier.

Diglett only had one evolution step, and Dugtrio’s body did not really change after evolving. It could be split apart and pushed further whenever he had more money. For now, this would have to do.

Once everything was sorted, Reiji called Naoki over again. He handed him the 4 Advanced-tier items, the Advanced-tier Shell Bell, the 9 evolution items, and close to a hundred million in cash.

”Naoki, sell everything here and trade it for Ground Gems and Soft Sand. Don’t pay more than four hundred thousand for a Ground Gem. As for Soft Sand, buy it if the price looks fair.”

He pointed to the evolution items as well.

”And there are 9 items here for evolving Sneasel and Gligar. Ask the kids first. If any of them want to raise one, give them the item for nine million. Otherwise, don’t sell for less than ten million.”

”Sneasel, the Dark and Ice type?” Naoki’s hands shook slightly as he caught the backpack. This was two hundred million. More than he had been worth even at his peak.

And that was after he had already handled more than two hundred million yesterday. Counting the earlier trades too, he had moved four or five hundred million for Reiji by now. For the first time, he truly felt how much money Reiji had.

Just from what Naoki had seen, Reiji had already poured a billion into raising Pokémon. What kind of team was he building? This was ridiculous.

”Ask the kids first. If any of them are interested in Sneasel or Gligar, this is a good chance.” Reiji waved away Naoki’s surprise. This was nothing. Slowpoke still had to come later.

Then he added, ”Keep twenty or thirty million aside and help me buy Smooth Rocks. Finished items or loose raw materials are both fine. Buy whichever is cheaper.”

Smooth Rocks were not that expensive to begin with. For Diglett, they were only a bonus, not the main resource. Twenty or thirty million, plus what he already had, would be enough.

”Got it, Boss. I’ll ask the kids first.” Naoki had no plans to catch a Sneasel himself. He already had plenty of Pokémon, and Sneasel did not fit his sandstorm team anyway.

After Naoki left, Reiji did not bother wondering who might choose Sneasel or Gligar. He had Diglett to deal with.

Diglett was easy to win over. A simple promise of food and shelter had been enough.

Since Dugtrio had 3 heads, Reiji treated 1 Diglett as the main body and the other 2 as the side bodies.

The first Diglett had been caught peacefully. It had 53 potential, listened well, and had even helped calm the other 2 earlier. Reiji made it the main body.

The second Diglett had been caught at Mount Moon. It had 51 potential.

The third had been caught on Sunburst Island. It had 54 potential.

Those 2 were the side bodies. Both had been knocked out before capture, and when Reiji released them, they immediately tried to attack him. Poliwrath pinned them down with one hand each, and that ended their resistance.

Once all 3 Diglett settled down, Reiji gave each of them 2 Ground Gems. Smooth Rocks were laid out on the floor as well. He still had some Soft Sand, but he held that back for now. Better to use the Gems first, then the items.

He used up everything he had in storage and made the 3 Diglett evolve more than 20 times. Even after burning through eighty million in resources, none of them had broken into Elite Four-tier potential.

That made sense. Gengar had needed fifty million just to cross the Elite Four-tier threshold, and that was only one Pokémon. For 3 Diglett, the cost would start at over a hundred million.

Naoki came back around noon with 20 million’s worth of finished Smooth Rock items, ranging from Elite tier to Advanced tier. He also brought back 300 Ground Gems, 11 Elite-tier Soft Sand items, and 8 Advanced-tier Soft Sand items. The total value came to more than two hundred million.

Once Reiji had the new resources, he went back to evolve and evolving Diglett inside the room. The curtains were drawn, and Gengar’s shadow power blocked the windows and the crack beneath the door, so no one outside could see the evolution light.

Diglett was like Weezing in one way: it only had a single type. It also could not absorb electricity, so there was no way to use power from the grid to help. As long as he had enough resources, that was all he needed.

He spent the entire afternoon burning through the two hundred million in resources Naoki had bought. By the time he was done, Dugtrio’s potential had reached this point.

[Dugtrio]

[Type: Ground]

[Gender: Male]

[Potential: 87.23%]

[Level: 37.11%]

[Ability: Arena Trap/22.13%][Hidden Ability: Sand Force/14.23%]

[Moves]

Ground-type: [(Sand Attack/40.27%) (Mud-Slap/22.21%) (Bulldoze/44.88%) (Dig/50.31%) (Earth Power/43.14%) (Earthquake/56.53%) (Fissure/12.14%) (Sand Tomb/41.37%) (Mud Shot/18.17%)]

Rock-type: [(Sandstorm/34.14%) (Stealth Rock/31.23%) (Stone Edge/32.82%)]

Normal-type: [(Growl/33.23%) (Slash/12.22%) (Tri Attack/11.91%)]

Psychic-type: [(Agility/32.11%) (Rest/31.42%)]

Other: [(Astonish/23.62%) (Sucker Punch/26.22%) (Sludge Bomb/29.72%)]

Dugtrio had 87 potential, lower than Magneton. That was normal. He had spent almost thirty million less on it.

Honestly, anything above 80 was already enough. Once he had more money, he could raise it again. Dugtrio could be split and fused whenever he needed.

Then there were Dugtrio’s abilities: Sand Veil, Arena Trap, and Sand Force.

Sand Veil raised evasion by 20% in sandstorm and prevented sandstorm damage.

Arena Trap stopped all grounded non-Ghost Pokémon from fleeing, switching out, or escaping.

Sand Force prevented sandstorm damage and boosted Rock, Steel, and Ground-type moves by 30% during sandstorm.

Out of those 3, Sand Veil was the easiest to cut.

Diglett was Ground-type, so sandstorm damage was not a problem anyway. That left only the 20% evasion boost, and that was too weak to justify keeping the ability.

Arena Trap was much better. It worked a lot like Magnemite’s Magnet Pull, except it covered a wider range. As long as the target was standing on the ground, it could trap them.

Sand Force was also excellent. A 30% boost to 3 move types under sandstorm was nothing to sneeze at.

So Arena Trap and Sand Force would stay.

As for Dugtrio’s moves, its Ground-type move proficiency had already gone past its level. That was normal after force-raising potential this way. He had not used that many Rock-type resources, so its Rock-type moves had improved more than the rest, but they still lagged behind its Ground-type moves.

After checking the panel, Reiji found nothing strange. No mutation either. He closed it.

So Weezing and Gengar turning black really had been a Poison-type thing. Eat enough poison, and the color changed.

With Dugtrio’s potential handled, another problem was off his plate. Now he could start preparing Pidgeotto’s evolution.

For Pidgeotto, a forest made the most sense. It had been born and raised in one. As for the time, morning or evening would both work. Morning was when birds left the nest to hunt. Evening was when they returned full and relaxed.

Between the two, Reiji preferred evening. A full stomach at sunset should be the easiest time for it to relax.

He needed at least fifty million in resources for Pidgeotto’s evolution. Luckily, he still had more than 100 Flying Gems, most of them untouched. Dratini had used some Flying Gems for its nest, but only a dozen or so.

And the Dragon Gems were still in Dratini’s nest too.

More than 100 Flying Gems, 1 Advanced-tier Sharp Beak he had saved on purpose, 3 Elite-tier Sharp Beaks, and around 40 or 50 Normal Gems. Altogether, that was close to seventy million. No need to buy anything else.

How much of it Pidgeotto could absorb would depend on Pidgeotto itself.

First, he fed the Pokémon dinner. Then he looked out at the setting sun and decided it was time to visit the forest. Any later, and the sunset would be gone.

Once the Pokémon finished eating, Reiji recalled them, left the bedroom, and told Naoki he was heading out. Then he released Pidgeotto and rode Pelipper toward the forest reserve outside the city.

Mandarin Island North had 2 preserved forests, one in the north and one in the south. The northern forest was more untouched, but Reiji did not choose it because Fairchild Island could not be seen from there.

They went to the southern tip of Mandarin Island North and landed on an empty stretch of coast. Behind them was a dense green forest. The sunset shone in from the west, and their shadows stretched toward Fairchild Island.

That was Pidgeotto’s home.

”Pidgeotto, do you miss home?” Reiji sat on the sand with Pidgeotto crouched beside him. He reached over and gently stroked the pink crest on its head. The feathers were soft and smooth beneath his fingers.

”Pidge, pidge.” Pidgeotto called twice. It knew the direction. On the way here, it had seen Fairchild Island from high in the sky.

”Want to go back and visit?” Reiji had never planned to keep Pidgeotto by force. It could go home whenever it wanted. This was its first time traveling so far, and it was not like Hanhan, that carefree glutton who was happy anywhere as long as there was food.

”Rhy...” Rhydon sat on the beach, watching the golden sea under the sunset while chewing on the drained Gem husks left from Dugtrio’s evolution. They had only just left Fairchild Island. It did not miss home. If it went back, it would only get beaten up again.

”Pidge, pidge.” Pidgeotto shook its head. It did miss home, but it did not want to go back. It had finally seen a bigger world and found a group of interesting companions. Why would it leave now?

”Then are you ready to evolve?” Reiji smiled and lowered his hand. He had touched the crest enough for now. Once Pidgeotto evolved, its head feathers would look even better.

”Pidgeoo!” The moment it heard the word evolve, Pidgeotto’s eyes sharpened. Finally. It was its turn.

”Pidgeotto, this is for your evolution,” Reiji said, laying nearly seventy million in Flying- and Normal-type resources across the sand. ”Everyone gets their own share. How much you can take in is up to you.”

Then he looked toward the sunset. The sea was glowing gold, waves rolling in under a sky streaked with red clouds.

”See that?” Reiji smiled. ”Go fly for a while. Fly as much as you want. I’ll wait right here.”

He smiled.

”Go on,” Reiji said. ”You’ve got this. That whole sky is yours.”

”Pidge, pidge.” Pidgeotto rubbed its beak against him, then looked up and met his eyes. A moment later, it spread its wings and took off into the sunset.

Reiji watched it fly toward the light. A rainbow shimmered through its tail feathers, and faint sparks trailed behind it like scattered starlight.

It was beautiful.

And it was his Pokémon.

For that one moment, Pidgeotto looked better than Ho-Oh. That flashy bird... no, forget it. He was a transmigrator. He did not need some Pokémon’s approval, and he was not exactly a model kid anymore.

Pidgeotto flew for a long time, circling through the rainbow again and again. Then white light bloomed around it.

It was evolving.

[End of chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]

[[email protected]/BellAshelia]

[Thanks for your support!]