Chapter 86: The Search for the Fire Source

"Pokéball, go!"

Andrew threw the Pokéball, and Veluza was enveloped in a beam of red light, sucked into the ball.

The Pokéball shook a few times before making a soft "ding" sound, signaling the successful capture.

This Pokéball was something Andrew had purchased from the system store for 500 happiness points—just a standard red-and-white ball, but it was quite expensive.

There wasn't much choice, though—Andrew didn't have any Pokéballs on hand and had to buy one on the spot.

"Yes! Veluza, Gotcha☆!"

He picked up the Pokéball, held it high, and shouted with enthusiasm. This was his first official capture, and the rush of excitement couldn't be suppressed.

"Oink! Oink!"

"Oink! Oink!"

The two Oinkologne happily jumped around, celebrating the first successful capture.

"Alright, let's keep going!" Andrew said, brimming with energy.

"Oink!"

"Oink!"

The two Oinkologne nodded and dipped their tails back into the water.

After about two or three minutes, the Oinkologne both squealed in excitement, whipping their tails out of the water. Two more Veluza flew into the air.

These Veluza weren't going down without a fight. The moment they were airborne, they launched an attack on Andrew and Komala, sending sharp streams of water slicing through the air towards them.

It was Aqua Cutter!

"Komala, stay alert!"

Andrew ducked, rolling on the grass to narrowly avoid the attack.

Komala, with its nimble reflexes, easily dodged the incoming water blades.

The two Veluza, using their psychic abilities, momentarily floated mid-air and prepared for another Aqua Cutter assault, aiming at Andrew and Komala again.

Veluza's hidden ability, "Sharpness" increased the strength of slashing moves, making their Aqua Cutter even more powerful.

Andrew sprinted to dodge, leaping into the air and throwing a punch at the closest Veluza.

Wham!

The Veluza hit the ground with a heavy thud, twitching briefly before fainting.

"Phew~"

Andrew landed smoothly, casually blowing on his fist. "Easy enough!"

Meanwhile, Komala had taken care of the second Veluza.

"Nice work, Komala!" Andrew flashed a thumbs-up.

Komala, as always, remained calm, clutching its log pillow while gently swaying back and forth.

Andrew took out another Pokéball and swiftly captured both Veluza. He figured these were the same ones that the Oinkologne had fished up earlier since they hadn't used their shedding ability again.

Veluza don't shed more than once in a short span.

Without dwelling on it, Andrew turned to the Oinkologne. "Let's keep going."

For the next while, Andrew and his team continued fishing, catching Pokémon one after another—Shellder, Veluza, Goldeen, Magikarp, Magikarp, Slowpoke…

Any Pokémon that wasn't a Veluza was promptly released back into the river by Andrew.

By noon, Andrew had captured twenty Veluza, double the amount required for the system mission.

The Veluza in this area were relatively low-level, so catching them had been a piece of cake for Andrew.

Watching the Oinkologne dip their tails into the water again, Andrew smiled. "This will be the last cast. No matter what we catch, we'll call it a day after this."

After all, the mission was complete.

"Oink!"

"Oink!"

The two Oinkologne nodded eagerly.

About three minutes later, the male Oinkologne suddenly let out a startled cry. It tried to lift its tail, but something massive was pulling it down, creating a huge whirlpool in the river.

"Oink! Oink!"

The male Oinkologne was being dragged into the water by an enormous force. Seeing this, the female Oinkologne immediately rushed over to help, grabbing onto the male with both hooves.

At this critical moment, Komala raised its log and smashed it into the ground, causing the earth to tremble. The water near the riverbank quaked violently.

Komala had used Earthquake.

The two Oinkologne were saved, but from the whirlpool emerged a colossal Veluza, its cold gaze locking onto Andrew and his team.

A normal Veluza would be around two meters long, but this one was at least three meters.

Veluza

[Type] Water, Psychic

[Ability] Sharpness

[Gender] Female

[Level] 50

[Moves] Tackle, Aqua Jet, Peck, Water Pulse, Slash, Aqua Cutter, Fillet Away, Sucker Punch, Psycho Cut, Razor Shell, Crunch, Psychic Fangs, Recover.

[Stats]

HP: 13

Attack: 30

Defense: 11

Special Attack: 21

Special Defense: 28

Speed: 29

Andrew gasped as he examined the data. "Whoa, that's one strong Veluza! It's way higher in level than the others!"

All the Veluza they had encountered earlier were around level 10 to 20.

Could this be the Veluza leader?

The overwhelming presence of this Veluza frightened the two Oinkologne, who immediately hid behind Komala. Once they felt safe, they cautiously peeked from behind Komala's sturdy figure.

Sorry, Andrew, fighting isn't really our thing.

Andrew also stepped back slightly, leaving the fight to Komala.

The Veluza made the first move, sending a massive Aqua Cutter slicing toward Komala.

But Komala stood its ground, calmly lifting its log and smashing the Aqua Cutter in mid-air. The attack froze instantly before shattering.

Komala had used Icy Wind.

After neutralizing the Aqua Cutter, Komala charged forward with Shadow Claw, a Ghost-type move. The Veluza tried to dodge, but it was too slow and took a hard hit, getting knocked back into the river.

Back in the water, Veluza controlled the currents to launch Razor Shell, sending two powerful water blades toward Komala.

However, the Komala remained unfazed, its body spinning rapidly as it shattered the water blades.

*Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~*

The Komala opened its mouth, shooting out a barrage of green seeds aimed at the Veluza. The Veluza darted through the water, but the Seed Bomb relentlessly followed. Trembling, it used its special move, Fillet Away.

Fillet Away is Veluza's unique move, where it sheds excess flesh to significantly increase its attack, special attack, and speed.

Chunks of snowy-white fish meat were flung onto the shore, and Veluza's swimming speed suddenly surged.

"Jackpot! Jackpot!"

Andrew was so excited that he almost jumped for joy. He quickly ran over and collected the flesh into his bag.

But even after shedding the excess flesh, the Veluza still couldn't escape defeat and lost consciousness under Komala's Seed Bomb attack.

Andrew tossed a Pokéball, retrieving the Veluza.

Then Andrew walked to the riverbank and released all 21 Veluza, feeding them Berries. Before long, they all revived.

Veluza are relatively large fish Pokémon, averaging over two meters in length. The sight of 21 of them gathering together was quite spectacular, especially as they all circled around the largest one.

Andrew had guessed correctly—it was the leader of the Veluzas.

He took out some vegetables from his system backpack and tossed them into the river. The Veluzas rushed to devour the food, clearing it out in an instant.

Andrew threw in another batch. He had plenty of vegetables in his backpack.

Before long, the 21 Veluza were full and expressed their approval of Andrew.

"If there's food, then you're the boss!"

Wild Pokémon's needs are simple—survival and reproduction.

Andrew said, "From now on, if you give me the excess flesh you shed during training, I'll provide you with food. How about that?"

The Veluza all nodded.

A deal like this? Their excess flesh was something they didn't need anyway. (Note: Veluzas do not eat the flesh they shed.)

"By the way, do you have any other companions? If so, come with me," Andrew suddenly said.

Without a leader, the remaining Veluza would surely be bullied by other Pokémon groups if they stayed here.

However, the Veluza leader shook its head. All its followers had been captured by Andrew, which is why it had acted out of desperation.

The river wasn't very large, and it was already a tight fit for the 21 Veluza.

"Alright," Andrew wasn't disappointed. "In that case, let's head back."

After retrieving the Veluza into their Pokéballs, Andrew, holding Komala, led Arven and Oinkolognes back to Research Station No. 1.

There was a large pool at the first station, used by the researchers for housing Water-type Pokémon. Since it was empty, Andrew got permission from the professor and temporarily housed the Veluza there.

They must have felt uncomfortable being inside Pokéballs for too long.

Around noon, Andrew planned to showcase his cooking skills for the professors. However, to his surprise, there was no kitchen.

Arven said, "It seems the food here is delivered from outside, from the Treasure Eatery."

Andrew: …

Not only was there no kitchen, but there was no fire either. Even with his own cooking equipment and ingredients, he couldn't cook.

Arven was very disappointed, as he had been eager to try Andrew's cooking. The two Oinkologne were also disheartened, their ears drooping in sadness.

Suddenly, Arven had an idea, "Why don't we go catch some Fire-type Pokémon!"

"Yes!" Andrew slapped his forehead. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Let's go!"

With that, Andrew and Arven set off again, with the two excited Oinkologne running ahead.

After a while, they hadn't found any Fire-type Pokémon. Andrew asked, "Arven, do you know where we can find Fire-types?"

Arven shook his head, "Nope, I don't come here often."

"Oink oink~"

"Oink oink~"

At that moment, the two Oinkologne looked up at Andrew, hopping excitedly.

"Do you know?" Andrew asked.

The Oinkologne sniffed the ground and began moving forward step by step.

"Can you smell fire?" Andrew asked skeptically.

And they could!

Led by the Oinkologne, Andrew soon encountered a herd of Ponyta.

"Uh..." Andrew was in a dilemma. "Ponyta are Fire-type, but their flames are unstable, so they're not suitable for cooking."

Using unstable fire would either result in undercooked food or burned meals.

The best partners for cooking would be Fire-types like Slugma, Magcargo, or Torkoal, but they usually live near volcanoes, and there weren't any in this upper region.

"Oink oink~"

"Oink oink~"

Seeing that Andrew was unsatisfied, the Oinkologne continued sniffing around, searching again.

About ten minutes later, Andrew found a small humanoid Fire-type Pokémon engulfed in flames.

His eyes lit up.

It was a Charcadet!

Charcadet, a Fire-type, the Fire Child Pokémon. It is said to be born from a life force bound to burning charcoal. One of its evolutions is Ceruledge, the Pokémon that Diancie had previously battled at the Treasure Eatery. Its other evolution is Armarouge.

This was the perfect fire source!

"Komala…" Andrew was about to send out Komala to battle, but after seeing that the Charcadet was only level ten or so, he decided it would be unfair. Handing Komala to Arven, he declared, "Charcadet, I'm going to capture you!" and took a battle stance.

Yes, he was going to fight Charcadet himself.

Arven was stunned, his mouth wide open in disbelief.

Charcadet, who had been on guard, immediately became excited upon hearing Andrew's challenge. It took a battle stance, its eyes filled with fighting spirit as if to say, "Bring it on!"

"Here I come!"

Andrew kicked off, sprinting towards Charcadet.

Charcadet wasn't one to back down, throwing balls of fire at Andrew.

Andrew dodged the fireballs with agile moves, swiftly closing the distance and getting behind Charcadet.

"Take this!"

Charcadet was startled. Before it could react, Andrew delivered a punch, sending it rolling across the grass.

Dazed, Charcadet struggled to get up, only to be knocked down again by another punch from Andrew.

Andrew threw a Pokéball, hitting Charcadet and capturing it in a flash of red light.

"Gotcha☆!"

Arven was completely dumbfounded. It was his first time seeing someone physically battle and capture a Pokémon.

Andrew picked up the Pokéball and released Charcadet again, feeding it a Berry. Charcadet quickly recovered.

Andrew extended his hand, saying, "Looking forward to working with you, Charcadet."

Charcadet, impressed by the "stronger" Andrew, bumped fists with him.

"Charca~" Looking forward to it.

Just as Andrew was about to head back with Charcadet, another Charcadet suddenly jumped out of the bushes, crying as it hugged the one Andrew had just captured.

The Charcadet Andrew captured was male, and the one that appeared was female.

"Charca~ Charca~" Where are you going? Don't leave me! Waaaah~

The newly arrived Charcadet was crying pitifully.

Andrew's Charcadet patted the crying one's back, trying to comfort it.

Andrew asked, "Is this your friend?"

"Charca~" Charcadet nodded.

"What should I do…"

Andrew scratched his head, watching the crying Charcadet.

"How about… you both come with me?"

Hearing this, the crying Charcadet immediately stopped, breaking free from Andrew's Charcadet and looking at Andrew with a serious expression.

"Charca~ Charca~"

"You want to battle me too?" Andrew asked.

"Charca~ Charca~" The crying Charcadet nodded seriously.

"Alright," Andrew agreed.

The crying Charcadet was even weaker than the first and was knocked out with a single punch from Andrew. It sat on the grass, tears welling up again.

"Hey, hey, don't cry!" Andrew panicked. "Didn't you ask for the battle? And I didn't even hit you that hard!"

Andrew's first Charcadet hurried over, hugging and gently patting the crying one until it stopped crying.

Alright, from now on, one will be the Crybaby Charcadet, and the other will be the Goodboy Charcadet.

Andrew crouched down, placing the Pokéball in front of the Crybaby Charcadet.

"Will you let me capture you now?"

"Crybaby Charcadet wiped the tears in its eyes, then tapped the Poké Ball with its hand, and was immediately drawn inside with a flash of red light.

Andrew released it once more and said, "Okay, let's go back!"

(End of Chapter)