Tank and Alchemy

"If you aren't already aware I am your new trainer , Alex. These two are Gaia and Vulcan and currently have a huge headstart on you in terms of training." I said and the Caterpie nodded in understanding. "Pi! Caterpie! Cat!" the creatures said and I was not surprised at all to get the rough translation that he wanted a badass name. "Why do my pokemon always want awesome names? Do you all have any idea how hard it is to think of stuff like this on the fly!?" I asked in exasperation. -

None of my pokemon seemed to care about my plight though so i could only give myself a headache trying to think of a mythical butterfly name. Fun fact there aren't that many and most of them are tongue twisters or simply don't fit in this case. "Fuck it I got nothing! What about Tank?" I offered and surprisingly enough the bug type was fine with that name. 'I give up , pokemon have weird naming senses.' I mentally complained. "Well since we got that out of the way it's time to close the gap between you and these two. Fair warning it's probably going to be very unpleasant , apologies in advance." I said while tearing the three exp tickets and targeting my newest pokemon.-

Tank didn't even get to try an reject this idea before the wave of new experiences got crammed into it's head giving it a sharp headache. Three exp tickets was the equivalent of experiencing three whole weeks worth of nothing but training. Needless to say Tank went from level one to level thirty immediately. Caterpie as a species were much like Weedle in that they did not naturally learn any moves until after evolving. As a result Tanks mastery of his only two moves shot up three ranks instantly as that experience went straight to them alone.-

That meant his originally novice level mastery had gone straight to expert level mastery within five minutes of me getting him , gods I love my system. "CATERPIE!" Tank yelled at me angrily but I ignored the livid mons cursing. "Alrighty then now we just need to stuff your face with food until your body has enough to hold you through your Metapod stage and get you to evolve. Your species eat plants exclusively right?" I asked after laying out my plan. Tank calmed itself and nodded once he figured out that I wouldn't apologize again for that bad experience.-

"Well that simplifies things considerably as I will just need to give you a few berries every night until you automatically evolve." I said before picking up the surprisingly heavy pokemon and setting him on my shoulder. Yeah unlike most first stage pokemon both Caterpie and Weedle don't actually need to have a stimulus to evolve during either the first or second evolutions. Instead they need time and resources to be almost guaranteed to reach their final form. The trade off for this however was that like most bug types they have very short lifespans living at most to ten years old before dying.-

Still bug types were well known for their fast learning and growth abilities that made it a matter of serious effort to turn them into powerhouses. Sadly they were an unpopular choice amongst most trainers who had a choice in the matter due to their short lifespans. The thought of going through thick and thin with a pokemon only to watch helplessly as it grew feeble before eventually passing away stung at the mind and made many avoid that type for exactly that reason.-

I had prepared myself for this fate when I agreed to train whatever showed up in my random selector. Besides I didn't need to worry about any of that stuff for several years at minimum so I let it go for now. On a positive note I didn't need to worry about training Tank in battle until he became a Butterfree as he simply wouldn't be able to learn any moves until that point. While this meant I was pretty much free to focus on Gaia and Vulcans training as there was no point in battling Tank it also meant I still had a huge type weakness in my team and as such needed yet another pokemon.-

Left with little choice in the matter I traded eight berries with the system to get two tickets. What I got was an item ticket and a skill ticket. While we traveled I tore the skill ticket and waited for the wheel to stop not really paying attention to it until I saw what I got , alchemy. 'Praise RNGESUS!' I thought while fist bumping the air. I didn't even need to wait for the knowledge of the skill to pour into my head to know what this skill was used for.-

Alchemy was the skill that paid the highest out of literally any in this world other than maybe being a CEO as they were the ones responsible for making all the potions and healing medicines sold globally. They were also amongst the most terrifying people on the planet because just as they made things to heal they could just as easily make poisons with effects that would make you wish for a quick death instead. There was just one tiny little problem with becoming an alchemist , the start up cost was astronomical.-

For those with only basic level knowledge of the skill you needed not only a set of equipment that consisted of a large mortar and pestle , a large alembic , flasks , calcinator and a retort. I looked it up previously out of curiosity and hissed at the price of a good set of equipment , ten thousand poke. The absolute minimum for doing anything in the skill was to have a mortar and pestle that could be used to make balms and salves with weak effects. Despite this price set back I was very happy to have the skill as it would not only save me a lot of money in the long run but would also earn far more once I get good at it.-

In a good mood from my new skill I tore apart the six item tickets I had to see what I got. First was another pair of shorts , then a full heal , everstone , grade 3 moonstone , amulet coin and final a pink scarf(A/N: been getting a lot of these LOL!). I Traded away the scarf and everstone immediately as I had no use for these things getting me two more tickets , an ability ticket and a pokemon ticket(A/N: a literal 5 out of 145 chance occurrence on both of those , I really want this dudes luck.).-

I Immediately decided that I didn't want to gamble anymore today as A: I was sorta traumatized by the ability tickets and B: my luck was way too good for a left turn to not be coming for my ass out of nowhere. Was I being superstitious , yes I was. Should I be , you are gods damned right I should! Superstition can only be healthy in a world with literal gods in it that can have a bad day and make it everyone else's problem.