Chapter 12: Berries and PokeBlocks

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So far, Sato had visited three of the four areas that new recruits can freely enter. The remaining public training ground has now become the place he needs to visit after successfully capturing the Zubat.

However, he was not in a hurry. Before he began training Zubat, he needed to prepare the necessary training supplies. Otherwise, the training results will be subpar.

Generally, training supplies include training equipment and nutritional supplements. Currently, Sato Kaede had managed to acquire a set of second-hand Pokémon training gear, which barely met his needs, but he hasn't yet prepared the necessary supplements.

During training, Pokémon consume a lot of energy. To ensure that a Pokémon can train continuously and improve efficiency, good training supplements are essential.

According to Sato's understanding, quality training supplements must have good taste, be energy-rich, and quickly restore a Pokémon's stamina.

After some careful consideration, as a Pokémon enthusiast, Sato thought of a very suitable training item: the PokeBlock, which appeared in the third generation of the games.

In the game, PokeBlocks are used specifically for Pokémon participating in contests and can enhance a Pokémon's appeal in certain aspects. They are made by combining different Berries in a Berry blender.

The Berries used can be of the same type or different types, and the flavor depends on the Berries added.

The anime also introduced PokeBlocks, stating that they contain many beneficial nutrients for Pokémon, made by concentrating various Berries, providing rich energy that is easily absorbed by Pokémon.

Thus, Sato believed that PokeBlocks can be used not only as training supplements but also as suitable everyday food for Pokémon.

However, the key tool for making these Pokémon foods was the Berry Mixer. Without it, even if Sato had plenty of Berries, he could only lament his situation.

What troubled Sato was that there are indeed such Pokémon items available for exchange in the Team Rocket internal points system, but the prices are far beyond what he can afford. A Berry Mixer costs a staggering ten thousand points to exchange!

So, although Sato initially thought of the wonderful PokeBlock last night, he had to temporarily give up on this good idea due to his limited resources.

Fortunately, opportunities often favored those who were prepared. Today, Sato encountered a "good person." This "good person" was Baron, a senior member of Team Rocket whom he just met not long ago.

It must be said that having a mentor can indeed save newcomers a lot of trouble and provide significant benefits. In conversations with Baron, Sato learned several important pieces of information, one of which was about the Berry Mixers.

According to Baron, there are several Pokémon block sets in the Team Rocket underground base in Pewter City, specifically for the use of lower-ranking members.

Of course, using the Berry Mixer is not free; a single use costs 10 points.

Everyone knows about PokeBlocks, and even with the Berry Mixer, which was a crucial tool, the process still required manual operation and usually needed several people to operate it. Overall, the operational difficulty was quite high (the operation in the game seems pretty challenging too).

If not operated properly, the quality of the PokeBlocks produced by the Berry Mixer would be poor, and naturally, one cannot expect much from low-quality PokeBlocks.

Generally, for trainers to produce high-quality PokeBlocks, they must practice a lot. Those with good talent may get it right in a few dozen tries, while those with poorer talent may need thousands of attempts.

Clearly, most people in Kanto know little about PokeBlocks, which originated from the Hoenn region, let alone how to operate the Pokémon block sets to make them.

Therefore, although many people in Team Rocket in Pewter City are aware of the existence of PokeBlocks and understand their great effects, very few choose to make them.

After all, points are very important within Team Rocket. Who among the lower-ranking members would be willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of points just to practice? Moreover, the Berries needed for practice also required a significant amount of points.

Higher-ranking members of Team Rocket might not care, but they clearly wouldn't allow their Pokémon to consume such cheap items, nor would they want to spend time making them.

Sato clearly remembered Baron's annoyed expression when discussing the Pokémon block sets, indicating that he had suffered quite a bit while trying to create PokeBlocks in the past.

Baron, in his role as a senior, specifically advised Sato to avoid such things and suggested that initially, he should opt for Moomoo Milk as a cheap and nutritious training supplement.

It's worth mentioning that Moomoo Milk has appeared in Pokémon games, anime, and manga as a Pokémon drink.

In the games, its effect is to restore a Pokémon's HP, and its price is quite reasonable compared to healing items, which may restore HP but are significantly more expensive. Moomoo Milk is the best example of an affordable recovery drink.

In fact, when Sato realized he couldn't obtain PokeBlocks, the first training supplement that came to mind was Moomoo Milk, because in the early stages of playing the game, he always bought it as a recovery item to save money, so it left a lasting impression.

However, with the possibility of obtaining PokeBlocks now, Sato Kaede quickly abandoned the option of Moomoo Milk.

Although Moomoo Milk is cheaper than other supplies, it still cost 5 points per bottle, and for a long training session, he would need at least two to three bottles—even considering the fact that he currently only had Zubat.

PokeBlocks, on the other hand, are different. Being a super-concentrated product, about two good-quality PokeBlocks can completely outshine a whole bottle of Moomoo Milk.

Typically, the materials for making PokeBlocks required only a handful of Berries. Berries were the most common Pokemon item and were very cheap, with some berries only costing 1 point each. The cost of producing one batch of Berries were about 5 points and a single batch could produce upto 20 PokeBlocks.

Following the ratio that two good quality PokeBlocks are more than comparable to one bottle of Moomoo Milk, 20 Pokeblocks produced with 5 points could be compared to 10 bottles of Moomoo Milk that were worth at least 50 points.

If the produced PokeBlocks were of high quality, the value and effectiveness of the PokeBlocks would be much more than that of Moomoo Milk. In comparison, the benefits are clear.

Sato's choice of PokeBlocks over Moomoo Milk was not solely based on their affordability; the most important reason was his confidence in making PokeBlocks himself.

The reason is simple: Sato discovered from a young age that his dynamic vision is excellent—so much so that he can clearly see the trajectories of fast-moving objects when he concentrates.

With outstanding dynamic vision, combined with his rich experience from his past life, Sato believed that creating high-quality PokeBlocks will not be difficult at all.

'Perhaps there's also a business opportunity here; I must give it a good try,' Sato thought to himself as he casually walked towards the new recruits' dormitory.

In the next moment, Sato slightly focused his mind, and his pupils suddenly contracted. For a brief time, in his view, all the moving objects nearby appeared to move slowly.