CH16 (77), Breaking News

After ranking up to Bug Collector I went home, and my mother was pleasantly surprised by my early arrival. "Honey, you're back earlier than expected and you seem quite happy. Did something good happen? You didn't bring home another Pokemon did you, sweetie?" She asked me.

"No, mom. I did not bring along another Pokemon. The reason I am happy has to do with something totally different." I start to answer her, and then she interjects with, "what are you waiting for, tell mommy what made my boy so happy". "I was about to do just that," I tell her and continue.

"I went to the Bug Club I told you about and registered," I say when my mom interrupts me once more. "You did not use your real name to register, right?" She asks in a slightly worried tone. "No, mom I did not. I used the name Meruem as my cover and became Bug Catcher Meruem." I inform her, and she gives me a relieved nod.

"Anyway, after registering there I started to sign up for battles and I won them all," I say to her. "That's my boy," my mother says and hugs me. "So, how many battles did you participate in? I think you need a 100 wins to rank up if I don't remember it wrong. I am sure it won't take you too long to do that." She says after releasing me from her hug.

"Yep, that's right, but one can also rank up after winning 15 times in a row," I tell her, and she starts to show a dumbfounded look. "No way! You didn't." She exclaims and I nod a bit smugly. "Sure did. Beside you sits the freshly promoted Bug Collector Meruem. I went to the club, participated in 15 battles, and won them all, which allowed me to get promoted to Bug Collector in a single day." I humblebrag to her, just without the humble part.

"Oh my Arceus, my baby boy became a Bug Collector in a single day. I've got to call your dad and tell him about it." My mother shouts before she gets a look on her face that says she noticed something wrong. "Oh, sweet Mew, my 4 years old baby boy managed to reach a club rank equal to my official trainer class." She says to herself.

"I've got to increase my trainer class immediately. My Pokemon are strong enough, I just didn't bother meeting the other requirements, but I can't let my baby have the same rank, class, whatever as me. He needs to look up to me and for that, I need to have a higher class." I hear her think out loud.

My mother is kind of in her own world right now, but from what I have seen, her Pokemon are indeed strong enough for her to become a Senior-class trainer. Still, I've got no idea what else she needs for a promotion, but I am sure it won't be too hard for her to fulfill them.

"Honey, I am going to call your daddy for a bit to tell him the good news," she informs me, "and then I need to look up which conditions I am still missing." She whispers the second part, but I hear her nonetheless thanks to my enhanced senses. "You can watch some TV, while I speak to your dad. It might take a while, so just do what you want until I am back." She says before she takes out her PokePhone and walks to the kitchen.

I simply shrug a bit, slightly amused by her reaction to my news, she hadn't even mentioned my earnings. Previously after I told her I had beaten a few trainers on Route 4, she had told me she could open a savings account for me if I wanted to, so that she could deposit some of the money for me. According to her, it would be easier for me to save money for the future if I had no instant access to it, which would make spending it randomly harder.

I agreed with her and since I did not mention anything about me selling my stuff, I gave her 5k Poke, that day. I have won around 12k Poke today, thanks to the wagers and club bonuses, that I had actually planned to give to my mother, but that would have to wait, it seems. After I stand up from the couch, I walk towards my room to check up on my Growlithe egg.

It has been less than 2 weeks since I got it, so there were no changes to it, but that was normal since it still had 13-15 months to hatch. I am actually on the outlook for some good fire materials, to see if I could help along with its potential before it hatched. While I have the Crimson Flower available, I don't want to use it, because it's a dual-element material.

There is still more than enough time, so I will keep an eye out for any pure fire element materials. I am sure I will find some during the next 2-3 months. I don't want to risk using Fire Stones for this because I have no idea how the Growlithe egg would react to them, otherwise, I could have bought some in Honey City.

But like I said it is not urgent, so I can take my time with this. While I am at it let me check up on my Magikarp. The ones that have already reached the (mid) bronze stage still have a while to go until they reach the (high) bronze stage. Amongst the ones still at the iron stage the Magikarp with the poison affinity is not far from being ready for her breakthrough.

'Name: None

Species: Magikarp

Gender: Female

Type: Water

Potential: Light Blue (27.8%) -> (29.2%)

Genetic variation: None

Abilities: Swift Swim, Rattled

Talents: None

Affinities: Water, Poison

Bond: Mikail (weak)

Quirks: Slightly Vengeful

Parameters:

Stage: Iron Stage (high)

Vitality: SSS

Strength: SS -> SSS

Endurance: SSS

Agility: SSS

Energy Capacity: SS -> SSS

Energy Density: SS

Resistance: Fire (Minor), Water (Major), Ice (Minor), Steel (Minor)

Weaknesses: Electricity (Minor), Grass (Minor)

Condition: Healthy, Content

Masteries: Water Energy Manipulation

Techniques: Tackle (Proficient), Flail (Proficient), Bounce (Proficient), Hydro Pump (Proficient), Swift (Proficient), Aqua Jet (Proficient), Splash (Advanced), Water Gun (Mastered)'

Only her energy density needed to improve and she would be able to breakthrough. She would gain the poison typing during her breakthrough and I am curious if there are going to be any physical changes to her. The other two iron stage Magikarp on the other hand, still need some time until they are ready.

Besides training their parameters I have them focus on their Water Gun. All of them have mastered Water Gun, so I want to see, if any one of them can upgrade the move, deriving a stronger one from it. What I have them do is to try to reduce the circumference of the water jet and increase the pressure.

The inspiration for this are those high-pressure water cutters. I want to see if any of my Magikarp can reach such a level. Even if they do not completely succeed, the training is still helping to train their energy parameters and Water Gun mastery. There is still the transcended mastery left, so hopefully, they will reach it. Nonetheless, their main focus is still on their parameters training.

After looking at my Magikarp, I decide to take a look at my Weedle. Currently, I have them learning how to use Electroweb, but since it has been only a few days since I got them, they have not made much progress. At least they have Mothra to help them along, so I knew that they would definitely learn the move sooner or later.

After that, I will have them focus on their String Shot. While we have not found a way to make their strings fire, ice, or air resistant yet, it is still a really useful move. Happy with the things I have seen, I go downstairs once more.

There I see my mother back from the kitchen. After I sit down next to her, she says, "sorry, for hurriedly going away like that", and hugs me. "No problem," I tell her before I add, "mom, I earned 12.000 Poke today. I'm giving you everything, for my savings account."

"Are you sure you want to give me everything? I mean, I am happy that you are saving your money, but don't you want to have some spending money?" She asks me in a surprised tone. "I still have some money left from the last time, and in case I need some more I can always earn more," I tell her.

"If you're sure, then okay." She says and she starts asking me about my day. I tell her about the battles I had and how easy they were, except for the last one. "Samurai was strong, and I am sure that if he had not used his weakest Pokemon I would have most likely lost, but he did and I won. The next time we battle I will win even if he does use his other Pokemon." I tell her.

*chuckles* My mother chuckles at my declaration. "Oh, honey. It looks like you have chosen your first rival and he sounds like a strong one too." She says. "Mom, he is not my rival. At most he can be the rival of Meruem." I say before I have to laugh a bit.

"Yes, yes. He is not your rival. He is your bug club rival." She answers me, while lightly laughing as well. After that, we just talk about random things, like what she has been doing all day, and before long my father came back from work.

"I'm home," he says and we return a "welcome home". After that my father addresses me. "Son, I heard you went to the Bug Club today and got promoted to Bug Collector on your first day." He says, and I nod. "Great job. That's my son. You take right after your dad." Before I can say anything to him, my mother interjects and they fall into their joke argument about who I take after.

Once they are done, my dad asks me to tell him about my battles, and while I do that my mother goes to the kitchen to set up dinner. A short time later she calls us over and we eat dinner. During dinner, my parents talk about their days went, and my mother tells my father that she looked up what she needed to do to improve her rank.

She says that she should be about to do it in a few months and my father encourages her. After that, they talk a bit about buying some of the lands around our property, since it would give their Pokemon more area to live in. Some of them needed more space to freely move around, so they were talking about their options.

After clearing the dinner table, we go to the living room to relax. My father turns on the TV and chooses a news channel. We watch the news for a while, when something comes up that can impact me. "Currently more than 10 people have been reported missing while traveling on the fringe areas of Route 4 during the last 2 days. During the investigations by the relevant authorities, traces of scuffles have been found."

As soon as I hear that, I think 'shit', because that is going to worry my parents. "So, please try to avoid traveling alone on Route 4 or stay away from the fringe areas, at least until the case has been cleared up." The news anchor says and I think 'double shit'. I turn to look at my mother and as I expected she looks worried after hearing the news.

"Honey, how about you stay at home until the case has been solved, or you could keep visiting the bug club. Just don't walk on Route 4, please." She says worriedly, and my father agrees with her. "Your mother is right son. You should avoid traveling on Route 4 until this has been cleared up, so you either stay at home or you promise to only visit Honey City." He says, and I try to placate them.

"I'm sure nothing would happen to me. No need to worry." I tell them, but they keep staring at me until I cave in. "Alright, I promise to not leave Honey City during this time." I concede before it can devolve into an argument, and my father nods. My mother on the other hand still looks quite worried but does not contradict me. After that, we keep watching TV, even if the mood is a bit more somber because of the previous news until it is time for me to sleep.

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