I, Xiao Mao, want to become a Pokémon Master!

Page 11

Today is Shigeru's fourth day in Viridian Forest. After cycling for another morning, he will be leaving Viridian Forest and will no longer have the chance to find his favorite Popo.

"Looks like we'll have to resort to money."

Although he didn't meet Bobo, whom he liked, Xiao Mao didn't care too much.

There are many ways to capture Pokémon, such as through battles, making friends, and the most common way, which is to buy them directly with money.

Although the League strictly prohibits the sale of wild Pokémon, the exception is Pokémon raised in breeding houses. Pokémon raised in breeding houses are bred by breeders themselves, and such Pokémon are allowed to be sold.

Many breeding farms specialize in breeding a particular type of Pokémon and then sell them on the market for trainers to choose from.

Some wealthy families will go to the breeding center to buy high-quality Pokémon for their children.

There are quite a few breeding farms that raise Pokémon like Pidgey. Pidgey itself is not a rare Pokémon, so its price is not too high.

Gary didn't linger in Viridian Forest, riding at full speed, and arrived at the Pokémon Center in Pewter City around noon.

"Miss Joy, thank you for your help." Shigeru handed his Pokémon to Joy for inspection.

Although the Pokémon weren't seriously injured, they still need regular comprehensive checkups. The Pokémon Center offers more than just treatment; it also provides routine Pokémon care.

"Don't worry, Mr. Gary. If it weren't for you, the Pokémon Center in Viridian City would be in serious danger. I will take good care of your Pokémon," Nurse Joy assured him.

"Thank you then."

Gary wasn't surprised; the Pokémon Centers all belonged to the Nurse Joy family, and they were all connected to each other.

What happened at the Viridian City Pokémon Center was no small matter; it's estimated that Pokémon Centers throughout the Kanto region held a safety meeting because of what happened in Viridian City.

Shigeru went to the public phone area and called Professor Oak.

Professor Oak spends most of his time in the lab, researching Pokémon.

"Oh! Gary, where are you? Why did it take you so long to call me?" Professor Oak said, a hint of reproach in his voice when he saw Gary on the screen.

It's been almost a week since Gary left Pallet Town, and he hasn't made a single phone call to Professor Oak.

"Hehe, I just came to let you know I'm safe." Xiao Mao, with a look of a child caught doing something wrong, changed the subject, "By the way, Grandpa, do you know anyone at the police station?"

"The police station? Team Rocket has their eye on you?" Professor Oak's face hardened, and he immediately became serious.

Xiao Mao was very surprised.

Professor Oak mentioned Team Rocket, which means he obviously knows about Viridian City.

"No," Xiao Mao quickly shook his head and denied.

"Then why did you ask me if I knew anyone at the police station?" Professor Oak breathed a sigh of relief.

Gary is Professor Oak's only son; something might happen to him.

“I want to breed an Arcanine, but as you know, Grandpa, it’s very difficult to find wild Arcanines and Growlithes. They are all kept by Interpol. If you want to get an Arcanine, you can only apply to Interpol to adopt a Growlithe,” Gary explained.

"So you want to breed Growlithe... I do know someone in the police force. Wait a moment, I'll go ask them for you."

After saying that, Professor Oak hung up the phone.

Xiao Mao waited quietly.

After waiting for about fifteen minutes, the public phone rang again.

When Shigeru answered the phone, Professor Oak's image appeared on the video.

"Grandpa, how is it?" Xiao Mao asked anxiously.

This is crucial to whether the mission can be completed.

Although Gary had an Arcanine in the original story, that Arcanine was far too weak.

During the Silver Conference, Gary's Arcanine was instantly defeated by Ash's Snorlax with a single Hyper Beam, completely humiliating Arcanine.

Therefore, Xiao Mao felt that even if he encountered Growlithe later, its potential would probably be quite low.

"I've already asked around for you. A litter of Growlithe has been born at the Cerulean City police station. I've applied for one for you. When you get to Cerulean City, just go to the police station to adopt one," Professor Oak said.

"Thank you grandpa!"

As expected, a renowned PhD is extraordinary; even international police organizations have to give him some respect.

"By the way, Gary, where are you traveling to now?" Professor Oak began to ask about Gary's situation.

"I've arrived in Pewter City and I'm planning to challenge the Pewter City Gym tomorrow," said Gary.

"You're really fast. The Pewter City Gym Leader is quite strong. Even though your Squirtle has a type advantage, you still need to be careful," Professor Oak warned.

Is Xiao Gang very strong?

Although Brock is an excellent gym leader, the Pokémon he has are Geodude and Rockruff, and their levels are not high.

Xiao Mao, of course, had no idea.

The gym leader Professor Oak mentioned is Brock's father, Takeru.

Actually, every gym leader in the Kanto region is quite strong; it's just that the gym leaders who acted as agents ruined it.

Both the Pewter City Gym and the Cerulean City Gym were originally very powerful trainers, with their strength generally at the level of near-Elite Four, and some were even Elite Four trainers.

For example, Kaoru, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City, possesses Elite Four-level strength.

In the near future, the Trainers Association leadership will appoint Aji as one of the Elite Four in the Johto League.

Don't be fooled by Aji's apparent weakness in the original storyline; he's just putting on an act. After all, the Gym Leader's mission is to test the challenging Trainers, and if everyone were to fight with their strongest abilities...

Very few people can even collect 8 badges to participate in the Quartz Conference.

Moreover, even though it's considered the weakest Cerulean Gym, it's actually not weak at all.

Xiaoxia's father is a very strong and skilled Water-type Pokémon trainer. He left behind several powerful Water-type Pokémon for his four daughters.

However, the four daughters were not up to par and could not gain the approval of those powerful water-type Pokémon, so they could not be used in battle, which is why the gym gradually fell into a third-rate state.

Furthermore, a gym that is too strong is also not good, because if a gym is too strong, no one will come to challenge it.

This can be seen in Blaine of the Cinnabar Gym. He always went all out in every gym battle, which is why no trainer dared to challenge the Cinnabar Gym.

Over time, the Crimson Gym even became a legend, with the people of Crimson Island believing it had closed down.

It can be said that dojos are quite difficult to manage. The owner not only needs to be capable, but also needs to operate the dojo well. The dojo cannot be made too strong, nor can it be made too weak.

"Grandpa, I'll be careful." Knowing that Professor Oak was worried about him, Gary agreed with Professor Oak.

"By the way, Gary, how many Pokémon have you caught yet?" Professor Oak asked.

Chapter 16: Butterfly Bartholomew

Professor Oak has seen countless Pokémon, but since this year is the time for new trainers from Pallet Town to travel, he really hopes to receive Pokémon sent by these new trainers.

"We've caught three Pokémon so far," said Gary.

"Ah, only 3 Pokémon caught...that's far too few," Professor Oak said in surprise.

This year, four new trainers set off from Pallet Town. Orange and Yellow have already caught more than six Pokémon, so how come their grandson has only caught three?

“Grandpa, I’m planning to take the elite route. I don’t look down on weak elves,” said Shigeru.

"I see. So what are the three Pokémon you caught?" Professor Oak was quite curious about what kind of Pokémon Gary would catch.

“I caught Metapod, Exeggutor, and Scyther,” Gary said.

Exeggutor... Scyther!!

The Metapod was normal at first, but how come the two Pokémon I captured later are so terrifying?

Professor Oak knew very well what kind of Pokémon Exeggutor and Scyther were; among new trainers, these two Pokémon were absolutely top-tier.

"Gary, did you catch these two Pokémon?" Professor Oak asked doubtfully.

Gary chose Squirtle as his starter Pokémon, which is weak against Exeggutor, while Scyther is also a very fast Pokémon.

Xiao Mao's Squirtle is still in the beginner stage and its type is not advantageous, so how will it catch Scyther?

"Yes, I caught Exeggutor when it was an Eevee. I used a Leaf Stone to evolve it, and then I encountered Scyther in Viridian Forest and defeated it with Exeggutor." Gary recounted his experiences in Viridian Forest.

Professor Oak broke out in a cold sweat. He hadn't expected Gary to get off to such a smooth start, catching an Exeggcute right away and then encountering a Scyther. What great luck!

"Then why did you choose to capture Metapod?" Professor Oak asked.

Judging from the fact that the Pokémon that Shigeru has caught are all quite strong, and he already has Scyther, it seems unnecessary for him to specifically catch a Bug-type Pokémon.

"Because I encountered a shiny Caterpie and caught it on a whim," said Gary.

"What! A shiny Caterpie! Let me see it!" Professor Oak was very excited when he heard it was a shiny Pokémon.

Even Professor Oak rarely sees shiny Pokémon.

Especially since this Pokémon was caught by Gary, Professor Oak became even more curious and wanted to study it.

"I've entrusted my elf to Miss Joy's care. I'll show it to Grandpa later," said Shigeru.

"That's a real shame. Good luck in your gym battle!" Professor Oak said.

"Well, goodbye grandpa."

After the call ended, Xiao Mao went to the Pokémon Center's cafeteria for lunch.

Gary plans to patrol Route 3 in the afternoon to see if he can encounter a Pidgey he likes, and also see if he can run into any Ground-type Pokémon.

There are mountains in the vicinity of Nibi City, where some Rock and Ground-type Pokémon exist.

According to the task issued by the system, Xiao Mao needs to breed a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and there might be a Rhinoceros Armored nearby.

Besides Bobo and Rhinoceros, Gary also plans to see if he can find Mankey.

Mankey has a second evolution, eventually evolving into the Ghost-type Abandoned. To make it easier to fight Sabrina later, it's essential to raise a Ghost-type Pokémon.

As for raising Gengar, Gary also plans to do so. However, Gengar naturally has the Poison type, which is said to be effective against Psychic-type Pokémon, but it is also weak against Psychic-type Pokémon.

Of course, the same applies to Abandoned Monkey, but it's still worthwhile to train Fighting-type Pokémon.

In the Kanto region, there are only two Fighting-type Pokémon with a base stat total of 500 or higher: Machamp and Forsaken.

Machamp has a base stat total of 505 and is a Fighting-type Pokémon.

The Abandoned Monkey has a base stat total of 535 and is a dual Fighting/Ghost type.

Between the two, anyone with common sense would know to choose the abandoned monkey.