Chapter 54: Searching for Electric-type Pokémon (Patreon)

Geodude, Machop, Oddish, Beedrill, Fearow…

Among all the Trainers out on their journeys, mainline Trainers made up only a very small fraction.

The vast majority had no Pokédex to rely on. They couldn't look up data or compare numbers to roughly estimate a wild Pokémon's potential ceiling.

As a result, the Pokémon they sent out against Renan were usually somewhere between Regular Class and Veteran level.

And Renan? Setting aside Shellder, who was still in its infant stage, there were his other three little ones.

Charmeleon was, without a doubt, a genuine Elite class. Pidgeotto and Nidorino could also hold their own in that tier with their Breathing Techniques active.

Elite-class Pokémon against Veteran-level or Regular Class Pokémon.

If he could lose even that, Renan figured he'd be better off quietly retiring on the spot and giving up on the Indigo League.

Of course, that didn't mean he'd gone the whole morning without a hard fight.

One mainline Trainer, just like himself, had accepted Renan's battle invitation and sent out a Typhlosion at the late Elite stage.

The guy had clearly come over from the neighboring Johto region.

He'd also definitely been traveling for more than a year, or else he was just a rich kid who never lacked resources.

Facing a Typhlosion that could truly "breathe fire," Renan naturally sent out his ace, Charmeleon.

He wasn't sure whether the Typhlosion had developed the Flash Fire Ability, so he avoided Fire-type moves during the battle.

Instead, he went with a plan of Smokescreen to block its vision, Dragon Dance to power up, and Dig for a surprise attack.

The Typhlosion's Trainer was clearly no pushover either. He opened with several rounds of Scorching Sands. Unfortunately for him, Renan was "cheating" with his psychic power the whole time, letting Charmeleon dodge between Dragon Dances. It was hit only once, when it released the Smokescreen. Otherwise, the outcome might really have been hard to call.

Once Charmeleon finished two boosts and its speed and attack had doubled, the result was settled.

"I lost this time." The Trainer who'd introduced himself as "Karl" recalled his fainted Typhlosion, stepped forward, and shook Renan's hand. "But the next time we meet, I'll challenge you again."

"I'll be waiting." Renan's tone was calm.

Inside, though, he sighed.

Karl was the eleventh Trainer he had challenged and beaten that morning. Yet the shared space deep within his soul hadn't granted him the authority to send his consciousness back to the DanMachi world, the way it had when he defeated Misty.

From this, defeating ordinary Trainers was most likely not the precondition for activating the shared space. Or else the number of Trainers he'd beaten was still nowhere near enough.

So…

Renan narrowed his eyes, a guess forming in his mind.

For the next two-plus hours, they had already walked a good distance from Cerulean City, and he'd confirmed that battles couldn't help him obtain the authority.

So even when he ran into Trainers, Renan didn't issue any more challenges.

As they drew closer to the Power Plant, Electric-type Pokémon appeared more and more often along both sides of the road.

Unfortunately, comparing what he saw against the data in his Pokédex, Renan found none with particularly good aptitude.

Most of them, by his estimate, would top out at Veteran level.

Raising one to Elite class would take a huge investment of resources, and it wasn't worth the loss.

"Looks like we'll be camping out around the Power Plant for a while," Renan said with a sigh.

Misty walked beside the boy and didn't mind in the least. "Then we'll just stay here a few days."

She wasn't entering the League Conference anyway. She'd set out to broaden her horizons in the first place.

Now that she could follow Renan and pick up some training knowledge and battle tactics, it was a no-lose deal no matter how she looked at it.

With that settled, the two of them simply pitched their tent for the night first.

Afterward, Misty glanced at the map and said she was going to fish in the nearby river.

Renan released his three little ones and, following the Pokémon distribution map marked on his League map, headed for the plains north of the road.

Things were different from when he'd first transmigrated. After nearly a month of training, he could now pull off "Teleportation" in the middle of a fast-moving fight. The maximum distance was only five meters for now, but combined with the boost from Thunder Breathing, it was enough to save his life.

Better yet, each of the three little ones now had Elite-class combat strength.

The depths of the wilds that the League had never developed might still be extremely dangerous. But if he stayed in the middle ring, under normal circumstances, it was no longer an impossible task for Renan.

For the next four days, he left early and came back late.

His figure turned up in every corner of the plains and the surrounding forests.

In that time, he did run into a few Electric-type Pokémon with strong potential. But most of them had already raised their strength through wild clashes with other Pokémon. Some were leaders of their own groups, and others had simply evolved to the second stage, or even the third.

As mentioned before, Renan and his predecessor both preferred raising their own Pokémon as Trainers. Besides, capturing the boss or an elite of a population could easily upset the balance of the wild ecosystem and lead to the deaths of a whole swath of Pokémon.

Now that Renan was in the Pokémon world, he naturally had to follow the unspoken rules between wild Pokémon and humans.

"I'm back."

It was the evening of the fifth day since they'd arrived at the Power Plant.

The black-haired boy returned to the campsite looking exhausted.

Misty heard his voice and came out of the tent. "Welcome back. So today… never mind, I can tell from your face. No luck again."

Renan shrugged.

He just hadn't met a Pokémon he really liked. It simply wasn't fate yet.

"I plan to hang around the Power Plant one more day tomorrow. If I still can't find a high-aptitude Electric type, I'll give up for now and go get the badge at Pewter Gym first."

Misty had been fishing for days on end and was a little worn out herself.

She nodded at that, then suggested, "Why don't you make a couple of dishes today? After eating instant food every day, I feel like my tongue is going numb."

Lady Moneybags had spoken, so of course Renan didn't object. Okay, the truth was he'd been craving a real meal too.

"Then let's make wild vegetable tofu soup and fry up some fish cutlets."

Misty was practically drooling by the time she heard that. Hadn't she chosen to travel with him for exactly this, besides sneaking a few lessons in tactics and training?

And yet Renan, never one to bring it up himself, had gone several days in a row eating nothing but instant food.

As the thought flashed through her mind, the girl hurriedly wiped the corner of her mouth. "I'll go gather firewood."

Renan pulled his cooking gear out of his backpack and started preparing the river fish Misty had caught.

He sliced the fillets from the back and cut away the belly bones, then extended his mental power to pull out the tiny bones one by one. He seasoned the fish with salt, pepper, and a little rice wine for a base flavor, coated it in egg wash and flour, and dropped it into the hot oil.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle~