Chapter 79: Ralts' Pokémon Egg, Misty's Outburst (Patreon)

The Pokémon eggs the League listed on its points exchange page had all been scanned by the relevant machines, and even the lowest-grade ones had Gym-class aptitude.

As for a pseudo-legendary Pokémon like Beldum, as long as nothing went wrong while it was still an egg, it was almost guaranteed to grow to near-Elite Four class.

On top of that, Pokémon like Metagross and Slowbro could evolve naturally once they reached a certain level, but they could also evolve by fusing two Pokémon together.

And according to what the original Renan had learned at Viridian Academy, take Slowbro as an example: if you chose fusion evolution, and the Slowpoke and Shellder were at the same aptitude stage when they evolved, the finished Slowbro's potential cap could be raised by another three to five levels.

Metagross was formed by fusing two Metang, and each Metang was itself formed by fusing two Beldum, so it cost four Beldum in total. It could very well raise its potential by a whole major tier!

So…

Renan decisively spent his remaining 500 points and ordered a Ralts egg.

Fusion evolution as a way to raise potential was much like burning through mountains of high-grade resources to forcibly push up a cap. It was a training method only those rich kids with money to burn could afford to play with.

Besides, Beldum eggs weren't cheap on the League forum's exchange either. A single one cost 800 points, the equivalent of 1.5 high-quality evolution stones or held items.

Renan definitely couldn't afford one right now.

Ralts, on the other hand, sold for 100 and 150 points more than the Abra egg and the Natu egg respectively, thanks to its looks.

But don't forget, it was a Psychic/Fairy dual-type Pokémon, just like Renan himself. Of course, with God X still asleep, Fairy-type Pokémon these days either showed up as Normal type or had dropped from two types to one.

Even as a pure Psychic type, though, neither of Ralts's final evolutions was weak.

And if worst came to worst, Renan could ask the Clefairy on Mt. Moon for help. He could have them perform the Sacrifice Dance once more so that Ralts could pick up its Fairy typing early.

By then…

Uh.

Renan scratched his cheek, a flicker of awkwardness crossing his eyes.

He had suddenly realized that, judging by typing alone, his team had somehow become quite strong against Dragon Tamer Lance.

That said, if he ever really faced the original Renan's uncle in a match someday, then given the strength of his Pokémon right now, even with the type advantage he'd most likely… Fine, there was no way he'd win.

*

Since he had set the Pokémon Center as the delivery address, Renan and Misty stayed in Oma Town for one more day.

That evening, they signed for the Ralts egg, which arrived inside an incubator.

The egg had only recently been laid by its mother. Under normal circumstances, it would take another month to hatch.

Any other time, Misty, who was keenly interested in every kind of Pokémon except Bug types, would have been pestering Renan with questions the moment he came back carrying an egg.

But all day today, the girl had been uncharacteristically quiet.

When he asked her that night what she wanted for dinner, she only answered "Whatever," instead of ordering a pile of dishes on a whim like she usually did.

It surprised Renan, but he didn't think much of it. He just assumed it was that time of the month for her—though at ten, she probably didn't get that yet.

Then, on the third day, as the two of them said goodbye to Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy of Oma Town and continued on the road to Rota City, the orange-haired girl, who had held it in for a day and two nights, finally snapped.

"Renan, do you think I'm useless?"

The boy froze for a moment, a look of confusion crossing his face.

Seeing him stand there like a block of wood, Misty suddenly sighed. "Forget it. Just pretend I never said anything."

Renan wasn't a completely hopeless, titanium-plated lump when it came to feelings. Looking at Misty, who was a bit down on herself right now, and putting it together with what had happened over the past two days, he quickly realized that his rich-girl travel companion was probably angry because he hadn't taken her along to raid Team Rocket the night before last.

"From a Trainer's standpoint, Misty, you really aren't strong right now."

"!!!"

When Renan opened his mouth, Misty had assumed he was about to comfort her. She knew it would be mostly lies, but she still wanted to hear it.

Who would have guessed that this jerk would step right on her landmine from the very first sentence?

"Wh-what do you mean I'm weak as a Trainer!?"

At that moment, the red in the girl's face said more than words could.

Renan paid her reaction no mind and simply finished the second half of his sentence. "But that's normal."

Misty: "?"

Renan glanced at her. "Isn't it? You're only ten, and you've been traveling for just two seasons. Your family runs a Gym, sure, but is there a Trainer in the Kanto region who doesn't know the state of the Cerulean Gym?"

From a rookie Trainer's point of view, Misty's strength wasn't actually weak. Her starter and ace Pokémon, Starmie, had quietly reached Lv26 after all this time of training, and a few more weeks of hard work would carry it into Elite class.

And Elite class, though still far from near-Elite Four or Elite Four class, already made a Pokémon the leader of a local group out in the wilds of the Pokémon world.

Take the two Team Rocket lieutenants Renan had taken control of with Confusion the night before last. The strongest Pokémon either of them had was only late Veteran stage.

From that, one could imagine just how high an Elite-class Trainer stood in the League.

But a rookie Trainer was, in the end, still just a rookie Trainer.

And don't forget, Misty was going to inherit the position of Cerulean Gym Leader someday.

Measured against that, her progress in raising Pokémon was clearly a little slow.

In the anime of his past life, she and Brock had accompanied the protagonist, Ash, through three regions, Kanto, the Orange Islands and Johto. It had taken two and a half years before she barely became a Gym-class Trainer and earned the initial approval of the near-Champion-class Gyarados at the Cerulean Gym.

Whether Misty planned to take over the Gym sooner or later wasn't something Renan, as an outsider, had any right to weigh in on.

And he didn't intend to waste breath on it.

Seeing the girl's expression ease a little, the black-haired boy changed the subject. "If you're angry because I lied to you the night before last, then I apologize."

Renan sounded sincere when he said it.

But in the next instant, he turned the conversation around again. "Still, if I could do it over, I'd make the same choice and not take you with me."