Battle (Please Bookmark, Please Vote)

After leaving the Breeding House, Eichi went to the shop to stock up on some MooMoo Milk and honey.

While talking with Amelie earlier, Eichi had asked whether there were any Pokéblocks especially suitable for Bug-type Pokémon.

Amelie recommended two kinds of Pokéblocks to Eichi.

Pokéblocks were divided by effectiveness into Basic Pokéblocks, Intermediate Pokéblocks, Advanced Pokéblocks, and Special Custom Pokéblocks.

You had to choose Pokéblocks suited to your Pokémon's strength.

For example, if a Pokémon was still very weak, it was best to use Basic Pokéblocks.

They were easier to digest. Once it became stronger, or after evolving, when its body could handle it,

it could then use Intermediate Pokéblocks.

Only once it reached a certain level of strength could it use Advanced Pokéblocks.

If a Pokémon's physical condition was insufficient, it was best not to skip tiers and use Advanced Pokéblocks.

If it ate them, the result would be that the Pokémon could not digest so much energy!

In the end, it might be stuffed to death or explode from within.

Bloody lessons taught them to choose Pokéblocks suited to themselves.

If you were unsure which kind of Pokéblock suited your Pokémon,

that was fine. Every shop selling Pokéblocks had a machine specifically for testing a Pokémon's physical condition.

The shop staff would use the data measured by the machine to recommend a suitable type of Pokéblock.

Naturally, those machines were extremely expensive, and every shop only had two of them.

The price of such machines was astronomical.

Then there were Special Custom Pokéblocks, which Advanced Breeders specifically tailored for particularly powerful Pokémon,

the Pokéblocks most suitable for their own Pokémon.

Since they were custom-made, the price naturally was not pretty.

Every single block cost a fortune.

Of course, wealthy families and companies would have Pokéblocks customized for their Pokémon from a young age, ensuring they were best suited to their growth.

For now, Eichi would let Weedle use Basic Pokéblocks and see whether they worked.

If not, he would buy Intermediate Pokéblocks.

For Basic Pokéblocks suitable for Bug-type Pokémon, Amelie had recommended two kinds to Eichi.

The first was a green Pokéblock with a relatively mild flavor.

It could increase a Bug-type Pokémon's speed.

The second was a red Pokéblock, and its flavor might be a little stronger.

However, it could increase a Bug-type Pokémon's defense.

Eichi bought several portions of both types of Pokéblocks, alternating the flavors each day.

Pokéblocks really were expensive. Fortunately, Eichi was buying Bug-type Pokéblocks.

The price of Pokéblocks was related to a Pokémon's type. As everyone knew, Bug-type Pokémon were the weakest of all types.

So their price was the lowest. The ingredients for Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokéblocks were relatively expensive,

so their prices were somewhat higher than those of other types.

But none of them were as expensive as Dragon-type Pokéblocks. Their prices were far beyond those of other types.

Eichi took a look. Even the cheapest Basic Pokéblocks cost ten times as much as Bug-type Pokéblocks.

No wonder people said ordinary people could not afford to raise Dragon-type Pokémon. They would bankrupt you.

Bug-type Pokéblocks were cheaper than those of other types, but one pack contained fifty blocks and cost 5,000.

One hundred per block, one block per meal. Three meals a day meant one pack would last roughly seventeen days.

Of course, that was for ordinary Bug-type Pokémon. Eichi's Weedle was a little different.

Weedle's appetite was growing larger and larger. Every meal, it needed to drink 500 milliliters of MooMoo Milk, plus 100 milliliters of diluted honey water.

It also had to eat 600 grams of Pokémon food. Although it ate a lot, it grew quickly too.

When Eichi measured it after returning home, he found that Weedle was now 0.38 meters tall and weighed 4.0 kilograms.

It should continue growing until it evolved.

After taking stock of his gains, he found that today had been truly fruitful. Not only had Weedle completed its first battle, but it had also earned a lot of money.

With this money, Weedle would not lack resources all the way until it became a Beedrill.

Eichi could finally train Weedle without worry.

The next day was Saturday, so there were no classes.

Eichi took Weedle out early to train. Because of yesterday's real battle, Weedle was beginning to resist training less.

It even trained proactively, and Eichi increased the intensity of its training again today.

Weedle was still bothered by its loss to Pidgey and began training desperately, hoping to defeat it next time.

Seeing Weedle's serious expression, Eichi felt secretly gratified. It was a good thing for a Pokémon to be ambitious.

What he feared most was a Pokémon that had no desire to battle.

Eichi had learned from Teacher Arno that a Pokémon's mastery over moves had four stages.

They were: mastery, proficiency, expertise, and perfection.

Mastery, as the name implied, meant learning the move.

Proficiency meant that the Pokémon was already skilled with the move and could use it easily.

It could also aim at its target with a relatively high hit rate.

Expertise was one level above proficiency. It meant having such control over the move that it could be used freely, while its power could be developed to the limit.

Not a trace of the energy consumed by the move would be wasted, and the hit rate would be nearly one hundred percent.

Perfection was an extremely difficult realm to reach. If a Pokémon's mastery of a move reached perfection,

the move it used could unleash 120 percent of its power, or even more.

Weedle's mastery of its three moves had now reached proficiency, and it was just short of expertise.

Eichi planned for Weedle to reach expertise with its moves before evolving.

After finishing their run and warm-up, they began move training.

Weedle could now use String Shot seventeen times. The amount of silk was decent as well, and its range was within ten meters.

Bug Bite's power had also increased greatly. It could now bite a large chunk out of a tree.

As for Poison Sting, there was no need to mention it. The strongest part of Weedle's entire body was its horn.

Now, once Poison Sting landed, there was a high chance of poisoning the opponent.

Once Weedle raised Poison Sting to expertise, it would have a one hundred percent chance of poisoning its opponent.

That was why Eichi bought several more bottles of Antidote Spray, just in case.

The targets Eichi used to train Weedle's String Shot were no longer bottle caps, but marbles.

Marbles were much heavier and faster than bottle caps, making them far more difficult.

This put Weedle's reaction speed and mastery over its move to the test.

After training, Eichi took Weedle home to rest and eat.

After eating, he went to the Breeding House in Tokiwa City again.

On the surface, he was going there to have fun, but in truth, he wanted to learn some breeding knowledge.

After arriving at the Breeding House, Eichi eagerly greeted Aunt Keiko and Manager Amelie.

Seeing Aunt Keiko busy at work, he offered to help.

Aunt Keiko happily agreed, and Eichi spent the entire afternoon helping out at the Breeding House.

While helping, he observed Aunt Keiko's Pokémon massage techniques and listened in on Aunt Keiko's conversations with customers about raising Pokémon.

When he returned home that evening, Eichi was very happy. Aunt Keiko had taught him a set of massage techniques suitable for Weedle.

Do not underestimate this. In the Pokémon World, there was a profession called Pokémon Masseuse.

They specialized in massaging Pokémon, and massages could help Pokémon relieve muscle strain.

They could loosen their joints and increase a Pokémon's combat ability.

Massages could also help Pokémon grow and sleep better.

Every major family had professional masseuses massage their Pokémon.

After returning home and waiting for Weedle to finish dinner, Eichi used the massage techniques he had learned today to massage Weedle.

Weedle let out comfortable cries. Compared to Eichi's previous massages, this was like heaven and earth.

A new week arrived. Before class in the morning, Aji came to chat with Eichi.

Aji told Eichi that out of more than three hundred students in the entire school, only a little over fifty had Pokémon.

After excluding those who did not like Pokémon battles, there were only a little over thirty left.

In Eichi's class, only four or five people had Pokémon.

Although Pokémon Trainers were very popular, most families did not have the financial means to train one.

So after graduating at age ten, most people would attend a vocational school, learn a trade, and enter society.

At this point, Aji suggested, "How about we have a Pokémon battle, Eichi?"

Eichi nodded. "Sure!"

Eichi also wanted to see where Weedle stood compared to other Pokémon.

Aji said happily, "Then it's settled. The location will be on the hill behind the school. We'll go after school."

Seeing Aji's eager expression, Eichi began looking forward to it as well.

After school, Eichi followed Aji to the hill behind the school.

Several classmates followed them as well. Curious about Pokémon battles, they had come to watch.

When they reached an open area, one student acted as the referee.

Imitating the referees on television, the referee said, "Each side may use one Pokémon. The battle ends when one side loses the ability to fight or admits defeat."

Aji impatiently took out a Poké Ball. "Go, Mankey!" A flash of white light shot out from the Poké Ball.

Mankey appeared on the ground.

Seeing Aji send out his Pokémon, Eichi also took out a Poké Ball. "Go, Weedle."

A flash of white light passed, and Weedle leaped out full of fighting spirit.

Facing Aji's Mankey, Weedle was not intimidated in the slightest.

The instant the referee announced the start, Eichi gave Weedle an order. "Weedle, use String Shot!"

Aji shouted, "Mankey, dodge!"

Mankey had just tried to evade, but it was too late. One of its feet was tangled in silk.

"Now, use Bug Bite!"

With its foot entangled in silk, Mankey could not move. Aji began to panic.

"Mankey, use Scratch!"

But Weedle had already bitten Mankey's arm.

Mankey let out a scream, and Aji panicked even more.

Eichi said, "Good. Finish it with Poison Sting."

Weedle, still biting Mankey, curled its tail and drove its Poison Sting down hard.

Mankey collapsed to the ground, unable to battle.