Four Pokémon Eggs

As the sun set and the moon rose, the sky grew darker. A brilliant Milky Way stretched across the heavens, echoing the moon beside it.

Beneath the moonlight and starlight, several Zubat searching for food at night occasionally flew over Clear Stream Village.

Unlike cities that remained lively at night, Clear Stream Village, lacking entertainment, had always been very quiet after dark.

However, tonight, dull thuds occasionally came from the Village Chief's home on the southern side of the village.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Old Man Qian, fast asleep, seemed to hear something, and his eyelids trembled slightly.

Like many elderly people, Old Man Qian did not sleep well and was easily awakened by noise.

But there had simply been too much going on today, and he was sleeping deeply.

First, crooked merchants from Three Mountains Town had come early in the morning to buy tomatoes and tried desperately to drive down the price. Then, in the afternoon, he had organized the villagers to watch the Gym League at the Three Mountains Town Gym.

Yet just as the league had ended, he suddenly received word that Commissioner Zhao Nian had changed his itinerary at the last minute, and the Ability Awakening Test was to begin that very day.

So Old Man Qian had hurriedly begun preparing for the Ability Awakening Test, only for Commissioner Zhao to fucking arrive on Pidgeot before he had even finished.

And so, the Ability Awakening Test had been held in a rush.

Lin Tong had awakened Psychic powers, while Qian Er Niu had awakened the rare and mysterious Dragon Force.

Because of those two children, the construction of a Pokémon Center in Clear Stream Village had officially been put on the agenda.

It could be said that Clear Stream Village's future would only get better and better.

On top of that, Mark, the dimwit who had always wandered around the village, had come to his senses because of the aptitude selection test.

Not only had he come to his senses, but the boy even had a desire to learn.

So Old Man Qian brought Mark back to his home.

He had planned to make something simple, but ended up steaming two small basins of rice for Mark and Caterpie, boiling a huge pot of meat soup, and then, when that was not enough, cooking two more large pots of vegetable soup.

"Mark and that Caterpie can really fucking eat..."

Old Man Qian seemed to dream of something and muttered in his sleep.

In his dream, Mark and Caterpie kept stuffing themselves until they emptied his rice jar. Then Caterpie repeatedly rammed its head against the rice jar as if it still had not eaten enough, making him terribly irritated...

At last, Old Man Qian opened his eyes.

"So it was a dream... But what's that noise?"

The repeated thudding was still coming from the direction of the courtyard.

Yawning, Old Man Qian hastily put on some clothes, pushed open his door, and walked into the courtyard. By the moonlight and starlight, he saw Mark and Caterpie repeatedly launching Tackle attacks at the Black Heavy Stone in the center of the yard.

Not sleeping in the middle of the night, just ramming into a stone block in the courtyard?

Old Man Qian yawned again, then suddenly narrowed his eyes.

—At that moment, Caterpie, practicing Tackle in the courtyard, had surpassed ordinary standards in both the force, speed, and fluidity of its attacks.

"...That kid's Caterpie has passable talent. If it had been properly trained two years earlier—no, it's not too late to train it now either. It hasn't evolved yet. As long as it builds up its foundation before evolving, there won't be much difference."

Old Man Qian stroked the stubble on his chin as he pondered to himself.

"Cough, cough..."

Without thinking further, Old Man Qian coughed twice. Once he saw that Mark had noticed him, he said, "You and Caterpie are working so hard on Tackle in the middle of the night. Do you really want to become a Trainer?"

Mark nodded. "More or less. Actually, Caterpie and I just couldn't sleep, so we came here to practice Tackle."

The nourishment from the Awakening Orb had left Caterpie and him brimming with energy, while the Village Elder's food had filled their stomachs. They had strength to spare all over.

During the long night, there was nothing else to do if they did not practice Tackle.

Besides, the feeling of constantly practicing, accumulating experience, and growing stronger was quite nice.

In some ways, it was fun.

It was not just him. Caterpie seemed to be in a very good mood as well.

Old Man Qian looked at Mark's expression and shook his head. "Working hard is good, but Pokémon training needs a balance between work and rest...

"Besides, your Caterpie is only in its initial form. This is the stage for building a foundation. Focusing too much on mastering moves is somewhat counterproductive. After all, when a Pokémon evolves, its body changes, and the moves you practice now will have to be adapted to again.

"Still... it's not completely useless. It might be worth trying.

"In short, you can train like this, but in moderation. Otherwise, it could have the opposite effect.

"All right, since I saw it, let me tell you about your Caterpie's Tackle just now.

"Overall, it was pretty good, above ordinary standards. If there's anything lacking, it's a bit of power.

"It's hard to explain it clearly in words, so I'll have a Pokémon demonstrate for you."

As he spoke, Old Man Qian raised a Pokeball.

A flash of red light appeared, and a Machamp covered in bulging muscles emerged.

"Hah!"

Without wasting words, Machamp let out a low roar and charged fiercely at the Black Heavy Stone.

Clang!

The Black Heavy Stone did not budge. Machamp staggered back a step from the recoil, and the sound of metal striking stone rang out.

Caterpie watched intently at first, but after seeing the commotion caused by Machamp's Tackle, it quickly lost interest and went back to considering the shortcomings in its own practice.

In Caterpie's eyes, Machamp's Tackle was similar to its Power-Up Tackle technique, with both requiring a brief buildup of power before charging.

But compared to its Power-Up Tackle, Machamp's Tackle was clearly less powerful.

Noticing Caterpie's thoughts, Mark lightly knocked Caterpie on the head with his fist.

Caterpie had only noticed the difference in power and overlooked the principles behind the other's Tackle.

Mark said thoughtfully, "Village Chief, when your Machamp used Tackle just now, it seemed to have a balance of hardness and softness. Did you want Machamp to teach Caterpie that technique?"

Old Man Qian raised his brows. "You saw it after only one look? That's outstanding Trainer talent. I thought I'd have to explain it to you. It seems that not only did you come to your senses and gain a normal person's intelligence, you've also become very smart."

Mark smiled and shook his head.

In truth, it was not because his talent was so exceptional. It was because, in his dreams, he had researched Tackle day and night for over three years, gaining a great deal of experience and insight related to it.

Mark soon continued, "Village Chief, compared to increasing the power of Caterpie's Tackle, I'd rather improve its fluidity and speed. Does your Machamp have a technique similar to Quick Attack? I'd like Caterpie to learn it."

"Quick Attack?" Old Man Qian stroked his stubble. "That makes sense. Caterpie isn't a large Fighting-type Pokémon like Machamp. As a small Pokémon, its Tackle power will remain limited no matter how much it improves. It would be better to increase its agility, which would also be more beneficial in battle. Seems I'm getting old—I'm falling further and further behind..."

After saying that, Old Man Qian recalled Machamp and released a brown rat over a meter tall. It was Raticate, the evolved form of the Purple-Skinned Rat Rattata.

"Caterpie can't learn Quick Attack, but using Quick Attack's technique as a reference to improve Tackle might work. Raticate, use Quick Attack on the Black Heavy Stone!"

Whoosh—

With a streak of yellow lightning, Raticate took a small bite out of the Black Heavy Stone, then swiftly retreated.

In almost the blink of an eye, Raticate had returned to its original position.

Old Man Qian watched Raticate rub its teeth with its forepaws, and the corner of his mouth twitched. After all these years, his Raticate still could not break its habit of biting random things. Was the Black Heavy Stone something it could just bite whenever it wanted?

Was it not afraid of chipping its teeth?

Old Man Qian wanted to scold Raticate, but when he saw Mark deep in thought and Caterpie looking at Raticate with admiration, he ultimately let it go.

This was obviously not the right time to reprimand Raticate.

After glaring fiercely at Raticate, Old Man Qian tossed Raticate's Pokeball to Mark. "Let Raticate practice with you from now on. Get some rest early. At my age... my body can't take it anymore. I'm going back to sleep."

Mark bowed in thanks. "Thank you, Village Chief. Go rest. Caterpie and I will try not to make too much noise from now on."

Old Man Qian smiled and waved him off before returning to his room.

He had intended to go straight to sleep, but then remembered something. Opening a cabinet, Old Man Qian took out four Pokémon Eggs with identical patterns.

"Judging by that kid Mark's talent, I could give him one to try."

"Forget it. I'll let the kid choose one tomorrow. No need to fuss with it today..."

Old Man Qian placed the Pokémon Eggs beside his bed. Accompanied by the occasional sounds of Tackle coming from the courtyard, he soon fell asleep. He had truly been exhausted by this day...