Hundreds Upon Hundreds of Evolutions

Mark's Caterpie looked a little frightened.

As soon as they approached the huge courtyard enclosed by wooden fences, it kept hiding behind him.

Vague memories surfaced in his mind.

It seemed that whenever he had come near this place before, Caterpie had always led him away.

Could it be that his Caterpie had come from here and had bad memories of this place?

Mark looked at Caterpie. "Did you used to live here?"

"Shhh."

Caterpie shook its head.

Perhaps because Mark and Old Man Qian were nearby, Caterpie's fear faded somewhat. It gradually moved closer to the wooden fence, curiously and uncertainly examining the Caterpie inside.

Was it simply unaccustomed to being around its own kind?

Mark watched Caterpie's behavior thoughtfully.

Before Mark could think too much about it, Village Chief Old Man Qian explained, "Clear Stream Village has two main industries. One is the Tomato Garden North of the Village, and the other is silk weaving, which every household takes part in.

The Caterpie raised here are the main source of the silk thread used for weaving."

As he spoke, Old Man Qian opened the gate to the Caterpie Breeding Base.

The wooden fence had made it difficult to see clearly before.

Now that the gate was open, Mark saw hundreds upon hundreds of Caterpie moving through the grass at the front of the courtyard.

Just then, a breeder pushed a small cart of feed out from the warehouse. As if they had received a signal, the Caterpie swiftly gathered around him.

The breeder, Lin Erniu, spotted Old Man Qian and waved. "Village Chief, you're here!"

"It's nothing. I just brought this kid Mark here for a look around. Go on with your work!"

Old Man Qian replied casually. Without explaining that Mark had finally come to his senses, he led Mark toward the rear area of the breeding base.

As they walked, Caterpie's fear improved further.

It not only gradually drew closer to the nearby Caterpie, but occasionally hissed at them as well. Still, it never dared touch its own kind. Whenever another Caterpie came close, it would panic and retreat some distance.

Soon, after passing a row of wooden buildings, Mark saw Caterpie chambers arranged like honeycombs.

Perhaps because they were fed well, the Caterpie in those honeycomb compartments were somewhat plump, constantly spinning silk.

On the other side of the honeycomb wooden houses, countless strands of silk soaked in pools. Mark caught a whiff of alkali; it seemed to be part of the silk-reeling process, soaking the threads in alkaline water.

Old Man Qian explained, "As you can see, this is how Caterpie produce silk thread.

Caterpie are Pokemon that grow and evolve very easily. Generally speaking, as long as they eat their fill for several days in a row, they can produce silk at a high rate.

If they can remain well-fed for about a month, they will naturally evolve into Kakuna.

Then, after waiting for about another month, they will evolve into Butterfree.

The climate near Clear Stream Forest is very cold in winter. The Butterfree fly south to Yunrui Province, where they mate and reproduce in the Sea of Flowers in the Five Directions Mountain Range. Then, in the spring of the following year or the year after that, they return to their hometowns in different places to lay their offspring.

Every spring, some Butterfree return here to lay Pokemon Eggs. At the same time, we control their food intake and keep some Caterpie from evolving, leaving them to survive the winter.

However, the silk spun by these farm-raised Caterpie is generally of poorer quality and sells for less.

So, to obtain high-quality silk, the children in the village often use bug nets to catch wild Caterpie.

Look at this area. These are wild Caterpie caught by the village children. The silk they spin is not only tough, but after being treated in alkaline water, the woven silk is even softer."

Following the direction of the Village Chief's finger, Mark saw another group of Caterpie.

These Caterpie did not seem noticeably different from the earlier ones. Their bodies were all a little plump from eating their fill.

The only difference was that these Caterpie appeared more lively.

Mark looked at his own Caterpie and sensed that same liveliness in it.

As he continued following the Village Elder, Mark emerged from the Caterpie honeycomb houses and saw thousands of Kakuna arranged neatly before him.

It seemed to be the first time Mark's Caterpie had seen so many Kakuna, and its eyes were full of shock.

In fact, it was the same for Mark himself.

Old Man Qian reached out and touched a nearby Kakuna. "If you want to make money, my advice is to catch wild Caterpie in the forest. Depending on their size and condition, each wild Caterpie can be exchanged for 35 to 100 yuan.

Usually, after wild Caterpie have been raised for two or three weeks, the quality of the silk they produce drops sharply. If you keep raising them for another week or two while keeping them continuously full, they will evolve into Kakuna.

Actually, bringing wild Caterpie in from the forest is helping them too.

Bird Pokemon are the natural enemies of Bug-type Pokemon. Caterpie in Clear Stream Forest constantly face threats from bird Pokemon such as Pidgey and Spearow, and they are also harassed by Ekans.

Once they are brought here, aside from having to work a little harder spinning silk, nearly all of them can evolve successfully."

Mark considered this. "Could the decline in silk quality after wild Caterpie are brought here be caused by the feed? If they were fed the food they usually eat, wouldn't the silk quality decline?"

Old Man Qian smiled and shook his head. "You're not the first to think so. In fact, if Caterpie are fed their usual food, the quality of their silk drops in less than two weeks. It's better to feed them the feed we prepare, which lets the silk quality last for nearly three weeks.

So, will you take the job?"

"Okay."

Mark did not think it over for long before agreeing at once.

No matter what, earning money was necessary.

After some thought, Mark decided that during the day, he would take Caterpie into the forest to practice Tackle and gain experience while searching for wild Caterpie to catch.

But just as Mark was thinking further, Caterpie's cry interrupted him.

"Shhh!"

Caterpie had noticed something and moved beside a Kakuna.

Mark walked over. "Are you saying this Kakuna is in pain?"

Caterpie nodded repeatedly, but quickly shook its head again.

It did not really know what was wrong with the Kakuna.

At that moment, a cracking sound rang out.

Cracks appeared in Kakuna's shell, and a white butterfly crawled out from within. Its wings were crumpled at first, but soon unfurled.

And that was only the beginning.

Cracking sounds followed one after another. Butterfree emerged from their cocoons one by one, spreading their wings before soon dancing through the air.

Caterpie stared at the scene before it with wide eyes.

The butterflies dancing in the sky looked incomparably joyful and happy, and they were beautiful!

Would it become a butterfly like that someday?

Caterpie stood frozen in place. It could not describe the emotions surging through its heart. Its mind was in turmoil, and at the same time, it felt an urge to evolve, an urge to become a butterfly.

It seemed... it could evolve too.

"Don't let these Kakuna evolving affect you. Do you remember what I told you this morning?"

Mark's words pulled Caterpie back to reality.

Caterpie recalled what Mark had told it that morning, along with those dreamlike three years of Tackle practice.

"Shhh!"

Mark rubbed Caterpie's head. "That's right. We need to build a solid foundation first. We can only evolve once that foundation is complete!"

Old Man Qian gave an approving expression. "Well said. The more solidly a Pokemon trains before evolving, the stronger it will be after evolution. Caterpie, if you want to become stronger, you must make sure your foundation is firm before you evolve!"

"Shhh!"

Caterpie struck a determined pose, looking full of fighting spirit!

"Village Chief, in that case, Caterpie and I will head into the forest to catch wild Caterpie!"

"Be careful on the way. I happen to be going to Lin Tong's house, so I won't see you off to the forest. Every Bug Catching Boy has different catching techniques, so how you catch Caterpie will be up to you!

Oh, right. If you encounter anyone suspicious in the forest, be especially careful. People from the Thunderclap Gang may appear in Clear Stream Forest soon. Try to stay away if you meet them. If anything seems wrong, come back and report to me immediately."

"Mm."

After saying goodbye to the Village Elder, Mark left the Caterpie Breeding Base with Caterpie and headed west toward Clear Stream Forest.

In the sky, more than a thousand Butterfree circled as they flew southward. The sight was spectacular. Mark glanced up at them, then led Caterpie into the forest without looking back.

Catching wild Caterpie for money would obviously take up some training time and slow his progress in gaining experience, so he needed to hurry up and grind experience with Caterpie...