Letting You Catch Caterpie to Make Money, and You Caught Over a Hundred at Once? (Part 1)

Late at night, Clear Stream Village.

By the starlight and bright moonlight, Qian Fugui sat at a wooden table beneath the eaves.

On the table sat a bottle of rice wine, a plate of peanuts, and a half-eaten pie—Stargazer Pie.

Many people were unaccustomed to this unusual naan with fish heads stuck into the flatbread, but Old Man Qian thought it went wonderfully with wine, especially at a moment like this.

—The little fish, roasted golden and crisp, gazed at the brilliant river of stars overhead. It had a unique flavor when eaten.

After taking a small sip of rice wine, Old Man Qian looked at Machamp across the table. Faced with the Fish Head Naan offered before it, Machamp shook its head repeatedly, then whooshed back into its Pokeball.

Old Man Qian shook his head and drained his rice wine in one gulp. "On such a happy day, you won't even have a few more drinks with me."

Machamp's retreat into its Pokeball did not disappoint Old Man Qian. He plucked a small fish from the naan and carefully chewed it, then looked toward the Black Heavy Stone pedestal in the center of the courtyard and fell into reminiscence.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, I still can't understand why you chose this kind of life. You even told me to become an ordinary person too."

"Having something and choosing not to have it is ultimately different from never having had it at all..."

"Forget it. Let's not talk about such depressing things."

"Let me tell you some good news. The Pokemon Center in Clear Stream Village officially broke ground today. They say it'll be finished within a month."

"After that, all that remains is opening a Gym. With a Gym and a Pokemon Center, Clear Stream Village will surely grow better and better. Even if we encounter another Chaotic Pokemon Tide, we'll have some ability to protect ourselves, instead of being like we were ten years ago."

"As for the Gym Leader candidate, I initially thought highly of that kid Lin Tong. But both Lin Tong and Qian Er Niu awakened special abilities, so they'll probably have a hard time coming back..."

"Among those remaining, I'd had some thoughts about Mark lately. I even gave him a Wimpod egg. I was thinking that when he submits his breeding report to Doctor Locke in three years, Doctor Locke could give him some guidance. For your sake, Doctor Locke should be willing to help."

"But damn it, that kid has been gone for ten whole days... No, counting tonight, it's already been eleven days without a trace of him..."

Old Man Qian irritably poured himself another cup of wine and drank it all at once.

That troublesome brat Mark gave him a headache every time he thought of him these days.

It wasn't as if Mark was a bad kid. He had a serious attitude toward learning and a unique understanding of Pokemon training. The method he came up with to teach Caterpie mathematics had even amazed him, and he was incredibly diligent in his daily Pokemon training.

The Caterpie partnered with Mark was especially sensible and obedient, with considerable talent. Its future was promising.

Besides that, Mark was very filial. Ever since he'd gotten his head on straight, he brought Old Man Qian some wild fruit every time he returned from the forest.

All in all, he had many strengths.

But Mark's shortcomings were obvious too.

He simply didn't listen.

Those Bug Catchers in the village openly talked back to him, while Mark agreed to his face but completely ignored him in practice.

He told Mark to balance work and rest, to take proper breaks, but though Mark agreed verbally, he kept training diligently anyway. He told Mark to attend school properly every day, but after going for one day, the kid chose to study on his own and never returned to school. He told Mark to learn to make money himself, yet after all this time, he hadn't caught a single wild Caterpie, wasting Old Man Qian's kind intention of subsidizing half the Pokeball costs for Caterpie...

Of course, that wasn't the point. The point was that he had clearly told Mark to come back and visit often, yet that kid had been gone for eleven days!

Old Man Qian rubbed his temples. In his daze, he seemed to hear Mark's voice.

"Caterpie, tell them to walk more quietly. The Village Chief might already be asleep at this hour..."

Old Man Qian frowned and looked toward the courtyard gate. He saw it crack open slightly, and a Caterpie poked its head in and crawled through. It was Mark's Caterpie.

Compared to how it looked in his memories, Caterpie seemed to have grown another size larger.

"Caterpie!"

As he pondered, Caterpie had already noticed him. It ran over excitedly, rubbing its head against his thigh, looking extremely happy and excited.

"Caterpie, Caterpie, Caterpie!"

Caterpie cried out repeatedly while gesturing continuously with its Feet.

Old Man Qian quickly understood. "You're saying you've learned to count backward, and you can write on the ground with a stick now? You want to show me right away?"

"Caterpie!"

Caterpie was about to find a stick and write numbers on the ground to secure the Pokeball subsidy Old Man Qian had promised when it suddenly heard its trainer's voice from behind.

"Caterpie, who asks for a reward the moment they meet..."

"Hmph! So what if it asks for a reward? Unlike certain Pokemon trainers, whose Pokemon works so hard while the trainer doesn't put in the slightest effort. Never mind anyone else—you're built like a little Tauros. I refuse to believe that after all these days, you still couldn't catch a single wild Caterpie."

The moment he heard Mark's voice, Old Man Qian's anger flared, and he immediately began speaking sarcastically.

He lowered his head, first patting Caterpie's head to soothe it, then prepared to continue lecturing Mark, who had been gone without a trace for eleven whole days.

Then Old Man Qian froze.

He rubbed his eyes, then looked again at the half-bottle of rice wine left on the table to make sure he hadn't drunk too much. He pinched himself again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

Under the brilliant starlight, he saw not only Mark standing at the gate, but also more than a dozen Caterpie near him.

And even more Caterpie were continuously entering through the courtyard gate.

The slap in the face came so quickly. One second ago, he had been complaining that Mark didn't care about the Pokeballs Caterpie wanted and wasn't catching wild Caterpie to make money. The next second, Mark had brought back such a huge group of wild Caterpie.

Of course, that wasn't the point.

The point was, how in the world had Mark pulled this off?

Catching ten or eight Caterpie with a net would have been one thing, but what the hell was this about bringing back dozens at once?

And these Caterpie did not look as if Mark had forcibly caught them. They entered the courtyard one after another on their own. Though they were somewhat disorderly, they generally maintained a certain order.

Soon, after the last Caterpie entered the courtyard, Mark shut the gate.

Before Old Man Qian could speak, Mark stepped forward and said, "Sorry, Village Chi—Third Uncle. I've made you worry. The reason I haven't come back these past few days is that Caterpie and I have been undergoing special training in the forest. The results have been pretty good, so I didn't keep running back and forth between the village and the forest. That's why I haven't returned."

Upon hearing Mark's words, Caterpie beside him nodded repeatedly.

"Caterpie, Caterpie!"

Caterpie struck a pose and flexed its muscles. After all that combat training, it felt it had improved quite a lot.

"Of course you're helping your trainer talk!" Old Man Qian lightly tapped Caterpie on the head, then turned to Mark. "Forget it, let's not talk about that. Mark, what's going on with all these Caterpie you brought? There should be over a hundred of them, right?"