Rain team

Just as Zhang Cheng reluctantly decided to choose from the Pokémon Eggs he had already seen, he suddenly spotted a blue Pokémon Egg on the last row of the shelf.

Zhang Cheng had a feeling that this Pokémon Egg would bring him a pleasant surprise.

He activated his cheat to check the Pokémon Egg's information:

Name: Poliwag (Level 0)

Gender: Male

Potential: B+

Type: Water

Held item: None

Basic moves: Water Sport, Water Gun

Egg moves: Bubble Beam, Mind Reader, Endeavor

Ability: Swift Swim (Doubles Speed in Rainy Weather or heavy rain.)

Notes: Poliwag, the Tadpole Pokémon. The spiral pattern on his belly is his distinguishing feature.

Zhang Cheng smiled as he read this. He had never expected to be lucky enough to find a Pokémon with B-grade potential.

More importantly, it was not just about potential. Any Trainer who understood Abilities knew that Swift Swim was Poliwag's Hidden Ability.

Once a Poliwag with this Ability evolved into Politoed, his Ability would become Drizzle.

Drizzle's effect was as follows: when the Pokémon entered battle, it changed the weather to Rainy Weather for five turns. Holding a Damp Rock extended the Rainy Weather to eight turns.

The Ability would fail in heavy rain, harsh sunlight, or turbulent winds. If multiple Pokémon with weather-changing Abilities entered battle at the same time, their Abilities activated in order of Speed, with the later weather effect overriding the earlier one.

If he raised this Poliwag, he could build a Rain Team in the future.

Before transmigrating, Zhang Cheng had already known a fair amount about Pokémon, including the boosts weather could give them.

A fully developed Rain Team was practically unbeatable against opponents of the same level. Of course, facing an unfavorable type matchup was another matter.

Besides, even without the weather Ability, Zhang Cheng thought this Poliwag's potential alone was excellent. He also had some good Egg Moves.

Poliwag could evolve twice, making him an excellent choice for a Trainer's first Pokémon.

With that in mind, Zhang Cheng made his choice and asked the sales assistant, "How much does this Poliwag Egg cost?"

"This Poliwag is listed at two hundred and thirty thousand, but we sales assistants can offer an internal discount. If you like him, young man, you can have him for one hundred and ninety thousand. Any Pokémon Egg purchased at our Pokémon Day Care also comes with an incubation kit," the sales assistant said with a smile.

Since this Pokémon was still an egg, his price was not much different from that of other Poliwag. Once he hatched, however, he would cost considerably more than Poliwag with other Abilities.

Thinking of this, Zhang Cheng decided to buy him outright. "All right. Please pack the incubation kit and the Pokémon Egg together for me."

"Of course. You can go to the register to pay first, young man. I'll get your incubation kit," the sales assistant said happily. She would earn a sizable commission from this sale.

After paying, Zhang Cheng took the Pokémon Egg and incubation kit and hailed a taxi by the roadside to head home.

Once home, Zhang Cheng opened the incubation kit. It came with instructions, and the process was simple.

He only needed to place the Pokémon Egg in the incubator and add the incubation fluid. The Pokémon would hatch successfully after a week.

Throughout that week, Zhang Cheng eagerly awaited the Pokémon's hatching. Apparently, a newborn Pokémon would regard the first person it saw as its parent.

Pokémon obtained by hatching eggs were easier to care for and raise later on. Wild Pokémon were harder to tame, after all, and even after being caught, they needed time to adjust to their Trainers.

During those days of waiting, Zhang Cheng used the internet and relevant books to learn more about the Rain Team.

After several days of studying, Zhang Cheng gained a deeper understanding of what made the Rain Team so powerful.

In Rainy Weather, Water-type moves gained 50% more power, while Fire-type moves lost 50% of their power. Pokémon with Abilities that benefited from rain received their corresponding boosts, and Thunder and Hurricane had perfect accuracy.

Thunder was an extremely powerful Electric-type special move. Its accuracy was much lower than that of other moves, but in Rainy Weather, it was guaranteed to hit.

This made Zhang Cheng realize that an Electric-type special attacker was essential to a Rain Team.

Water-types were also weak to Electric-type attacks. If he encountered an Electric-type Pokémon, having one of his own would at least keep that weakness from being too crippling.

Zhang Cheng planned to raise Poliwag first, then choose an Electric-type as his second Pokémon. His Rain Team would only take shape once Poliwag evolved into Politoed. For now, he needed to focus on raising his Pokémon and laying the groundwork for the Rain Team.

Seven days had passed since incubation began. If nothing went wrong, Poliwag would hatch today.

Zhang Cheng got up early and washed up. After breakfast, he stayed beside the Pokémon Egg.

After a while, the Pokémon Egg began to wobble. Cracks appeared in its shell as it emitted a watery blue glow.

Crack, crack. The shell slowly broke apart, and a small, round Pokémon with a tail emerged.

There was a spiral pattern on his belly. He was a newly hatched Poliwag.

"Poli~ Poli~"

Poliwag began chirping happily the moment he emerged. When he saw Zhang Cheng, he trotted over and nuzzled his cheek.

A newborn Pokémon would regard the first person it saw as its parent. From the look of things, that was indeed true.

Zhang Cheng stroked Poliwag's head, then fed him the pieces of his eggshell.

Newborn Pokémon could eat their eggshells. The shells were rich in nutrients that helped young Pokémon grow.

"Poliwag, let's work hard together from now on. My goal is to become a Super Trainer."

"Poli~ Poli~"

Poliwag chirped as he ate his eggshell, looking just like a greedy little child.

Once Poliwag finished the shell, Zhang Cheng took out some food for Water-type Pokémon and gave it to him.

After buying the Pokémon Egg, Zhang Cheng had only ten thousand Pokémon Coins left. He had spent the remaining money on food for Poliwag two days earlier, leaving him completely broke.

As his Pokémon grew, he would also need Pokéblocks and training equipment, not to mention the cost of treating injuries. Although Trainers received discounts on treatment at Pokémon Centers, it was still a considerable expense.

Thinking about all this gave Zhang Cheng another headache. Being a Trainer was not nearly as easy as he had imagined.