An Outstanding Pidgey and an Evolution Stone

But Zero's judgments had never been wrong in the past three years, and Zero's assessment was based on Tetsuya's own body of knowledge. Even if it was wrong, this Pidgey was at least infinitely close to Champion potential—Quasi-Elite Four material.

Besides, this would leave him with more funds to raise Pokemon.

Tetsuya acted decisively and bought the Pidgey Egg.

Pidgey's subsequent growth also proved that Zero's judgment had likely been correct. Its strength and physique were far more outstanding than those of its peers.

After hatching Pidgey, Tetsuya carefully raised it with his savings according to the Young Stage Training Plan provided by Zero.

Before long, Pidgey passed through its Young Stage and joined the ranks of beginner Pokemon.

By then, Pidgey had mastered Tackle, Growl, Sand Attack, and the inherited move Twister. On top of that, it possessed the even more exceptional Hidden Ability, Big Pecks.

That was probably why this Pidgey had Champion-level potential on Zero's Panel.

Twister was a Dragon-type move. Tetsuya guessed that some powerful Dragon-type Pokemon had mated with a Pidgeotto or Pidgeot somewhere along the line, allowing it to inherit Twister as well as a sturdier physique and greater potential.

There was a High Probability it had been a Pidgeotto, since that stall owner probably could not have defeated a Pidgeot and its flock.

Furthermore, under Tetsuya's scientific care and thanks to its exceptional talent, Pidgey was visibly a full size larger than others of its kind.

However, Tetsuya did not rush into the forest to adventure and complete missions. Although he had spent over 300,000 Alliance Coins on and off, he had saved around 550,000 Alliance Coins over the past two years by living frugally.

He had just under 250,000 left now, enough to raise Pidgey for A Period Of Time.

Rattata's fate had taught him that before he had sufficient strength, he needed to be careful, careful, and then even more careful. It was unlikely that he would be lucky enough to encounter another ordinary Pokemon with such high potential.

So, at most, Tetsuya trained and battled with Pidgey in the safe areas along the outskirts.

It was not until Pidgey reached level 15, officially leaving the beginner Pokemon stage and entering the ranks of ordinary Pokemon, that Tetsuya looked at his nearly depleted savings and gritted his teeth, deciding to Head Towards the Bounty Hunter Guild once more to accept missions.

Even then, Tetsuya did his best to restrain himself from taking relatively advanced missions for greater rewards. Instead, he chose the simplest E-rank Missions first, intending to take the higher-ranked D-rank Missions only after Pidgey evolved.

About a month later, Pidgey evolved into Pidgeotto during training, and its level rose to 18 along with it.

Only then did Tetsuya give up on E-rank Missions, since their rewards were simply too low.

The standard reward for an E-rank Mission was below 3,000 Alliance Coins. D-rank Missions paid between 3,000 and 30,000, C-rank Missions paid 30,000 to 100,000, B-rank Missions paid 100,000 to 500,000. Tetsuya did not know about A-rank and S-rank Missions because he had never seen them. Perhaps his Trainer level and hunter permissions were not high enough.

Generally speaking, an ordinary D-rank Mission brought in at least 15,000 Alliance Coins, equivalent to at least seven or eight E-rank Missions, Let Alone C-rank Missions.

Thus, Tetsuya and Pidgeotto began their true lives as Bounty Hunters.

Tetsuya came back to his senses.

Considering Pidgeotto's Champion-level potential, Tetsuya had initially struggled with both strength and money, leaving him without many resources to provide for Pidgeotto. As a result, Pidgeotto's progress in strength after evolving had been very slow for A Period Of Time.

Of course, that was only relative. Compared to others of its kind, such progress could already be considered extremely fast.

It was not until Pidgeotto gradually grew stronger and reached level 25, becoming capable of completing a small portion of C-rank Missions, that its strength began to improve rapidly under Tetsuya's heavy investment. It also mastered more and more moves.

Even so, based on its previous pace, Tetsuya estimated that it would still take at least another half year or so before Pidgeotto evolved into Pidgeot and entered the Quasi-Elite Four tier.

Until today.

Thinking of what he had gained today, Tetsuya could not stop himself from grinning broadly.

The mission rewards and extra profits alone had earned him a full 512,000 Alliance Coins from this adventure. After deducting the money spent on purchases, he still had 500,000 left—roughly equal to his normal income for two months.

Not to Mention the item in his backpack. A hint of burning excitement flashed through Tetsuya's eyes.

He went upstairs to the study and carefully took out this expedition's Biggest Gain from his backpack—a bright orange-yellow stone bearing a faint, flickering flame symbol.

It was a rare Evolution Stone—a Fire Stone. Zero's panel showed that its quality was a full 89 points. Even a perfect Fire Stone was only rated at 100 points.

It was incredibly valuable.

Tetsuya recalled the purchase posts he had seen on the Pokemon Forum. Someone had offered 20 million Alliance Coins for even an ordinary Fire Stone, and such stones were often unavailable regardless of price.

Not to Mention the extremely high-quality Fire Stone in his hands. Tetsuya estimated that this Evolution Stone could sell for at least 40 million Alliance Coins.

Fire-type Pokemon were all remarkably powerful. Letting a Pokemon absorb the energy contained within a Fire Stone could rapidly and steadily increase its Fire Energy, helping it Become Stronger.

Not to Mention that Vulpix and Growlithe required Fire Stones to evolve, making high-quality Fire Stones even more sought after. Arcanine was handsome and imposing, while Ninetales was noble and elegant; both were powerful and were the preferred choice of the wealthy.

Although Tetsuya had no idea why the Beedrill Nest contained such a thing, he had nearly fainted from joy when he discovered it.

After seeing a foolish Trainer provoke a swarm of Beedrill and drastically weaken the Beedrill Nest's defenses, Tetsuya had planned to follow the usual hunter mindset: grab some honey and run.

After all, hunters sharing their experiences on the Forum encountered rookie Trainers like this every year and made a profit from them. It was not strange that Tetsuya had come across one during his four years.

Beedrill honey was an ingredient used in high-end beauty and whitening cosmetics. It could also be consumed as a tonic and was deeply loved by wealthy ladies, keeping its Market Price high.

Who would have thought that while collecting honey, Tetsuya would discover a Fire Stone inside the nest? This was no mere unexpected bonus—it was a fortune falling from the sky.

But how to handle the Fire Stone was also a problem.

Tetsuya Really Wanted To keep it for himself and make preparations to raise a Fire-type Pokemon in the future.

However, the Fire-type Pokemon he envisioned for his Main Team were Blaziken or Charizard, neither of which needed a Fire Stone to evolve.

He could use it to rapidly increase their strength, but that seemed a little too extravagant. Besides, he did not currently have the money to obtain Eggs of either Pokemon.

Unless he sold the Fire Stone and found a way to buy a Torchic or Charmander Egg on the Black Market, preferably one with exceptionally outstanding potential. In any case, Tetsuya had Zero to identify it.

In other words, he could only choose one for now: the Fire Stone, or a Torchic or Charmander Egg.

Of course, Growlithe, which evolved using a Fire Stone, was also a good choice. However, wild Growlithe were extremely rare and were known as legendary Pokemon. Most were controlled by the Officer Jenny family.

If you were a commoner, the Officer Jenny family would even come ask whether you were willing to join them after obtaining a Growlithe.

This was also what many people pursued. After all, marrying into the Officer Jenny family or Joy Family... those who knew, knew.

Without a doubt, any of those possibilities remained a distant dream for him for the time being.

For a moment, Tetsuya hesitated, unsure how to choose.

The early pacing is a bit slow, but that cannot be helped. I'll gradually work hard to update more. Today: 4,400 words.