Day 35 of the journey to Kanto. Clear skies.
Reiji got up early and took Keith out to search for Evolution Stones before the sun came up. Keith had already seen Gengar, so there was no point hiding it anymore.
They only found a handful of stones. Once the sun rose, the heat became unbearable, so they retreated into a cave. Staying out any longer would've meant heatstroke.
After a full day of searching, Reiji had a clear picture—there weren't many stones left on the mountain. Continuing to search would just waste time. Still, he didn't head down right away. Instead, he handed Keith a large batch of Poké Balls and sent him off to catch Pokémon he liked.
Keith liked Flying-types, so that's what he would catch. Reiji would help him pick a few decent ones to form a starting team.
Keith was dirt poor—worse off than Gulzar—so everything would have to come from his own effort. Reiji made it clear: start with Flying-types that didn't need Evolution Stones.
Anything too resource-heavy was off the table for now. Once Keith could support himself, he could think about better options.
The choices were simple. Caterpie were everywhere. Pidgey, Zubat, Wingull, even Magikarp—none of them needed Evolution Stones and were easy to obtain.
That was enough for now. Once Keith built a foundation, he could aim higher. Even something like Dragonite was possible—if he had the ability to catch it himself.
Reiji would only get him started. The rest of the road was Keith's to walk.
With that decided, Reiji stayed in the cave to avoid the heat while Keith went down into the forest to catch Flying-types.
He wasn't worried about the kid running away. No one was forcing him to stay. Keith wanted to get stronger—he needed Reiji more than the other way around.
If he ran, that was his choice. Someone who wouldn't even try to save himself couldn't be helped.
From late morning to early afternoon, the sun was brutal. Reiji didn't leave the cave at all. At this rate, daytime searching was pointless. If needed, he'd just search at night instead.
As Darkrai kept scanning, it found fewer and fewer stones. The mountain had been mined hard. There wasn't much left.
If tonight's results dropped even more, Reiji would head down tomorrow. There would be no reason to stay.
Once they got down, he'd find a trade machine and evolve Accelgor. After that, they'd leave Stone Town and continue toward Celadon City.
He could take the coastal route along the way. Keith would need a Gyarados if he wanted to survive in the Orange Archipelago. Without a Gyarados, it was rough. Whether on land or sea, Gyarados was as reliable as ever—almost a standard pick for troublemakers.
Once Keith had a proper starter team, Reiji would send him to the Orange Archipelago to stay with Naoki for a while. Naoki could teach him the basics.
One kid or two, it didn't matter. Naoki's villa had space. Reiji just had to drop people off.
Keith didn't return until after two in the afternoon. He had brought food with him, so he hadn't gone hungry, but the moment he came back, he collapsed from exhaustion.
Reiji didn't rush him. He opened his bag and started checking the Pokémon Keith had caught.
The forest below wasn't home to anything rare. Most of what Keith brought back were Caterpie and Pidgey. No Zubat or Wingull.
Zubat preferred dark caves. There were plenty of caves on the mountain. As for Wingull, they were common near the sea, not inland.
Reiji would deal with Zubat later that night while mining. Wingull and Magikarp would have to wait until they left Stone Town.
Even so, Keith had caught four or five decent candidates. With a team like that, as long as he didn't make bad decisions, he'd steadily improve.
Out of hundreds of Poké Balls, Reiji found one Caterpie with decent potential—52.
There were no good Pidgey yet, so Keith would have to keep trying.
After Keith had rested and the sun had weakened, Reiji tossed him the Caterpie's Poké Ball and sent him back out.
Choosing Pokémon with good potential was just the first step. If Keith couldn't handle even that, he might as well quit.
At the word "quit," Keith didn't argue. He grabbed his bag and ran back down the mountain.
He had already decided to change. There was no way he was giving up now.
Reiji watched him go and shook his head with a small smile. Then he prepared to continue mining. He reminded Keith to release the Pokémon he didn't keep and to meet back at the lake by evening. They would search the mountain again at night.
They split up and met again around six or seven in the evening. Reiji had already prepared dinner.
Earlier, he had gone out briefly and found three more low-grade Evolution Stones. The mountain was nearly tapped out.
After dinner, he helped Keith pick through his catches and found a Pidgey with 50 potential.
Barely good enough, but usable. With its three-stage evolution line, reaching Elite Four tier wouldn't be a problem.
He had Keith keep the Pidgey and release the rest. Then they headed into the caves. The surface was almost empty—if there were any stones left, they'd be deeper inside.
Whether they found anything or not, they would leave Stone Town tomorrow and head for the next Gym.
They put on helmets, switched on their flashlights, and entered a large cave.
As expected, Zubat, Ground-types, and Rock-types were everywhere. Reiji had Keith try catching anything worthwhile.
If they ran into a good Diglett, Reiji would take it himself. Otherwise, anything with decent potential could go to Keith. He needed a proper starting team.
Not long after entering, Reiji's luck picked up again. He found a mid-grade Leaf Stone—the first one of the day.
After that, their luck ran dry. They wandered through twisting tunnels, picking up only low-grade stones—and eventually got lost.
In the end, they gave up on mining and had their Pokémon follow the airflow to find an exit. Flying-types were especially good at this. Keith's Farfetch'd could read air currents well.
Following its lead, they made their way out—and found themselves close to the snowline near the summit.
They had no intention of going higher.
At that altitude, oxygen thinned out, and there was always the risk of avalanches. Reiji wasn't taking that gamble. He called out Pelipper, had it carry both of them, and returned to the lakeside camp.
The fire was still burning.
Reiji sat down beside it and poured out the Evolution Stones to count the day's haul.
One mid-grade stone. Eleven low-grade stones.
That was it.
No rare stones. No high-grade ones.
There was no point hoping for miracles inside those caves. They had been picked clean countless times. Anything valuable had been taken long ago.
Reiji's gains were limited to stones. Keith, on the other hand, had caught two Pokémon: a Zubat with 48 potential and a Geodude with 53.
No good Diglett. The one he caught had only 47 potential, so Reiji made him release it.
Keith had also picked up two low-grade Evolution Stones while catching Pokémon. Pure luck.
"Get some sleep. We're heading down tomorrow," Reiji said.
He and Poliwhirl washed up by the lake, then returned to their mats. He lay back and stared at the stars, thinking about tomorrow. Shelmet would finally evolve, and they could leave Stone Town.
He also wondered where Absol had gone—and whether Eevee would come back. If not, he might just keep it. Raising it as a companion wouldn't be bad.
He had enough strong Pokémon now. Supporting a few more wouldn't strain him. He wasn't in that desperate state from the deserted island anymore. No need to push Pokémon like cheap labor.
"Got it, Boss," Keith replied.
He set down his Poké Balls. Counting his original three plus the four he had caught, he now had seven Pokémon.
Next, he would travel with Reiji to Celadon City, then take a ship alone to the Orange Archipelago. There, he would learn how to raise Pokémon and become a proper Trainer.
He had no objections.
A quasi–Elite Four trainer would be teaching him.
To him, that might as well be a legend.
The moment he heard it, he agreed without hesitation.
He couldn't wait.
He could already see a stronger version of himself ahead.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]