"Eh? Hand them over to you for hatching…?" Mr. Shellby looked at Tetsuya with a puzzled expression. After all, this was his area of expertise.
"Yes. Since I know the plan for raising Skorupi, I naturally also know how to hatch them. You can rest assured about that," Tetsuya said.
After thinking it over, Mr. Shellby agreed. After all, Tetsuya had been the one who provided this entire plan in the first place. Simply by selling the second and third-generation Skorupi, he had already made a considerable fortune, allowing him to double the size of his Pokémon Daycare. Since Tetsuya said so, he undoubtedly had an even better hatching procedure.
"Then I won't insist. I'll definitely notify you when the time comes! I'll recall these ten Skorupi into their Poké Balls and give them to you. That's what we agreed upon in our contract. It's a gentleman's agreement."
Mr. Shellby truly was an honest man, which was exactly why Tetsuya enjoyed doing business with him. Mr. Shellby recalled the Skorupi and handed all ten Poké Balls to Tetsuya.
Tetsuya and Mr. Shellby exchanged numbers so they could stay in touch. The latest-model Pokédex that Matsuba had given him came with video calling, allowing him to keep in contact with everyone whenever he wished.
After repeatedly urging Tetsuya to stay, Mr. Shellby finally saw him off after dinner. Tetsuya rode his bicycle back to his own Pokémon Daycare. Its location was excellent, situated exactly halfway between Ecruteak City and Eggseter.
The next day, Tetsuya began preparing to "raise" the Skorupi. He had Koffing continuously fill the container with Toxic poison. Even though Koffing had two poison sacs and produced poison very efficiently, it could only fill one-fifth of the container with Toxic poison each day.
After three consecutive days, the container was finally about three-fifths full of poison, which was roughly enough. In Tetsuya's previous life, preparing this much poison had required "purchasing" it from a large number of Poison-type Pokémon and even soaking many Poison-types in order to extract it.
It had taken about a month to collect that much poison. In this life, he truly benefited from having Koffing. Moreover, Toxic's poison produced by Koffing was even more potent than the poison mixture he had prepared in his previous life. This was now one of his greatest advantages.
He placed all ten Skorupi into the container before sealing it shut.
As is known, the poison produced by Koffing was far more potent than what ordinary Pokémon could endure. The moment the Skorupi entered, they could no longer withstand the assault of the toxins. They frantically waved their pincers, desperately trying to avoid falling into the poison.
Once they inhaled or swallowed it, death would be their only outcome…
All ten Skorupi looked at Tetsuya with pitiful eyes as they cried out continuously. Under Mr. Shellby's care, they had all lived carefree lives. They had never imagined that Mr. Shellby would hand them over to a monster like him!
Although Skorupi were Poison-type Pokémon and naturally did not fear "poison" itself, this one was simply too potent. Its fumes alone were enough to make breathing difficult, and their shells had already begun showing slight signs of corrosion. If any of it entered their mouths, it would surely mean death.
"…Sigh."
Tetsuya switched off the lights. The sealed room was plunged into complete darkness. He locked the door and simply waited for the outcome.
What he needed were Skorupi that could swallow Koffing's poison without suffering any harm. Only such a Skorupi could be considered a qualified [Badly Poisonous] variant.
Whether it would succeed depended on the results a day later. Aside from Golurk, all of his other Pokémon were training in the daycare's activity field. He could not spare any attention for them at the moment.
As long as they continued their normal training, that would be enough. With Miltank milk providing nourishment and Helping Hand increasing the efficiency of their training, Tetsuya hardly needed to interfere.
The only special instruction he gave concerned Houndoom. After all, this place had once been the site of a gas explosion, so traces of gas might still remain. If that caused another fire, the loss would far outweigh the gain.
---◓---
A day later, Tetsuya opened the door. The sight before him was disappointing. All ten Skorupi had died inside the container, lying at the bottom beneath the poison.
Tetsuya let out a sigh. As expected, it was never going to be that easy…
However, allowing those ten Skorupi to remain submerged inside also increased the potency of Toxic's poison within the container.
In this life, as mentioned, obtaining the poison itself had not required much effort, but such an extremely potent toxins were difficult for any Pokémon to withstand. That only made the selection process even more difficult.
Still, as long as a Skorupi could survive in poison of this intensity, the toxicity it developed would certainly be no weaker than Koffing's.
With all ten Skorupi dead, Tetsuya could only wait for Mr. Shellby's next batch of Skorupi Eggs.
---◓---
Naturally, the fact that he was living here could not be hidden from Matsuba and Morty. Morty and Ryuto came by every few days to visit. Fortunately, Tetsuya had placed two locks on the room where he was "raising" the Skorupi and had Houndoom stand guard outside the door, preventing anyone from getting close.
Remaining here all the time was not a solution. Tetsuya also had to cook for himself every day. Since he was waiting for Mr. Shellby's notification anyway, Tetsuya simply returned to Ecruteak Gym. There he had ready-made meals, free training equipment, and special training facilities. From time to time, he could also return to visit Slowbro and continue building their bond.
At Ecruteak Gym, he battled Morty almost every day. Unknowingly, this also improved Morty's level. Catherine had already returned to Sinnoh and moved into the house that belonged to Tetsuya. That was all he knew. No matter how much he asked, Catherine would not say anything more. It was enough to simply keep in touch from time to time.
Since Tetsuya had said he would not go to Mahogany Town until after the New Year, Sheila was quite unhappy about it. She came to Ecruteak Gym by herself and made Farfetch'd soup for Tetsuya.
The taste truly brought back memories of his training days at Mahogany Gym. However, Farfetch'd would soon be listed as a protected rare Pokémon, and hunting them would be prohibited…
After that, eating Farfetch'd would no longer be so easy!
"Pryce didn't come this time?" Tetsuya asked during dinner with everyone.
Sheila shook her head and said, "Uun, Pryce is busy investigating the Shadow Team. It wasn't until he started looking into them that he realized just how widespread their influence has become throughout Johto.
Even many League executives have ties to the Shadow Team! …Sigh, no wonder they've developed so well over the years. Right now he's investigating some of the Shadow Team's bases as well as the methods they use to communicate with one another. It's truly an enormous undertaking."
"He must investigate in secret! He absolutely can't attract attention to himself, or it will be very dangerous. His own strength is great enough that he doesn't have much to fear, but I'm worried the Shadow Team might target you instead, Sheila," Tetsuya said.
This really was an important matter. If they wanted to eliminate the Shadow Team, they would have to rely on Pryce's power. If something ended up tying him down, it would become a serious problem.
Sheila said, "Don't worry. Pryce is being very cautious this time. Ever since he learned his lesson from your disappearance, he's become much calmer. He now knows how to be flexible in many situations. In any case, it was a valuable lesson for him."
"It's just that there's one other matter that's worrying me greatly…" Matsuba said with a sigh.