Starting up bonuses again cause we're falling down the rankings. The bonus are going to be random.
------------[Your account… transferred 170,000 Pokédollars; remaining balance: 1,046,581 Pokédollars]
Back home.
Johan had just sat down with a glass of water when he noticed the transaction message pop up on his phone, making him smile.
His savings had finally returned to a seven-digit figure.
He originally had more than three million in savings, but purchasing the "Power Bracer," rare metals, a batch of "Mental Seeds," plus the materials for higher-grade energy cubes, had significantly drained his funds.
"Well, I got back a little of what I spent."
Even after arriving in this world, Johan often felt an odd sense of "not enough money or supplies" akin to a "resource-hoarding hare."
"Chu!"
Just as Johan was about to get up to make dinner, Tinkatink's actions caught his attention.
Tinkatink struck a baseball pose, tossing a fist-sized ice crystal into the air.
Johan realized what was happening and quickly glanced toward the balcony.
Sure enough, a Delibird was flapping its wings, heading toward him.
"Tinkatink, stop!"
"Huh?"
Hearing Johan's voice, Tinkatink froze, but it was too late to halt the swing entirely. It quickly adjusted its angle, missing the ice crystal, which fell to the ground and rolled around—but its hammer made solid contact with the floor.
Scrrrraaaape—
A massive scratch appeared on the floor.
Luckily, Tinkatink managed to hold back some strength and didn't break through the floor.
Johan rubbed his temples.
It seemed the "Power Bracer" was no longer enough to contain Tinkatink's strength.
Other Tinkatinks fixed things; his Tinkatink just smashed them!
"Oowu~~"
Vulpix bounded over, tail curled around Tinkatink's Corviknight toy.
"Chu~~"
At this, Tinkatink blinked in realization.
It had mistaken the visitor for a threat.
Meanwhile, the Delibird that had just landed on the balcony nearly jumped out of its feathers.
"Be-ri! Σ(゜ロ゜;)"
No need for such a grand welcome!
Rubbing his temples, Johan walked over to the balcony.
Haunter followed along.
"And you are…" Johan asked, curious.
"Be-ri! Be-ri!"
The Delibird's eyes lit up at seeing Johan, and it began gesturing excitedly.
"Ka-kah~~"
Haunter translated: it was here to deliver something.
Hmm?
A delivery?
Johan didn't remember ordering anything recently.
As he pondered, Delibird began digging around in its tail, which looked like a backpack but was actually a unique, hollow pouch.
"Be-ri…"
After rummaging for a bit, Delibird dropped out various odds and ends—a leftover fishbone, the core of some unknown fruit…
Tink, tinkle—
Suddenly, a metal badge clattered to the floor from its tail.
Johan's eyes widened when he saw the badge.
It was a crimson "R" badge!
A Team Rocket badge!
So… this Delibird was from Team Rocket?!
"Be-ri~~"
Noticing it had dropped something unintended, Delibird looked unfazed, even politely gesturing to Johan to pick it up.
Johan's eye twitched.
Wasn't this badge a bit too casually dropped?
Pretending not to understand the badge's significance, Johan handed it back.
"Be-ri~~"
Thank you.
Delibird even said thank you, then resumed its rummaging.
"Ka-kah~~"
Haunter tugged on Johan's sleeve, whispering.
That badge… looked pretty cool!
Johan gave Haunter a sidelong glance.
Cool, sure—but if they were seen with that badge, they'd be dining for free at the Alliance police station by morning.
Ignoring Haunter's reaction, Johan noticed Haunter now eyeing Delibird's bulging tail pouch with interest.
Though it didn't look very big, it clearly held a lot of stuff, even some shiny items glimmering faintly inside.
If only it had Tinkatink's ability… any bird flying overhead would have to leave a feather or two as "tax"!
"Be-ri!"
Delibird chirped with excitement, finally pulling out the item for Johan—a Luxury Ball!
Through the transparent surface, he could see a Pokémon inside—it looked like a Nidoqueen!
As he thought…
This Delibird had come on behalf of Giovanni to deliver Nidoqueen.
The Team Rocket badge earlier had already tipped Johan off to Delibird's purpose.
The night before, Giovanni had sought his help with Nidoqueen's psychological issues.
After learning that Nidoqueen's listlessness was due to heartbreak, Johan, dealing with his first such case, said he'd need time to come up with a treatment plan.
And when Giovanni asked how long, Johan casually suggested that it might go faster if he could work with Nidoqueen directly.
He hadn't expected… Giovanni to actually send it over today!
Hoenn wasn't far from Kanto and Johto, located just west of Johto, with only a small sea separating them, which explained why Lance often flew over to visit.
Gazing at the Luxury Ball, Johan felt like he was holding a hot potato.
Yesterday, he'd received supplies from the Investigation Department's reimbursement, and today he was made an official guest instructor at the Alliance police department… and now, that night, he'd received a Pokémon "in need of therapy" sent by none other than Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket?
Either the world had gone mad, or… I had.
"Be-ri~"
Delibird tilted its head, urging him to take the ball.
On the deserted rooftop at night…
Johan was glad he lived on the top floor.
"Be-ri?"
Delibird looked at Johan, who was now squatting before it, offering a handful of energy cubes with delight in its eyes.
"Don't be shy; go ahead."
After all, it had flown all the way to deliver something, and once Nidoqueen's therapy was done, he'd likely need it to take her back.
Plus, Delibird was a friendly, human-loving Pokémon species, known to share its food with humans and Pokémon alike.
It was said that people in distress had been saved by food from Delibird before.
A certain masked man's Delibird was the exception.
That one could even freeze Ho-oh!
Seeing the treat, Delibird didn't hesitate, popping an energy cube into its mouth.
"Be-ri! (><）"
Delibird's eyes sparkled with delight.
These were way tastier than the energy cubes it got from Team Rocket!
"Be-ri, be-ri…"
After eating one, Delibird began digging in its pouch again, much faster this time.
"Be-ri!"
It cheerfully pulled out a "gift" and handed it to Johan.
A gift?
Johan felt a cold sweat drip down his forehead.
"Present" was a move that was a complete test of luck. There was a chance it would heal… but, knowing his luck…
It'd probably explode, right?
But seeing Delibird's expectant gaze…
Gritting his teeth, Johan grabbed Haunter.
Haunter: "???"
Then, before Haunter could react, Johan quickly unwrapped the "Present."
To his surprise, no explosion happened. Inside the box was a small, shimmering pale-gold shard, about half the size of a fingertip, with a metallic luster.
Staring at it, Johan paused.
"A Revive?"
[Revive: Can be used on a Pokémon that has fainted to wake it up and restore half of its HP.]
'Could it be I'm finally having a lucky day?'
Apparently, Johan's luck wasn't as extraordinary as he thought, as Delibird hadn't actually used the move "Present"—it had simply given him a well-packaged gift.
"Be-ri~~"
Delibird chuckled proudly, then proceeded to hand gifts to Haunter, Vulpix, and Tinkatink as well.
"Ka-kah!"
Haunter received a shiny new pair of sunglasses, which it loved and put on without hesitation.
"Ka-kah? Ka-kah!"
Huh? Where's the moon? Turn the lights on!
Vulpix received a sparkling crystal comb. It lovingly ran the comb through its fur, feeling its already glossy, snowy-white coat become even smoother.
"Oowu~~"
Then it was Tinkatink's turn.
When it opened its box and took out its gift, all the Pokémon, including Johan, froze.
"Chu? (〃o〃)"
In its hand… was a Caterpie!
"Be-be-ri! Σ(дlll)"
Delibird seemed as shocked as everyone else, yelping in surprise as it quickly snatched the Caterpie back from Tinkatink's hands and tucked it back into its pouch.
Being an omnivorous Pokémon, Delibird often collected bug-type Pokémon too.
"Be-ri, be-ri~~"
Apologizing profusely, Delibird handed Tinkatink a chunk of Hard Stone instead.
It could help Tinkatink train its "Rock Tomb" move.
"Chu?"
Tinkatink examined the stone chunk with intrigue, practically drooling over it.
At that moment…
Even Johan found himself eyeing Delibird's pouch with a curious glint.
Maybe…
"Come out, Nidoqueen."
Johan threw the Luxury Ball.
In a flash of red light, a Nidoqueen appeared on the rooftop, clad in light-blue armor and sporting a horned head.
Thud!
No sooner had
she appeared than she sat down with a blank, listless expression, casting a quick glance at Johan and the others before lowering her head with a sigh.
Nidoqueen, a Poison and Ground-type Drill Pokémon, only ever female, just like Tinkatink. Its male counterpart is Nidoking.
According to Johan's prior knowledge from the games, both Nidoqueen and its pre-evolved form, Nidorina, belonged to the "Undiscovered Group."
In other words, technically speaking, Nidoqueen and Nidorina couldn't produce eggs.
But their base form, Nidoran♀, could, and Nidoran♀ was in the same "Egg Group" as Nidoking.
This made one wonder if… Nidoking might need to go to jail!
Ahem.
The real Pokémon world probably didn't have such bizarre mechanics.
Johan focused back on Nidoqueen.
But before he could speak…
Nidoqueen suddenly stood up, as if spurred by something, her previous melancholy vanishing. Johan even noticed a spark of anger in her eyes.
Haunter and the others immediately moved to stand protectively in front of Johan.
However, Nidoqueen's gaze wasn't directed at Johan but rather at something farther off.
There, two Golbat—a male and a female—were flying by as a pair.
"Nido!"
With a furious roar, Nidoqueen's horn emitted golden sparks, which condensed into a fearsome golden current slicing through the night sky.
Thunderbolt!
Covering a fair distance, the "Thunderbolt" struck the male Golbat dead-on.
Don't ask Johan how he knew it was the male.
The other Golbat shrieked in horror at the sudden attack, watching her partner plummet, and then hurriedly swooped down to follow him.
Nidoqueen huffed, white steam puffing from her nose.
"Nido!"
Then she plopped down on the ground again, returning to her previous listless state.
For a moment…
Haunter and the others stood frozen.
And a bead of cold sweat rolled down Johan's forehead.
This "heartbreak symptom" seemed… a bit intense.
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Powerstones?
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