The sun rose in the east, and the sea wind was biting.
Endless waves crashed against the reefs, splashing water, and Water-type Pokémon poked their heads out, enjoying the beauty of the early morning.
On the surface of the sea, Wingull flew in the sky, and a majestic pirate ship cut through the waves.
The pirate ship was huge and sturdy, with a ferocious Giant Shark emblem on its black hull, proclaiming it as the terrifying Giant Shark that struck fear into the hearts of those in this sea area!
On the deck, a group of burly pirates patrolled, maintaining the normal operation of the pirate ship.
Their faces were either scarred and fierce, or bearded, with wild glints in their eyes.
In stark contrast to them was a group of youths with tender faces, who were commanding their newly acquired Pokémon.
“Corphish, use Vise Grip!”
Hei Yu commanded Corphish to attack.
“Hehe!”
Corphish leaped, clamping down on the Taillow that was already exhausted from the Bubble attack.
“Die~~~”
Taillow’s body was clamped by the huge pincers, letting out a miserable Growl before quickly falling unconscious, completely losing its ability to battle.
“Corphish, well done.”
Hei Yu stroked Corphish’s hard head, slowly opening his palm to reward Corphish with a dark blue energy cube.
“After more than ten days, all the Pokémon from the same period have been defeated!”
Hei Yu was excited. Lady Meta had not lied to him; this Corphish was definitely the most talented among all the Pokémon.
After these days of getting along, he had also figured out some of Corphish’s characteristics.
For example, Corphish’s Ability was the legendary hidden Ability—Adaptability!
This Ability could make its same-type moves more powerful!
Because of this, the Water-type Bubble became Corphish’s signature move.
Especially when facing Flying-type Taillow and Wingull, Corphish could continuously drain the opponent’s Pokémon’s stamina with this move.
It always worked, and with its higher level and excellent talent, it won every battle!
......
Nodding to the pirates patrolling along the way, Hei Yu slowly walked towards the top cabin of the pirate ship.
“Lady Meta, good afternoon.”
Hei Yu gently knocked on the door and only pushed it open after receiving permission.
Lady Meta was still incredibly beautiful; at over 40 years old, she still retained her charm, with traces of time etched on her face.
“Oh, Hei Yu, how is the Pokémon you received?” Lady Meta put down an ancient book and asked with a smile.
“Yes, Madam, I am very satisfied. Corphish is an excellent partner.”
Hei Yu was still grateful for Lady Meta’s help, so as he spoke, he continuously moved closer to her, implying his desire to become her confidant.
Lady Meta naturally understood his meaning. Her husband, the captain of the Giant Shark, had been gone for more than half a year since his last departure, and she didn’t know where he had gone.
Although there were no rumors within the pirate ship, there was already widespread alarm and undercurrents among the higher-ups.
Her Two First Mates were also eager to make a move, and she urgently needed to support new forces, so it was natural to accommodate Hei Yu now.
“Hmm, you’re very good, smart and Know how to judge the situation. Would you be willing to be my apprentice?” Lady Meta’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
She then added, “Of course, I don’t guarantee that you can become a Breeder like me; it all depends on your personal comprehension.”
Hei Yu looked up in surprise and quickly said, “Lady Meta, it would be my honor.”
To climb up in this world, two kinds of resources are indispensable.
One is tangible resources, such as high-quality Pokémon, money, energy cubes, and so on.
The second is intangible resources, such as extensive connections, information asymmetry, and monopolized knowledge.
The first type of resource, ordinary people could barely earn by working hard, but the second type left Hei Yu completely clueless. Now, it was like a pillow arriving just when he was sleepy.
“From now on, you don’t have to participate in daily training every morning; come directly to me, and I will teach you the knowledge of breeding Pokémon.”
Lady Meta’s tone was gentle, and there was already a hint of closeness in her words.
......
From then on, Hei Yu, besides studying breeding knowledge in the morning and conducting Pokémon training in the afternoon, did not participate in any unified work on the ship.
Many people saw it and were very envious.
“Brother Gu Tian, good morning~”
In the morning restaurant, Hei Yu no longer had to eat those unpalatable breads; a cup of Miltank milk had become standard.
This symbolized that Hei Yu’s status on the ship was getting higher and higher; he was no longer an ordinary pirate and had surpassed many older members.
Meanwhile, the newcomers from the same period had just passed the novice stage and were still struggling to learn various operations and maritime knowledge on the pirate ship.
After finishing breakfast with Gu Tian, the old pirate, Hei Yu, as usual, went to the top deck cabin, to Lady Meta’s room.
“Hei Yu, when Corphish evolves into Crawdaunt, it will gain the Dark-type, and its personality will also become irritable and prone to anger, so you need to manage it in advance.”
“In the past, there have been many cases on pirate ships where Corphish, after evolving, would not listen to its Trainer’s commands, and there were even cases of them running away.”
Lady Meta meticulously taught Hei Yu about Corphish, with an overflowing tenderness and kindness in her brows.
For a moment, even Hei Yu found it difficult to discern whether the ruthless Lady Meta he had seen before was real or not.
He had personally witnessed Lady Meta commanding her Swampert to kill a ship full of passengers.
“Hei Yu, it’s been so long, and I haven’t checked your Corphish yet.” Lady Meta took out a red and white pokémon index from her pocket.
“pokémon index!”
Hei Yu’s heart trembled.
He saw Lady Meta holding the pokémon index and scanning the Poké Ball containing Corphish.
“Beep beep beep~~~”
“Corphish, Rogue Pokémon, Water-type Pokémon, Ability: Adaptability, Level 12, Height 0.7 meters, exceeding average 0.6 meters, well-developed…
Known moves include: Vise Grip, Harden, Bubble, Glare, Water Pulse, Dragon Dance.”
As the pokémon index finished broadcasting, the room fell silent.
Hei Yu looked at the versatile pokémon index in amazement, and at the same time, he was stunned by the last three words.
“Dragon Dance?”
Hei Yu said uncertainly.
He wondered if he had misheard?
“That’s right, otherwise, why do you think I would recommend this Pokémon to you?” Lady Meta rolled her eyes and said.
“One of this Corphish’s parents must be a Dragon-blooded Pokémon, even if not a pure Dragon-type, then a sub-Dragon species like Charizard or Gyarados.”
Lady Meta meticulously taught her new apprentice. In the past half-month, she had also been surprised by Hei Yu’s comprehension.
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She had taken half a year to master a thick beginner’s book, but Hei Yu had already memorized most of it in just half a month.
Because of this, Hei Yu was no longer just a tool to expand her influence in her heart, but a true genius apprentice.
“When Corphish evolves, it will gain the Dark-type, so you need to train it in this aspect in advance. Besides that, its pincers are also a primary means of attack.”
“Here is powder made from Cubone bones. Mix it into Corphish’s food to strengthen its bone density.”
Before leaving, Lady Meta gave Hei Yu a bottle of rare bone powder.
“Lady Meta, thank you for your gift.”
Hei Yu thanked her sincerely, bowing deeply to Lady Meta in a teacher-student manner before quietly leaving.
A month slowly passed. The sea remained calm, although they encountered some passenger ships during this time.
The pirates on the Giant Shark surprisingly did not attack, but those passenger ships, for the sake of safety, still paid protection fees.
This also opened Hei Yu’s eyes; it turned out that pirate ships didn’t just do robbery business.
Piracy was not a clearly defined profession; pirate ships always operated many businesses.
As long as there was money, anything could be done!
Pirates not only robbed, or rather, robbery was just one of their businesses; pirates would definitely take on a side job, which was smuggling.
Whether it was smuggling goods, Pokémon, or people, as long as there was money, everything could be sold, including themselves.
When certain dark underground organizations were in turmoil, pirates would also temporarily accept recruitment and act as mercenaries.
Of course, over the past month, the most frequent work Hei Yu had seen pirates do was hunting various rare Pokémon in the sea.
They would sell them to land areas with scarce water sources due to regional differences.
The Hoenn region has abundant water, so the place they were heading to now was Kanto!
“Brother Gu Tian, according to your estimate, how much longer until we can dock on land?”
Hei Yu gazed into the distance, at the endless sea, and respectfully asked the burly man beside him.
Brother Gu Tian, as the eyes of the Giant Shark, could clearly distinguish their location even without relying on a map.
“Hmm, it should be about three days’ journey until we can approach Viridian City.” Gu Tian extended a finger, constantly gesturing in the air, seemingly a unique method of discerning direction.
Just as everyone on the ship was looking forward to the wonderful Wish of returning to land to resupply, no one noticed that deep beneath the sea, a group of fierce Carvanha were circling in schools beneath the huge pirate ship.
At midday, everyone was eating lunch in the dining hall, their joy evident in their brows.
At this moment, a pirate wearing a light blue short-sleeved shirt rushed in and shouted, “It’s bad! The bottom of the ship is under attack by Pokémon! Hurry and come with me to support!”
The entire dining hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted into a loud clamor.
“Let’s go, let’s go! More extra money to earn!”
“Haha, I wonder if there are any rare Pokémon this time that can supplement my Pokémon team.”
This group of pirates, walking on a tightrope and hovering on the edge of life and death, not only did not panic but were extremely happy, their eyes gleaming with excitement!
High risk! High reward!
Hei Yu also followed the crowd slowly down to the battle deck. The design of the entire ship was semi-automatic, so a battle partition could extend from the outside of the ship.
Hundreds of people standing on it would not feel crowded.
“It’s a Carvanha pack!”
“Damn it, by the looks of it, there must be at least a hundred or more!”
As the Pokémon of the two surveyors came ashore, the information they brought back excited everyone again.
At this moment, Chang Tian Xin, the First Mate on the ship, spoke: “Everyone, Pokémon that can go into the water, go in and charge! Those that cannot, provide support from the partition!”
As the third in command after the captain and Lady Meta, everyone naturally obeyed Chang Tian Xin’s words.
Some higher-level Pokémon plunged into the water.
Crawdaunt, Sharpedo, and Whiscash all leaped into the water, creating huge splashes.
Hei Yu’s Corphish stood on the partition, continuously using Bubble for auxiliary flanking.
“Everyone, quickly throw your Poké Balls! Release Flying Pokémon to retrieve them!”
As time slowly passed, such a group of lower-level Carvanha naturally could not resist and were all defeated, losing their battle ability and falling unconscious in the water.
Of course, to prevent unfair distribution of spoils, each Poké Ball had a unique name written on it.
Hei Yu didn’t have many Poké Balls on him; they were all bought by saving every penny, although Lady Meta had given him a few rare Poké Balls, such as Great Balls and Ultra Balls.
But he couldn’t bear to use them on such a common group of Carvanha.
Just as he was about to throw a Poké Ball, his eyes were suddenly drawn to one particular Carvanha among the school; that Carvanha was different from the others.
Its swimming speed was extremely fast and was constantly increasing.
Hei Yu thought to himself, “It’s the hidden Speed Boost Ability!”
Hei Yu’s heart was already stirred. He immediately seized the opportunity and threw a Poké Ball with his name written on it.
The scene in the water was very chaotic, and with countless Poké Balls being thrown, it was unclear whether they hit or not.
Innumerable Taillow and Wingull hovered in the air, occasionally diving into the water to pick up the Poké Balls floating on the surface.
“Quick, quick, use nets to collect all these Balls!”
Hearing the command, two pirates took out their nets and picked up the Poké Balls rolling on the deck, putting them into the nets.
As the slanting sun set, the Carvanha’s attempt to sink the ship by drilling through its bottom failed.
Instead, their own clan suffered heavy losses, with over half of their Pokémon captured. Without food replenishment, such a clan in the ocean would likely find it very difficult to survive the coming days.
But all of this was irrelevant to the pirates on the Giant Shark. At this moment, they were enjoying the fruits of their victory!
Inside the cabin, a wild feast!
“Quick, quick, get your Poké Balls out!”
“This is mine, this is mine, don’t snatch it!”
“Damn it, you took the wrong one, my name is written on that one!”
A group of people swarmed forward, pouncing like sharks that smelled blood.
Thanks to Gu Tian’s care, Hei Yu easily found his own Poké Ball among them. He didn’t open it in public but quietly left the crowd and went to the top deck cabin.
“Hei Yu, it’s quite lively downstairs. How was your harvest this time?” Lady Meta asked, looking at a book introducing Berry, without lifting her eyes.
“Lady Meta, this time we ran into a group of Carvanha, and the harvest was quite abundant.” Hei Yu’s tone was less reserved and more cheerful as he spoke.
“Lady Meta, I would like to borrow your pokémon index.”
Facing Hei Yu’s request, Lady Meta agreed directly without any hesitation.
“Carvanha, Fierce Pokémon, Water-type Pokémon. Its well-developed jaw and sharp teeth have the destructive power to Bite through a ship’s bottom. Many ships have sunk after being attacked by Carvanha.”
“Level 11, Ability Speed Boost, Height 0.9 meters, exceeding average height 0.8 meters, Weight 22 kilograms, exceeding average weight 20.8 kilograms. Compared to Pokémon of the same level, its physical qualities are excellent…
Known moves include: Glare, Bite, Rage, Focus Energy, Water Pulse, Psychic Fangs.”
Hei Yu looked at the Poké Ball in surprise; not only did it have a hidden Ability, but it also inherited Psychic Fangs!
This time, he hit the jackpot!
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