Gan didn't have many Star pieces on him right now, so he would just wait. He wanted to try a couple more machines around here.
"This Machine is called the Talent Checker." Gan walked over and stood in front of it.
The price to check your Pokemon's talent didn't cost much, at least when it came to what Gan had.
"According to the booklet, this will display what stats your Pokemon excels in." Gan paid the ₱1,000 fee.
The first Pokemon he wanted to test was Arcanine since she had just evolved. Gan placed her Pokeball into the slot and had the machine run a scan.
This vibrant blue light proceeded to scan Arcanine's Pokeball for three minutes. Gan took a seat and waited until the process was done.
Once it was finished he went over to check the results.
"Oh, so she excels in Attack, Sp. Atk, Sp. Def, and Speed." The display screen showed a 3d picture of an Arcanine. Next to Arcanine's left side, the screen showed a Radar Chart with stats.
"Nice, so she's good at these four stats, which make up the 4-stars." Unfortunately, these stars were randomized if you didn't use a certain method to acquire the said max star stat.
This machine checked the IVs of a Pokemon.
Naturally, Gan wanted to check his other Pokemon to see what they really excelled at.
He quickly paid out the money to see their stats.
-----
Alakazam Excelled in: Speed, Sp. Atk, Health, and Defense.
Dratini Excelled in: Speed, Attack, Sp. Defense, Health, and Defense.
Wartortle Excelled in: Speed, Sp. Def, Defense, and Sp. Atk.
Machoke Excelled in: Attack, Health, Defense, and Speed
Rhyhorn Excelled in: Attack, Defense, and Health.
Gengar Excelled in: Sp. Atk, Speed, and Health.
Nidoking Excelled in: Speed, Health, and Sp. Atk
Nidoqueen Excelled in: Health, Defense, and Sp. Def.
Koffing Excelled in: Health, Defense, and Sp. Atk.
Grimer Excelled in: Attack, Sp. Def, and Health.
-----
Gan printed out papers of these charts to remember what they were best at.
Afterward, he moved on to the next machine. This machine was able to check the said Pokemon's affection for you.
Gan first checked Arcanine to see its affection. Red hearts meant its positive love for you, while black hearts meant its hate for you.
As usual, Gan place her Pokeball into a slot before paying the toll due. Gan had to place his hand on a scanner and keep it there.
The machine scanned the Pokeball and his hand multiple times. This was to check heart-to-heart with the Pokemon and Human.
This took the longest to scan out of the machines—with this process taking 5 minutes flat.
Eventually, the numbers rolled in for Arcanine. Gan still wasn't used to seeing Growlithe become an Arcanine. Even though he evolved a decent amount of Pokemon, he felt strange seeing Growlithe change.
She was usually out walking with him or he was giving her her medication. He had grown really used to seeing her as a Growlithe, but those days were now forever over.
Gan could only sigh.
Suddenly, the affection rate appeared on the touch screen.
---
-Arcanine's Affection: ❤️❤️❤️❤️
---
"Oh my gosh, that's high for a Pokemon I haven't had long." Gan was stunned
He decided to check everyone else's but found that their affection wasn't as high as Arcanine.
Alakazam's Affection was only 2 hearts, while Gengar was at 3 hearts. Koffing had 3 hearts as well, and so did Graveler.
Now that Gan had accomplished what he wanted, it was time to head out. The group of teens turned to Gan as he was leaving. Some were envious, while some showed admiration.
They really wanted an Arcanine as well.
Gan went downstairs where there were different types of machines. That was when he spotted a TM Tutor machine.
"What's the point of this machine, anyway? We can teach Pokemon manually without such a thing." Gan shook his head.
He found this machine to be useless.
"What's the point of it?" The man at the counter from earlier turned around and frowned. At this time, he was wiping down a few machines.
"Huh?" Gan looked over confused and continued. "Uh, yeah, what's the point of this machine if you can teach Pokemon TMs manually?" Gan asked bluntly.
Gan was just talking to himself, so he didn't expect the clerk to respond.
"Using TMs manually will affect the Pokemon's mental state over time. This is practically forcing information into their minds. It's so forced that the TM disc always breaks when they're used."
The man looked at Gan strangely and continued.
"These machines can be used to slowly implement the information into your Pokemon's mind. The TM disc also doesn't break, but it will still come out as an empty disc—which could be sold afterward."
"What? There was such a thing?" Gan was stunned, but this was something he needed to know. If he hadn't been told this, he would have surely continued to teach his Pokemon manually.
This would surely cause his Pokemon to have many problems down the line! Gan suddenly broke out into a cold sweat, he would have had some mentally degraded Pokemon if he continued down this path.
"Ah, thank you for telling. I didn't...know that." Gan wiped the sweat off his forehead and said.
"No problem, but I'm surprised you didn't know something so basic." The man found that strange. That should have been one of the first things he was taught before thinking of becoming a trainer.
"Hehe, I guess I missed that part." Gan obviously couldn't tell the man he wasn't from this world.
Gan once again thanked the man before eventually leaving the Power Center. He was fortunate to be a part of Team Rocket, they had so many hard-to-come-by resources.
If he didn't join Team Rocket, Gan was sure things would be much harder.
"Hmm, if only I had a bike or something, this would make traveling easier." Gan contemplated buying a bike if he could.
'Hopefully, the prices aren't as outrageous as they were in the game.' Gan remembered the insane prices when you spoke to the clerk. The only way to get a bike at that time was by getting a voucher.
Gan left the Power Center, with his next destination being Route 3. Before leaving Pewter City tomorrow, he needed to catch some Pokemon.
These Pokemon were for selling to the deprived Celedon Branch.
After walking for a while, he finally made it to the city square. Gan noticed that the city was starting to liven up a bit. Nonetheless, Gan kept on his way unbothered by the steadily growing people.
Route 3 was as peaceful as Gan remembered it. Well, not when he first arrived, that's when he witnessed a battle between Mankey and Sandshrew.
Gan was en route until he discovered the familiar tall grass and forest around it. Going upward led to the Pokemon Center near Mt. Moon.
There was an abundance of tall grass here that would sway side to side from strong winds. People avoided walking through it since this would make them a target of attack.
Gan went around this large area of tall grass and went into the forest near it. He summoned Alakazam to help him with some things.
Gan also summoned Arbok and Gengar to help with this as well.
What Gan needed to capture were Sandshrew, Ekans, Mankey, and even Rattata. Alakazam shot out its senses and picked up a large number of Pokemon in the area.
Suddenly, Alakazam squinted in what appeared to be a frown.
"You're being trailed," Alakazam said.
"Trailed?" Gan instantly understood that he was being followed by someone.
"Does someone want smoke with me? Did someone find out who I am or something? But that's impossible!"
Gan's expression changed.
"I don't think so, they seemed to have ill intent against you but not for that reason."
"ill intentions, huh? How many of them are there?" Alakazam told Gan that there were 3 individuals.
With a nod, Gan ordered Alakazam to teleport him and everyone else a distance away. Afterward, he told Alakazam to teleport him to a place close to them—so he could see his stalkers.
-----
"That brat isn't from our branch from what I've gathered. The information I bought said he was from the Celedon Branch." Marko, who appeared to be the leader said.
"Don't you know, he spent his last 20,000 on heart scales! I'm so pissed, this bastard spent our 20,000 Merit points!" Philip, the fat short man was enraged.
"I saw that. After that, he used them in that new Power Center, I suppose. If he still has those heart scales and didn't use them, then we can sell them for a high price once we capture him."
Ron the slender man was elated. If they could kill this little rookie, then they could earn a decent payout.
"He came into the forest for some reason. Philip, are you still tracking him?" Marko gazed ahead at Philip, who was leading the way.
"Yes, I'm still tracking him. He went this way, he shouldn't have gone too far." Philip was quite good at tracking, this has allowed them to capture many victims in the past.
They had done this many times, they had killed and robbed several brave and outgoing rookies—over the years.
These acts weren't new to them and they were, in fact, experts at this. They would hunt the rookie down and always defeat and kill them.
Selling his Pokemon for money and other valuables, while keeping the important things for themselves. If the rookies were strong, they would all gang up on him to beat and kill him.
"Haha, it's always good to wait by the Merit hall to scout out fat sheep." Ron the tall slender man said happily, but his smile seemed vicious.
The group kept walking until they came to their destination.
"Hmm, it's here," Philip said with a bit of confusion. They were moving cautiously and carefully through the forest, to possibly sneak attack Gan.
"Okay, where's the target?" Marko looked around and frowned from the bushes.
T-the tracks end here...I don't understand. This doesn't make sense, he was supposed to be here." Philip was just as confused as Marko.
"Are telling me he grew wings and flew away?!" Marko was furious, this guy was a really big cash cow, so he couldn't let Gan get away!
"Didn't the information state that he only had a Koffing?" Ron remembered that this was mentioned in the report.
"Yes. I also heard that the rank of this Pokemon was Gold rank. We'll need to be careful, our Pokemon are only at Bronze."
"He isn't here, does he perhaps have a flying Pokemon? That bastard has been giving us the runaround! This guy doesn't sit still at all, it's almost like he has goals other than Team Rocket!"
Mark clenched his teeth as veins appeared on foreheard. This would be the second time this guy had gotten away from them.
Suddenly, a silhouette appeared in the forest. They all turned to look but found that the figure's form was hard to make out.
"W-what is that?" Ron's eyes widened.
The figure smiled at the group, and before they could reply to Ron—they saw another figure next to it.
Its eyes were bright yellow, and that's when they felt something invade their bodies. The three men fell to the group paralyzed.
"W-what's going on? I c-can't m-move!" Philip was shocked and suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I-I think were p-paralyzed by something!" Ron felt a surge of fear, how could this happen?
"Damn it! I saw it! That was an Ekans or something, it must have used Glare on us!" Marko's forehead was filled with sweat.
He knew this area contained Ekans, in fact, this Pokemon ran this territory. There was even a chance of encountering an Arbok—if you were unfortunate.
Gan had been following them closely, and listening to them.
He heard everything that was said up until this point. Alakazam mentioned that he could see a gray aura around them.
Gray meant death and acts of cruelty. Clearly, they had done this many times before!
Gan's expression turned cold. From what they were talking about to this point to what Alakazam had mentioned, they couldn't be allowed to live.
'It looks like I'll have to truly kill someone today.'
The three were contemplating their situation, this paralysis effect was abnormally strong. Normally, they would be able to still move and stand, albeit, their moves slowed and clumsy.
"Why can't I move, I can't even move a single finger!" Philip was starting to panic, he wasn't used to these types of situations.
"It must be that damned silhouette we saw, it looked like a snake!" Ron's expression darkened with fear.
Who didn't know how Ekans ambushed and caught their target? Especially if the said Ekans had a higher Tier(Level) than normal.
They would poison you to weaken you, or worse, Paralyze you and swallow you alive!
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, it might not be like that. We could be in their territory, we'll leave soon after." Marko sought to calm the situation, but this also him coping as well.
He hoped that this was just the Ekans and Arbok warning him. Usually, this was what they did. In fact, Ekans wasn't as aggressive as their evolved forms, and attacks from them rarely occurred here.
Only if you stepped on them or got too close would they attack. Besides that, Arbok would attack if you came into its territory. Ekans usually wasn't strong enough to maintain their grip on a territory.
Taking this all into account, they all felt at ease.
Suddenly, they heard the bushes rustling.
"What?! Who is it?!" Ron was nearly scared to death.
However, a Rattata jumped out of the bush and ran in another direction. It completely ignored the trio that was sprung out on the ground unmoved.
They all sighed in relief at this.
"Hohoho! What do we have here?" At that moment, Gan stepped out of the bushes and slowly approached the group.
They could, for some reason still move their heads but not elsewhere. Once they saw who it was, their expression changed into a sight to behold.
They were not dressed in their Team Rocket outfit, obviously. There was no way they would nonchalantly walk around in it. This was especially so due to the recent event back in Pallet town.
Ghost Hands was still a hot topic right now.
They didn't show fear because of Gan, but because of the Pokemon that followed behind him. What followed behind Gan was Gengar, Alakazam, and Arbok.
'What? Didn't the report state that he only had a Koffing?!' Ron's expression was grave, but then he remembered something.
That's right, they were dressed casually, so there was no way he would know they were from Team Rocket. Nor should Gan know they had come here with ill intentions against him.
'This was all a coincidence.' Ron thought.
"Good sir, we're stuck in a plight and are having trouble moving. Could you possibly help us out, we're paralyzed." Marko said in a polite tone.
'You bastard, you just wait for our paralysis to wear off! You're finished after that!' Marko thought were completely the opposite.
"It does look serious, let me see if I have anything here." Gan checked himself and pulled out a Paralysis heal.
"Is this what you guys need?" Gan dangled the bottle of medicine in his hand.
"Yes, yes, yes, this is the medicine we need. Please, help heal us from our terrible states, mister trainer."
Philip sighed in relief. He felt so helpless not being able to move, it was too scary when he thought of the possibilities.
"Sure thing, but it won't be cheap." Gan nodded with a smile.
"Huh?"
"It won't be cheap?"
"You're charging us?"
The three stared at Gan for a moment. Why was he charging them for something so cheap at the Pokemart? The cost of a paralysis heal was around 100 to 150 Poke dollars.
"Of course, look at your situation. You guys are paralyzed in the wild with several dangerous Pokemon roaming around."
Gan's message was clear, the price would go up according to the demand for it.
"Oh right, you guys can't move. Let me help you." Gan summoned Machoke and Mankey.
"What? What are you going to do?" Their eyes widened, why was this guy so stacked with Pokemon?
Could a grunt afford such things?
Gan didn't reply and half smiled instead. He had both of these Pokemon check them for what they had.
"Ah, stop!" Their expression turned ugly, this was because this seemed to be some sort of shakedown more than anything else.
They all broke out into a cold sweat, the trio was worried about something!
Not to mention, this Machoke was roughing them up with a somewhat conniving grin on its face.
Machoke was patting them down which nearly broke their ribs. Mankey was also a bit rough, it was ripping their clothes just to check them for any valuables.
"Trainer, sir, this isn't very good of you. Don't you think this is a bit rude to do to us?" Marko was furious because Gan was ignoring them and having his Pokemon rough them up.
Gan only showed a half smile as he waited for the results.
'Just you wait! You're dead kid, friggin dead!!' Ron was nearly half dead from anger, he couldn't wait to vent his rage onto Gan later.
Gan could see from Ron's expression that he was angry, but he could care less.
Suddenly, Machoke and Mankey found a few cards on each of them. To be exact, they were all holding three cards each. The obvious things they grabbed were their Pokeballs, which they also handed to Gan.
Once these cards were revealed, their expression turned pale with fear.
"Oh, what do we have here?" Gan sneered as checked the contents of these cards.
One card showed their lawful identity. The second card was some card that wasn't really secure. This card carried money on it—you could also open up a small storage to hold your personal items through this card.
People did this often for obvious reasons. However, the cards they had were the least secure of them all.
A simple four-digit passcode to access everything! If you lost it, you could use face recognition to access your storage and money.
This was about it.
The third and most crucial card that Gan had seen was their Team Rocket IDs. Seeing their IDs, Gan's expression darkened.
It was clear that he had become a target for these at some point. To Gan, it must have been recently, but who sent them?
'Did that bastard at the Merit Hall send them to assassinate me?' Gan thought this was likely.
"So you've been trailing me this whole time, right?" Gan asked bluntly.
"No, no, this is all coincidence. We were just out on orders to scout the area." Philip hurriedly said.
"That's right, we don't even know you, so how could we be following you?" Marko said in agreeance.
"Who sent you to assassinate me?" Gan asked, he didn't believe these guys.
"We weren't sent by anyone to kill you. We told you, this is all just a coincidence." Marko said anxiously.
'He isn't lying, he wasn't sent by anyone to assassinate you.' Alakazam broke his silence after analyzing the situation.
'Oh, so he was telling the truth?' Gan's expression softened a bit.
'What they said was half true, this wasn't a coincidence. They were acting on their own accord, you heard them earlier.'
Gan nodded. They had planned to kill him with a sneak attack, if it was possible. They had seen too much at that, he had no choice but to get rid of these three.
Gan skipped the details, he really didn't care. All he knew was—that these fellas had followed him with intentions to kill him. On top of that, they had done this to many people in the past.
Gan tossed all of their belonging into his storage before ordering Arbok to bite them. Arbok's size was huge, this snake scared them the most.
Arbok's jaw clamped down on their shoulder one after another. It also gave them another gift, which was poisoning them!
"No! I-I'm poisoned!"
"How dare you do this to us?! Do you know who we are, we know people! People will be looking for us if we go missing, you're a dead boy!"
Ron's eyes were bloodshot from rage, but at the same time, he was scared out of his wits.
"KID! There's still a chance to come back from this. We can all walk away safely and never speak of this again. You just have to give us the Antidote and Paralysis heal." Makro tried to be calm while saying this, but his tone and expression told it all.
That's right, humans could suffer from multiple status effects. Unlike Pokemon, where the status effect would be replaced if they were inflicted with something different.
Their shoulders were bloodied from Arbok's large jaws clamping on them.
"Nah, you guys deserve to die. Just go on your way now, and pray for forgiveness." Gan had no intention of saving these guys for too many reasons to be named.
Boy, you're digging your own grave! Hand us the Antidote or you can only die later!" Marko could no longer hold it in.
Everyone's body had gone numb from the poison, and their faces started turning purplish-black.
One had to know that Arbok poison was so potent because of its ratings. It was a 5-star Arbok, so it was something that couldn't be trifled with.
"Weather I'm digging my own grave or not, you won't see it."
They tried to reply but it was useless at this point, their ability to talk had been nulled. Their bodies shivered uncontrollably as their eyes start to lose their luster.
They looked unwilling and filled with regret. Unfortunately, there was no potion for regret and they could only die with grievances.
Alakazam confirmed that they had all died. Gan sighed before walking over to them and shutting their unwilling eyes.
Gan had thought about burying them, but that would be unfair to the people back in Viridian Forest. These people were truly evil, so he summoned Koffing and had him burn their bodies into ash.
Gan didn't want to see it so he looked away. Afterward, he continued his goal of coming here and began to hunt Pokemon.
He made sure to check their Pokemon and found that they had a Sandslash, Raticate, and Zubat. All of them had 1-star ratings, which wasn't appealing to Gan at all.
He was just going to sell them later at the branch instead. Gan didn't have any Merit points, he needed these Pokemon to exchange at his deprived Celedon Branch.
Gan hunted and caught several Pokemon. This meant Mankey, Ekans, Rattata, and Sandshrew.
A few of them even had 3-star ratings, which was a bonus. Gan had to change the nature of many of his Pokemon, so he needed as many Merit points as he could get.
After catching many of the same Pokemon for about 3 hours, he called Warren. He wanted to see if he could meet him before tomorrow to discuss a plan.
Warren naturally picked up and told Gan that he could meet at the café from last met. They were due to meet in an hour and a half.
With that, Gan left the forest. He suppressed his hunger until he was to meet up with Warren. As Gan stepped out of the forest, he saw two individuals coming down from the location of the Pokemon Center.
Gan assumed they must have come from Mt. Moon.
They were two boys and one girl around Gan's age—maybe slightly older. They wore different robes, one wore a sky blue and dark blue shirt and shirt, while another wore lime green and dark green robes.
The last wore burgundy and dark red robes. They all had arrogant expressions, which made Gan cringe.
They wore badges that said [5EG].
By this point, Gan had recalled all of his Pokemon. There were other people on this route trying to capture Pokemon. Some were even battling one another.
"Oh my gosh, these three are from the [Sacred 5 Elements Guild]!" A youth wearing grey suddenly said in astonishment.
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