A new day begins with morning exercise.

"Poliwhirl, Butterfree, Wingull, Krabby, time to get up..."

Reiji had been up early doing stretches. Once his Pokémon were awake, he called over Poliwhirl and Butterfree to go steal honey from the Beedrill territory.

"Wingull, Krabby, you two stay behind and guard the base. We'll be back soon."

"Krak Krak, hurry back home," Krabby waved its claws outside the treehouse as they set out.

"Wuuooh," Wingull stood on the rooftop, watching them leave. It already knew what they were up to—stealing honey, again.

It was the same plan as always—putting Beedrill to sleep with powder, then swiping their honey.

They were already familiar with this group of Beedrill. Even though some honey had been left over from the previous night, it wasn't enough to get them through the day, so another raid was necessary.

Reiji had considered catching a Weedle in the past—maybe raising one into a Beedrill—but he never found one with high enough potential.

He'd caught some before, but none ever surpassed 40–50% potential—not even close to what Caterpie had. So he gave up.

Originally, he'd only wanted Weedle as a survival tool. But now that he had Caterpie, he didn't need it as badly.

Sure, Beedrill had a high growth ceiling and could even Mega Evolve, but raising a Beedrill to the level of Giovanni's Beedrill required ridiculous resources.

Giovanni had money—something Reiji completely lacked. He was a broke kid.

Trying to raise a high-potential Beedrill would cost even more than training Krabby or the others.

And even Mega Beedrill's base stat total only surpassed Kingler's by 20 points.

Reiji knew base stats weren't everything—but they represented potential. The higher the ceiling, the more possibilities.

If he really had those resources, why not just raise a Charizard with over 500 base stats instead of Beedrill?

Unless Beedrill had been his starter—but it wasn't. His starter was Poliwag. That determined everything.

If he'd met a Weedle first, maybe things would've played out differently.

Before long, they filled half a bucket with honey and returned to the treehouse. Krabby and Wingull were waiting outside.

Back home, Reiji immediately handed out honey—every one of his seven Pokémon got a share.

While they ate, he made himself some honey water and opened the lid on the bait honey, hoping a gullible crab might fall for it.

Even if no crabs came, a morning with honey was never truly peaceful.

From the edge of the forest came a heavy panting noise—"Huff... huff... haah…"

Reiji turned toward the sound—and saw his nightmare: the unevolved form of Rhydon—

Rhyhorn.

"What the hell—how did that thing find us?" Reiji froze. They hadn't provoked it. Why was it here?

And why was Rhyhorn pawing at the ground with its forelegs? Was it about to charge?

The creature locked its pitch-black eyes on them—on the seven Pokémon eating honey.

With its hooves scraping the dirt, the tension was immediate.

"Yo-bo yo-bo," Poliwhirl noticed where Reiji was looking and turned to see the Rhyhorn at the forest edge preparing to rush.

"Yo-bo!" Poliwhirl stood in front of Reiji and shouted a warning, "Yo-bo! Don't come over here, dumb rhino, I'll beat you up!"

"Poliwhirl, cut the chatter! Use Waterfall—rush in and grab its horn, stop it from charging!"

He couldn't let it slam into the treehouse.

"Yo-bo!" Poliwhirl saw that the Rhyhorn wasn't stopping. It crouched, then launched straight into it.

The moment of impact—boom—a cloud of dust exploded around them, obscuring the outcome.

Even Reiji felt the tremor underfoot.

When the dust cleared, Poliwhirl had stopped Rhyhorn, but the ground beneath its feet was gouged into a trench.

Rhyhorn was still pushing Poliwhirl back—strength-wise, it was overpowering him.

Reiji called out, "Butterfree! Use Sleep Powder! Knock them both out!"

"Brii~" Butterfree flapped into the air and released powder over both Pokémon—putting them to sleep.

Pop!

Reiji threw a Poké Ball—capturing Rhyhorn.

It had come to them. Of course he caught it.

Everyone saw it, okay? The rhino came here on its own. He didn't hunt it down. Totally innocent.

Though he had always wanted a heavy-duty tank like Rhyhorn, he didn't dare pick a fight with Rhydon.

Getting stomped into a pile of crap wasn't worth it. He hadn't even dared think of catching one.

The Poké Ball blinked red three times. Click. Capture confirmed.

He called over Spinarak, "Butterfree, toss Poliwhirl in the water bucket. Spinarak, reel in the Poké Ball."

No worries—Poliwhirl was just asleep. A splash in the bucket would wake him up.

Reiji eagerly opened the panel.

[Rhyhorn]

Type: Ground + Rock

Gender: Male

Potential: 58%

Level: 16.89%

Ability: Rock Head (14.15%)

Hidden Ability: Reckless (10.17%)

Moves:

Counter (2.22%)

Skull Bash (11.31%)

Iron Tail (3.11%)

Crunch (13.82%)

Thunder Fang (5.45%)

Ice Fang (8.94%)

Fire Fang (9.91%)

Rock Polish (7.26%)

Rock Slide (6.21%)

Rock Climb (7.27%)

Dig (8.73%)

Stomping Tantrum (5.99%)

Rest (10.81%)

Double-Edge (11.14%)

Tail Whip (6.88%)

Tackle (14.21%)

Smack Down (7.37%)

Bulldoze (6.17%)

Horn Attack (13.53%)

"Pffft—"

Reiji immediately shut the panel again.

And set his steel mug down. The honey water he'd just sipped came blasting out—all over Krabby.

"Sorry, Krabby. Got a little excited," he said sheepishly. But really, he was terrified by that panel.

When he dared to open it again and looked at the Potential stat—58%.

This thing was definitely Rhydon's cub. A boss's offspring. No way he could keep it. Even if someone gifted it to him, he wouldn't dare accept.

Once he caught it, he was basically begging to be stomped flat.

The level was 16. Not bad. It even had both a normal and a hidden ability.

But the real horror? Nineteen moves. Five more than Sharpedo had yesterday.

It had:

Fighting-type: Counter

Normal-type: Skull Bash, Rock Climb, Double-Edge, Tail Whip, Tackle, Horn Attack

Rock-type: Rock Polish, Rock Slide, Smack Down

Ground-type: Dig, Stomping Tantrum, Bulldoze

Steel-type: Iron Tail

Dark-type: Crunch

Elemental Fangs: Thunder Fang, Ice Fang, Fire Fang

Psychic-type: Rest

Nineteen in total. Reiji was stunned.

He couldn't keep it. Not if he wanted to live.

Rhyhorn was tempting—but only if he could leave the island right now and never come back.

Then he wouldn't need to worry about its enraged parent showing up.

But escape wasn't an option. Just look at Wingull's stats:

[Wingull]

Type: Water + Flying

Gender: Female

Potential: 57%

Level: 22.37%

Ability: Hydration (6.39%)

Moves:

Gust (7.59%)

Roost (8.01%)

Aqua Ring (5.23%)

Water Gun (15.49%)

Quick Attack (9.29%)

Wing Attack (6.58%)

Water Pulse (0.87%)

Agility (1.37%)

He hadn't checked Wingull's panel in two days. It had only gained 2% in Water Gun and Wing Attack.

Its evolution was still three—maybe five—days away.

Plenty of time for Rhydon to make a dozen laps around the island and stomp him a dozen times.

So no—he couldn't keep Rhyhorn.

Even hiding wouldn't work. The island's skies were ruled by Pidgeot flocks. There was nowhere to escape.

And the island swarmed with Pidgey and Spearow. They couldn't stay hidden from airborne predators.

"Ugh, too bad... but staying alive matters more." Reiji released Rhyhorn.

He figured out what had drawn it—the scent of honey.

Once Rhyhorn was released, he reassured his Pokémon. "Don't worry. Keep eating."

He poured half the honey into Krabby's bath basin.

Then he splashed Rhyhorn awake and placed the honey in front of its face.

"Here. Eat and go, okay?"

He stepped back. Poliwhirl stood guard again.

"Poliwhirl, watch him while he eats, then chase him off."

"Yo-bo." Poliwhirl nodded, though it didn't understand why Reiji released Rhyhorn. It was already caught. Why not keep it?

But even without understanding, Poliwhirl obeyed without question.

"Right—don't forget your honey too," Reiji said, handing over Poliwhirl's skillet of untouched honey.

He assumed Rhyhorn would be content.

Nope.

After licking its share clean, Rhyhorn sniffed out the remaining scent—from Poliwhirl's dish.

Poliwhirl leapt away, gobbled the rest, and scolded, "Yo-bo! Dumb rhino! No more honey! Go home!"

"Huff... I didn't hurt you, right?" Rhyhorn lowered its head apologetically. "Huff... I just want more honey..."

"Yo-bo, we don't have more. We only steal honey once per day!" Poliwhirl accidentally let that slip.

"Huff—so there will be more tomorrow?!" Despite looking dumb and bulky, Rhyhorn picked up on that instantly.

"How do you get the honey? Tell me!"

"Yo-bo! Reiji won't let me say! Now go!" Poliwhirl waved its gloved fists, rejecting the request.

"Huff? You mean that human?" Rhyhorn lunged at Reiji and licked his face.

Too fast. Even Poliwhirl couldn't react in time.

Thankfully, it wasn't an attack—just a tongue.

"Wait—wait! What are you doing?!" Reiji shoved its snout away, only managing to crawl out once Poliwhirl and the others held Rhyhorn back.

"Yo-bo! Stay away from Reiji or I will punch you!" Poliwhirl waved its fists threateningly.

"Huff... I just wanted honey..." Rhyhorn crouched down pitifully, burying its face.

"Poliwhirl, weren't you supposed to chase him off?" Reiji wiped the saliva from his face, confused.

"Yo-bo..." Poliwhirl sighed, shook its head, and kicked the water bucket—signaling that Rhyhorn wanted more.

"Forget it. You all go train." Reiji watched Rhyhorn lie on the grass, refusing to leave.

Keeping it would bring Rhydon here eventually... but he couldn't make it go away either.

It was driving him nuts.

Sigh... so annoying...

[End of Chapter]

[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]

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