It had been a week since Brian started selling energy cubes and earned himself 30 rare candies. Added to the 12 he'd gotten on the first day, he now had a total of 42.
Today, Brian planned to head into the forest to look for Pokémon. With 42 rare candies, he could raise a Pokémon to the master level, and with a master-level partner, he would finally have the confidence to start selling evolution items.
"Ma, I'm heading out," Brian said.
"Alright, leave the shop to me," his mother replied.
Brian set off for the Yellow Forest near Arca City, accompanied by his Eevee—now at level 6. Riding his bicycle, he soon arrived at the forest's edge.
"So, this is Yellow Forest…" he murmured.
"Come on, Eevee. Let's go in and find you a friend."
"Miii?"
"Yes, a friend."
"Miii mii mi!"Eevee perked up at the idea. For the past week, she had only been with Brian. His mother's Pokémon and his father's rarely came out of their Poké Balls, so the thought of meeting new friends made her excited.
They stepped into the forest, and almost immediately came across a Caterpie—though this one had a yellow hue.
This could be a good chance to train Eevee.
"Eevee, want to battle?"
"Miii!"She nodded eagerly. After a week of training her tackle move, she was itching to try it out.
Brian approached the Caterpie, offering it some fruit. "Caterpie, help us out, and I'll give you this."
The Caterpie, tempted by the fruit, nodded and moved to face Eevee.
"Alright, Eevee—go!"
Eevee opened with Growl, then charged in for a tackle. Caterpie tried to counter with String Shot, but it was too late; Eevee slammed into it cleanly.
The Caterpie lay helpless. Seeing it couldn't continue, Brian called Eevee back and offered the bug some fruit before moving on.
He saw plenty of Pokémon along the way, but none of them were green quality. Brian had set his standard: only green-quality Pokémon were worth catching.
Deeper in the forest, he spotted a green-quality Weedle being chased by a Pidgeot into a cave. The moment Brian saw that Weedle's quality, there was no way he could let it go. He gave chase—only to find that inside the cave was a sudden drop, a hole three meters deep. He fell in hard, pain shooting up from his backside.
Looking up, the ledge was too high to climb. With no choice, Brian decided to explore.
"A cave under the cave…?" he muttered.
Curiosity led him forward, and soon the darkness gave way to a breathtaking sight—a hidden garden. Flowers bloomed everywhere, and grass- and bug-type Pokémon roamed freely. Many of them were green quality, but their levels were too high—the weakest was level 30, far beyond Eevee's current strength.
Still, Brian pressed on, convinced there had to be at least one younger Pokémon he could capture. That was when he found it: a blue-quality Tangela. Blue quality was rare—very rare.
TangelaType: GrassGender: MaleAbility: ChlorophyllQualification: BlueLevel: 20Skills: Absorb, Bind, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Vine Whip, Poison Powder
The moment Tangela noticed Brian, it prepared to attack. Brian quickly raised his voice.
"Wait! I'm not here to fight. I just want to ask—would you like to come with me? You could eat this every day."
He held up a rare candy. Tangela's instincts told him the food was special. Without hesitation, he took it and ate. Power surged through him, and his eyes lit up.
"How about it? Want to be my Pokémon?"
Tangela hesitated, considering refusal—but the sweet taste of strength was too tempting. He nodded.
Brian tossed a Poké Ball and captured him, then released him again. Tangela looked at Brian expectantly. Smiling, Brian fed him more rare candies.
When Tangela reached level 24, his body began to glow. Brian knew this light—it was the sign of evolution. Tangela had learned Ancient Power, and in a burst of light, evolved into a towering Tangrowth, now two meters tall.
TangrowthType: GrassGender: MaleAbility: ChlorophyllQualification: BlueLevel: 62Skills: Absorb, Bind, Stun Spore, Mega Drain, Vine Whip, Poison Powder, Ancient Power, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, Slam, Power Whip
One thought crossed Brian's mind: This is strong. Very strong.
With Tangrowth by his side, catching rare green-quality Pokémon became easy. But with only six Poké Balls, Brian could only catch six before heading home, planning to return tomorrow.
By evening, he was back. After dinner, he fed his Pokémon and went to bed early to rest for the next day's hunt.
In the morning, after breakfast, Brian headed out again—this time stopping by the Samyun Group's mall to buy ten Poké Balls for 20,000 Alliance coins before returning to the Yellow Forest and heading straight for the hidden garden.