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Without the slightest hesitation, the instant Mason saw Basculin's potential through the system, he made up his mind.
He had to capture this Pokémon.
Its pale-green species quality could not exactly be called high, but for the players currently inside the game, it was still something far beyond reach.
Its pale-blue individual potential had already reached the middle tier of the game's entire quality pyramid.
Among all the players Mason had seen posting on the forums these past few days, the number who owned Pokémon with blue-grade potential or higher could probably be counted on one hand.
If he could capture this Basculin, then his life in this game would become much easier than it was now.
Hiss~
The Poké Ball spun through the air toward Basculin, only to suddenly stop in midair while it was still some distance away from its target.
Click!
The red-and-white Poké Ball snapped open, and a blinding red light burst out from within.
As a player with plenty of gaming experience, Mason naturally would not act like a rookie Trainer and simply throw a Poké Ball the moment he saw a Pokémon.
He still understood the most basic rule of capturing Pokémon.
Before attempting a capture, weaken the target as much as possible.
To capture Basculin as smoothly as he could, Mason sent out the only Pokémon partner he currently had.
Crackle!
Bright-blue electricity flashed through the air, and a small figure hovered in midair.
Rather than calling it a Pokémon, it would be more accurate to describe it as a mechanical creature.
Its entire body was dark gray and black. A dull, single eye occupied almost seventy percent of its round body.
On either side of its body floated a horseshoe-shaped magnet, with a powerful electromagnetic force swirling around it.
The Electric-type Pokémon, Magnemite.
Mason had spent no small amount of effort to obtain this Magnemite.
Not only had he burned through every coin he had earned from working in the game, but he had also been forced to complete one tedious task after another.
Only recently had he finally managed to obtain the right to raise it from the Pokémon Nursery.
Logically speaking, a rookie Trainer like Mason, who had only just obtained his Pokémon partner, should not have entered a fishing tournament like this.
After all, if he could not even defeat the Pokémon he fished up, how could he possibly compete against the other contestants?
But Mason had his own reasoning.
Although his Magnemite's strength had not changed much since leaving the Nursery, and it had only just reached level 6, if its level was lacking, its typing could make up for it.
In the earlier generations of Pokémon games, Magnemite's Electric and Steel typing did not give its Electric side any special restraint over Water-type Pokémon beyond the standard type chart.
But this was Pokémon: World, a virtual game that emphasized realism.
As long as Magnemite used Electric-type moves, they would still have an outstanding effect on Water-type Pokémon.
On top of that, Magnemite could float in the air, giving it a major field advantage.
By attacking from above against opponents stuck below, it could absolutely fight wild Water-type Pokémon above its own level.
Now, under Mason's command, Magnemite quickly drifted upward the moment it came out of the Poké Ball, pulling away from Basculin in the water. It began storing electricity inside its body, preparing for a powerful strike.
Compared with Magnemite's lively energy, Basculin looked listless and drained.
If it had been in peak condition, it might have been able to rely on its powerful physical explosiveness to cause some trouble for the Magnemite in the sky.
But now, after two straight days of intense battles with Kael, followed by the exhausting struggle against Mason's fishing line, its stamina had already reached its limit. Its fighting ability had fallen to its lowest point, and that was not even mentioning its muddled mind under the influence of the strange scent.
In Basculin's current terrible condition, it was absolutely no match for a Magnemite commanded by a Trainer.
Unless something unexpected happened, its capture by Mason was already all but certain.
...
On the shore.
Elsewhere.
As for Mason, the confident contestant who had declared before the tournament that he would win the championship, Crystal had naturally been paying close attention to him for the sake of the ratings.
Now that he had made a catch, she quickly had the camera operator turn the lens toward Mason's fishing spot.
"The competition between our contestants is already heating up. The tournament has only just begun, but quite a few competitors have already made catches."
"Let's move in a little closer and take a look."
Holding the black microphone in her hand, Crystal led the camera closer to Mason's fishing position.
They did not get too close, of course. After all, they were only ordinary people. If they were accidentally caught up in a Pokémon battle, the consequences could be serious.
Crystal had the camera operator zoom in, giving Magnemite and Basculin a close-up, while she revealed her sweet, charming smile and continued hosting.
"As we can see, Contestant Mason is about to earn his first points of the tournament."
"His opponent is a fierce-looking Basculin, and it does not look easy to handle at all."
"Can he defeat his opponent? Let's wait and see."
...
At that moment, Mason was fully focused on the battle, so he naturally had no idea that millions of viewers were watching his performance in front of their screens.
Of course, even if he had known, he probably would not have shown any fear. On the contrary, he would have become even more excited.
After all, he was inside a virtual game right now, not the real world.
No matter how badly he performed, it would only be seen by NPCs in the game. There was not much pressure.
"Magnemite, use Thunder Shock."
Mason did not waste any time. Seeing that Magnemite, floating in midair, was almost ready, he gave the command.
The Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament used a point-based system, with scores determined by both the number and quality of Pokémon each contestant caught.
Once the tournament time ended, the contestant with the highest score would be crowned champion.
Mason had already fallen slightly behind some of the other contestants, so he naturally could not afford to waste any more time.
If he wanted to win the championship, he had to end each battle quickly.
Crackle.
Brilliant blue electricity surged over the horseshoe magnets on both sides of Magnemite's body. Under its magnetic control, the current was tightly compressed together.
Then it shot downward like a beam of light descending from the sky.
Basculin, floating in the water below, was already exhausted and half-conscious. Even faced with such a dangerous attack, it could only drift weakly through the water, trying in vain to dodge the thunderbolt falling from above.
But how could the reaction speed of a flesh-and-blood body ever compare to lightning?
The next second, there was a violent boom.
The brilliant blue light spread like a giant birdcage, enveloping the entire patch of water where Basculin was trapped.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!