Since Omanyte and Omastar were both curled up inside their shells, Caster decided to start with Kabuto.
Kabuto had a brown, dome-shaped shell. The two black circles on top of its shell and the red circles beneath its body were both sets of eyes.
According to its Pokédex entry, Kabuto had flourished three hundred million years ago. It was believed to have lived on beaches. When hiding underwater, it observed its surroundings through the eyes on its back while its hard shell protected its body.
Plop!
The bait dropped into the water and gradually began dissolving. Tiny particles broke away and were drawn into Kabuto's mouth as it breathed.
Although it was still asleep, that didn't stop it from getting a taste of the bait.
Without opening its eyes, Kabuto stirred, then snapped its mouth around Caster's bait through sheer predatory instinct.
"Got one!"
Delight spread across Caster's face as he hurriedly pulled up his rod.
Although Kabuto's entire body was covered in rocky armor, it was still quite small and didn't weigh much. Caster reeled it in with ease.
[Caught "Kabuto," rewarded with 1 TM for "Ancient Power."]
[First time catching "Kabuto," additional reward: 1 "Primal Stone."]
The cheat ability's reward notifications appeared, followed immediately by Kabuto's stat panel.
[Pokémon: Kabuto]
[Type: Rock / Water]
[Ability: Swift Swim (Speed increases during rainy weather)]
[Moves: Absorb, Harden, Aqua Jet, Ancient Power, Mud Shot]
"It actually has Swift Swim?"
Caster's eyes lit up.
Kabuto's evolved form was Kabutops. Although its base stat total was under five hundred, those stats were distributed fairly well. Combined with Swift Swim, it could earn a place on a rain team.
Its main flaw was its abundance of weaknesses. In particular, its quadruple weakness to Grass was brutal.
"Kabu~"
Having been pulled out of the water, Kabuto finally woke up.
The instant it saw Caster, it went on high alert. It spat out the hook and prepared to cry out for its companions.
Team Rocket and Ash had awakened it not long ago, so Kabuto had an extremely poor impression of intruders.
Caster had anticipated this and quickly shouted, "Slowpoke!"
"Understood!"
Slowpoke's voice echoed in Caster's mind. A hazy light appeared in its eyes as energy surged from its body, freezing Kabuto in midair.
Disable!
"Slowpoke, tell it that we won't hurt it as long as it stays quiet and doesn't move. But if it attacks us, we won't hold back."
Caster relayed the message to Slowpoke through telepathy. Slowpoke immediately translated it for Kabuto, adding a heavy note of warning.
There were more than twenty Fossil Pokémon inside the cavern, but Caster had already instructed Pikachu to set up Electric Terrain. A single full-field Discharge would take down more than half of them.
But unconscious Pokémon couldn't bite his hook, and that wasn't what Caster wanted.
"Kabu..."
Faced with overwhelming force, Kabuto abandoned any thought of resistance. It curled into itself and trembled.
"All done!"
Slowpoke chuckled and used its psychic power to place Kabuto off to one side. However, a faint veil of psychic energy remained around its body to prevent it from trying anything.
Caster then turned his attention to the rewards he had just received.
[Ancient Power: A Rock-type move. The user attacks with the power of ancient stones. This may also raise all of its stats.]
[Primal Stone: A stone containing the vast aura of ancient times. Greatly increases the chance of triggering Ancient Power's additional effect.]
"Hm?"
When Caster read the description of the Primal Stone, his eyes widened and his pupils trembled.
Ancient Power wasn't a particularly strong attack. Although its additional effect was terrifying, the chance of triggering it was so low that the move wasn't especially popular in battle.
But when paired with the Primal Stone, that chance would increase dramatically. That was incredible.
Ancient Power's additional effect raised every stat by one stage, which was equivalent to fully activating Royal Authority of the Sea once.
More importantly, Royal Authority of the Sea could only be activated once, while Ancient Power's effect could trigger a second or even a third time, stacking its boosts over and over.
Just imagining such a terrifying state made Caster's scalp tingle.
Of course, the Pokémon first had to withstand that degree of comprehensive enhancement.
Even so, Caster's breathing quickened and his pulse raced with excitement.
"Even without considering the possibility of triggering Ancient Power's effect multiple times, a single boost to every stat would already be terrifying."
This was a comprehensive increase to every stat!
"Fossil Pokémon really are rare. The rewards are incredibly generous."
Caster marveled at his good fortune, but soon realized there was a problem.
"Unfortunately, none of my Pokémon seem capable of learning Ancient Power."
Caster sighed quietly, then turned his attention back to the Kabuto curled up nearby.
"This Kabuto already knows Ancient Power. Using the reward on the Pokémon it came from wouldn't be a bad choice."
Kabuto felt a chill run through its body beneath Caster's burning gaze and began trembling violently.
"But there's no rush. I might find an even better candidate."
Caster smiled at the frightened Kabuto. He decided to keep searching for the best of the best and resumed fishing.
[Caught "Kabuto," rewarded with 1 TM for "Ancient Power."]
[Caught "Kabuto," rewarded with 1 TM for "Screech."]
[Caught "Kabuto," rewarded with 1 TM for "Ancient Power."]
Repeating the same process, Caster soon caught all eight Kabuto and brought each one under control.
The unevolved Kabuto weren't particularly strong. With the sheer strength of Slowpoke's psychic power, suppressing them was effortless.
Caster then turned his attention to the much stronger Kabutops.
Kabutops was Kabuto's evolved form. Its shell was brown, while its breastplate, claws, and the scythes on its arms were white. Its head was triangular, with two horns extending backward.
Scientists believed Kabutops had once inhabited warm seas. It was a vicious ancient Pokémon that folded its razor-sharp scythes close to its body and rapidly swam back and forth by swaying its slender body and shell from side to side.
Its lean body made it an extremely fast swimmer. Once it closed in on its prey, it tore the victim apart with its scythes and drained every last drop of bodily fluid.
Before he began, however, Caster decided to deal with the group of Kabuto.
"Pikachu, use Sing on these Kabuto."
"Pika~ Pika~ Pi~"
Pikachu raised its voice in song. Its energy transformed into musical notes that drifted through the air and settled over the Kabuto.
"Kabu~"
The Kabuto soon fell into a deep sleep, saving Slowpoke from having to suppress them constantly with its psychic power.
Plop!
The bait entered the water once more and landed beside a Kabutops's mouth.
Before long, Kabutops responded.
Perhaps because they had slept for so long without eating, these Fossil Pokémon were actually starving.
Before their eyes had even opened, instinct drove them to open their mouths and bite down on the bait.
Caster saw everything from the shore and quickly pulled up his rod.
"Up you come!"
Splash!
Water sprayed through the air as Caster hauled Kabutops out of the pool.
[Caught "Kabutops," rewarded with 1 TM for "Swords Dance."]
[First time catching "Kabutops," additional reward: 1 "X Attack."]
The cheat ability's notifications appeared, followed immediately by Kabutops's stat panel.
Caster had no time to examine it.
Kabutops had already awakened completely. The moment it saw Caster, Pikachu, and the other Pokémon, it flew into the same panicked state as the Kabuto.
Boom!
Before Slowpoke could react, water enveloped Kabutops's entire body. It shot toward Caster like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Water-type move: Aqua Jet!
"Kabutops~"
Dragonair immediately slithered forward and placed itself between Caster and the attack. A translucent barrier appeared above its head.
Bang!
Protect blocked Aqua Jet, leaving the attack unable to reach its target.
At the same time, Slowpoke's psychic power surged in from every direction, bearing down mercilessly on the ferocious Kabutops.
Kabutops lived up to its reputation as an ancient predator. Its strength was considerable. Although it couldn't escape being restrained, it still managed to unleash a piercing howl before Slowpoke could suppress it completely.
In an instant, every sleeping Fossil Pokémon in the pool opened its eyes!