Roy didn't stick around the town square to simply tease himself. Many other youths thought the same way, and some even rushed to the Pokéstore, which was a family-owned business.
Pokémarts still existed and were the staple for everyone to shop from, but Pallet Town didn't have any, so these Pokéstores would have to do.
Many teens rushed to the Pokéstore to buy some Pokéballs. They wanted to see if they could get fortunate in the wild and snag a Pidgey, Rattata, or Bellsprout, which were the only choices at this point.
Roy sighed and continued to the branch. Upon arriving at the Alliance building, which was a 3-story building with several windows on the higher floors. Roy simply pulled the door open and walked inside.
"This place is empty, but I guess this is good for me." There weren't really any trainers in Pallet, so this wasn't unusual.
"Oh, young man, what can I help you with today?" A tall man wearing a dark blue suit appeared at the counter. His hair was brown and slicked back, and he wore thick reading glasses.
"I need you to register these three Pokédexes, so they can have numbers. These three will be gifted to different people by the names of Troy, Luna, and Lucian."
Roy was eventually going to give these to his sister and brothers. Not just that, this would also unlock a tracking mechanic. He also registered his Pokédex and kept the last one in his storage.
"That will be ₽200." The tall man smiled and said bluntly. He made sure to write down the names said in detail; he had to spell the names right for registration.
With a bleeding heart, Roy pulled out the banknotes and handed them over. He only had ₽100 to his name now, which was enough for food for 1-3 days, if they stretched it.
Roy took a seat in the waiting hall until the Pokédexes were done.
"I think I'll sign into the South Sea tonight; this is my option for now." Roy smiled and pondered what he could get.
It took the Alliance an hour to give the Pokédexes a number. The tall man called him over and handed him the Pokédexes.
"It's rare to see someone with this many Pokédexes. Most use cellphones, but you actually have Pokédexes; this is a rare sight." Originally, the tall man was stunned to see the Pokédexes; this was the type of gear that was only given out by Professors, mainly.
The only reason it took an hour was because of the man and some staff members. They were doing a background check to see if these were stolen, but found that they weren't. The group surmised that they were likely given to Roy by someone.
What really matters is that they weren't stolen, so they didn't care much about their history.
"I'm glad you were able to witness it." Roy had an idea of what they were doing. If they were stolen, they simply would have arrested him. Clearly, they didn't find any thievery and registered the Pokédexes.
Roy received the Pokédexes and left in a hurry, but he made sure to store the Pokédexes. He went straight home and back into his room.
"Alright, let's do this beforehand." Roy actually checked all the numbers and put everyone's contacts in their Pokédexes.
"I won't give these Pokédexes to them yet; I'll wait a little before handing them out." Roy stayed home, exercised, and experimented with his Aura a bit.
He noticed he could detect people within a quarter mile of his position. He could see a Rattata scurrying outside, and he could detect a Pidgey chirping in a tree nearby.
"Haha, this is too amazing! What Pokémon can hide from me if I want to find them?" This was a powerful ability for Pokémon hunting. Roy's confidence soared when he thought about it; this would also prevent him from being ambushed.
Roy got on his Pokédex and got onto the internet. He watched Pokémon battles and looked up ways to boost a Pokémon's aptitude.
"Okay, this makes sense." While exploring the internet, Roy found out that maintaining a steady, healthy diet for a Pokémon could enhance their potential over time.
"It looks like specific diets can boost aptitude. For example, Onix eating rich minerals, or feeding your Steelix a few metal coats, could help exponentially." Roy rubbed his chin, smiled, and read more.
"Protein, Cabos, and Iron energy drinks for Pokémon can also help. Even in the games, these items cost quite a large sum. These elixir-like consumables cost around 100-105 Pokédollars each."
Of course, all of these methods didn't boost the aptitude right away. This took time and accumulation to achieve.
"Oh, right, I have something that boosts aptitude right away, right?" Roy quickly turned to his storage and found the unique candy consumables.
"These Bronze, Silver, and Gold candies are amazing. I would need to use these on my Pokémon." These candies had a diameter of 2.25 inches and matched the color of their packaging.
"These rare items were only given to me because I signed into the region. Could I receive such gifts from a regular sign-in?" Roy could only hope that this was the case.
Hours passed by, but Roy remained on his Pokédex. He was watching online battle videos when he heard the front door and voices.
Clearly, his siblings had returned home. Roy went over and saw them holding some groceries, not many bags of them. They all had downcast expressions, and it didn't take a genius to understand why.
"Oh, hey, Roy, did you stay home the whole time?" Luna was the first to speak.
"I went out a bit. I went to the town square for a bit before leaving. I couldn't find you guys amongst the large crowd of people, so I left afterward."
"It's good that you did, so you wouldn't have to tease yourself so much like we did." Lucian sighed, his expression still filled with longing.
"Yeah, you were smart for leaving. I wish I had left, but I stayed for my buddy." Troy shook his head, but this didn't break his will at all.
Once they settled in, Lucian and Luna got started on lunch. The table was quiet this time around. When they went to that event, reality really began to sink in.
The situation was urgent, and their friends were about to leave them behind. They would soon leave Pallet to start their journey across the region. If they were especially adventurous, they would eventually go to other regions and overseas regions as well.
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Three days passed, and Roy signed in continuously at the South Sea. He had completed the South Sea rewards, and the day of the teens' leaving for their journey was 2 days away. Many teens agreed to this day, while some actually left the day after receiving their Pokémon, or on that day.
Most teens were still trying to catch Pokémon in the wild, but if you failed to catch one, it would attack you or run away.
"These past three days, I've gotten two Waterstones from the first sign-in at the South Sea. My Second netted me two Water Pulse TMs, which is a TM you get from Misty as a prize for defeating her."
As for his third sign-in reward, Roy had gotten the Supreme Rod. The Rod could change modes. It had four modes, which were: Old, Good, Super, and Supreme.
This rod could attract certain tiers of Pokémon. The description warned him about its potential to attract level 30 to 60 Pokémon, which would be disastrous.
Naturally, Roy kept the mode on Old to prevent such problems. He couldn't even cope with the Good mode, much less the higher modes.
The Rod was a Black and Gold and had many decorative sigils on it, but looked high-tech at the same time.
"It's already 9:02 PM, three hours before my next sign-in. This time, I'll sign into the Black Market, then Professor Oak's lab again the next day."
Roy was already at the South Sea, where there were several ships docked. He could see many sailors on large ships, as this was an important trading and market port. It was also a good place to fish, something Roy wanted to do.
"Alright, let's go!" Roy gently swung his rod into the water below, waiting for a bite.
He had already bought ten Pokéballs from the Pokéshop, which only cost three Pokédollars each. It was a Pokédollar more than the Pokémart, but Roy didn't care.
Suddenly, something tugged at the line; there was no need for bait with this rod. Roy quickly reeled it in carefully, and what appeared caused him concern.
It had a light blue, bulbous, and clear body that blended into the ocean, making it hard to spot. Atop its head are two large, transparent red crystals on either side and one smaller red crystal in the center. These gems act as eyes and absorb sunlight to refract beams of energy.
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It was a Tentacool!
Tentacool looked up and saw Roy, and its eyes flashed. Suddenly, a green liquid shot from its mouth; it was no doubt an acid move!
"Oh!" Roy quickly dodged, nearly dropping his rod. He ordered in his mind to release this Pokémon, and the rod did so, dropping it back into the sea.
"Hoho, kid, looks like you reeled in something troublesome." Roy looked over at a sailboat, and on it was a middle-aged man in sailor clothes. He had blonde hair, green eyes, and was grinning at Roy.
"Yeah, it was a bad pull, but it should get better, I hope." Roy wondered how he was so unfortunate, but it was whatever.
"Hmm, kid, what kinda rod is that?" The Sailor squinted at the rod; he had never seen a rod like this before.
"It's a custom rod." That's all Roy said before continuing his fishing.
The sailor's eyebrows rose; this looked like a top-quality rod. Roy didn't seem interested in conversation, so he didn't bother.
In these 3 days, Roy had spent his time investigating aptitudes. At least, the aptitude he saw compared to the set aptitude ranks in this world.
Shallow Red, Red, Ruby Red| -> F, F+, F++
Shallow Orange, Orange, Topaz Orange| -> E, E+, E+
Shallow Yellow, Yellow, Citrine Yellow| -> D, D+, D++
Shallow Green, Green, Emerald Green| -> C, C+, C++
Cyan, Blue, Sapphire Blue| -> B, B+, B++
Magenta, Purple, Amethyst Purple| A, A+, A++
Gold| -> S
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This is what Roy had translated the aptitudes system of this world to be, compared to what he perceived.
F was the lowest, while S was the highest aptitude.
Suddenly, something tugged at the line again, and what he pulled up was a fish. Roy knew he would eventually fish this up; it was a Magikarp.
Roy yanked it up and onto land, where it started flopping uncontrollably.
"Karp Karp, Magikarp!"
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Roy glanced at it for a moment before throwing a Pokéball at it and capturing it. The ball shook left and right a few times before flashing red and falling silent.
"Nice! I caught a Magikarp, which should be added to my catch dex." It was a start, but also a responsibility. Thus, Roy had no choice but to release Magikarp soon after.
"I want to keep going, but I will only catch Magikarp and Tentacool. Tentacool is too dangerous, so I would need an actual Pokemon to confront one."
Tentacool actually had dangerous moves at an early level as well, which made it worse. Roy wasn't planning to stay, so he got up and left the South Sea.
"Right, dinner should be ready. I'll go home to eat and wait for tonight to sign in." Roy smiled and took his time walking home this time.