Kanto region, Vermilion City.
Along the lengthy coastline, countless regularly-shaped oval pits dotted the landscape.
Especially at the boundary between the beach and the water, these pits were particularly numerous.
Near the pits, crabs waving their large pincers scuttled about sideways—Krabby, to be precise.
"This coastline must stretch for miles. Just how many Krabby are there?"
Caster glanced at the expansive shoreline and shook his head in amazement. "I could never catch them all! Absolutely impossible!"
After selecting a target, Caster cheerfully baited his hook and placed the bait right in front of a Krabby's mouth.
Since these crabs were on shore, Caster could watch their every move with his naked eye, making fishing much more convenient.
"Koo~"
Suddenly disturbed, the Krabby—which had been blowing bubbles and spacing out—opened its eyes in annoyance. Its pincers made a "clang clang" sound, like two metal shears snapping.
However, upon smelling the bait's aroma, its expression immediately sharpened. It grabbed the bait with its pincer and brought it to its mouth.
"Got it!"
Seeing this, Caster quickly pulled the rod.
[Krabby caught. Reward: 1 Energy Orb.]
"An Energy Orb? Not bad!"
Caster smiled cheerfully.
Energy Orbs might not seem as obviously useful as TMs, but they supported the rapid growth of all his Pokémon, so Caster never complained about having too many.
"Koo~"
The hooked Krabby was furious.
Its massive pincers kept snapping, producing a constant "clang clang clang" of collision sounds.
After spitting out the hook, the Krabby's four legs moved rapidly as it charged toward Caster, intent on teaching him a lesson.
"Time to bounce!"
But Caster didn't give it the chance. He hoisted his fishing gear and ran off, then found his next victim.
If he really couldn't get away, then it would be Pichu's turn to step in.
After all, one Electro Ball would calm down any enraged Krabby.
Krabby's special defense was practically nonexistent, after all.
[Krabby caught. Reward: 1 Dig TM.]
[Krabby caught. Reward: 1 Energy Orb.] x N
[Krabby caught. Reward: 1 Protect TM.]
[Kingler caught. Reward: 1 Haze TM.]
[Kingler caught. Reward: 1 Agility TM.]
As Caster caught large numbers of crabs, his cheat ability churned out rewards one after another, making his head spin.
But perhaps because these crabs particularly loved digging holes in the sandy beach, Caster was surprised to notice that the Dig TM seemed to appear at an unusually high rate.
[Dig: Ground-type move. First dig underground, then strike at an opportune moment.]
To be fair, the Dig move was more useful in the real world than in the games. Not only could it be used to attack, but it could also dodge enemy attacks.
If the opponent hadn't mastered moves like Earthquake or Earth Power, dealing with an enemy using Dig would be incredibly frustrating.
"Though, none of my three current Pokémon can learn Dig."
Scratching his head, Caster felt somewhat regretful, then glanced at the Pichu on his shoulder, thinking: "But if Pichu evolves into Pikachu, it should be able to learn Dig."
At this thought, Caster couldn't help rubbing Pichu's head, asking with mock anger, "Pichu, when are you finally going to evolve?"
"Pii~"
Pichu spread its paws, essentially saying, "How should I know?"
According to the established lore, the key factor for Pichu's evolution into Pikachu should be its friendship with its trainer, though Caster felt confident his bond with Pichu was quite good.
After all, he provided Energy Orbs daily and taught it new moves via TMs regularly. The guy's life with Caster couldn't be more comfortable.
"Maybe it's just been too short a time?"
Caster stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Because truthfully, from when he caught Pichu until now, it had only been about a month and a half.
"Whatever, I'll let nature take its course!"
Caster shook his head, then continued fishing for Krabby and Kingler, constantly harvesting rewards.
By three or four in the afternoon, when the tide began to rise, the Krabby burrows were quickly submerged.
Caster decided to stop fishing and pack up to head to the Vermilion City Pokémon Center to check in.
Right at that moment, Gyarados and Dratini, having had their fill of fun, returned from the sea.
"Yol~"
But to Caster's surprise, Dratini was holding something in its mouth—a palm-sized, entirely orange-yellow object that looked remarkably like a scale.
Caster raised an eyebrow curiously. "Dratini, what's that?"
"Yol~ Yol~"
Dratini looked quite excited, constantly calling out to Caster.
But clearly, it was very fond of this item, obsessively so, even.
"You're saying you found this thing in the ocean?"
Caster's expression turned peculiar. Did this Dratini have the Pickup ability or something?
Its first outing, and it seemed to have found something valuable.
"Let me see!"
Caster picked it up and examined it carefully, comparing it to his hand a few times, muttering, "It looks like some kind of Pokémon scale, but this scale seems absurdly large. The edges have cracks, like it was damaged and fell off."
"Wait a minute!!!"
Suddenly, as if something occurred to him, Caster's pupils dilated in shock and delight.
"Orange-yellow... I remember Dragonite's scales are partly orange-yellow, right? And this scale is so huge, could it be a scale from that giant Dragonite?"
Caster recalled the anime episode. When the giant Dragonite approached the lighthouse, it took several direct hits from Team Rocket's cannons.
Those cannons were powerful enough to make even the giant Dragonite howl in pain.
In that case, the giant Dragonite losing a few scales from the attack seemed perfectly reasonable, didn't it?
"So it's a scale from the giant Dragonite. It must contain some kind of unique energy from that Dragonite, no wonder Dratini is so obsessed with it."
Watching Dratini treasure the scale like a precious gem, Caster became increasingly certain of his guess.
After all, Dratini and Dragonite shared the same evolutionary line, so a Dragonite's scale would naturally hold such great appeal for Dratini.
"Come to think of it, why is that Dragonite so enormous? Even a Totem Pokémon wouldn't be that exaggerated, right?"
Caster stroked his chin thoughtfully, murmuring, "Could it be an ancient Pokémon that's survived from antiquity to modern times? But regardless, this giant Dragonite is definitely extraordinary."
At this thought, Caster looked at Dratini and the scale in its mouth, thinking: "Now that Dratini has obtained this scale, it might lead to some unexpected benefits."