Aiden Flint watched as the golden light around Aron's body slowly faded.the once-small Aron had evolved into Lairon with a height of over a meter. Its entire body gleamed with a metallic golden sheen, radiating a powerful Pokémon: Lairon (Shiny)
Level: 32
Ability: Heavy Metal
Type: Steel / Rock
Potential: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Harden, Metal Claw, Rock Tomb, Dragon Rush, Iron Head, Double-Edge, Protect
Friendship: 185
Seeing that it had retained its gold-tier quality even after evolving, Aiden felt a wave of satisfaction. It was exactly what he had expected. A Shiny Aron that started with gold aptitude would not suddenly drop in potential after evolving.
If anything, the real hope now lay in its final form.
Metang and Lairon… If either of them could break into red-tier quality upon their final evolution, Aiden would truly be holding monsters that rivaled legendary Pokémon in potential.
Forest-type Pokémon like Grovyle and Chimchar, on the other hand, were born with purple quality. Leaping across two tiers into red was almost impossible, no matter how much effort or fortune was poured into them.
Still, even without red quality, a gold-tier Metagross or Aggron would already be more than strong enough to dominate most battlefields.
And besides… Aiden had Rayquaza.
That alone made him feel a lot more at ease.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The long-awaited Pokémon Capture Contest in Verdanturf Town finally began.
Hundreds of Trainers from across Hoenn gathered for the event. Even compared to regional tournaments, the number of participants was astonishing. After all, the entry fee was low, and the rewards were tempting.
The town mayor stepped onto the stage in his extravagant suit and delivered a long, passionate speech. Nurse Joy and the head of the security team stood beside him, serving as official judges.
Once the rules were announced, the three-day capture contest officially began.
As Aiden lined up to receive his supplies, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
"Wait… That's… Harrison?"
Harrison was one of the three prodigies who started their journey alongside Torkoal—no, Torchic—Mudkip, and Treecko. In the original timeline, he would later raise Blaziken and even defeat Ash's Charizard in the Silver Conference.
Her companions, Torkoal—no, Torchic—Terry—no, Torkoal was wrong—Brendan and Morrison should also be out there somewhere.
Harrison, Brendan, and Morrison… the trio of rising stars from Hoenn.
They were all monsters in their own right.
Aiden merely smiled and shifted his focus back to the present.
After turning in all six of his Poké Balls, he was handed thirty green Park Balls. These were the only tools allowed inside the protected area.
No Pokémon were permitted to assist in captures. Inside the reserve, all Trainers started from zero.
Only the Pokémon caught inside could be used.
That was what made the Capture Contest so fair.
Carrying a large basket of Park Balls, Aiden stepped into the massive protected zone.
The reserve was enormous—lakes, forests, mountains, plains—nearly the size of a small city.
Exploring all of it on foot in three days was impossible.
Which meant… a mount was essential.
Fast Pokémon like Arcanine, Rapidash, or Dodrio were ideal.
Arcanine was too difficult to capture without battle. Dodrio was too aggressive.
That left Ponyta.
Sure enough, after searching for about an hour, Aiden spotted a lone Ponyta grazing in a meadow.
"Ding! Target detected."
Ponyta
Level: 15
Ability: Flash Fire
Type: Fire
Potential: Blue
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Ember, Flame Wheel, Stomp
Likes: Spicy food, loves running
Aiden's eyes lit up.
Greedy. Loves spicy food. Perfect.
He reached into his bag and pulled out several Oran Berries… no, not Oran—these were Figy Berries, loaded with spicy flavor.
The rules never said he couldn't bring berries.
He placed them on the ground.
The Ponyta hesitated for a moment, then slowly trotted closer, its curiosity and hunger overpowering its caution.
Step one—success.
As the Ponyta happily munched on the berries, Aiden spoke gently.
"Ponyta… how about coming with me? I'll give you food like this every day. And you'll have endless plains to run across."
The Ponyta blinked.
Then it nodded.
Aiden gently tapped it with a Park Ball.
The ball shook once… twice… three times…
Click.
Capture successful.
Ponyta was his.
After briefly sending Ponyta into the System Space to stabilize it, Aiden released it again. Now that it had confirmed everything was real, its affection jumped to eighty.
He climbed onto Ponyta's back. The flames around its mane felt warm but no longer burned him.
"Alright, Ponyta. Do you know where Pokémon like Eevee live around here?"
Ponyta tilted its head, thought for a moment… then neighed and pointed its hoof toward the northwest.
Aiden's eyes lit up.
Bingo.
With Ponyta as his guide, Aiden shot off toward the northwest at full speed.
Eevee.
Rare. Highly adaptable. Perfect for building an evolutionary clan.
And since the rules allowed up to ten of the same species…
Aiden was about to go shopping.
The capture contest had only just begun.
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL