At the small lake beneath Mt. Moon.
Caster had been sitting there for ages, fishing up a few more Magikarp and Goldeen, harvesting some Energy Orbs.
But the Marill family he'd been hoping for never showed up again.
"Figures. Got stood up again!"
Caster sighed inwardly, fighting down the urge to send out Gyarados and blow up the whole fishing spot. He quietly reeled in his line.
Not blasting the fish pond was Caster's bottom line as a fisherman.
Next, Caster let his consciousness sink into the fishing space, examining the two TM rewards he'd gotten from catching that Marill.
[Helping Hand: Normal-type move. Helps an ally, boosting the power of the assisted Pokémon's move beyond its usual strength.]
[Draining Kiss: Fairy-type move. Steals the opponent's HP with a kiss and restores some of the user's own HP.]
"Can't believe I even pulled Draining Kiss!"
Caster's face lit up with delight.
Draining Kiss was a move that combined offense and recovery, massively boosting a Pokémon's staying power—potentially even making it stronger as the battle went on. Its importance went without saying.
Most crucially, Draining Kiss recovered HP at a rate fifty percent higher than moves like Drain Punch, Mega Drain, or Dream Eater.
In game terms, it restored 75% of the damage dealt as HP. The only move in its league was Yveltal's signature move, Oblivion Wing.
That's how terrifying it was!
As for Helping Hand, it was incredibly useful in double battles or group fights—the ultimate support move.
"Pichu! I've got two more goodies for you..."
Caster called Pichu over and immediately taught it both moves.
Once Pichu had fully absorbed them, Caster put on a serious face. "But next, I'm putting you through intensive battle training. You need to toughen up your fighting spirit, and fast."
Pichu's current state was more than good enough as a cute pet, but nowhere near ready to be called a battle partner.
"Pichu~"
Hearing this, Pichu clenched its fists and nodded solemnly.
Though timid by nature, deep down it longed to grow stronger.
Just then, a couple dressed in matching green outfits approached from nearby, preparing to pitch a tent for a picnic camping trip.
The guy glanced at the Pichu in Caster's pocket, his eyes practically burning with excitement.
He called out loudly, "I'm Shunichi, a Trainer from Pewter City! Interested in a Pokémon battle?"
With that, Shunichi tossed out a Poké Ball.
In a flash of red light, a Pokémon appeared that looked like a gray, round boulder with protruding stone eyebrows, trapezoidal eyes with brown irises, and a pair of muscular arms.
It was a Rock and Ground dual-type Pokémon - Geodude!
Faced with this sudden challenge, Caster raised an eyebrow and sized up Shunichi, thinking to himself, "With that getup, he's probably one of those NPC Trainers from the Pokémon world—you know, a Youngster or Camper type."
"But he's perfect for giving Pichu some practice and building up its fighting spirit."
Caster put away his fishing gear and stood up, meeting Shunichi's gaze with a nod. "I accept your challenge."
...
For three days straight, Caster camped at the base of Mt. Moon.
He seemed to have become a hybrid of fisherman and Youngster, when no one was around, he fished for rewards to nurture his two Pokémon, and when Trainers passed by, he challenged them to toughen up Pichu's fighting spirit.
In just three days, Caster challenged over a dozen passing Trainers, giving Pichu considerable battle experience, especially against Geodude.
Pichu: Give it up, Trainer!
All of Pewter City is nothing but Geodude!
"Time to head to the Pewter Gym!"
On the morning of that day, Caster packed up his gear, put on his Pichu cap, and hopped on his trusty bike.
After over an hour of riding, Caster finally arrived at the Pewter Gym.
It was a building shaped like a giant boulder with steel-forged doors that looked incredibly rugged.
When Caster arrived, a figure lurking in a corner not far away immediately snapped to attention, though the look in their eyes wasn't exactly friendly.
Seven days!
A full seven days, and this "Fishing Dreamer" still hadn't accepted her friend request.
At the thought, Clair, dressed in her stylish cape, couldn't help grinding her teeth, her knuckles going white as she gripped her whip.
She, a distinguished disciple of the Dragon Tamer family, the Gym Leader of Blackthorn City in the Johto region.
Lady Clair herself, couldn't even get a friend request accepted by some minor influencer with a hundred thousand followers. What an absolute humiliation.
Even regional Champions weren't this hard to reach!
The real kicker was that as a Gym Leader, she was busy.
During these seven days staking out Pewter City, the phones back in Blackthorn City had practically exploded with calls demanding she return to run the Gym, or else face complaints from the League.
Still, since she needed Caster's help, Clair ultimately swallowed her anger and followed him inside.
Besides, she was actually pretty curious about Caster challenging the Pewter Gym with a Pichu.
Could Pichu really win?
"Start the stream first!"
At the entrance, Caster pulled out his phone and started his livestream.
"Hey everyone, I'm in Pewter City now. About to jump into the Pewter Gym challenge."
Caster greeted the camera, and adorable Pichu popped up from behind his head right on cue, looking absolutely precious.
"Time to eat!"
"Aww~ Pichu Pichu, my Pichu, you're so adorable. Mommy loves you!"
"Hey, shameless guy in the frame, could you scoot over? You're blocking my view of the cute little Pichu streamer."
...
Since he'd announced the stream time in advance, plenty of fans were waiting. The moment the stream went live, comments flooded in.
"Huh? Did I just lose my streamer status?"
Seeing the viewers' attention almost entirely focused on Pichu, Caster scratched his head.
"Guess you're hosting, then!"
Caster smoothly handed the phone to Pichu, letting it take over the stream for a bit.
As for himself, he pushed open the steel doors of the Gym and stepped inside.
"Pi?"
Pichu, now holding the phone, looked completely bewildered, fumbling adorably—which only made viewers love it more, sending comments flying.
"Hello, I'm here to challenge. Is anyone around?"
Caster pushed through the door into the Gym, finding it pitch black inside—he couldn't see a thing.
Click!
Suddenly, a light flicked on.
Under the light sat a rock platform, atop which sat a middle-aged man who looked ninety percent like Brock, with a rugged, resolute face.
"I'm Flint, the Gym Leader of Pewter Gym."
Flint sat cross-legged, eyes unreadable—whether open or closed was unclear—as he announced, "Are you today's challenger?"
"That's right! I'm Caster from Cerulean City, and this is my partner Pichu. We've come to challenge you."
Caster took back the phone, pointing the camera at Flint, while Pichu immediately scrambled up onto Caster's head.
"Huh? Isn't the Pewter Gym Leader supposed to be Brock? How'd it turn into some middle-aged dude?"
"Bro, your info's out of date. This guy is Brock's dad, the previous Gym Leader. See his face? Father and son are practically identical."
"True that. They wouldn't even need a paternity test."
"Brock's father? The previous Gym Leader? Doesn't that make him way stronger than Brock?"
"Streamer, facing such a tough opponent, are you sure you still want to send out little Pichu?"
...
In the livestream chat, viewers debated heatedly, many begging Caster not to use Pichu.
With a snap of his fingers, all the lights on the Gym ceiling blazed to life.
Flint leaped up, landing at the command position on the battlefield, pulling out a Poké Ball and shouting!
"Pewter Gym rules limit this to two Pokémon. Loss of all battling ability means defeat. Any problem with that?"
As soon as he finished speaking, doors on both sides of the Gym opened, and massive rocks slid in from either side, quickly forming a standard rock battlefield.
"No problem! My first Pokémon is right here - Pichu!"
Caster lifted Pichu down with his hand, patted its little behind, and encouraged it to bravely take the field.
"Pi~"
Pichu nodded solemnly and stepped forward with determination.
After these past few days of training, Pichu's fighting spirit had noticeably improved. It was no longer so reluctant to battle.
"A while back, a Trainer with a Pikachu came to challenge. Now here comes one with a Pichu. How interesting!"
Seeing Pichu, Flint paused for a moment, then a hint of amusement crossed his face.