Don't think you can't make money from Bug Catchers.
And never underestimate the power of a group.
No matter what, it's definitely faster than Silas grinding away day after day in the wilderness.
"All right."
Kurt called a halt to the two of them, who were enthusiastically chatting away.
They really are still just kids, he thought to himself.
Compared to Kurt, both Bugsy and Silas were undeniably young, so young it was almost absurd.
"You're planning to have all the Apricorns Mr. Pokémon gave you turned into Apricorn Balls?"
Kurt asked, lifting the bag in his hand.
"Yes."
Silas nodded.
"All right," Kurt said after a moment's consideration. "There are quite a few here, and White Apricorns and Black Apricorns are a bit troublesome to process."
He frowned and did some quick calculations.
"I'll start making them for you shortly. It should take… about three days."
"That's fine, that's fine. I can wait."
Silas responded immediately.
To be honest, being able to finish in just three days already exceeded his expectations.
He'd originally thought it would take at least a full week.
Clearly, Kurt had deliberately moved his order up in the queue.
This also explained why mass-produced, industrial Poké Balls had gradually replaced handmade Apricorn Balls.
Although the latter possessed many incredible properties and were extremely helpful when catching Pokémon, their limited output was undoubtedly a major obstacle preventing them from becoming the mainstream capture tool.
Even someone universally acknowledged as the most skilled craftsman, Kurt himself could only make twelve Apricorn Balls in three days, let alone apprentices.
That simply wasn't conducive to the Pokémon League's efforts to promote the Trainer profession.
Not to mention that Apricorns themselves were relatively rare.
"Aren't you keeping some to make Apricorn Juice?"
Bugsy asked curiously. "If I remember right, you're a Pokémon Breeder, aren't you? You should know how to make that."
"No need."
Silas waved his hand.
"Apricorn Juice consumes too many materials, and the effect isn't nearly as good as people imagine."
Bugsy nodded in agreement.
"True. If you used them for juice, you'd lose at least half the number of Apricorn Balls you could make."
The Apricorn Juice they were referring to was another way of using Apricorns.
As the name suggested, it involved juicing them like ordinary Berries.
However, compared to standard recovery Berries, Apricorn Juice provided an additional effect—boosting the consumer's stamina.
Based on Silas's studies and the projections from Zero, that effect could only be described as barely acceptable.
And there were plenty of other ways to achieve similar results.
That was why Silas had never planned to use this bag of Apricorns for juicing in the first place.
To him, that would have been an absolute waste.
"All right, if you two don't have anything else to do, get out. I'm starting work."
Watching the two of them chatting away enthusiastically in his backyard, Kurt began shooing them off.
Energetic young people were far too noisy—especially when there were two of them.
"Got it, got it."
Bugsy grinned and pulled Silas along, clearly used to Kurt's attitude by now.
After greeting Maizie, who was quietly reading inside, the two stepped out of the wooden house.
"What, thinking about learning how to make Apricorn Balls?"
Seeing Silas glance back again and again, Bugsy immediately understood what he was thinking.
"Ah, not really…"
Silas said a bit sheepishly.
Was he really that obvious?
He reflected on himself internally.
Seems I've been away from the wild for too long, need better control over my facial expressions.
"If you really want to learn, just tell that old man directly."
Bugsy said lazily.
Without Kurt around, his demeanor changed noticeably—not just his posture, but even the way he spoke.
"Uh… would that really be okay?"
Silas was tempted.
"There's no problem at all. If you've got the talent, that old man would be thrilled to have you learn from him."
Bugsy shrugged.
"But I should warn you—given his personality, if you really start learning, you probably won't have much energy left for being a Trainer."
"Then never mind."
Silas backed out immediately.
In his view, everything he learned was meant to serve a single purpose of becoming the strongest Trainer possible.
If learning to make Apricorn Balls slowed his growth as a Trainer, that would be completely missing the point.
More importantly, Apricorn Ball crafting took far too much time.
Learning itself wasn't the problem.
Putting aside his previous life, Silas had never been afraid of studying in this one.
The real issue was that even after learning, making a single Apricorn Ball still took two or three hours.
That really would be wasting his life.
Hearing this, Bugsy felt both relieved and a little regretful.
His relationship with Kurt was genuinely close.
At Kurt's advanced age, he no longer had much energy to spare.
Finding a suitable disciple had become his greatest wish.
Unfortunately, in this era, the art of handcrafting Apricorn Balls was simply too complex and too unattractive.
There were plenty of Trainers like Silas—interested, but unwilling to invest massive amounts of time.
Bugsy understood completely.
After all, his own thinking was the same.
Otherwise, his goal wouldn't be to become the strongest Bug-type Pokémon Trainer, but the greatest Apricorn Ball craftsman instead.
On one hand, he worried Silas might learn a little and then give up, wasting Kurt's effort.
On the other, he regretted that if Silas truly had great talent in this area, Kurt's wish would once again become harder to fulfill.
"Oh—wait, that's not good."
Bugsy suddenly slapped his forehead.
"Sorry about this, but I need to meet with Officer Jenny and the others this afternoon to discuss something. I'll have to take my leave now."
He apologized to Silas.
"No problem at all. Gym Leader Bugsy, go ahead, I'll take a look around on my own."
Silas replied quickly.
So that was why Bugsy had said earlier that he wouldn't be free this afternoon.
That said…
Scratching his head as he watched Bugsy walk away, Silas frowned slightly.
Meeting with Officer Jenny…
Could it be because of that Team Rocket member he'd discovered?
If so that would be one hell of a coincidence.
And Officer Jenny's response speed was impressively fast.
"Hmm… should I go take a look at the back mountain?"
Staring at the roadside map, Silas fell into thought.
Meanwhile, on the other side—
Bugsy, carrying his bug-catching net, sprinted all the way to the police station's conference room and pushed the door open.
"Sorry everyone, I'm late."
He apologized sincerely to the several Officer Jennys who turned their gazes toward him.
"Gym Leader Bugsy, your timing is perfect."
Officer Jenny naturally wouldn't be displeased over a Gym Leader being a few minutes late.
After all, under the League's system, all the Officer Jennys stationed here were technically under Bugsy's jurisdiction.
"We were just discussing the Team Rocket incident that recently occurred in town."
The Officer Jenny seated at the head of the table spoke.
"Have things been mostly clarified?
How many of them are there, where are they located, and what's their objective here?"
Bugsy took a breath, sat down in his designated seat, and asked.
"It's still unclear, but we've already discovered some traces of their activity.
The second squad is currently tailing them."
Another Officer Jenny gave her report.
This was the power of the Pokémon League.
To put it bluntly, if the League truly took dark organizations seriously, there would be no room at all for their survival.
Even Team Rocket at its peak in the future would be no exception.
The underground black market that once operated in the shadows was the best example.
The League simply hadn't acted due to various considerations once it did, it would be over in minutes.
"Speed up the investigation.
Find out who's directing them to come here—preferably not those people.
Also, this is a period of frequent incidents, so I'll have to trouble you all for a while longer."
Bugsy's tone remained gentle.
"Understood."
The four nearly identical Officer Jennys in the room replied in unison.
"By the way, Gym Leader Bugsy, about the informant's reward…"
The third Officer Jenny looked toward her superior.
"Hm, we'll decide after everything's settled.
If it turns out to be a major case, the discoverer should be generously rewarded."
Bugsy answered promptly.
That was the standard procedure for most cases.
After all, discovering a Team Rocket member eating at a restaurant and discovering one plotting to destroy the world obviously couldn't carry the same reward.
"By the way, who reported it?"
Bugsy asked on a whim.
Team Rocket members were practically like Grimer lurking in the sewers.
While their markings were indeed conspicuous, actually finding them was far from easy.
Rumor had it that the very first thing Team Rocket taught its recruits was how to hide their tracks.
"It was Trainer Silas Alaric, from Viridian City in Kanto."
The name spoken by Officer Jenny caused Bugsy's eyebrow to twitch slightly.
"Him…"
Bugsy murmured.
"Gym Leader Bugsy, do you know this talented Trainer?"
Officer Jenny asked with a smile.
"Yes. We just met earlier," Bugsy shook his head. "I was late precisely because I chatted with him on the way. I even told him I wouldn't be free this afternoon, turns out he was the one who gave me work."
He found it rather amusing.
When they had been at Kurt's place earlier, Bugsy had received the police station's call precisely during the brief moment Kurt went out to greet Silas.
Otherwise, Bugsy would have been perfectly free for Gym Battles this afternoon.
"Report."
An Officer Jenny knocked at the conference room door.
"This is Lynn, responsible for relaying information from the second squad."
Knowing Bugsy wouldn't be able to tell them apart, Officer Jenny made the introduction.
"Go ahead. What's the latest development?"
Bugsy gestured.
Officer Jenny Lynn snapped to attention and delivered her report rapidly.
"We've discovered signs of Team Rocket activity near Slowpoke Well.
In addition, they appear to have split into two groups, there are also traces of them appearing on the back mountain."
"Slowpoke Well?"
At those words, all five people who had been seated in the conference room stood up at once.
This was Azalea Town.
Slowpoke Well wasn't just a tourist spot.
For those who had grown up here, it was a spiritual cornerstone.
By comparison, even the charcoal business associated with the back mountain seemed trivial.
"Team Rocket is getting bolder by the day."
A cold glint flashed through Bugsy's eyes.
He might look cute but his strength and reputation had been earned bit by bit.
Team Rocket's actions were nothing short of a slap in his face.
"I'll go mobilize personnel immediately."
The Officer Jenny seated at the head of the table decisively left the room.
Bugsy didn't stop her.
Instead, he turned to the fourth Officer Jenny still present.
"Keep the information contained.
Prevent civilians from interfering with the operation, and prepare post-incident response plans."
"Yes."
The fourth Officer Jenny gathered her notes and quickly exited as well.
"Deploy the preliminary action squad to the back mountain for a sweep search, prevent them from using a diversion.
Squad Four is to establish a perimeter outside Slowpoke Well. No escapees.
Squad Three, focus on signal jamming and surveillance."
Inside the conference room, Bugsy issued orders one after another, and everyone sprang into action.
At the same time on the back mountain.
Rustle, rustle.
Strange sounds came from the bushes taller than a person.
"Hey, Fatty, are you sure it's okay for us to act on our own this time?"
A sly, uneasy male voice whispered.
"What's there to worry about?"
Another, rougher voice replied impatiently.
"We're Team Rocket. This kind of small job doesn't need to be reported to the higher-ups."
"But I heard the Azalea Gym is pretty strong…"
"What are you talking about? A trash Bug-type Gym using trash Bug-type Pokémon, how strong could it be? I bet it's just some hype the League cooked up to develop this dump."
Looking closely, a fat man and a skinny man, both dressed in Team Rocket uniforms, were crouched in the bushes, staring at each other.
They continued whispering.
"Develop?"
The skinnier one looked confused.
"What's there to develop in a place like this?
Aside from charcoal, are they expecting to dig a Pokémon out of a dead volcano?"
The fat one rolled his eyes disdainfully.
"What do you know? There are so many Slowpoke here, setting up a breeding farm would be easy.
It's just that the idiots here keep spouting nonsense about a 'Slowpoke God' not approving. A bunch of fools sitting on a gold mine and not knowing how to exploit it."
Slurp.
The skinny one swallowed instinctively.
"You know… I grabbed a Slowpoke Tail earlier today. Tasted really good."
"You idiot! Who told you to go out on your own?!"
The fat one suddenly snapped.
"Relax. You know how capable I am—no one noticed."
The skinny one shrugged it off.
"You—"
The fat man glared.
If not for his lack of raw strength, he'd never have chosen to partner with an idiot like this.
If idiots didn't have idiot luck, how else would this fool have ended up with such an outstanding starter Pokémon?
"I saved some for you. Want it?"
Seeing the situation turning bad, the skinny man hurriedly pulled out the remaining piece of Slowpoke Tail from his clothes.
The fat man snatched it away.
"Anyway, I've already scouted everything out. Once we finish this job today, we run."
He spoke indistinctly as he tore into the meat.
"Once it's a success, forget money, send it back to the organization, and we can have anything we want."
....
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