The next day.
Natsuhiko got up early, with more than 3,500 yuan in his pocket, and took Weedle out to the street.
Before, being poor meant he didn't care about his attire, but now that he had a bit of money, he needed to change his outfit at least to not look too shabby, or else he might leave a bad impression on those hiring sparring partners at the Silver Pokémon Battle Club and lose potential income.
The sparring fees at the Silver Pokémon Battle Club are quite high, and more sparring jobs mean more money for him.
Relying solely on the basic salary of 8,000 is absolutely not enough to fully carry out his plan for raising Weedle.
He spent over a hundred yuan on a simple new outfit for himself from head to toe.
Not very fancy, but at least the clothes were fitting and clean.
Leaving the clothing store.
Natsuhiko then went to the Pokémon Breeding Bookstore and bought a few books on the care of Insect-type and Poison-type Pokémon.
He had quite a bit of knowledge about Pokémon, possibly even far beyond what most people in this world understand, but he also had a significant shortcoming.
His knowledge of Pokémon was mostly limited to the types, techniques, traits, and some mental pairings from playing the Pokémon game.
The Pokémon in the game were static, whereas the Pokémon now are living creatures.
He couldn't raise them like playing a game.
It was necessary to adapt to the actual situation.
So he needed a lot of theoretical knowledge, regarding Pokémon care, body changes, personality changes, and other aspects.
Currently, he could only learn through books.
He picked up several books such as "Insect-type Pokémon's Habits and Feeding Details", "In-depth Analysis and Expansion of Poison-type Pokémon's Poison", "In-Depth Analysis of the Evolution from Weedle to Beedrill".
The book titles sounded appealing, but whether they would be useful still needed to be evaluated after reading.
However, the books were genuinely expensive, with five books costing nearly five hundred yuan.
Knowledge indeed came at the highest price.
After buying the books, he had one more task to complete.
The three objectives for going out today were already achieved with the simplest two.
He walked into a store selling Pokémon food.
"Sir, may I help you?"
The shelves were packed with a dazzling array of products, from cute-looking Pokémon snacks to various energy blocks and food labeled for different Pokémon. On an entire shelf, various types of milk were neatly arranged, with the most expensive and famous being MooMoo Milk from the Johto Region.
The Weedle hanging on Natsuhiko's shoulder glanced at the fragrant foods, its small eyes wide open as it struggled to contain the drool in its mouth.
Patting Weedle to calm its excitement, Natsuhiko said to the store clerk, "Do you have food specifically for Pokémon like Weedle? Something like energy blocks."
The clerk looked at Natsuhiko's Weedle with some difficulty and said, "Sorry, sir, exclusive Pokémon food needs to be customized. If needed, you can leave your request, and we will tailor the food based on the Pokémon's characteristics and the desired adjustments and enhancements."
The clerk was relatively patient and did not show any disdain just because Natsuhiko had a Weedle.
However, it was obvious that specially made Pokémon food would be very expensive and likely beyond Natsuhiko's current financial reach.
"Do you have any energy blocks suitable for Insect-type Pokémon, perhaps compatible with Poison attributes as well?" Natsuhiko decided to settle for the next best thing.
"I suggest these few options."
With that, the clerk presented several boxes containing crystal-clear energy blocks.
Upon smelling the emitted fragrance, Weedle's eyes were transfixed.
This showed how enticing these energy blocks were to Weedle.
"These two are basic energy blocks, suitable for Insect-type Pokémon and Poison-type Pokémon respectively. Long-term consumption can slightly improve the Pokémon's abilities and is more conducive to using and developing their attribute energy." The clerk pointed at two of the boxes.
One was a pale blue energy block, and the other was light purple, both equally translucent but with visible impurities inside.
"What about this one?" Natsuhiko asked, looking at the box beside it.
The clerk smiled and said, "This is an intermediate energy block, known as a Fluorescent Energy Block, which perfectly combines Insect and Poison energies. It's made with the Jade Leaf Fruit, perfectly suited to an Insect-type Pokémon's palate..."
The clerk gave a detailed introduction to this energy block.
It piqued Natsuhiko's interest, prompting him to ask, "What's the price?"
The clerk's smile widened, "As it's an intermediate energy block, it costs slightly more at 50 League Coins per piece."
50 League Coins…
Natsuhiko's expression stiffened.
He had anticipated energy blocks for Pokémon to be expensive but never imagined they would be so costly.
This was just an intermediate block; it was difficult even to think of the prices for advanced or special-level blocks.
These energy blocks contained high energy, and with Weedle's current appetite, it would need about 2-3 pieces per meal. Three meals a day would be 6-9 pieces, conservatively 7 pieces a day, costing 350 League Coins.
Doing the math, Natsuhiko could feel a toothache coming on.
Seeing his difficulty, the clerk continued, "Of course, the other two basic energy blocks are also quite good products, priced at only 20 League Coins each, offering much higher cost performance."
Yet Natsuhiko decisively shook his head.
Weedle's starting base was less than other Pokémon. If he settled for less here, who knew when he could reach his standards.
Thinking it over, "Please pack 50 pieces for me."
The remaining money might not last long, but 50 pieces should be enough for Weedle for a few days.
If the club didn't arrange for sparring for him in the next few days, he might have to tighten his belt again.
Regardless, Natsuhiko was not stingy about Weedle's food.
"Alright." The clerk gave him a slightly surprised look.
He hadn't expected this plain-dressed, somewhat malnourished-looking trainer to spend so willingly on a Weedle.
"By the way, how much is the MooMoo Milk?"
Milk could strengthen Weedle's body and greatly aid its carapace growth.
"A bottle of MooMoo Milk is 450ml and costs 50 League Coins. Regular Pokémon milk is slightly cheaper at 10 League Coins a bottle." The clerk said while packing the energy blocks.
Indeed, milk from Miltank was as good as gold...
Muttering to himself, "Is there a discount for buying so much?"
"This..." the clerk hesitated, pausing in his actions as if making a significant decision, "I'll offer you a 5% discount. Our store generally doesn't offer discounts."
Natsuhiko understood the sales tactics but didn't expose it. A discount was better than none, and after calculating his remaining funds, he said, "Then I'll take 8 bottles of MooMoo Milk and 12 bottles of regular Pokémon milk."
"Alright, please wait a moment."
Finally.
After spending nearly all of his remaining League Coins, Natsuhiko carried the bags and bags of items and headed back to the club by bus.
Fortunately, he didn't need to worry about his food since the club provided meals. They might not be delicious, but as long as he was full, Natsuhiko didn't mind.
As long as Weedle could grow smoothly, all his efforts would be worth it.