"Rain Dance skill?" Caster froze for a moment before his face lit up with delight.
Rain Dance, that was the cornerstone skill of any Rain Team, manually setting the weather to seize greater control over the battlefield.
Although his Magikarp couldn't learn Rain Dance yet, having this TM in reserve finally put Caster's mind at ease.
Once Magikarp evolved into Gyarados, his Rain Team tactics could properly unfold.
Suppressing his excitement, Caster turned his gaze to the Poliwag, and its stats immediately appeared.
[Pokémon: Poliwag]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Damp (By dampening the surroundings, prevents explosive moves like Self-Destruct from being used)]
[Moves: Water Gun, Hypnosis, Pound]
"It's not Swift Swim?" Caster sighed inwardly, a bit disappointed.
Swift Swim was obviously the ideal ability for a Rain Team Poliwag.
If it evolved into Poliwrath down the line, keeping that ability would make it a high-speed Rain Team sweeper, leaving opponents dizzy and confused.
And if it evolved into Politoed instead? Even better—its ability would shift to Drizzle.
Auto-weather? That was the true MVP of any Rain Team!
"Poli~"
Watching the Poliwag still munching on bait, eyes wide and glistening, refusing to leave the water's edge, Caster found it somewhat amusing.
This little guy was seriously greedy.
An idea sparked. Caster picked up a small piece of bait and waved it toward the Poliwag with a grin. "My bait's pretty good, huh? Come on, have a bit more."
"Poli~"
The Poliwag in the water seemed timid, apparently a little afraid of Caster.
But the bait smelled way too good. Eventually, it wiggled its tail and swam over to the shore.
"Poli~"
It gulped down the bait in one bite, closing its eyes to savor the taste.
Ah, delicious!
Caster took the opportunity to pat the Poliwag's smooth, slippery head, speaking with mock seriousness.
"Go on, bring your family over! I've got plenty of bait left. You gotta learn to share, can't hog it all yourself, got it?"
"Poli~"
The Poliwag looked at Caster thoughtfully, then swam off.
After that, Caster caught several more Goldeen.
[Caught 'Goldeen,' rewarded with 1 Peck TM.]
[Caught 'Goldeen,' rewarded with 1 Energy Orb.]
[Caught 'Goldeen,' rewarded with 1 Bounce TM.]
...
"Finally, another Bounce TM!" Seeing the last notification from his cheat ability, Caster beamed.
"Karp~"
Just then, Magikarp surfaced from below, blowing bubbles from its mouth.
Compared to before, Magikarp had become noticeably thicker and stronger.
And as its strength improved, its eyes had grown sharper too, no longer as... "wise" as before.
"Come here, let me pat your head!" Caster waved, and Magikarp obediently presented its head.
At the same time, Caster activated the Bounce TM from his fishing space.
Buzz!
A faint tremor rippled through his mind, and Magikarp's face lit up with joy.
It knew, its trainer was giving it another power boost.
Soon, Magikarp's understanding and mastery of Bounce deepened considerably, as if it had spent ages training in some other dimension.
It now understood how to better manipulate Flying-type energy, how to use air currents to glide, jump higher, strike farther, and hit harder.
Simultaneously, Magikarp's stat panel changed instantly.
[Pokémon: Magikarp]
[Type: Water]
[Ability: Rattled (When hit by Dark, Ghost, or Bug-type moves, becomes startled and Speed increases)]
[Moves: Splash (Mastered), Tackle (Mastered), Flail (Expert), Bounce (Proficient)]
"Magikarp's Bounce has finally reached the Proficient level." Caster grinned, then noticed Flail sitting at the Expert level, and his smile widened even further.
Goldeen could also learn Flail, so the odds of getting a Flail TM when catching Goldeen were much higher than with Magikarp.
That meant in just a few short days, Magikarp's Flail had been pushed all the way to the Expert level.
Aside from Magikarp, Goldeen was the second most common Pokémon species in these waters, so Caster had no shortage of them to catch.
Poliwag, on the other hand, was much rarer. Today was the first time Caster had hooked one.
What disappointed him, though, was that the Poliwag never came back with its family. Caster waited all afternoon for nothing.
Caster sighed in frustration, gritting his teeth. "Damn it! I got totally scammed!"
"Still, with Magikarp's current size and a Proficient-level Bounce, using it against Grass-types should give solid results."
Caster chuckled to himself. "Plus, I heard there's a big lake in Celadon City where tons of Water-types live. The fishing's supposed to be wild there.
There's even rumors that Krabby crawl ashore and pinch people. Wonder if that's actually true!"
Caster packed up his gear, anticipation building for his trip to Celadon City.
...
The next morning, Caster got up early, grabbed Magikarp's Poké Ball, slung his bag over his shoulder, and set off for Celadon City.
Given his limited strength, Caster had no intention of hiking through the forest on foot. Instead, he boarded a bus headed for Celadon.
Vroom, vroom, vroom!
The bus started up and soon left Cerulean City behind, rolling into the suburban outskirts.
Caster sat by the window, and the frame captured a moving canvas.
A Scyther leaped between treetops, startling a flock of Pidgey into the air with flapping wings.
Butterfree flitted through flower beds collecting nectar, with Beedrill nearby, but both sides coexisted peacefully.
In the misty mountain forests beyond, Mankey could be seen hopping about, mirroring the Magikarp leaping from the stream below.
As the bus passed through a residential village, Caster spotted a Rhydon plowing a field and a Meowth dozing on a rooftop.
Before long, a vast, lush forest appeared before him.
Even from a distance, Caster could make out a large, prominent building within the forest, faint bell chimes ringing in the air.
"That must be the Kanto Pokémon Academy!" Caster figured out the school's identity.
This was a high-level institution where students didn't need to collect Gym Badges; graduation automatically granted them entry into the Pokémon League competition.
One of the school's top students, Giselle, was a fairly popular female trainer.
She was so beautiful that even Ash couldn't resist her, developing a bit of a crush.
"Though by now, Ash probably already beat Giselle and changed her attitude a bit, right?" Caster estimated the timeline.
After earning the Cascade Badge, Ash and his group wasted no time continuing their journey toward Vermilion City.
Heck, Ash might've already defeated Lt. Surge's Raichu and earned the Thunder Badge by now.
Around noon, the bus passed through Saffron City.
Saffron City was the largest and busiest city in the entire Kanto region, famous even in other regions.
Not only did it house Kanto's central commercial district, it also boasted the region's largest infrastructure. The towering headquarters of Silph Co. stood tall right in the city center.
"No wonder it's an international metropolis. Absolutely magnificent." Gazing at the endless skyscrapers and powerful trainers everywhere, Caster felt genuinely impressed.
Compared to Saffron City, Cerulean City was practically the countryside. The gap was huge.
Unfortunately, Caster was only passing through. No matter how much he wanted to linger, he had to keep going to Celadon City.
By evening, Caster finally arrived in Celadon City.
Celadon City was also a major city, second in scale only to the massive metropolis of Saffron to the east, and equally prosperous.
Celadon's bus station was located in the city's northwest corner, right next to the Department Store.
And the Celadon Department Store was the tallest building in the city, as well as the largest shopping center in all of Kanto.
"It's still early. Might as well check out the Department Store first! Come to think of it, my fishing gear could use an upgrade."
The thought crossed Caster's mind. As he walked toward the Department Store, he pulled out his phone and started his livestream.
"Hey everyone, I made it to Celadon City!"