Kanto region, Vermilion City.
The endless shoreline was pocked with neat oval pits.
Where the sand met the sea, the holes were even more densely packed.
Beside the pits, crabs brandished enormous claws as they scuttled sideways—Krabby, every one of them.
"This beach stretches for kilometers—how many Krabby can possibly live here?"
Adrian glanced along the coast, shook his head and sighed, "Can't catch 'em all—absolutely impossible!"
Picking his target, Adrian baited the hook with a grin and lowered the bait right in front of the Krabby's mouth.
Because the crabs were on land, he could watch every move with his own eyes; fishing had never been easier.
Grrr…
Startled from its bubble-blowing daydream, the Krabby opened its eyes in annoyance, the two pincers clanging like iron tongs.
But when it smelled the bait its expression sharpened; it seized the morsel with a claw and stuffed it into its mouth.
"Up you come!"
Adrian yanked the rod the instant he saw the Bite.
[Krabby caught – reward: 1 energy cube.]
"energy cube? Works for me!"
Adrian beamed.
energy cubes weren't as flashy as tms, yet they fueled the rapid growth of his pokémon, so he never turned them down.
Grrr…
The hauled-up Krabby was furious, its massive claws snapping non-stop with metallic clangs.
After spitting out the hook it scuttled straight for Adrian, determined to teach him a lesson.
"Time to bail!"
Adrian didn't give it the chance; he hoisted his gear and sprinted off to find the next victim.
If escape proved impossible, little Pichu would take the stage.
One Electro Ball always calmed an irate Krabby right down—after all, their special defense was practically zero.
[Krabby caught – reward: 1 Dig tm.]
[Krabby caught – reward: 1 energy cube.]
[Krabby caught – reward: 1 Protect tm.]
[Kingler caught – reward: 1 Haze tm.]
[Kingler caught – reward: 1 Agility tm.]
As bucketloads of crabs were reeled in, the golden finger kept spitting out rewards until Adrian was dizzy.
Perhaps because these crabs loved burrowing in the wet sand, he noticed the Dig tm dropping with suspicious frequency.
[Dig: a Ground-type move—burrow underground, then strike when the moment is right.]
Truth be told, Dig was even handier in real life than in the games; it let a pokémon dodge attacks as well as launch them.
If the opponent lacked Earthquake or Earth Power, a digging enemy could be a nightmare to deal with.
"Still, none of my three pokémon can learn Dig right now."
Scratching his head, Adrian felt a twinge of regret, then glanced at the tiny Pichu on his shoulder. "Once you evolve into Pikachu, though, you should be able to learn it."
He rubbed Pichu's head and pretended to scold, "So when exactly are you planning to evolve, little guy?"
Pii~
Pichu spread his paws—beats me!
In theory, Pichu evolved through high friendship with the trainer, and Adrian figured they got along pretty well.
Daily energy cubes, tms whenever needed—the little fellow had never had it so good.
"Maybe we just need more time?"
Adrian stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Truthfully, only about six weeks had passed since he'd caught Pichu.
"Ah well, let nature take its course."
He shrugged, then went on fishing for Krabby and Kingler, raking in the rewards.
When the tide began rolling in around mid-afternoon, the crabs' holes were swallowed by the sea; Adrian packed up and prepared to check into the Vermilion City Pokémon Center.
Just then Gyarados and Dratini returned from their romp in the ocean.
Gya~
To Adrian's surprise, Dratini was holding a palm-sized, bright-orange scale that looked exactly like a pokémon scale.
He raised an eyebrow. "What've you got there, Dratini?"
"Gya, gya!"
Dratini was clearly excited, chattering away.
It was obvious the little dragon treasured the object—positively adored it.
"You're saying you found this in the sea?"
Adrian looked puzzled—could this Dratini have the Pickup ability?
First day out and it already scoops up something good.
"Lemme see."
He lifted the scale, studied it, then measured it against his hand. "Looks like a pokémon scale, only way too big. The edges are cracked, like it was damaged and fell off."
"Wait a second!!!"
Suddenly Adrian's eyes shot wide open. "Orange… part of Dragonite's scales are orange, right? And it's huge—could this be from that giant Dragonite?"
He remembered the anime: the giant Dragonite had taken several direct Rocket artillery hits near the lighthouse.
Those shells had made even the colossal pokémon howl in pain.
Losing a few scales under that barrage sounded perfectly plausible.
"So it's a scale from the giant Dragonite—no wonder it's saturated with strange energy, and no wonder Dratini's obsessed."
Watching Dratini cuddle the scale like treasure, Adrian grew convinced.
Dratini and Dragonite shared the same bloodline; a Dragonite scale would naturally exert a powerful pull.
"Still, why was that Dragonite so enormous? Even a boss pokémon shouldn't be that massive."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "An ancient pokémon that's lived since prehistoric times? Whatever the case, that giant Dragonite is no ordinary creature."
He looked at Dratini and the scale and mused, "With that scale in hand, Dratini might gain something unexpected."