Pokemon: Bounty Hunter

Silas was utterly dumbfounded.

Wait a minute—there was nothing wrong with his reasoning! A damaged item naturally didn't have much value, especially since it only had a 6% effect.

Flying-type items weren't particularly in demand either. 2 million Pokémon dollars was already a reasonable price—maybe even a little high.

Silas couldn't understand what was happening. He immediately sent a series of question marks to the seller, trying to clarify the situation.

Before the seller could reply, Silas noticed that the post had already been updated.

"Sold for 28 million."

Silas was speechless.

Was there actually someone out there willing to spend that much money on a useless item? Did they not see money as money anymore?

Silas felt envious, a little bitter, and completely in disbelief.

Just then, the seller finally responded to his message.

"Sorry, bro, I got a little too excited just now. You're a Trainer, right? For a Trainer, 2 million was already a high price. But two collectors came out of nowhere and started bidding against each other, driving the price up to 28 million. My bad, man."

The guy was actually pretty polite, Silas thought.

After reading the seller's explanation, Silas finally understood what had happened.

Pokémon collectors people who loved to collect rare Pokémon and valuable related items were usually the wealthiest of the wealthy.

Since they already had more money than they knew what to do with, the only way they could show off was by acquiring rare and unique treasures.

It was said that their gatherings were basically just opportunities to brag about their collections—the rarer the item, the more admiration they received.

Silas had underestimated the situation. A damaged item with only a 6% effect might be useless to a Trainer, but to collectors, it was an incredibly rare piece with great value.

Silas let out a bitter chuckle but wasn't too disappointed.

He had only tried to buy it on a whim, hoping he might get lucky. He hadn't expected two collectors to swoop in and use sheer wealth to crush his chances.

In a way, missing out wasn't a bad thing. At least he had saved 2 million Pokémon dollars—money he could now invest in training his Pidgeotto.

Silas clenched his fists and thought to himself, One day, when I have that much money, I'll play this game too.

But then he shook his head.

Wouldn't it be better to spend that money on training Pokémon instead of buying useless items? He still couldn't understand how rich people thought.

After taking a deep breath to calm himself, Silas browsed through the forum again, but all he found were either buying requests or bait posts.

Like this one—"Fire-type Pokémon are trash. Fight me if you disagree."

Silas clicked on it and, unsurprisingly, saw a flood of angry comments.

"Who do you think you are? Do you even own a Fire-type Pokémon? Broke loser."

"Yeah, Fire-types are trash... but they only completely destroy Grass, Steel, Bug, and Ice types. LOL."

"Honestly, though, Charizard and Blaziken aren't cool? Weaknesses don't matter when they look awesome. And they can still crush noobs, haha. (dog emoji)"

"I see your point, but I think Ninetales is stronger. Also, Vulpix has such a gentle personality."

"Wow, someone's rich. Vulpix is rare enough, and you're acting like a Fire Stone is no big deal? I'm jealous."

As Silas read through the replies, he suddenly realized something.

At first, everyone was just throwing insults. But as the argument went on, people started seriously discussing which Fire-type Pokémon were worth training. They were even pulling out evidence to back up their points.

Silas understood.

This was bait.

A useless discussion thread: "Anyone know which Fire-type Pokémon are good for training?"

Replies: "No." "None." "Too expensive." "Not viable early-game."

An effective bait thread: "Fire-type Pokémon are trash. Fight me if you disagree."

Replies: (Hundreds of comments arguing and sharing insights.)

Silas took notes, realizing that this was a common tactic.

After scrolling through a few more posts, he lost interest and closed the forum.

Instead, he opened the video section. A notification popped up—yesterday's Indigo League Finals video was available, along with new uploads from several of the Trainers he followed.

Without hesitation, he paid for all of them and settled in to watch.

Those five videos alone cost him 1,000 Pokémon dollars, but Silas didn't regret it at all. Watching elite Trainers' battles was invaluable for improving his own skills.

Not to mention, he also occasionally purchased research papers from Pokémon Professors. Those were even pricier—5,000 Pokémon dollars per paper, and that didn't even include explanations.

But it was all worth it. These were necessary expenses.

The Next Morning

A gentle breeze swept through Viridian City, carrying the fresh scent of Viridian Forest across the town.

The sun had just begun to rise, casting soft golden light over the horizon and marking the start of a new day.

It was late spring, transitioning into summer. The weather was cool and refreshing.

Silas stood in his backyard, dressed in a black sleeveless training shirt, going through his daily workout routine.

A true Trainer or bounty hunter needed to maintain peak physical fitness. In dangerous situations, survival often depended on one's strength and endurance.

This was a lesson Silas had learned the hard way, through real-life experience.

Sweat trickled down his sharp, chiseled features and soaked into his brown, slightly messy hair. His well-defined muscles were clearly visible beneath his training attire.

Finishing his last set of exercises, Silas exhaled deeply and grabbed the towel hanging around his neck, wiping away the sweat.

He then reached for a Poké Ball and released his partner.

"Pidgeotto, you're free to fly around for a bit. If you get hungry, eat some berries. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Pidgeo~!"

The moment it was released, Pidgeotto responded enthusiastically, flapping its wings and soaring into the sky.

Silas watched it for a moment before heading back inside to freshen up.

After finishing, he stepped out while drying his hair.

Wearing only a pair of light blue casual shorts, his lean yet muscular physique was evident, exuding the youthful energy of a dedicated trainer.

After putting on a hoodie, Silas stepped outside. Pidgeotto had already returned, perched on a berry tree in the backyard.

"Pidgeo~" Seeing its trainer, Pidgeotto flapped its wings in greeting.

"Good morning, good morning! We'll start today's training soon," Silas responded with a grin.

Pidgeotto flapped its wings again, signaling that it was ready.

"Alright, first step—warm-up. Same as usual, 120 miles. Meet me at the usual spot." Silas took out the weighted training gear and spoke to Pidgeotto.

Pidgeotto obediently flew down and allowed Silas to attach the equipment.

Once everything was secured, Pidgeotto flapped its wings and soared into the sky, beginning its first training session of the day.

Silas stretched, yawned, and started jogging after it.

For Pidgeotto, 120 miles was just a standard distance. After all, wild Pidgeottos could have territories as vast as 60 miles.

Right now, Silas's Pidgeotto could finish the warm-up in about 25 minutes with the weights. Without them, it would take only 15 minutes.

Once it evolved into Pidgeot, things would be even more insane. Even wild Pidgeots could reach speeds close to Mach 2. Silas was eager to see how fast his Pidgeotto would become after evolving.

As for whether Pidgeotto might slack off?

In this world, the desire for Pokémon to grow stronger was deeply ingrained in their genes. Slacking off was almost impossible. Besides, Silas and his AI assistant, Zero, could analyze the data and confirm the training results.

There was no need to worry.

For Silas, jogging this distance was nothing.

In the Pokémon world, trainers had remarkable physical endurance. Besides, Silas had been training his body rigorously for years.

Breathing in the fresh morning air, he maintained a steady pace and eventually arrived at their usual training area.

This place was near the border of Viridian Forest and Viridian City but was quite secluded, surrounded by dense trees.

Silas did some light stretching as he waited.

"Pidgeo~"

Pidgeotto called out as it descended into the clearing.

"Alright, warm-up's done. Next, agility training," Silas said as he stepped forward and removed the weights.

"Same as usual—use Agility to weave through the trees as fast as you can." Without giving Pidgeotto time to rest, Silas gestured towards the dense forest.

He knew Pidgeotto's stamina well.

Pidgeotto, already used to the routine, immediately took off.

A yellow blur darted through the trees, zigzagging at high speeds. Occasionally, it would misjudge the distance and bump into a tree trunk, but it quickly corrected itself and kept going.

Silas took out his laptop, adjusting the data based on Pidgeotto's movements.

An hour later—

"Alright, take a break," Silas called out.

Pidgeotto, visibly exhausted, landed beside him, panting.

Silas took out a healing spray and applied it to Pidgeotto's minor scrapes.

"Let's rest a bit before moving on to the next session."

Pidgeotto gave him a tired, slightly resentful look. It was used to the intense training, but exhaustion was inevitable.

Silas chuckled and pulled out a Sitrus Berry.

Pidgeotto's eyes lit up, and it quickly devoured the fruit.

Sitrus Berries were a more potent variant of Oran Berries. They tasted similar but provided superior energy restoration, making them much more expensive.

Silas normally only used Oran Berries, but thanks to the windfall from his recent trade, he could afford to give Pidgeotto a Sitrus Berry today.

Once Pidgeotto finished eating, they resumed training.

By noon, with the sun high in the sky, its bright rays made it difficult to keep one's eyes open. Silas finally called it a day.

Back at home, despite his own hunger, he prioritized preparing a specialized meal for Pidgeotto. Training without proper nutrition was just wasted effort it was only meaningful if the body could properly recover and grow stronger.

Once Pidgeotto started eating, Silas headed to the kitchen. He grabbed a steak from the fridge and began grilling it.

Before long, he sat at the dining table, cutting into the steak with one hand while holding a glass of Miltank milk in the other.

That morning alone, he had spent over 10,000 Pokédollars.

Even the glass of Miltank milk he was drinking had cost 500 Pokédollars.

The bulk of his spending, of course, went into Pidgeotto's nutrition.

In the afternoon, they focused on battle training.

Silas and Pidgeotto spent hours at the Pokémon Center battle arena, challenging various trainers and their Pokémon. Between matches, they would heal up at Nurse Joy's station before continuing.

In the evening, Silas stopped by the marketplace to stock up on supplies.

After enjoying dinner, the day's training came to an end.

Just like that, two weeks passed in the same routine.

Pidgeotto had successfully reached Level 36.

As he wrapped up the day's training, Silas glanced at his rapidly shrinking wallet and let out a bitter chuckle.