Pokémon: The Cheating Life

Chapter 25: The Dratini of the Safari Zone

"A tie?" Lillie asked, surprised.

"No, I won. Look, Greninja is still in its Bonded Evolution form," Ron shook his head and explained.

Just as Ron said, Greninja stirred, struggling to stand up. Only after stabilizing itself did it exit the Bonded Evolution state, sitting on the ground and panting heavily. Ron walked over, patted Greninja on the shoulder, and said, "You did great, Greninja. I'll heal you right away."

Taking out Antidote, Paralyze Heal, and a Potion from his backpack, Ron carefully treated Greninja. Meanwhile, Koga retrieved his Arbok and walked toward them. He pulled out a scroll from his chest pocket, unrolled it, and handed Ron the pink badge. "You're really strong, and your Greninja's performance was remarkable. I'm even more interested in catching one myself. I might take a trip to Kalos soon to see if I can find one."

"Thank you, Gym Leader Koga, for the badge. But I also appreciate that you didn't use your main Pokémon against me. If you had, I probably would've lost badly," Ron said. "By the way, where does this Arbok rank in your team? I want to gauge my current strength."

Koga chuckled and answered without hesitation, "Honestly, I haven't had this Arbok for long, but its potential is excellent—it'll be one of my main Pokémon in the future. Right now, it probably ranks within my top 20."

Hearing this, Ron felt a little disheartened. More than anything, he realized how far he still had to go. He needed to become much stronger. After finishing Greninja's treatment, Ron and Lillie bid farewell to Koga and Ayako before heading toward the Safari Zone.

As Ron and Lillie walked away, Ayako looked puzzled and asked, "Brother, you're lying. That Arbok is strong enough to be in your second team, maybe even your top ten. It's not that weak."

Koga patted her head. "You're still too young to understand. Ron owns a Legendary Pokémon—he's already someone the League is closely monitoring. It's been a long time since Kanto and Johto have seen a Champion-level trainer. Lance is nearly at Champion level and will soon leave for Johto to take over as its Champion, but Kanto still doesn't have one. Ron's rapid growth has caught the League's attention, and they plan to cultivate him into a potential future Champion."

Ayako was stunned silent. After a moment, she said seriously, "Brother, I want to get stronger. When you become an Elite Four member, I will take over this Gym."

Koga smiled approvingly and patted her head again. "Then prepare for special training. As my sister, you can't afford to slack off."

"Yes, Brother!" Ayako replied firmly.

---

Meanwhile, Ron and Lillie had entered the protected area of the Safari Zone. Inside this zone, capturing Pokémon was prohibited. They spent an entire day traveling before arriving at the Laramie Ranch, but unfortunately, they had missed the timing for the famous Pokémon race.

After resting for a night at the ranch, they rushed toward the Safari Zone the next morning. Although Ron had no interest in the two Dragonair and Dratini rumored to live there, he needed to collect their Pokédex data to complete his mission.

As soon as they opened the gates to the Safari Zone, they were startled by the sight of two gun barrels pointed directly at them.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked an old man, holding two revolvers.

Ron raised his hands in mock surrender and shrugged. "Whoa, easy there, old man. We're not bad people. Besides, if we were, you'd already be dead."

He pointed behind the old man, where Mewtwo had silently appeared, holding a spoon-like weapon inches from the man's head.

Ron quickly calmed Mewtwo down. "Relax, old man. Put your weapons away. We're just regular Pokémon Trainers here to catch Pokémon and gather data."

"Yeah, sir, we're not bad people," Lillie added.

The old man hesitated before lowering his weapons. "Fine. I'm Caesar, the warden of the Safari Zone. Follow me."

Inside his office, Caesar handed them 30 Safari Balls and a fishing rod. "You can only use these Safari Balls inside the Zone. If I catch you using anything else, I'll make sure you regret it—even if it costs me my life!"

Ron laughed nervously. "Got it. By the way, I already have a fishing rod. Is that fine?"

"As long as you don't use other Poké Balls to catch Pokémon, it's fine," Caesar replied.

After receiving their Safari Balls, Ron and Lillie entered the Safari Zone. The moment they stepped in, a large herd of Tauros stampeded past them, reminding Ron of the 30 Tauros Ash had captured.

Shaking off the thought, he handed 15 Safari Balls to Lillie and said, "Here, Lillie. If you find a Pokémon you like, catch it."

Lillie's eyes lit up. "Let's make it a contest! The first to catch 15 Pokémon wins! But we have to go separate ways. Once we're done, we'll meet back at Caesar's office."

Ron hesitated but then nodded. "Alright, but be careful. Don't get hurt."

Lillie assured him she'd be fine, released Snowy, picked a direction, and ran off.

Ron shook his head, released Charizard, and climbed onto its back. "Let's go find the Dragon's Den."

After searching for nearly an hour, he finally found a small valley with a lake. Landing beside the water, he recalled Charizard, grabbed a flat rock to sit on, and took out his Super Rod and some Pokémon food.

Since he now had a mansion and planned to turn the first floor into an aquarium, he figured it was time to start catching Water-type Pokémon. His goal was to fill all 15 Safari Balls with top-tier Water-types.

However, Ron was picky. He wouldn't even consider anything below high-tier quality.

He attached the Pokémon food to his fishing hook and cast it into the lake.

A few moments later, the fishing line tightened. With a swift pull, a blue-and-white Pokémon emerged from the water.

Looking closely, Ron hesitated.

It was a Dratini.

A top-tier one.

Ron was at a loss. He hadn't planned to catch the Dratini mother and child duo, but this Dratini's perfect potential was tempting.

Just as he was thinking about what to do, a splash echoed behind him.

A larger, longer blue-and-white Pokémon surfaced.

A Dragonair.

A high-tier one.

Ron chuckled bitterly. "Great… I caught the kid, and now the mom shows up."

Sighing, he released Dratini and handed it some Pokémon food. "Your mom's here. Go home."

As he spoke, his heart ached.

A top-tier Pokémon… and he just let it go.