"Ah, looks like you guys won't be catching any Pokémon today."
Watching the scattered Pokémon disappear into the distance, Nathan sighed softly.
But when he turned his head, he noticed something surprising — Xurkitree was still curiously wriggling around near Lily, not frightened off at all.
Apparently, the gunshots from earlier hadn't scared Xurkitree in the slightest.
"Lily, I think you can give it a try — see if you can capture this Xurkitree. It's got quite a lot of guts."
Nathan spoke with a hint of amazement in his voice.
Logically speaking, baby Pokémon are usually quite timid and easily startled.
But this particular Xurkitree was displaying a level of boldness not typical for young Pokémon — and earlier it wasn't just the sound of gunfire; there were Pokémon that had actually gotten hurt in the chaos.
-------------------
When it came to Pokémon matters, Lily had always held immense trust in Nathan's judgment, rarely questioning him. Especially now, when he was being told that this rare and unusual Pokémon was within reach.
So, following Nathan's suggestion, Lily took out a few Pokéblocks and offered them to Xurkitree to eat. Afterward, he pulled out a Pokéball and attempted to capture it.
But then something unexpected happened — something that surprised both Lily and Nathan.
Xurkitree refused to enter the Pokéball.
"What, you don't want to be her Pokémon?" Nathan asked, activating his Viridian Power, trying to communicate directly with the creature.
But Xurkitree didn't even acknowledge Nathan. It was clear from its demeanor that it viewed Nathan as an outsider and wasn't interested in interacting with him.
This put Nathan in a bit of a bind.
After all, it wasn't every day you came across a rare Pokémon that seemed just right for a new trainer, only to have it flat-out refuse to be caught.
Could it be that the Pokéblocks weren't enough? Or maybe Xurkitree didn't like them?
Wait a minute…
Nathan suddenly had a flash of realization.
Wasn't Xurkitree a Pokémon that loved to absorb electricity?
If he gave it electricity — real, pure, high-voltage electricity — would that be the key to winning its trust and finally capturing it?
As soon as the idea popped into his mind, Nathan immediately called out to the system in his head.
"Quick, quick, quick — get me a stun gun. I'll pay five thousand Pokécoins."
This system of his would sell firewood if it could, so a stun gun? That shouldn't be a problem at all.
Sure enough, the system responded promptly, and a sleek, high-powered stun gun was handed over to Nathan.
Pretending to rummage around in his backpack, Nathan then pulled it out and showed it to Lily — much to her astonishment.
This kind of equipment wasn't exactly unheard of in the outside world, but ever since Pokémon became commonplace in society, stun guns had basically stopped being produced.
After all, with Pokémon around, who needed a stun gun for protection? Whether it was security guards or women walking home at night, a Pokémon was far more effective than any electric shock device.
"Why do you still have something like that?" Lily asked, eyes wide.
She had assumed Nathan was just digging around for more Pokéblocks or some kind of Pokémon snack.
"Well… we're abroad, right? Figured it might be useful for self-defense," Nathan explained, trying to play it off casually.
The excuse was flimsy, borderline laughable, but it was just barely passable.
Taking the stun gun from him, Lily cautiously walked toward Xurkitree.
"You sure this won't hurt the little guy?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice as she examined the high-voltage device in her hand.
The Pokémon hadn't even been captured yet — what if she accidentally injured it? That would be a huge loss.
And with so many other Pokémon nearby watching, what if hurting this one caused the others to distrust her as well?
"Don't worry, just go ahead and zap it. This little guy loves electricity," Nathan assured her confidently, patting his chest.
Hearing Nathan's firm reassurance, Lily finally let go of her hesitation. She flipped the switch and gently pressed the stun gun to Xurkitree's metallic frame.
Crackling!
Sparks danced across the creature's body, the bright arcs of electricity visibly traveling up and down its limbs.
After barely two seconds, Lily panicked and quickly shut off the stun gun, afraid that prolonged exposure might cause damage.
But the moment she pulled the stun gun away, something strange happened — Xurkitree stretched out its weird little hands and reached toward the device.
The way it looked at the stun gun… it was like a hungry baby reaching for milk.
And from that point on, things became much simpler.
She shocked it again.
And again.
And again…
After a solid five to six minutes of zapping, the stun gun ran out of power entirely.
And finally, Xurkitree willingly entered the Pokéball and allowed itself to be captured by Lily.
It just went to show — some Pokémon simply required special methods to be caught.
Just like this Xurkitree. It didn't care about snacks. It didn't want Pokéblocks.
It wanted to be electrocuted.
And you couldn't stop it even if you tried.
If it weren't for Nathan's system store, where he was able to buy a stun gun on the spot, there's no way they would have successfully captured this little spark plug.
After the successful capture, Lily's mood visibly improved — she was positively glowing.
Meanwhile, Mickey stood to the side, giving Nathan a gloomy, slightly resentful look.
Ever since arriving in this mystic realm, Nathan hadn't spared a thought for helping him catch a single Pokémon.
Perhaps sensing the gaze on him, Nathan turned around — and only then remembered the little brat who had been tagging along behind him this whole time.
He had been so focused on Lily that he had almost completely forgotten about Mickey.
"Hey, what kind of Pokémon do you want to catch?" Nathan asked.
Seeing as they were both from the same country, Nathan decided he might as well help the guy out a little.
Sure, Mickey used to be a bit annoying… but hadn't he changed now?
As the saying goes: "To err is human, but to correct one's mistakes is divine."
Thankfully, Mickey didn't know what Nathan was thinking. Otherwise, he might have exploded with frustration.
What do you mean "correcting my mistakes"?
I wasn't wrong! I was forced into obedience by your overwhelming strength!
"I don't have any Pokémon yet, so I want to capture five with different types," Mickey replied honestly.
That had been his goal from the beginning, and now that Nathan had asked, he simply said so.
But upon hearing that, Nathan was a bit speechless.
This guy actually wanted to catch five Pokémon in this mystic realm?
And he was doing it while tagging along with him, Nathan?
This wasn't just anyone — this was Nathan, the world champion. A universally acknowledged prodigy in the field of Pokémon training.
"…Fine. I'll help you pick them out," Nathan replied with a weary sigh.
This guy really knew how to create work for others.
Five Pokémon, all of them rare.
This wasn't like buying five cheap candies from a vending machine — these were priceless Pokémon that, once brought out of the mystic realm, could fetch a fortune on the open market.
Mickey had initially thought Nathan would just ignore him, so hearing those words made him ecstatic.
Having Nathan personally select five rare Pokémon for him? That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
In truth, capturing Pokémon wasn't necessarily hard — but it wasn't always easy either.
Take Xurkitree, for example.
It would eat Pokéblocks — but that alone wasn't enough to make it submit and accept a trainer.
So how did Lily succeed?
Because Nathan produced a stun gun — a device that had long since been discontinued — and used it in just the right way.
That was the real key.
Anyone could carry around snacks or energy cubes.
But a stun gun? Who would have thought to bring one, let alone use it to tame a Pokémon?
Only Nathan could've thought that far ahead — and only Nathan could've made it work.
With the Nicholas family no longer around to cause trouble, the group was finally able to relax and carefully pick out Pokémon at their leisure.
After all, this area was teeming with wild Pokémon, and they had plenty of time to spare.
Finding five rare Pokémon with different types was definitely doable, especially if they took their time.
Of course, Nathan wasn't going to let Mickey catch anything ordinary.
Under his guidance, only rare, high-value Pokémon were worth considering.
------------------
That night, the three of them camped out and slept under the open sky.
There wasn't really any other option — the climate here was incredibly comfortable, with clean air and stable temperatures.
It was the kind of environment that made sleeping on the ground surprisingly pleasant.
The next morning, the trio got up, washed up a little, and resumed their mission of choosing and capturing Pokémon.
And during their early morning routine, they ran into something unexpectedly adorable.
A few Pokémon that had been nearby were watching them brush their teeth — and then started mimicking their actions.
The imitation was surprisingly accurate — about sixty percent, if not more.
Just imagine it: a few Pokémon holding little twigs in their paws, copying Nathan and the others by sticking them in their mouths and wiggling them around like toothbrushes.
It was so cute, it was almost explosively adorable.
It was the kind of moment you'd never see outside this mystic realm.
And so, another day of playing and bonding with Pokémon began.
On the first day, they'd been delayed by travel — and harassed by the Nicholas family — so they only managed to capture Xurkitree.
But today was different.
They had the whole day to explore and hunt for Pokémon, unbothered and unhurried.
Once the first rare Pokémon was chosen, Nathan's backpack quickly became a treasure chest of tools.
Water-type Pokémon needed more than just snacks? Maybe they needed a Water Stone to evolve?
No problem — Nathan bought one instantly from his system store.
Under the lure of the Water Stone, Mickey's first rare Pokémon was his.
After that came a Grass-type, a Psychic-type, and more.
Nathan's endless supply of tools and gadgets made both Lily and Mickey green with envy.
Especially Mickey — every time Nathan pulled something new from his backpack, he was dying to ask:
"Where did you get that bag? Can I get one too?"
But of course, it was just wishful thinking.
The things inside Nathan's bag weren't just tools — they were carefully collected treasures, accumulated over time with effort and a bit of system help.
By the end of the day, Nathan had successfully helped Mickey capture five rare Pokémon of five different types.
Mickey's grin stretched all the way to his ears.
But even in his joy, a sliver of regret lingered in his heart — why hadn't he brought more Pokéballs?
Why hadn't he asked for more Pokémon in the first place?
If he had just spoken up sooner, he might've been able to capture every single type of Pokémon right here in this mystical realm.
(End of Chapter)