In the rain.
Natsuhiko, wearing ill-fitting clothes, kicking shoes that don't fit, holding half a piece of bread in his mouth, with a petite, earth-yellow Pokémon perched on his shoulder, walked out of the alley.
Weedle's small eyes, like green beans, looked at the bread in his mouth, quietly swallowing its saliva, but not daring to show any sign.
The determination with which Natsuhiko commanded it just now, allowing no doubt, made it a little frightened.
It seemed as if he had sensed its thoughts, Natsuhiko took out the bread, tore off a piece, and handed it to the Weedle on his shoulder.
"Wuu..."
Weedle softly whispered, blinking its small eyes, as if asking, "Is this for me?"
Natsuhiko gently patted its back, where seemingly smooth shell had tiny, almost imperceptible fuzz, and Weedle squinted its eyes, appearing to enjoy it.
"Eat up, you did very well just now," Natsuhiko softly praised.
With food in its stomach, the sharp pain finally subsided, and its limbs also regained some strength.
"Wuu!"
Hearing him say this, Weedle happily squinted its eyes, using the spike on its tail to grab the bread, and started nibbling on it in small bites on his shoulder.
Weedle is an Insect-type Pokémon and can satisfy its needs just by eating leaves.
But if that were the case, this Weedle would not surpass the ordinary Beedrill found in the forest.
Energy Blocks and Pokémon food are of course the best choice, but Natsuhiko doesn't have the financial strength for that right now, this piece of bread is his most valuable possession.
People say that true emotion is not how much he can give when he's richest, but whether he would share half of his bread when he only has one piece left.
Weedle, having come into contact with Natsuhiko for the first time, didn't have a great impression of him.
But at this moment, it felt Natsuhiko's sincerity.
While eating bread, it gently nuzzled his neck, as a friendly gesture.
Pokémon are simple creatures, possessing great power while having uncomplicated minds, clear on who treats them well and who doesn't.
At least the current Weedle has forgotten how Natsuhiko scolded it before.
Feeling the cool touch on his neck, Natsuhiko smiled.
He stuffed the remaining bread into his mouth, not letting even a crumb fall from his fingertips.
He quickly adapted to his current identity.
Perhaps due to the rapid merging of memories.
He grabbed a handful of money from his pocket, "borrowed" from a scarred man and his two lackeys.
Crumbled bills and a few stray coins.
Not much in total, only thirty-three bucks.
But it was the most he had ever held from childhood till now.
But for nurturing a Pokémon, it was still a drop in the bucket.
There weren't many people on the rain-soaked street.
Natsuhiko walked away from the bustling city on foot, arriving at a dilapidated house on the city's outskirts.
The house had piles of clutter, and the roof had a large hole; in a corner, a lot of dried straw was piled up, this was once Natsuhiko's dwelling place.
Old and chaotic.
But better than being drenched in the rain.
A fire was lit.
Sitting quietly before the campfire, letting the flame bring a hint of warmth to his cold body, and also to dry his clothes.
Weedle seemed quite happy.
Crawling around on the ground.
Carefully approaching the flame, curious about the red-hot thing, its tail got scorched, and it sulked in grievance.
But soon forgot about it.
Scurrying under the hole in the roof, where rainwater gathered in the crevices inside, Weedle stuck out its little tongue to lick the cold rain, shivering.
Then, as if having an idea, it put its tail into the rainwater.
The chill eased the faint burn on its tail, and it cozily squinted its eyes.
"Wuu..." it groaned.
After finishing these, it ran to the pile of stones, proudly as if it had climbed a peak like a hero, then ran back to Natsuhiko, sniffed the straw on the ground, picked up a strand, took a small bite, the taste was certainly not good, and it quickly spat it out.
The newborn Weedle was like a curious baby, so curious about everything in the dilapidated room.
Finally, when tired from play, it found a comfortable spot in Natsuhiko's arms, curled up and slept deeply.
Looking at the exhausted Weedle, Natsuhiko smiled helplessly.
He rolled up a corner of his clothing, gently covering it.
Weedle unknowingly wiggled, sinking itself completely into the warm clothing, the closed eyes forming a curve.
Natsuhiko continued to watch the flickering campfire.
The firelight flickered in his eyes.
He was thinking.
How to survive in this world, how to leverage his advantages.
Return to the original world?
If there was an opportunity, he would consider it, but since there isn't, don't waste extra energy.
He glanced again at the peaceful Weedle.
A phrase often said by Pokémon enthusiasts from his previous life flashed in his mind.
There are no useless Pokémon, only useless Trainers.
Well said, so initially I chose the Starter Trio.
Of course, under the premise of having a choice.
Perhaps it was a joke, but it also proved that Pokémon do indeed have far too many possibilities.
Weedle, with low species value, few skills, weak combat power, is often not even as good as its cousin Caterpie, which at least has the luxury of evolving into Rayquaza.
However, it cannot be denied that it has a certain growth ceiling.
The final evolution form of Weedle, Beedrill, is also a representative Pokémon.
The Beedrill in the hands of Giovanni, the Rocket Team Leader, is a typical representative of the potential of Beedrill.
Of course, that was under the accumulation of countless resources.
Beating the Elite Four and Champion, that is basic operation.
Moreover, Beedrill has the possibility of Super Evolution, demonstrating its potential for a higher ceiling.
But a Pokémon's potential is one thing, a Trainer's nurturing is another.
Nurturing a Pokémon, especially one like Weedle with a low starting point, to reach the height of other Pokémon of the same type requires vast resources and the correct method.
These, Natsuhiko currently has none.
Not entirely empty-handed, at least for nurturing methods, he has a few ideas from the previous world.
But currently restricting him are resources, finances, and money.
With only thirty-three bucks in hand, even enough for him and Weedle to eat for a few days is a problem.
So after thinking for a long time, it came back to how to obtain resources, on this point.
Actually.
He still has an easier choice.
That is, allow Weedle to grow freely, just evolve into Beedrill to have a basic combat force.
Weedle's growth cycle is extremely short, arguably one of the fastest evolving Pokémon.
Then with the evolved Beedrill, find opportunities to capture Pokémon that are easier to nurture and have a higher ceiling.
But doing this, the nurturing of Weedle and Kakuna's valuable stages would be missed, resulting in a wasted Beedrill.
Exchanging one Pokémon for greater possibilities?
Perhaps Natsuhiko could have made this decision easily before, but now looking at the Weedle in his arms, with its trust and reliance on him...
He gave up.
"We are both at the bottom of the biological chain, but I don't believe we will always be at the bottom."
Gently stroking Weedle, Natsuhiko made a decision.
Find a way to make money!
As a Trainer, what is the quickest way to make money?
As far as Natsuhiko understands this world, it is battle!
But relying on a Weedle that was born not long ago, with zero combat experience, to defeat others, is no different from a fool's dream.
So he needs to slightly change his mindset.
An idea already formed in his mind, the premise being that Weedle must progress, at least not appear as a newborn Pokémon.
The active thoughts consumed a large amount of energy, gradually calming down, drowsiness followed.
Holding Weedle, leaning against the corner, borrowing the warmth of the campfire, Natsuhiko quickly fell asleep.
A rainy day, a broken house, a man, and a Pokémon.
The beginning of a story.