"Kabu~!"
"Oma~!"
The Fossil Pokémon awoke from their slumber in extremely foul moods.
Their eyes were bloodshot, and their gazes brimmed with killing intent as they glared at Caster.
If looks could kill, Caster would have already been torn limb from limb.
Watching the Fossil Pokémon close in around him, Caster felt helpless, but he knew he had to act immediately.
These ancient Fossil Pokémon were even more vicious and savage than modern wild Pokémon. If he did nothing, they really would kill him.
"Pikachu, Discharge!"
At Caster's command, Pikachu leaped from his shoulder. Electric-type energy poured from its body as golden arcs of electricity spread rapidly in every direction.
Electric Terrain gave Pikachu's Discharge a substantial boost, making the attack astonishingly powerful.
This was the countermeasure Caster had prepared in advance. Caught completely off guard, the Fossil Pokémon took the attack head-on.
"Kabu~!"
"Oma~!"
Cries of pain rang out one after another as golden electricity engulfed the Fossil Pokémon.
However, several of the Kabutops and Omastar were quite powerful. Some knew Protect, while others withdrew into their shells to reduce the damage.
Caster immediately gave another pair of commands.
"Dragonair, Water Pulse! Slowpoke, Psychic!"
Boom!
Dragonair spat out a sphere of deep-blue energy. It transformed into an enormous curtain of water in midair and crashed down, sweeping up the Fossil Pokémon.
Although these Fossil Pokémon were Water types, their secondary Rock typing canceled out their resistance to Water-type moves.
Dragonair's Water Pulse had reached the Mastered level and was tremendously powerful. The water also contained strange vibrations that left the stronger Fossil Pokémon confused.
Finally, Slowpoke brought its terrifying psychic power to bear, completely suppressing the few Fossil Pokémon still clinging to consciousness.
In only a few moments, the recently awakened Fossil Pokémon were once again sleeping like babies. Their moods were now exceptionally stable.
Caster looked at the results of the trio's teamwork with satisfaction, then shook his head and sighed.
"Would it have killed you to just bite the hook? You had to go and make things hard on yourselves!"
After straightening out his fishing tackle and rebaiting the hook, Caster selected a Kabutops as his target.
"Slowpoke, use Heal Pulse on it."
"Understood!"
Slowpoke nodded. The life energy and psychic power within its body blended together, becoming a warm, multicolored healing energy that gently settled over Kabutops.
Under the effects of Heal Pulse, Kabutops's wounds visibly disappeared and its strength rapidly returned.
"Kabuu~"
Before long, Kabutops regained consciousness and slowly opened its eyes.
"That's enough! Stop!"
Caster hurriedly stopped Slowpoke from continuing the treatment. A Kabutops with only a sliver of health was the best kind of Kabutops. It might not be able to battle, but it could still bite a hook.
The moment Kabutops opened its eyes, it found Caster and the three Pokémon staring at it with clearly suspicious intentions. It was scared out of its wits.
That was especially true when it realized that all its companions remained unconscious and it was the only one awake.
It had no idea what Caster intended to do to it, and the unknown was always the greatest source of fear.
"Slowpoke, tell it we didn't come here with any hostile intentions. We only wanted to give them some food. They attacked first, and we were forced to defend ourselves."
Thanks to Slowpoke's telepathy, Caster and Kabutops had no trouble communicating.
Telepathy transcended spoken language, allowing minds to connect across the boundaries of species and speech.
"Kabuu~"
Kabutops folded its scythes against its body, then hurriedly nodded in understanding and apologized.
Given the situation, it had no choice but to bow its head.
"Very good. You catch on quickly!"
Caster nodded in satisfaction, placed the bait beside Kabutops's mouth, and smiled.
"This is the food I prepared for all of you. Go ahead and try it!"
"Kabuu~"
Cold sweat appeared on Kabutops's forehead, and reluctance was written all over its face.
However, it knew it had no chance of resisting, and the bait did smell faintly delicious. After a moment's hesitation, it obediently swallowed the bait.
[Caught "Kabutops," rewarded with 1 TM for "Ancient Power."]
Perhaps because these were Fossil Pokémon that had endured tens of thousands of years, catching them had an unusually high chance of yielding Ancient Power.
"All right, go wait quietly over there. Don't make me do this the hard way!"
After warning Kabutops, Caster and Slowpoke repeated the same process. They awakened each unconscious Fossil Pokémon one at a time and caught them all with the fishing rod.
[Caught "Omanyte," rewarded with 1 TM for "Shell Smash."]
[First time catching "Omanyte," additional reward: 1 "Iron."]
[Caught "Omastar," rewarded with 1 TM for "Ancient Power."]
[First time catching "Omastar," additional reward: 1 "X Defense."]
The cheat ability's reward notifications kept appearing, leaving Caster grinning from ear to ear.
Before long, he had caught every Fossil Pokémon once.
Caster then pulled up their stat panels and compared them one by one.
He immediately ruled out the evolved Kabutops and Omastar, since he preferred raising his Pokémon from a young age.
He also eliminated any without Swift Swim, as they weren't a good fit for a rain team.
In the end, Caster was surprised to discover that the first Kabuto he had caught was the only Fossil Pokémon that met all his requirements.
His gaze returned to that Kabuto.
"Kabu~"
Kabuto's expression changed as an ominous feeling came over it.
The other Fossil Pokémon quietly breathed sighs of relief.
Caster wasn't interested in them, which meant they were safe.
As for their chosen companion, all they could do was wish it luck!
"Kabuto, would you like to come with me? I can take you outside and show you a much wider world."
Caster walked up to Kabuto and gave it a gentle smile, doing his best to appear approachable.
To Kabuto, however, his expression looked more like the sinister smile of a demon.
"Kabu! Kabu! Kabu!"
Although it knew that refusing might anger this terrifying human, Kabuto still shook its head.
The wider world held no appeal for it. Having spent all its time asleep inside the cavern, it had no concept of what that world was even like.
Rather than venture outside, it preferred to remain set in its ways and continue sleeping with its companions in this sunless cavern.
"I see."
Caster couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. He clearly hadn't expected Kabuto to refuse.
In the end, however, he chose to respect Kabuto's decision.
Caster wasn't truly desperate to obtain a Kabutops or Omastar. Neither was among the most popular Pokémon for rain teams, and stronger alternatives could fill their roles.
Swampert, for example!
Now that was a true rain-team carry!
"New objective: Catch a Mudkip as soon as possible!"
Caster clenched his fist, his eyes blazing with determination.
"Are there any other Fossil Pokémon in this cavern? Besides Aerodactyl, I mean."
After asking a few more questions, Caster learned that these Pokémon lived on this side of the cavern, while only Aerodactyl inhabited the other side. He nodded and prepared to leave.
Aerodactyl wasn't a member of a rain team, so Caster had no interest in it and saw no reason to disturb its sleep.
"Here's an Energy Orb as a gift!"
Caster activated an Energy Orb and infused it into Kabuto's body, then left the cavern with his three Pokémon.
Outside, Shellder was still dutifully guarding the entrance.
Once Caster emerged, he had Slowpoke move several suitably sized rocks with its psychic power and use them to block the entrance. He then piled loose stones over them to keep anyone from discovering the passage and disturbing the slumber of the Fossil Pokémon below.
There weren't many people in the world like Caster, who would come merely to do a little fishing and then leave without taking anything else.
If someone else discovered this place, the news would undoubtedly shock the world, and the Fossil Pokémon below would be completely exposed to the public.
Caster climbed onto Dragonair's back and gazed north.
"Next stop, Saffron City. It's time to meet Sabrina!"