Welcome to another chapter dearies
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Moving through the jungle of Island 4 wasn't like hiking.
It was like swimming through soup.
The humidity was a physical weight, pressing down on Alex's chest, compounding the agony of his bruised ribs.
Every step was a negotiation with gravity. The mud sucked at his heavy boots, trying to pull him down, while thorny vines snagged at his oversized uniform like greedy fingers.
Alex stopped, leaning against the mossy trunk of a towering tree to catch his breath.
Hah... hah...
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
It pooled under the edges of his mask, itching maddeningly, but he didn't dare take it off.
Not out here.
He checked his surroundings.
The canopy above was so thick it blocked out most of the sun, leaving the forest floor in a perpetual, green-tinted twilight.
It was beautiful in a terrifying way. Bioluminescent fungi glowed faintly on the roots, and the air hummed with the sound of a million unseen insects.
"Botany," Alex whispered, his voice barely audible over the drone of cicadas.
"I need to know use botany."
He looked at a cluster of bright blue berries growing on a bush near his hand.
In the games, these would be Oran Berries....healing items.
But here?
In a realistic ecosystem?
They could be poisonous mimics.
He focused his eyes on the bush.
Status.
[ Item: Rawst Berry (Wild) ]
[ Quality: Low ]
[ Effect: Cures minor burns.
Bitter taste.
Edible in small quantities. ]
Alex let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Okay. Useful, Not food, but useful."
He picked a handful and shoved them into his pocket...not the inventory.
He needed to save the inventory space for critical items.
The berries were squishy and warm.
He continued his descent.
The sound of running water was getting louder...a low, steady rush that promised relief but screamed danger.
In the wild, water was the center of life.
That meant it was also the center of death.
Twenty minutes later, he reached the tree line overlooking the river.
He didn't walk out.
He dropped to his stomach, ignoring the protest of his ribs, and crawled through the ferns until he had a vantage point.
The river was wide, its water churning with a muddy, brown violence.
On the opposite bank, a group of Pidgeys were drinking nervously, their heads snapping up every few seconds to scan for threats.
Alex narrowed his eyes, activating his interface.
[ Pokémon: Pidgey ]
[ Level: 3 ]
[ Aptitude: Black (Common) ]
[ Pokémon: Pidgey ]
[ Level: 4 ]
[ Aptitude: Black (Common) ]
Trash, All of them, but beggers can't be choosers
"The aptitude distribution is real," Alex noted internally.
"In the games, every Pokémon has the potential to reach Level 100.
Here? Genetics matter."
A Black Aptitude Pokémon had a hard cap. Its growth would be sluggish.
Its stats would be mediocre.
It was the biological equivalent of a Corolla trying to race a Ferrari.
You could tune it, sure, but it would never win.
Suddenly, the water exploded.
A massive jaw, lined with serrated teeth, lunged from the muddy depths.
A Totodile...no, something bigger, a Croconaw snapped its jaws shut around one of the Pidgeys.
CRUNCH
There was a burst of feathers and blood.
The Pidgey didn't even have time to squawk. The Croconaw dragged it under the surface, the water rippling red for a moment before the current washed it away.
Alex felt the blood drain from his face.
[ Pokémon: Croconaw (Wild) ]
[ Level: 18 ]
[ Aptitude: Green (Deep) ]
[ Threat Level: Fatal ]
"Level 18," Alex whispered, his hand instinctively gripping the handle of his knife. "That thing could eat me whole."
This was the reality of the island.
He was Level 1 full of meat even if malnutritioned .
That Croconaw was a boss monster.
He was about to retreat, to find a smaller, safer tributary upstream, when a noise caught his ear.
It wasn't the sound of nature.
It was the sound of shouting.
"Get back!
Use Wrap!
Don't let it stab you!"
Alex froze.
A human voice.
He shifted his position, crawling silently toward the source of the noise.
It was coming from a small clearing about fifty meters downstream, nestled between two large boulders near the riverbank.
Alex peered through the gaps in the foliage.
There was a boy there...a recruit, maybe fifteen years old, wearing the same grey uniform.
He looked panicked.
Standing in front of him was an Ekans, its purple scales glistening, its hood flared in aggression.
And facing them both was a small, violet ball of fury.
It was a Nidoran♂
But it looked... wrong.
It was small, significantly smaller than the Nidorans Alex had seen in the anime or games.
It looked stunted, almost malnourished.
Its ears were oversized for its head, twitching frantically.
Its fur was matted with mud and dried blood.
But its eyes.
Its eyes were burning with a feral, red madness.
"Wrap it!
Squeeze it!" the recruit screamed.
The Ekans lunged, trying to coil around the small rabbit-like Pokémon.
The Nidoran didn't retreat.
It didn't dodge.
It charged.
It lowered its head, the horn dripping with purple venom, and threw itself directly into the Ekans's open mouth.
It was suicide Or it should have been.
Thud!
The Nidoran slammed into the Ekans's jaw, the horn grazing the snake's throat.
The impact was surprisingly heavy for such a small creature.
The Ekans hissed in pain, recoiling, its attack disrupted.
Alex narrowed his eyes.
That speed... and that power.
For a runt?
He focused his gaze.
The blue screen flickered to life, analyzing the combatants.
[ Pokémon: Nidoran♂ (Wild) ]
[ Level: 6 ]
[ Gender: Male ]
[ Type: Poison ]
[ Ability: Hustle (Locked) / Poison Point (Active) ]
[ Aptitude: Red (Dark) ]
[ Status: Injured (Severe), Exhausted ]
Alex's breath hitched.
Red.
Not just Red.
Dark Red.
The color on the interface was a deep, crimson blood-red, bordering on the metallic sheen of Silver.
"Holy..." Alex breathed.
He looked at the ability.
Hustle.
Hustle: Increases Attack by 50%, but lowers accuracy by 20%.
It was a gambler's ability.
It meant this Nidoran hit like a truck, but it missed often.
That explained why it was covered in wounds...it was trading blows.
It wasn't a tactical fighter; it was a berserker.
And it was a runt.
"A genetic mutation," Alex analyzed, his mind racing.
"The body is stunted, concentrating the muscle density.
It's small, so enemies underestimate it.
But inside... it's a monster."
The recruit didn't know what he was looking at.
To him, this was just a stubborn wild Pokémon that wouldn't stay down.
"Just die already, you rat!" the recruit yelled. He pulled a rock from the ground and threw it.
The rock struck the Nidoran in the flank.
The small Pokémon stumbled, its legs buckling.
It hissed, spitting a glob of venom that sizzled on the ground, but it was clearly at its limit.
The Ekans slithered forward, sensing weakness.
It raised its tail, the tip glowing white.
Poison Sting.
Alex's heart hammered against his ribs.
This was it.
The recruit had a Pokéball in his hand.
He was waiting for the Nidoran to faint so he could catch it.
If Alex did nothing, that recruit would walk away with a Dark Red aptitude powerhouse, likely mistreat it, and waste its potential.
Or...
Alex looked at the scene.
The recruit was focused entirely on the battle.
His back was to the treeline.
He was confident and Arrogant.
Alex looked at his own inventory.
[ Knife ]
He had no Pokémon.
He had no Pokéballs.
If he wanted that Nidoran, he had to take it.
Theft is nice, a dark voice whispered in his head.
Survival is nicer.
But how?
If he jumped out now, the Ekans would turn on him.
He couldn't fight a snake with a knife.
He needed the recruit to succeed first.
He needed the recruit to put the monster in the ball.
Because once it was in the ball, it was just an object.
An object that could be stolen.
Alex tightened his grip on the knife until his knuckles turned white.
He watched as the Ekans slammed its tail into the Nidoran's head.
Crack
The Nidoran collapsed, twitching.
It was down.
"Finally," the recruit huffed.
He enlarged the Pokéball in his hand.
"Get in there."
He threw the ball.
It hit the Nidoran.
A burst of red light engulfed the small purple body, sucking it inside.
The ball wobbled on the mud.
Shake
Shake
Click
The recruit cheered, throwing his hands up. "Yes! Caught it!"
He walked over to pick up the ball.
He was happy.
He was distracted.
Alex rose from the grass.
He didn't make a sound.
The mud dampened his footsteps.
The roar of the river masked his breathing.
He moved not like a human, but like the predator he had to become.
He closed the distance, ten meters, five meters, three.
The recruit bent down, his fingers brushing the surface of the Pokéball containing the Nidoran.
"You're mine now," the recruit said to the ball.
"No," Alex whispered, stepping out of the shadows directly behind him.
"He's not."
The recruit spun around, eyes wide with shock.
But Alex was already moving.
Authors Note:-
Well that's the end of the chapter,
Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Support with power stones and collections.
Reviews are welcome