Being studied so intently by Lorelei made Caster feel a little uneasy. He quickly smiled and said, "Lorelei, why are you staring at me like that?"
"Caster, are you really not going to spar with me? I can go easy on you, you know."
Lorelei adjusted the metal frames on her nose. Though she wasn't making any deliberate effort to be alluring, both her expression and her words struck Caster as impossibly tempting.
Even so, thinking about how Lorelei seemed to have two completely different personalities and would flip like a switch the moment a battle started, he shook his head all the same.
Because what did her cool, aloof battle-self have to do with any promise the gentle version of her made? He had no desire to get beaten up, and no desire to watch his Pokémon get beaten up either. He shook his head all the same — Caster hated going into fights he wasn't sure he could win.
"All right then," Lorelei sighed, her eyes filled with disappointment.
This little man was clearly so strong, yet far too cautious.
The night passed without incident.
The following morning, accompanied by Lorelei, Caster made his way back to the unfrozen lake deep within Icefall Cave.
This time, he was here to fish for Seel.
The exclusive bait formula for Seel-line Pokémon had been his reward for catching Dratini, and now he finally had a chance to put it to use.
"Let's get fishing!"
On the bank, Caster excitedly sorted through his gear.
Off to one side, Lorelei took out some Pokémon food and began feeding the Ice-type Pokémon that lived throughout Icefall Cave.
Thunk.
Bait secured, Caster cast his line.
Because the bait was specially formulated for Seel-line Pokémon, it hadn't been in the water long before every Seel and Dewgong in the unfrozen lake came rushing toward it, jostling to get there first.
In the sunlight, Caster could see a great mass of pale, fleshy bodies surging toward him. Leading the pack were more than a dozen Dewgong, their bodies entirely covered in snow-white fur, a pointed horn atop each head, two downward-curving teeth at the corners of their mouths, fins along their sides, and a tail trailing behind.
Following close behind were dozens of Seel, looking much like the Dewgong but considerably smaller.
The float plunged sharply underwater. Caster yanked the rod back at once, only to feel an enormous resistance.
"Dratini, come give me a hand!"
Dratini was quick to respond. Dewgong were massive creatures with tremendous weight, and while Caster could have hauled one up on his own, it would have cost him a great deal of energy and taken far too long.
With a few dozen Seel and Dewgong still waiting their turn, Caster naturally wanted to work faster.
"Dra~"
As the energy stored in the giant Dragonite scale was steadily absorbed, Dratini's body had grown increasingly thick and muscular, and its strength had grown accordingly. It coiled its tail around the fishing gear and pulled hard, and the massive creature below broke the surface in an instant.
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Horn Drill TM x1.]
[First Dewgong caught. Bonus reward: Special Defense Enhancer x1.]
The cheat system's reward notification appeared, followed immediately by Dewgong's stat panel.
Caster had no intention of catching and raising a Dewgong, so he didn't bother reading through its stats. What did catch his eye were the rewards themselves, which brought a grin spreading across his face.
"Horn Drill? A Special Defense Enhancer?"
Dewgong were Pokémon known for their exceptional Special Defense, their thick layers of blubber offering effective protection against both the cold and all manner of attacks. Getting a Special Defense Enhancer as a first-catch bonus seemed perfectly fitting.
The Horn Drill move, though, gave him a pleasant surprise.
[Horn Drill: A Normal-type move. The user drives its spiraling horn into the target. Delivers massive damage if it connects.]
In the games, Horn Drill was a one-hit KO move; as long as the type wasn't immune and the user's level wasn't lower than the target's, a hit meant a guaranteed defeat. Brutally powerful.
In the real world, of course, there was no such thing as a guaranteed hit or guaranteed KO.
But it was undeniable that Horn Drill's damage output was off the charts, and very few Pokémon could take that kind of blow without going down.
"The Special Defense Enhancer goes to Shellder to shore up its weaknesses. Horn Drill can sit in storage for now, until Dratini evolves."
Caster grinned to himself, feeling thoroughly pleased.
Dratini didn't have a horn on its head, but both of its evolutions, Dragonair and Dragonite, had pointed heads that could make use of Horn Drill.
Once learned, it would become a trump card, capable of turning the tide at a critical moment, even snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.
"Keep fishing!"
The very first cast had set the tone for the whole morning. Caster's enthusiasm for fishing was riding high.
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Blizzard TM x1.]
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Aqua Jet TM x1.]
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Energy Orb x1.] x N
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Rest TM x1.]
[Caught a Dewgong. Reward: Protect TM x1.]
By the fifth Dewgong, Caster had stopped reading each notification in full. The rewards were simply coming too fast.
As one Dewgong after another was hauled out of the water, the cheat system's reward notifications kept appearing in rapid succession, filling Caster with growing delight.
"Protect, finally!"
When he spotted the Protect TM among the rewards, his excitement climbed higher still.
Before long, all the Dewgong had been caught, and the far more numerous Seel were next. They had been waiting impatiently for their turn. It was only the Dewgong's imposing presence that had kept them in check.
[Caught a Seel. Reward: Curse TM x1.]
[First Seel caught. Bonus reward: Clever Feather x1.]
[Caught a Seel. Reward: Alluring Voice TM x1.]
[Caught a Seel. Reward: Energy Orb x1.] x N
[Caught a Seel. Reward: Charm TM x1.]
[Caught a Seel. Reward: Fake Out TM x1.]
By the time the morning was over, Caster had fished up every last Dewgong and Seel in Icefall Cave, and the rewards he had accumulated were nothing short of a windfall.
Dewgong were a dual-type Water and Ice line, but their move pool turned out to be surprisingly deep.
Beyond their core-type moves, they could also learn a solid range of Normal, Fairy, and Psychic-type techniques.
As luck would have it, nearly all of those moves had a use among Caster's Pokémon.
Fake Out, Charm, Alluring Voice, and Encore, for instance, were all moves that Pikachu could learn.
Curse, meanwhile, was a perfect fit for Slowpoke.
It was a peculiar move. For Ghost-type Pokémon, it meant sacrificing HP to place a curse on the target, steadily draining their health over time. For non-Ghost types, however, it traded Speed for boosts to Attack and Defense.
Slowpoke's Speed was already rock-bottom, so Curse could not only strengthen its Attack and Defense, but also sink its Speed further, which was exactly what it wanted: room to set up and hit hard with a slow, methodical approach.
But if one Pokémon had benefited the most from the day's haul, it was undeniably Shellder.
Dewgong were Ice-type Pokémon, after all, and Ice-type moves had come in the greatest number, with the vast majority of them going straight into Shellder's pocket.
Combined with the amplifying effect of the Never-Melt Ice, Shellder's strength grew with each passing day.
The one shortcoming that remained was its Special Defense, still far too low. Against Slowpoke's endlessly varied Psychic techniques, it found itself completely at Slowpoke's mercy.
Yet the creature showed no sign of discouragement. If anything, it seemed to revel in it.
It just loved the whole dynamic.
With the fishing wrapped up, Caster followed Lorelei back to the villa.
After lunch, he headed to the Trainer Tower on his own to take on challengers and spar with other trainers, sharpening his Pokémon's combat instincts in real battles.
Come evening, his Pokémon gathered of their own accord to train alongside Lorelei's, picking up new techniques and refinements.
Learning from Elite Four-level Pokémon never failed to pay dividends, and his team had come to embrace these sessions wholeheartedly.