"Pidgey, Pidgey—"
Accompanied by the calls of Flying-type Pokémon outside the forest, the sky gradually brightened.
Icarus slowly opened his eyes. When he saw the Pokémon Egg resting beside his bed, a smile spread across his face.
"Pidgey… If I ever get the chance, I have to catch one."
In his mind, the image of a small red-and-yellow bird appeared, slowly transforming into a heroic and imposing figure.
Pidgey, a Flying-type Pokémon commonly known as a "house bird," was as widespread across Kanto as Rattata.
But unlike Rattata, whose final evolution Raticate was fairly average, Pidgeot, Pidgey's final evolution, can be a powerful pokemon in the hands of ordinary trainers.
With a base stat total of 479, it surpassed most Pokémon. Its broad back also made it an extremely practical partner for aerial transport.
One Pidgeot could fight, carry people, and look magnificent doing it. For ordinary people, it was the easiest dream Pokémon to realize.
"Still… let's not think about that yet," Icarus muttered, shaking his head.
"It's hard enough just finding a Pidgey with good aptitude, let alone raising it into a Pidgeot."
He silently sighed, recalling what the textbooks said about Pokémon aptitude.
Pokémon aptitude was divided into five innate tiers:
1. Ordinary
2. Good
3. Elite
4. Leader
5. King
Of course, this was only the public classification. As for whether there were higher tiers beyond King, Icarus was certain there had to be—otherwise, how could truly top-tier trainers exist?
Only Pidgey with Elite aptitude or higher had a real chance of evolving into Pidgeot.
That said, Pokémon aptitude was not completely fixed. For species with evolutionary lines, aptitude could be improved through rare natural treasures, proper training, intense combat, and sufficient energy accumulation during evolution.
The wild jungle was cruel, but it also forced Pokémon to fight and evolve. Only Elite-level individuals were able to survive long enough to reproduce in such an environment.
As for Pokémon without multiple evolutionary stages—or those that couldn't evolve at all—nature was still fair. Though they were denied evolution, they were compensated with stronger innate aptitude, higher combat power at the same level, or exceptional reproductive ability.
According to what Icarus had learned, among the Beedrill colonies in Viridian Forest, even the weakest members usually possessed Good aptitude. The differences between individuals were subtle, but real.
Because of these distinctions, aptitude was further divided into lower, middle, and upper tiers—corresponding to early, mid, and high-level trainer strength.
Even with good innate aptitude, a Pokémon that never trained or fought would only be as strong as a rookie trainer's partner. But for an aggressive species like Beedrill, the baseline within the colony was already mid-tier strength.
That was why Beedrill territory in Viridian Forest was considered forbidden ground for novice trainers. Even ordinary trainers wouldn't dare step into it casually.
Icarus snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head.
"You're not even officially a trainer yet. Why are you already thinking about King-tier Pokémon?"
After washing up and eating two plain wheat breads, he looked again at the Pokémon Egg inside the incubator.
"In three days, we'll know whether it can hatch or not," he murmured.
"This incubator really was worth the money. Even if it fails, the dead egg and incubator can still be recycled for twelve Poké Dollars. If I scrape together a bit more, I might barely afford a Caterpie and gamble again…"
He grimaced.
"But with Caterpie's strength, I probably wouldn't even survive on the outskirts of the forest. And that money would only buy the worst-quality one. I'd cry myself to death."
Just imagining himself guarding a Metapod, shouting Harden! while being used as a living target made Icarus shudder.
"That would be worse than staying an ordinary civilian."
He focused his gaze on the Pokémon Egg once more and muttered softly,
"My future is in your hands. Even if you're just a Grass-type Pokémon with ordinary aptitude… I'll accept it. You have to hatch."
---
Three anxious days passed in the blink of an eye.
At six o'clock in the morning, Icarus, dark circles under his eyes, stared unblinkingly at the incubator's timer as the seconds ticked away.
"Ding—dong."
The time reached exactly 6:00.
A mechanical voice sounded from the incubator:
"Hatching stage detected. Egg condition: normal. Shell-breaking imminent."
Icarus's eyes lit up.
"Yes!"
He shouted aloud, venting all the tension he had bottled up over the past three days.
He couldn't help pacing and yelling in excitement. Thankfully, no one lived nearby—after all, only someone desperate would choose to live next to the garbage station.
Gradually, he calmed himself down.
"Two lifetimes of experience, and I still lost my composure," he said with a wry smile.
"Still… this is my future on the line. Of course I don't want to stay an ordinary person."
"The Pokémon will be born soon. I need to prepare for travel—and for training a newborn Pokémon."
He pulled out a notebook and pen and began calculating carefully.
"I still have a little over 6,000 Poké Dollars.
Moomoo Milk costs 300 per bottle. The infancy period is seven days—one bottle a day, no shortcuts. That's 2,100."
"No need to buy Pokémon food for now. There's a free week included, and Grass-types can photosynthesize anyway."
"As long as milk keeps up, it shouldn't affect aptitude."
"Basic Poké Balls cost 500 each. I need at least two… maybe three. One for the newborn Pokémon, and one spare. I don't have the resources to raise a second Pokémon right now, but I can't risk missing a good one if I encounter it."
"Tents, Repels, a space backpack, my own rations, cooking tools… I can get all of that second-hand."
"If I don't care about appearances and focus on practicality, I should be able to manage everything within 3,000."
After all, every year there were plenty of rookie trainers who believed they were the protagonist of the world. Most of them died in the forest.
Their supplies were later retrieved by town guards during routine forest-clearing operations. The second-hand market was flooded with such items.
Thinking of this, Icarus let out a long sigh.
"Still… to be safe, I don't want to become one of those rookies who only leave behind supplies."
"I'll train properly in town first. Do missions. Accumulate experience and capital."
"Best case scenario—I'll have two Pokémon. At least one of them needs to reach mid-tier normal strength before I even think about entering the forest."
"Slow, steady, cautious. Survive first."
After finishing his plan, Icarus closed the notebook, picked up his nearly empty wallet, locked the door, and headed toward the town's second-hand street.
---
(End of Chapter 3)