Thank you guys so much for the major support I never even imagine I would get over 20 collections in less than a day, and major first power stone drops 🫡 chpt 7 and 8 is free drops for the support thank you all
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[Current Time: Day 8 — 02:14 AM] [Location: Sector 7 — The Southern Mangrove Swamps] [Point Balance: 85]
The rain in the southern mangroves didn't fall; it hung in the air like a heavy, suffocating curtain. Zeth crouched on a partially submerged root, his body smeared with a mixture of grey mud and crushed Pecha berries to mask his thermal signature. Beside him, Houndour was nothing more than a pair of orange embers in the dark, its breathing slowed to a rhythmic, shallow cadence that Zeth had spent the last four hours training it to maintain.
The "Cursed" Arcanine at the Ash-Line had been a wake-up call. Zeth had been playing the "efficiency" game—killing small prey for steady gains. But the world was changing faster than he could level. If he wanted to break the Green Potential ceiling and reach the Blue Tier—the Prodigy level that stood a chance against the Gates—he couldn't afford to be a scavenger anymore.
"System," Zeth thought, his mind sharp despite the lack of sleep. "Re-scan the clearing. Give me the biological variance of the four 'Orange' auras in the camp."
[Scanning... Neural-Link Established.] [Target A: Human. Pokémon: Geodude (Level 14).] [Target B: Human. Pokémon: Zubat (Level 13).] [Target C: Human. Pokémon: Rattata (Level 11).] [Target D: 'The Prize'. Human (Identified: Recruit Kael). 'High Orange' Aura. Pokémon: Gastly (Level 15).]
Zeth watched Kael through a gap in the roots. This wasn't a group of desperate fodder; this was a "Harvester Team." They had spent the last week staying near the base, "taxing" weaker recruits. The System estimated their collective point-pool to be over 800.
"Kael's Gastly is the pivot point," Zeth analyzed. "Ghost-types here don't follow turn-based logic. It's a mass of semi-incorporeal gas. If it detects me, the hunt is over."
The Gastly was currently hovering over the campfire, its purple aura flickering as it fed on the literal heat of the flames. In this world, Pokémon were biological machines, and Ghost-types were the ultimate energy scavengers.
"System, calculate the 'Snarl' frequency required to disrupt the Gastly's gaseous cohesion."
[Calculating...] [Required Frequency: 22.4 kHz. Resonance duration: 1.5 seconds.] [Warning: Houndour's vocal cords are at 88% capacity. Risk of tissue damage.]
"Risk accepted," Zeth whispered.
He pulled out the Sandshrew claws he had harvested. He had spent the previous night sharpening the edges into serrated needles and coating them in a Stun Spore paste. It was crude, primitive, and completely against the "Gentlemanly" rules of a Pokémon battle.
It was exactly what Team Rocket wanted.
[Current Time: 03:00 AM — The Dead Hour]
The guard—the boy with the Rattata—was nodding off. Kael was asleep in a high-end, 100-point-a-night sleeping bag, his Gastly drifting in a lazy circle above him.
Zeth moved.
He didn't crawl; he flowed. He used the "Low-Profile Slide" he had learned in the Siberian wastes, moving through the swamp water without a single ripple. He was twenty feet from the camp when the Gastly's eyes suddenly snapped open.
"Now," Zeth thought.
Houndour opened its maw. The Snarl didn't sound like a bark; it sounded like the high-pitched scream of a jet engine compressed into a heartbeat.
The Gastly shrieked as its form began to oscillate violently. The sub-sonic waves were tearing its atomic structure apart, forcing the gas to solidify into a heavy, violet sludge.
"Wha—? Gastly?!" Kael bolted upright.
But Zeth was already there.
He didn't send Houndour to "battle" the Gastly. He sent the hound to the humans. Houndour blurred through the camp, the poisoned Sandshrew claws gripped in its teeth. Slash. Slash. Slash.
The boy with the Rattata didn't even have time to scream before the paralytic took hold. He collapsed, his body locking up instantly.
Kael reached for a Poké Ball, but Zeth emerged from the smoke like a vengeful spirit. He slammed his forearm into Kael's throat, pinning him against a supply crate.
"Don't," Zeth rasped, the tip of his combat knife resting against Kael's jugular.
Across the camp, the Gastly was struggling to reform, its aura dimmed. Houndour stood over the other two recruits, who were twitching in the mud, their Pokémon still trapped in their balls.
"Who... who are you?" Kael wheezed. "How is your aura so... cold?"
"The aura is just a projection of the mind, Kael," Zeth said. "You relied on your 'Blue' potential Gastly and your father's points. You forgot that on this island, a knife in the dark is worth more than a 'Prodigy' in a Poké Ball."
Zeth reached down and unclipped Kael's ID card, swiping it against his own.
[Transferring Points...] [Success. 640 Points Received.] [Current Balance: 725 Points.]
Kael's eyes filled with animal fear. "Take the points! Just leave me! My father... he's a Senior Executive in the Johto branch! He can give you whatever you want!"
Zeth's eyes narrowed. Beneath Kael's shirt was a leather pouch. He ripped it open, and a soft, cerulean glow illuminated the mud. It was a stone, perfectly smooth, with the image of a swirling tide trapped within its translucent depths.
[Object Identified: Water Stone (Basic Grade).] [Market Value: 1,000+ Points.] [Analysis: Though 'Basic' grade, the purity is sufficient to act as a Tier 2 Breeding Catalyst.]
"No! That's my inheritance!" Kael screamed.
Zeth didn't answer. He looked at the Gastly, which was finally starting to reform. It looked at Zeth with a mixture of hatred and terror.
"Houndour," Zeth said, stepping back. "Finish it. Use the 'Snarl' at the center of the core. I want to see its potential shatter."
Houndour let out a roar. The Snarl hit the Gastly like a physical hammer, the purple aura exploding into thousands of lightless shards.
[Target Eliminated: Gastly (Level 15).] [Experience Gained. Houndour Level 12 -> 13.] [Aura Refinement: 20% progress toward 'Blue' potential detected.]
Zeth looked at the four paralyzed recruits. He didn't kill them. In the mangroves, at 3:00 AM, the wild Carvanha would find them long before the paralytic wore off.
"Let's go," Zeth said, pocketing the Basic Water Stone. "We have the points. We have the catalyst. It's time to see what a 'Blue' Houndour looks like."
[Day 8 — 05:00 AM]
Zeth found a hollowed-out cypress tree. He crawled inside, the System already beginning the Tier 2 unlock sequence.
[Breeding Module: Tier 2 Unlocking...] [Consuming 500 Points... Consuming Basic Water Stone...] [Warning: This process will force a biological 'Reboot'. The subject's Green Potential will be overwritten by Blue. The process is agonizing. Do you wish to proceed?]
Zeth looked at Houndour. The dog bowed its head, submitting its very biology to the man who had promised it strength.
"Proceed," Zeth whispered.
The blue light of the System engulfed the tree, and the screaming began.