2 The Beginning of a Story

In the rain.

Wearing ill-fitted clothes and worn out shoes, with half a loaf of bread in his mouth, and a petite yellow Pokémon on his shoulders, Natsu walked out of the alley. Weedle's small bean-like eyes stared at the bread in his mouth. It swallowed quietly, but didn't dare to say anything.

The ferocity with which Natsu directed it just now, and the unquestionable nature made it a little scared. As if aware of its mind, Natsu took the bread, tore a piece, and handed it to the Weedle on his shoulder.

*woo*

Weedle called softly, blinking it's small eyes, as if asking "Is this for me?"

Natsu gently stroked its back, the seemingly smooth carapace had subtle fluff that could not be easily detected by the naked eye. Weedle narrowed its eyes and seemed to enjoy it.

"Eat, you did a great job just now." Natsu complimented softly.

After he had food in his stomach, Natsu's cramping stomach finally got relief, and his limbs regained some strength. Hearing him say that, Weedle rolled its eyes with a happy smile, took the bread with the spikes on its tail, and ate the bread in small bites.

Weedle is a Bug Type Pokémon, and it only ate leafage to meet its own needs. But if that's the case, the Weedle's ceiling wouldn't be much higher than those of ordinary Beedrills in the woods. Of course, Pokéblock and Pokémon food are the best choices, but Natsu doesn't have such financial resources now, and this piece of bread is his most valuable thing.

People say that the real love is not to see how much he can give you when he is the richest, but to see if he will give you half of it when he only has a piece of bread left. The first time it met Natsu, the Weedle didn't have a good impression. But at this moment, it felt Natsu's sincerity. Eating the bread, it gently rubbed against his neck as a gesture.

Pokémon are very simple creatures. While possessing great power, their minds are not complicated. Who is good to them and who is not good to them is very clear. At least, the current Weedle had forgotten how Natsu used to be. Feeling the cold touch on his neck, Natsu smiled. He stuffed the rest of the bread into his mouth in one bite, and not a single crumb fell from his fingertips.

Perhaps because of the rapid fusion of memories, he quickly adapted to his current identity. He grabbed a handful of money from his clothes pocket, which was "borrowed" from the scarred Man and his two henchmen. A crumpled bill, and a few coins. The number was not much, only thirty-three in total. It is the most he had ever held since he was a child but it was just a drop in the bucket for him now, for cultivating Pokémon.

There were few people on the street in the rain. Natsu hiked all the way out of the bustling city to a dilapidated house at the edge of the city. The house was piled high with debris, a big hole in the roof, and a lot of dry straw piled in the corners. This was Natsu's home, shabby and messy, but better than staying in the rain.

After raising a fire, he sat down quietly in front of the campfire, letting the flames bring a touch of warmth to his cold body, and while also drying his clothes. Weedle looked rather happy. Crawling around carefully close to the flame, curious about what the red hot thing was. Its tail was close, and as a result got burnt. It quickly backed away and squatted down in grievance. But soon it forgot about it and moved to under the broken roof. Weedle stuck out its tongue and licked the cold rainwater, shivering. Then, as if thinking of something, it put its tail in the rain. The coolness softened the faint burning pain on its tail, and it narrowed its eyes comfortably.

After doing this, it ran to the piled stone moor, proud like a brave man who had just climbed a mountain. Then it ran to Natsu's side again, sniffed the straw on the ground, picked one up, and lightly took a nibble. It was curious like a newborn baby about everything in the shabby room. Finally tired, it found a comfortable position in Natsu's arms, curled up and fell asleep.

Looking at the tired Weedle, Natsu smiled helplessly. He rolled up a piece of clothing and gently covered it. Weedle twisted its body unconsciously, sinking itself completely into the warm clothes, and its closed eyes showed an arc.

Natsu continued to watch the throbbing campfire, fire flickering in his eyes. He was thinking about how to survive in this world and how to use his own advantages. Going back to his original world? If there was an opportunity, he would consider it, but if not, he didn't want to waste any extra energy. Looking down at the quiet Weedle again, the favorite sentence of Pokémon fans in the past life flashed through his mind, 'There are no trash Pokémon, only trash Trainers'.

Weedle is a Pokémon with low Species Strength, poor Ability, and weak combat power. It is not even as good as its close relative, Catterpie, that at least has the luxury of evolving into Rayquaza. Maybe it's a joke, but it also proves that there are too many possibilities for Pokémon. But it cannot be denied that Weedle has a certain growth limit. The Beedrill in the hands of Team Rocket Boss, Giovanni, is a typical example of a Pokémon ceiling for Beedrill. Of course, it was created after the accumulation of countless resources. Beating Elite and Champion Pokémon for it is the most common thing.

Also, Beedrill has a Mega Evolution, which means this Pokémon can have a higher ceiling. But Pokémon caps are one thing, Pokémon breeding is another. Breeding a Pokémon, especially a Pokémon like Weedle with a relatively low starting point, to reach the same height of other Pokémon requires a lot of resources and the most correct method. Natsu doesn't have any of these now.

It can't be said that there are none, at least in terms of training methods, he has some ideas from the previous world. And now the most restrictive thing for him is resources and money. There are only thirty-three Pokédollars in his pocket, enough to feed himself and Weedle for a few days.

So, after thinking about it for a long time, it finally came back to how to get more resources. Actually, he has an easier option, that is to let Weedle grow freely. As long as it evolves into Beedrill, it will have a certain basic combat power. Weedle has an extremely short growth cycle and is arguably one of the fastest evolving Pokémon of all. And then use the evolved Beedrill to find opportunities to conquer Pokémon that are easier to cultivate and have a higher ceiling. It's just that, if you miss the two precious stages of Weedle and Kakuna, the final Beedrill is a waste.

More possibilities for a Pokémon? Perhaps. Natsu could have easily made this decision before, but now watching Weedle huddled in his arms, full of trust and dependence on him, he gave up.

"We're both at the bottom in each other's biological chain, but I don't think we'll always be bottoms."

Stroking Weedle lightly, Natsu made a decision: Find a way to make money! As a Trainer, what is the fastest way to make money? As far as Natsu knows about the world, it's Pokémon battles! But wanting to defeat others with a Weedle who was just recently born and has zero combat experience is tantamount to fooling around. So he needed to change its mind a bit. The idea was already in his mind, but only if Weedle makes progress, at least not in the form of a new Pokémon.

The whole ordeal made him consume a lot of energy, and as the rain gradually subsided, sleepiness set in. Holding Weedle and leaning against the wall, Natsu quickly fell asleep by the warmth of the campfire.

Rainfall, a broken house, a man and a Pokémon. This was the beginning of a story.