"That obvious huh?" I asked with a sigh and he nodded "Yup , started to get really bad in your pokemons cases about a week ago." Birch said honestly. I knew what he was talking about and couldn't really blame them for it either. Both Gaia and Vulcan had been going stir crazy after not being able to train the way they wanted to and were starting to glare at absolutely everyone but me as a result. This wasn't to say they didn't understand why we were staying here for the moment as well as why we couldn't train effectively though.-

To be honest I am pretty sure it was only this understanding that stopped them from turning violent. "They'll settle down once we can go back to training while on the road." I said and he nodded in understanding. "Before you go I have a bit of a favor to ask if it's not too much trouble" Birch said seriously. "Depends on what it is but I see no problem hearing you out." I said curiously. I very much doubted that he was going to ask me to fill in the pokedex since that sort of thing wouldn't interest me all that much and he knew this.-

"If you see May out in the wilderness , try and help her if she needs it alright?" Birch requested hopefully. "Just that? I would have done that even if you hadn't asked , but I doubt she will see much of me if at all since I won't be sticking to the routes." I said with a chuckle. Birch looked surprised at this for a moment "I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by this since the wilderness is far more dangerous than the routes and will help you train up your pokemon faster." he said with a sigh.-

"Just remember to be careful out there as it would be a shame if you died needlessly." Birch warned sternly. "I'm adventurous not suicidal , if I don't think I can handle a situation I'll run away. No point being stubborn when it doesn't benefit me at all." I said with a reassuring smile. He looked relieved to hear me say that and bid me farewell for the night. I wasn't lying to him when I said I'd run away if I didn't think I could handle a situation as I wanted to have my name spoken throughout the whole world and being dead sorta prevents that.-

I stopped by Lees store and blew the last of my money stocking up on status healers , potions and cooking ingredients since it would be a few days at the minimum till I reached the next village or town. Most of that will likely just be me training up the newest member of my party , whatever that may be. I'll also need to let Vulcan and Gaia terrorize the nearby pokemon for a bit to calm them down , which while a bit cruel is necessary.-

After eating dinner my team and I went to sleep eager to hit the road again the next day and see what the system gives me to work with. Okay that last one might have just been on me but to be fair it was just way too damn interesting for me not to get excited over it. I was honestly hoping for a water type or even an ice type to cover the massive fucking weakness my current team has. The night passed by uneventfully and we woke up nice and early like usual and I got started with my intense workout excited for what the day had in store.-

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Surprisingly Birch and May came to see us off after my workout which left me with a small but genuine smile. It was a cloudless morning as My team and I traveled down the dirt path out of the village. Once we were a good few miles away and sure that nobody was following us I finally accepted the rewards from the quest. This caused nine tickets to appear in my bag that I was holding in front of me at the moment three exp tickets , five item tickets and a pokemon ticket.-

I immediately wasted no time at all tearing the pokemon ticket apart causing the wheel to appear in the system menu. I watched impatiently as the wheel spun for an entire minute before frowning when it stopped. I got a Caterpie of all things from the system but I controlled my irritation as the second wheel that decided if the pokemon would be a variant showed up and immediately started to spin. Another minute later and I sighed in relief as it landed on "yes" which while not as good as my luck with Gaia was still good.-

The final wheel started to spin to show me what the variation would be and I prayed to RNGESUS that it was a mere shiny variation. There was nothing wrong with shinie4s of course but other than a different color scheme they had no other advantage besides being more talented really. My prayers were heard it seems as the variation the wheel landed on was "defense" which was interesting as it was my first time seeing a stat variant pokemon. In my bag a new pokeball appeared that was much the same as Gaia's black and white one.-

Thankfully pokeballs had an in built swapping mechanism that sent a pokemon from one ball to another so long as the owner of the pokemon agreed. This meant that I could openly carry my newest pokemons ball on my belt without having to explain how I got another ball like Gaia's. After I swapped the Caterpie to a normal pokeball I bound it to myself and released it from the ball. What the red energy solidified into admittedly caught me off guard as while the green color and pale yellow underbelly were the same as a normal member of the species it's shape was anything but.-

Unlike the round squishy bodies that Caterpie were known for my pokemon had hard looking squarish body segments that tapered seamlessly from one to the other with the tiniest tip of the tail being pyramid like. The head was the only part that remained looking like a normal Caterpies if you ignored the red Y shaped thing on it's forehead now looking like a snowflake that wrapped around it's round head. Once I got over the strange look of the pokemon I pulled up it's status sheet to look over and felt my jaw hit the floor at what I saw.-

[Pokemon: Caterpie

LEVEL:1

Moveset: String shot(N) , Tackle(N) ,

Variations: Defensive

Attack:50

Defense:100

Sp. Atk:38

Sp. Def:85

Speed:35

Ability: Shield dust(N)]

'This damn thing is a fucking tank , dear Christ both it's special and regular defenses are higher than even Gaia's!' I thought is disbelief. I looked down at the foot long giant caterpillar creature and saw that it looked insufferably smug. I had gotten good at figuring out the emotions of pokemon based on their eyes and posture since I came to this world which is why I understood the expression it had.