After rushing back to town, Stone immediately began training his newly obtained Pokémon.
"I'm so jealous, Brother Icarus. Do you think I should start preparing for my second Pokémon too?"
Airi watched him happily training his new partner and spoke with obvious envy in her eyes.
"Yeah, Airi, you actually should start preparing already. Then the two of you can train your new Pokémon together."
Icarus nodded without hesitation.
"But I still haven't decided what to choose. It feels like there are too many good options."
The girl scratched her light blue hair in frustration, clearly unable to decide.
"Airi, you're probably choosing a Water-type, right? Tell me your ideas first. I'll help you analyze them."
Icarus rubbed her head with a smile.
"Mm, Brother Icarus, I do want a Water-type. I always feel like Water-types work really well with my abilities."
Feeling the warm hand on her head, Airi's face flushed slightly. She didn't resist, only lowering her head a little as she continued.
"My main choices are Psyduck and Slowpoke. As long as they evolve successfully, they can both learn Psychic-type Moves, and they're super cute and goofy too!"
When talking about those two iconic species, her eyes sparkled brightly.
But very quickly, she rejected the idea herself.
"But Psyduck only evolves at Ordinary Level, High-stage. Even with high aptitude, evolution still isn't guaranteed. The Pokédex says the psychic power inside its head explodes during evolution!
"If it survives, it becomes a Golduck capable of using Psychic-type Moves. If it fails… then everything is wasted. Raising it all the way to Ordinary Level, High-stage for nothing would be way too costly…"
After giving up on Psyduck, Airi started analyzing Slowpoke.
"Slowpoke evolves even later than Psyduck. And if you want a good evolution, you also need a high-quality Shellder partner. That's not very cost-effective either."
After rejecting the two "goofy gods," the girl continued listing her remaining choices.
"The others are Staryu, Shellder, Tentacool, and also Marill, which is super cute too!"
After listening, Icarus couldn't help feeling impressed.
Airi's choices were almost identical to what he himself would have recommended, and her analysis was very reasonable.
"Not bad, Airi. The fact that you understand all this already means your knowledge of Water-type Pokémon is no weaker than most veteran commoner Trainers."
Icarus nodded approvingly before beginning his own analysis.
"As for Psyduck and Slowpoke, since you're a Water-type Extraordinary, maybe you actually could make it work. But like you said, the risk is too high. So for now, let's not consider them as your second Pokémon.
"Marill is cute, but its potential ceiling is too low. Even with abilities like Huge Power, its base strength is still limited. If you want a pet, it's fine. But if you want a true core battler, then forget it."
"Ahh okay"
Airi immediately looked disappointed.
Out of all the choices, she actually liked Marill the most.
Not only because it could move both on land and in water, but also because it was incredibly cute.
She also thought abilities like Thick Fat and Huge Power sounded very useful, so she hadn't expected Icarus to reject it so decisively.
"Mm.
"My personal recommendation is still Staryu.
"It can fight effectively on both land and water, and the probability of awakening Psychic abilities is extremely high. Almost the entire species can use some level of psychic power.
"Most only awaken a half-developed version, but even that is stronger than something like Butterfree's psychic ability and can still be used in actual combat.
"The only problem is the price. We can't just go randomly hunting them in rivers, so you'll most likely have to buy one. But overall, I think it suits you the best.
"As for Shellder, it's basically a living shield. Cloyster's defense is amazing after evolution, but you don't really need a defensive Pokémon right now.
"And Tentacool can only stay on land temporarily. Long-term land combat is difficult for it."
Icarus finished his explanation in one breath before waiting for Airi's decision.
"Brother Icarus, actually Staryu was already my second choice… I'm just not sure if I have enough money."
After speaking, the girl looked bitterly at her wallet, as if she were about to become poor overnight.
"Haha, you little rich girl, still pretending to be poor!"
Icarus laughed helplessly before sorting through the materials inside his backpack.
Some were reserved for quest submissions, while others could be sold directly.
"Alright. Since Stone said he doesn't want a share this time, let's split the profits fifty-fifty. Same with the two quests."
"Mm! Then let's go check the Pokémon House later. If there's a suitable one, I'll buy it today!"
Having made up her mind, Airi immediately became decisive again.
Soon, the two first returned to the Pokémon Center to submit their quests, then sold off the extra materials.
After everything was settled, each of them received around 20,000 Alliance Credits and 15 Merit Points.
Icarus's bank balance officially surpassed 300,000 Alliance Credits, while his Merit Points rose to 705.
As for Airi, Icarus didn't know her exact savings.
But he knew she definitely had more money than him.
He still remembered that when they bought Houndour, Airi's card had still contained over 500,000 Alliance Credits.
After so many missions—and without needing to support three Pokémon—she definitely still had a substantial amount saved.
Icarus estimated she probably had close to a million Alliance Credits by now, which should barely be enough for a Staryu.
"I wonder if it's enough… I only remember Staryu being really expensive. What if I can't afford it? That would be so embarrassing…"
Standing outside the Pokémon House, Airi hesitated nervously while looking toward Icarus for support.
"Cough~ Airi, it's fine. If you're short, I can lend you the rest first.
"You're not a kid anymore. You're a Trainer now—a commoner Trainer at that. You need thicker skin."
Icarus deliberately ignored her pleading gaze and gestured for her to go inside herself.
"Okay~"
Seeing no rescue coming, Airi could only walk inside obediently.
More than ten minutes later, an excited Airi rushed out holding a Poké Ball.
"Brother Icarus, I bought it! I barely had enough! It cost 800,000 Alliance Credits, but it has Good-tier aptitude!"
The moment she came out, she excitedly showed off her new Pokémon.
"Mm, then it looks like the two of you should focus on training during this period. Once your second Pokémon stabilizes, you can operate as a duo. I'll temporarily act alone for now."
Looking at the overjoyed girl, Icarus calmly explained his next plan.
"Mm! Don't worry, Brother Icarus! Second Pokémon grow quickly in the early stages! Once it reaches Ordinary Level, we'll be able to take on the hardest missions of the same rank!"
Airi naturally had no objections.
The two chatted and laughed all the way home.
Meanwhile, after contracting that Sandshrew, Stone looked at the remaining Sandshrew in his hands with hesitation.
Earlier, while feeding them together, the Ordinary Level, Mid-grade aptitude Sandshrew had unexpectedly awakened and voluntarily expressed its willingness to follow him.
Icarus and Airi had left this Sandshrew for him to deal with personally.
"Swish~"
First, he released the Sandshrew he had officially contracted and connected with it emotionally before having it stand guard nearby.
The next part still required translation from a Pokémon of the same species.
"Swish~"
A red light flashed, and the skinny Sandshrew appeared in the open area.
"Kuga Kuga"
As soon as it appeared, it didn't try to escape or attack.
Instead, it obediently waved at him.
"Big Rat, tell Little Rat—that'll be its name from now on—that you two will use these names to distinguish yourselves."
He first spoke to the contracted Sandshrew.
"Ku Kuga kuga"
Big Rat nodded and immediately went over to explain things.
"Kuga!"
Little Rat didn't object at all.
As long as there was food, names didn't matter.
"Alright. Big Rat, tell Little Rat that I won't officially capture it for now, but I can still take it along for training and battles.
"I'll provide enough energy-rich food every day, but it must obey my commands. Understand?"
Seeing Little Rat's obedient attitude, he lowered his guard slightly and had Big Rat translate his conditions.
"Kuga Kuku"
Big Rat immediately relayed the message.
"Ku! Kuga! Kuga!"
The moment it heard the words "energy-rich food," Little Rat's eyes sparkled.
It still remembered the delicious taste of that Ground-type energy cube.
"Kuga? Kuga?"
But soon, it pointed at Stone and then at itself, clearly confused about why it couldn't understand human speech.
"Big Rat, tell it that this is normal without a contract. Once we spend enough time together, it'll gradually understand. Until then, you'll continue acting as translator."
Seeing the gesture, Stone immediately understood and explained before Big Rat could ask.
"Kuga Kuga"
Big Rat translated again.
"Kuga! ω!"
Little Rat instantly nodded happily.
As long as it could eat that kind of food every day, it had absolutely no objections.
"Alright then. Both of you, show me all the Moves you know."
Seeing Little Rat agree, Stone temporarily relaxed and issued his first command.
"Kuga!" "Ku!"
The two Sandshrew immediately began demonstrating their abilities in the open area.
Truthfully, Stone had accepted this Mid-grade Sandshrew mostly out of sympathy.
Seeing its thin and weak appearance reminded him of his own childhood before he had properly grown.
Back then, he had also been skinny and frail.
And when the Sandshrew woke up earlier, it had actually knelt and bowed toward him.
That completely caught him off guard.
He couldn't help feeling a sense of connection with it, so he decided to try semi-training it.
If Icarus hadn't constantly emphasized the importance of aptitude, he honestly might have contracted this Sandshrew on the spot too.
But this arrangement was fine as well.
After all, a newly born Sandshrew probably wasn't cunning enough to fake obedience and secretly seek revenge later.
Of course, basic caution was still necessary with wild Pokémon.
So Stone decided that Big Rat would stay beside Little Rat at all times.
Since they would train together anyway, eating and sleeping together was completely normal.
Back with Icarus, after deciding to operate alone temporarily, he returned to the Pokémon Center and carefully reviewed the mission board again.
This time, he specifically chose missions connected to Team Rocket operations or at least overlapping with them.
He had already decided to use Team Rocket contribution points to exchange for a superior Houndoom evolution plan.
The plan included in the breeding manual he currently possessed would likely only raise Houndour's aptitude slightly.
But Icarus wanted to gamble on a much more advanced evolution plan—one capable of increasing aptitude by two full stages while also maintaining higher safety.
Naturally, such a plan was extremely expensive.
Fortunately, it existed on Team Rocket's exchange list.
He intended to obtain it no matter what.
At the same time, high-level breeding manuals for Weepinbell and Pidgeotto also needed preparation.
Especially Weepinbell.
Nearly every Grass-type and Poison-type energy crystal Icarus had obtained recently had gone directly to it.
He had even purchased several additional crystals midway through.
All of this was to help Weepinbell reach Ordinary Level, High-stage as quickly as possible.
Part of the reason was naturally the year-end competition.
Reaching the top three would completely fulfill the final condition regarding Luna.
Though honestly, whether that "final step" remained or not barely mattered anymore.
As someone from another world who had seen countless movies and videos in his previous life, Icarus knew far more tricks than Luna, who had once been a sheltered young lady.
He still remembered her shocked and resistant expression when she first learned there were "other methods."
Unfortunately for her, he had still succeeded in the end.
After all, how could an ordinary maid truly resist her master?
And technically, he had honored the agreement perfectly.
He genuinely hadn't crossed the final line.
Of course, the more important reason was Airi's rapid growth.
It had started giving him pressure.
Even if Airi herself didn't care, as the team captain, he had to remain the strongest member.
Otherwise, maybe taking forty percent of the profits once or twice wouldn't matter.
But what about long term?
What if the gap between him and Airi kept shrinking—or even reversed?
No one could guarantee loyalty forever.
Icarus had never forgotten how he first tricked Airi into joining his team.
Because of that, he had never planned to bring Airi into Team Rocket.
His plan was for her to stay on the Alliance side and act as his visible assistant.
As for himself, things were different.
First, his own Team Rocket rank was still only that of a grunt, so he didn't even have recruitment authority.
Second, he was already too familiar with Airi.
He worried he might accidentally reveal something someday, making it impossible to stop her from joining—or causing misunderstandings.
And most importantly, within this small town, an Ordinary Level, High-stage Trainer already counted as an influential figure.
That level of strength was equivalent to the strongest combat power within Luna's family.
Once he reached that stage, information currently hidden from him would naturally begin to reveal itself—both within the Alliance and within Team Rocket.