After all, not many men could resist the gentle charm of a member of the Joy Family. A family as large as theirs naturally couldn't have everyone become Trainers, much less medical Trainers.
So whenever they discovered talented outsiders, the Joy Family often used less important branch family members to win them over.
It was worth mentioning that, for some unknown reason, the appearances of Joy Family members were astonishingly similar. No matter what the father looked like, as long as he married a woman from the Joy Family, their child would always be female and grow up with the signature Joy appearance.
The Jenny Family was the same.
Rumor had it that the ancestors of both families once received the blessing of a Mythical Pokémon, ensuring their bloodlines would prosper forever. That was supposedly why such an unscientific phenomenon existed.
Of course, whether the rumor was true or false, nobody really cared.
To ordinary men in this world, having a wife with a Joy-like appearance was incredibly desirable.
First, Joys possessed the appearance of a gentle goddess and naturally excellent physical qualities. Second, the Joy Family held enormous influence within the Alliance.
Being noticed by the Joy Family was essentially a shortcut to success for commoners and small-family Trainers.
As for Icarus, he actually preferred Jennys a little more.
There was no particular reason. Older women simply gave him more of a sense of conquest. Especially when imagining a Jenny in uniform…
"Hehehe…"
"Moo? Moo moo?"
Beside him, Weepinbell finally couldn't stand his creepy laughter anymore. It tugged on his clothes with a vine, reminding him to pay attention to his surroundings.
"Ahem… Sorry, sorry. I got distracted."
Realizing he was still standing in the大厅, Icarus quickly restrained himself.
"That guy… is he crazy?"
"Yeah, does Team Rocket recruit idiots now?"
"That laugh sounded way too creepy…"
Several nearby people had already heard him laughing to himself and started whispering.
"Let's go, Weepinbell. Time to do missions."
Embarrassed, Icarus quickly retrieved his ID card and fled the base with Weepinbell as though escaping for his life.
⸻
For the next half month, Icarus completely immersed himself in Team Rocket missions.
With three Ordinary-level Pokémon, he could easily handle most of the moderately difficult tasks.
On average, he earned around 20 Team Rocket contribution points per day.
Unfortunately, he never again encountered a jackpot mission like the Oddish extermination quest.
Still, he also kept an eye on Alliance missions. Whenever one happened to overlap with a Team Rocket mission, he would take both and complete them together.
After over half a month of nonstop work, his Team Rocket contribution points finally surpassed 500, reaching 590 points.
Meanwhile, his Alliance merit points rose to 780.
As for his cash savings…
They barely increased.
Over the past half month, his account balance had only risen from 390,000 to 460,000 Alliance dollars.
After all, he had been prioritizing Team Rocket contribution missions. Although he earned additional materials from hunts, the daily food expenses for his three Pokémon alone already reached 8,000 to 9,000 a day.
Saving money was genuinely difficult.
⸻
During this period, Houndour's energy had also reached its limit.
In fact, a few days earlier, white evolutionary light had suddenly erupted from its body, shocking Icarus so badly that he immediately ordered it to suppress the evolution.
Fortunately, it had only just reached the threshold and barely managed to force the process back down.
Otherwise, Icarus, who hadn't prepared any evolution materials yet, would have cried blood over wasting such an opportunity.
But today…
Everything was finally ready.
In the backyard of Icarus's house, after Weepinbell and Pidgeotto, the treasure land welcomed its third evolution.
"Houndour, are you ready?"
Icarus asked seriously while looking at the black puppy standing on the grass.
"Woof woof!"
Houndour barked energetically, indicating that it felt better than ever.
"Alright. Then let's begin!"
Without hesitation, Icarus threw the Fire Stone toward Houndour.
"Crack… crack…"
As Houndour pressed down on the low-grade Fire Stone with its paw, cracks instantly spread across the surface.
"WHOOSH!"
Rich Fire-type energy burst outward.
At the same moment, dazzling white evolutionary light exploded from Houndour's body.
"Swish!"
In the blink of an eye, the white light transformed into blazing crimson.
Terrifying heat waves spread outward from Houndour's body.
"Sizzle! Sizzle!"
The grass beneath it ignited immediately, forming a burning ring of fire.
"WOOF! WOOF WOOF—AWOOOO!"
Houndour, usually prideful and stubborn, tried to endure silently at first.
But the pain was simply unbearable.
The flames burned from inside to outside, then outside to inside, as though its entire body was being devoured alive.
"Houndour! Hold on! Just endure a little longer! If it hurts, scream it out! You can do it!"
Forced back by the scorching temperature, Icarus could only shout encouragement from outside the flames.
"Moo moo!"
Even Weepinbell, despite having a stronger body than Icarus, couldn't withstand the overwhelming Fire-type energy as a Grass Pokémon. It retreated beside him while anxiously cheering for its little brother.
"Chirp! Chirp!"
Only Pidgeotto remained nearby, enduring the heat while crying out encouragement.
"Woof… woof woof…"
Houndour felt as though it was about to faint from agony.
Every second stretched endlessly.
But hearing the voices of its companions, it forced itself to keep barking, using the sound to distract itself from the pain.
Tick… tock…
Watching the timer in his hand, Icarus felt unbearably nervous.
Time, which normally passed in an instant, now felt agonizingly slow.
According to the evolution plan, Houndour had to endure this stage on its own. No outside items could interfere.
The flames needed time to purify impurities within the evolving body.
Thankfully, there was a strict limit.
Once the time was reached, the Houndoom horns could finally be used to stabilize the Fire-type energy.
"Tick!"
The timer finally ended.
Icarus's eyes lit up immediately as he threw the Houndoom horns toward Houndour.
"Houndour! Stay awake! Use the horns to control the Fire-type energy!"
"Chirp! Chirp chirp!"
Nearby, Pidgeotto loudly relayed the command.
"Woof… woof…"
Hearing the message, Houndour forcefully regained clarity and activated the Houndoom horns through its bloodline instincts.
"Buzz… buzz…"
The horns trembled violently.
At the same time, powerful pressure spread from them.
The previously chaotic Fire-type energy gradually stabilized and began flowing obediently into Houndour's body.
"WOOF!"
The pain vanished.
Instead, Houndour felt its body rapidly growing stronger and larger.
"Final step! Houndour, absorb the Dark-type crystal!"
As the surrounding temperature finally dropped, Icarus quickly approached and tossed over the Dark-type energy crystal.
"Bang!"
Houndour shattered it with one swipe.
"WHOOSH!"
Dark purple energy surged directly into its body.
"Woof woof!"
Compared to the earlier Fire Stone purification, this level of pain was nothing.
It was child's play.
"Awooooooo!"
Finally, the evolutionary light shattered completely.
Standing before Icarus was a massive black Hell Hound over 1.6 meters tall.
Long curved bone horns extended from its head.
White bone plates lined its neck and back, with a skull-shaped crest positioned prominently over its throat, giving it a terrifying appearance.
Its once-short limbs had become powerful and muscular.
Bone guards covered its ankles, while the claws it had painstakingly trained during the Houndour stage gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.
"Congratulations, Houndoom!"
Looking at the perfectly evolved Pokémon before him, Icarus smiled brightly.
"Woof woof!"
The fierce-looking Hell Hound instantly dropped its intimidating demeanor upon seeing its Trainer.
Grinning foolishly, it immediately pounced on him.
"BANG!"
"Ow! Stop licking me! Houndoom!"
Caught completely off guard, Icarus was knocked flat onto the ground while Houndoom enthusiastically licked his face nonstop.
"Woof woof Slurp slurp"
Houndoom didn't care at all.
It was simply too happy.
After playing around for quite a while, Icarus finally managed to calm it down enough to check its data with the Pokédex.
"Beep—
Pokémon: Houndoom
Type: Fire/Dark
Category: Dark Pokémon
Height: 1.7m
Weight: 40.2kg
Description: In ancient times, people believed Houndoom's terrifying howl was the grim reaper's call from hell. The flames it spits contain toxins, making them especially dangerous.
Aptitude: Superior Upper-grade
Strength: Ordinary Low-grade
Status: Perfect
Training Plan: Houndoom possesses an extremely sharp sense of smell. The toxins within its flames can be specially cultivated…"
"Hahahaha! Houndoom! Superior Upper-grade aptitude! You're incredible!"
The moment he heard "Superior Upper-grade," Icarus completely lost composure.
He hugged Houndoom tightly while laughing wildly in excitement.
As long as he didn't make any major mistakes, with Houndoom's aptitude and proper cultivation, he already had one foot in the Elite tier.
How could he not be excited?
After all, luxurious mansions full of maids had never felt so close before.
Of course, Icarus also knew exactly how much he had invested into this Pokémon.
Just purchasing Houndour alone had cost 1.65 million.
Adding the honey, evolution resources, and all other expenses, the total investment had already reached nearly 2.6 million Alliance dollars.
That was already half the cost of a starter Pokémon.
Still, he had undeniably profited.
A Superior Upper-grade Houndoom for only 2.6 million was absolutely worth it.
"Houndoom, did you learn any new Moves?"
After calming down slightly, Icarus asked expectantly.
"Woof woof!"
Houndoom proudly raised its head, indicating that it had learned two new Moves.
"Good! Very good! Houndoom, show me!"
"Woof!"
Houndoom opened its mouth and launched a massive fireball.
The flames spiraled through the air in a strange pattern before rapidly surrounding a wooden target.
"BOOM!"
The flames suddenly detonated simultaneously.
The wooden stake was instantly reduced to ashes.
"Hm… Inferno?"
Icarus nodded thoughtfully.
"The range is wide, but because the attack spreads out first, the speed is a little slow. In actual combat, the accuracy probably isn't very high…"
As he analyzed the Move internally, an idea suddenly struck him.
"This feels similar to Fire Spin…"
Fire Spin dealt continuous damage, while Inferno converted that damage into a single explosive burst.
If he could combine the two…
The destructive power and hit rate would both improve dramatically.
The more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
He quickly wrote down the idea before turning back toward Houndoom excitedly.
"Houndoom, what's the second Move?"