Hisoka bent down and scooped up the unconscious Sneasel, letting out a soft sigh. He was deeply impressed by the creature's final turnaround. Truthfully, he didn't like taking advantage of others' misfortune, but if he left it here, the heavily injured Sneasel wouldn't survive three days in the wild.
Looking at the Geodudes who were still hesitant to scatter, Hisoka gave a playful smile and snapped his fingers. "Lulu, over to you!"
"No problem!" The Ralts' small body slowly rose into the air. She extended both hands, and five steel balls hovered above each palm. With a forceful flick of her wrists, thwip, thwip, thwip...
Accompanied by the whistling of cloven air, ten surrounding Geodudes were instantly incapacitated. The remaining small fry saw their companions falling one by one and immediately used Rollout to flee into the depths of the canyon.
After two years of mental training, Lulu could have evolved into a Kirlia long ago. However, to build a solid foundation, Hisoka had been making her suppress the urge to evolve. He wanted her to wait until her mental power reached its current limit before evolving, as this would be of immense help to her future strength.
With her powerful mental fortitude, Lulu's Confusion was roughly three times more potent than others of her kind a result Hisoka had confirmed through multiple data comparisons.
With such powerful telekinetic force acting as a launcher, the kinetic energy of those steel balls was no weaker than high-powered pistol bullets.
Hisoka checked the Sneasel's severely damaged right arm. The unconscious Pokémon let out a faint, pained whimper as its body twitched. The injury was grave; without human medical technology, the Sneasel would be a cripple for life even if it survived.
Moreover, a Pokémon Center alone wouldn't be enough to treat such a trauma. Hisoka would need to find some precious bone-setting and bone-strengthening medicines to ensure the Sneasel could return to its peak without any lasting side effects.
In truth, the Onix's Rock Throw wouldn't have caused such damage on its own a simple fracture or a crack at most, which a Pokémon Center could easily fix. The real problem was the suicidal, ruthless move the little thing had used on itself afterward.
A sleepless night passed. At half-past three in the morning, the intensive care unit of the Viridian City Pokémon Center admitted a Sneasel with a shattered right arm.
"Speaking of which, that guy is a real weirdo!" Nurse Joy yawned as she walked out of the treatment room. The surgery, which had lasted over three hours, had left her exhausted. "He's willing to spend so much money on expensive medicinal ingredients for a wild Pokémon he hasn't even captured yet."
"I think that handsome young man was named Hisoka," Nurse Joy murmured. She had seen him a few times at the Pokémon Center. He was a Viridian City local and an orphan. Although he frequently came to the center to pick up bounty tasks, she assumed his financial situation wasn't great.
"But if he's willing to spend so much money on a wild Pokémon, he must be a kind-hearted boy." At that thought, her fatigue seemed to ease a little.
A Thick Club! Dragon Bone! A Bone-Strengthening Succulent!
Looking at the three medicinal ingredients before him, Hisoka's heart bled. None of these were cheap. If it had been a bone from a Cubone, it might have been more affordable, but a Thick Club from a Marowak was three times the price a full 150,000 Poké Dollars.
As for the Dragon Bone a bone left behind after a Dragon-type Pokémon dies not just any bone would do; it had to be the vertebrae. Fortunately, Hisoka hadn't had to buy this; he had found it by accident in a cave during a mission.
These things were incredibly precious and always in short supply on the market, which was why Hisoka had been reluctant to sell it. The market price for this two-kilogram Dragon Bone wouldn't be lower than 800,000 Poké Dollars.
The Bone-Strengthening Succulent was cheaper since it could be cultivated, but Hisoka had bought a wild one. Even with a "friendship discount" from Chunxia Hall, it had still cost him 50,000.
He had spent nearly a million in total! As Hisoka brewed the medicine, he glanced at the dark shadow lying in the room. Likely due to the severity of its injuries, the creature showed no signs of waking up.
He scraped the Thick Club into a powder and simmered it with the Bone-Strengthening Succulent to make a paste for external application, while the Dragon Bone was brewed into a nourishing soup with some meat and other herbs for internal consumption.
Hisoka walked into the room carrying two bowls of the brewed medicinal soup. He looked at Lulu, who was sitting on the edge of the bed swinging her legs in boredom. "Lulu, why don't you go play in the garden? I'll take care of it!"
"No, Lulu wants to stay with Hisoka!" Lulu shook her head vigorously. She used her mental power to float down to his feet, tugging at his trouser leg with a cute, stubborn expression.
Hisoka placed the bowls on the nightstand and affectionately rubbed Lulu's bowl-cut head. "Just watch from the side then, and don't make a mess."
"Lulu knows! Hisoka, you're so naggy!" Lulu shook her head, swatting away the large hand on her head. She huffed softly, "I won't grow tall if you keep doing that. Stop rubbing my head all the time!"
🚨 Note: Consider supporting this story on Patreon.com/kleinmoretti to access 100+ advance chapters and 2 new chapters daily! (Full story bundles also available without a subscription).