By evening, Eric found himself at a small ramen shop tucked between two larger buildings. The interior was warm, wooden, and smelled of broth and spices. Only three other customers were inside.
He ordered the special and sat at the counter.
The owner, a burly man with a Roselia on his shoulder, set the bowl down with a flourish.
"First time here?"
"Yes."
"Figured. I'd remember a face like yours." He wiped his hands on his apron. "You're that trainer from the gym battle, aren't you? The one with the scary Haunter?"
"...Word travels fast."
"My son was watching the stream on his phone. Couldn't stop talking about your Haunter. It motivated him to push harder."
Eric didn't respond, or he couldn't, as his mouth was full of the ramen he had just taken a bite from.
"Enjoy the meal, kid. On the house."
Eric swallowed. "Why?"
"Because anyone who makes my son that excited about training deserves a free bowl." The owner grinned and walked back to the kitchen.
Eric shrugged as he got back to eating.
For his final stop of the day, Eric went to the Cerulean market.
Cerulean was famous for aquatic plants and deep-sea minerals. He placed bulk orders for Blue Kelp and Mystic Coral extracts, intending to use the system's guidance to craft custom Intermediate Pokéblocks for Poliwhirl's upcoming evolution.
Poliwhirl's fighting spirit was second to none, and Eric was leaning heavily towards evolving him into a Poliwrath to fully utilize his Swift Swim ability in close-quarter combat.
With that, Eric called it a day.
---
Eric woke up early the next morning.
He had a clear agenda for today as he walked along the northern trails of Cerulean City, heading towards Route 25. Just like in the games, the nugget bridge existed in this world as well, teeming with trainers looking to test their skill.
Eric, however, knew that a few Team Rocket grunts were behind it.
Either way, it didn't interest him, so he ignored it.
He was here to meet with the man who lived at the edge of Cerulean Cape, someone anyone who played the games was familiar with, the Pokémon maniac Bill!
He was supposedly a genius Pokémon researcher and the primary architect of the PC Storage System. If anyone had the equipment to help Eric properly analyze the lingering effects of the anomalous red fragment inside Haunter, it was him.
Of course, Eric wouldn't just tell him about it - he would try to gain access to Bill's information and let the system analyze it.
Who knows, Bill might be an evil scientist in this world.
About twenty minutes later, he spotted it - a white lighthouse standing alone on a peninsula, its beam still faintly rotating in the daylight. A small cottage was attached to its base.
Before Eric could knock on the door, a small explosion occurred on the roof of the cottage, blasting it open.
"AAAH! I've done it againn!"
Bill stormed out of the cottage to check the damage from outside.
"I was sure I calibrated it properly...how did this happen?!"
"Um--"
"Huh? Oh! Excuse me. I didn't know I had a visitor."
cough cough.
"I'm BIll, the genius scientist. Please ignore the roof and come on in."
Eric shrugged and walked in.
The inside of the cottage was complete chaos. Stacks of notebooks covered every surface. A computer terminal hummed against one wall, its screen displaying complex energy graphs. Poké Balls of various models sat in glass cases. On a shelf near the window, a single photo showed Bill standing next to none other than Professor Oak!
"Nice place," Eric said.
"It's a mess, but it's organised." Bill laughed. "So, what brings you here? Looking for a rare Pokémon? Want to hear about my storage system? Or did you just get lost?"
"...are you always this excited to see a visitor?"
"Hahaha, not a lot of people visit here, despite my stellar reputation. Besides, every new meeting is an opportunity that leads to wonders."
"So? What brings you here?"
"Nothing, I was just curious about the person behind the teleportation system."
"Oh? Are you interested in that?"
The moment Bill heard a question about his work, he couldn't stop talking.
He spent an hour explaining how he figured out how to transport Poké Balls instantly from one place to another. He was way too passionate about his work. Eric did not understand any of the science behind it, but his system recorded everything.
Bill then went around showing Eric all his gadgets, like a kid showing off his toys.
Eric was surprised that Bill was showing off his research to someone he had never met before.
But Bill didn't care about any of that - he wasn't someone who believed in hiding information. Aside from some things that might prove to be harmful if others learned about them, Bill didn't mind sharing all his information.
30 minutes later.
"--and this... is my energy sensor. It is the best thing if you want to scan and study the energy inside a Pokémon."
"This can scan a Pokémon's energy?"
"Correct. But don't confuse this with ordinary scanners. There isn't anything that can scan energy more in-depth than this baby. Here, let me show you--"
Bill pushed some buttons on the machine, causing it to beep and glow red.
"Hm? Fascinating! This is picking up anomalous energy from your shadow...It is Ghost-type energy, but it is far from normal. Is there a Pokémon in your shadow?"
Eric nodded, intrigued.
"Come on out, Haunter!'
"Haunt!"
"A Haunter, huh?"
Bill said as he moved closer to study Haunter.
"Its energy is at the grade 4 level, which is remarkable on its own... but there is something else. Did he absorb something?"
Eric contemplated whether he should say anything before relenting.
"It absorbed an anomalous red fragment in Lavender Woods during evolution."
"A fragment from Lavender Woods?" Bill's eyes widened. He typed furiously into his console. "This is exciting! Let me run a deep-dive scan. I will reward you handsomely if you let me."
"...fine. But you are not allowed to give that data to anyone. And I need access to your database for five hours. That should be doable for you, right?"
"That's fine with me. You won't have access to any of the confidential stuff, though."
Eric nodded.
They had a deal.
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