Viridian Force LV1: Blessed by the Verdant Forest, this power allows for basic communication with Pokémon, grants a natural affinity with them, and provides limited healing abilities.
Unlike the previous method that roughly forced knowledge into his mind, this time a gentle, warm energy flowed into every inch of Caleb's body.
The energy was brimming with vitality, making him feel incredibly comfortable.
In the world of Pokémon, some people can acquire special powers through rare opportunities—like Psychic abilities, Aura, the Power of Overcoming, and the Verdant Force.
The Verdant Force is a power that appeared in the Pokémon Special manga. Those who possess it are extremely rare; only Yellow, Lance, and Giovanni are known to have it.
Even though it falls under the same category, each person expresses the power differently—Yellow can temporarily power up, and Giovanni can enhance vitality.
In the manga, Yellow used the Verdant Force multiple times. When she powered up, even with weaker Pokémon like Raticate and Butterfree, she could take on Lance's dragon army head-on.
That kind of performance really shows the upper limits of this power.
Looks like this system isn't totally useless after all.
"But system, how do I level up the Verdant Force?"
Right now, LV1 doesn't seem all that helpful. Maybe if he upgraded it, things would improve.
[Verdant Force LV1 → LV2, costs Emotion Points]
[Current Emotion Points: 579]
That many! Looks like it's still a long road ahead.
Let's focus on expanding and strengthening the Gym first.
Caleb made a silent vow.
He took a sip of the orange juice he had just squeezed from an Oran Berry and smacked his lips. "Mm, still kinda sour."
Next, he tried making some Pokéblocks. He remembered there was a machine for it somewhere in dad's storage.
He pulled out a massive, high-precision machine from the warehouse—just estimating by eye, it had to be over five meters tall.
Typical breeders' machines were only about the size of a radio. Department stores used slightly larger ones—about the size of a printer. But this beast looked like something straight out of a factory.
Who in their right mind would buy this thing?
And apparently, it had just been sitting here collecting dust, never used once. What a waste! Such a waste!
Caleb criticized his dad's reckless spending habits.
And man, this machine looked like it'd be a nightmare to operate!
Caleb tapped and fiddled with it for a while before finally figuring out the basics.
Still, gotta say, this thing was built like a tank—even after he accidentally removed a part, it still started up just fine.
Machine sorted—next up, berries.
Not a big deal for Caleb. There was a whole section in the backyard just for growing Berries. It wasn't super diverse, but it was good enough.
Relying on his memories, he picked out a few that would go well together and tossed them into the machine.
Worth noting—the machine also had functions like washing and chopping, which saved him a ton of hassle.
A minute later—
There was a soft pop, and a shiny cube popped out from the machine's dispenser.
That's... it?
He remembered hearing that high-quality Pokéblocks took breeders tons of effort to make.
Wasn't this a bit too slapdash?
Could it be... the secret was in the machine?
Caleb felt a bit skeptical.
Out of curiosity, he picked up the freshly made Pokéblock and popped it into his mouth.
Instantly, a sweet-and-sour flavor like an erupting volcano exploded on his taste buds.
The intense, unique taste flooded his mouth, and Caleb found it hard to describe just how amazing it was.
As the flavor danced on his tongue, a vivid image sprang into his mind:
An endless golden beach, warm sunlight, a gentle sea breeze... and Cynthia in a bikini waving at him.
Even though this Pokéblock was sour, compared to the cheap juice he'd gotten from a spin earlier, the difference was night and day.
He pulled up a search engine to look up Pokéblocks.
What he found shocked him.
High-quality Pokéblocks were sold by the piece—ten thousand each!
The berries used didn't even cost 300, but after processing, the value skyrocketed by 30 to 40 times.
Now he was curious—what would it taste like with rare berries?
Having just tasted success, Caleb decided to go again.
This time, he used rare Berries like Apicot, Salac, and Haban. Just one of these could sell for over a thousand Pokédollars.
As the machine whirred, it soon spat out four colorful jelly beans.
Red, yellow, blue, and green.
Uh... kind of looked like Skittles.
"Let's try one." Caleb gulped, picking the green one. The main ingredient was the Salac Berry. He wondered if it would boost Speed.
"Ji-pah."
A voice suddenly came from below.
Caleb instinctively looked down—and somehow, a white squirrel had appeared at his feet.
Its ears were blue, with stripes extending down, yellow electric sacs on its cheeks, and a blue stripe running from the top of its head down its back to its tail, ending in three sharp tips.
"Pachirisu?"
What's a Pachirisu doing in the backyard? Did it sneak in?
Caleb guessed.
Pachirisu blinked its big eyes when it heard its name, curiously eyeing the Pokéblock in Caleb's hand.
Smells so good.
The scent was coming from that thing.
Gotta trick it away from the human.
This guy looks pretty dumb—should be easy.
Like always, start with a cute act.
"Ji-pah~"
Caleb: "..."
Somehow, he could kind of understand what the little guy was saying.
Is this because of the Verdant Force?
Still, calling me dumb while trying to swindle my Pokéblock? Not happening!
Even if this little guy was pretty adorable...
"Ji-pah~"
Pachirisu stared up at Caleb with teary, sparkling eyes.
Caleb remained unmoved.
"Ji-paa~~"
Pachirisu used Charm on Caleb.
It was super effective.
"So cute!"
Caleb was completely disarmed. Pokéblocks? Whatever, I've got loads of them.
Hah, humans.
Pachirisu snatched the Pokéblock from Caleb's hand and popped it into its mouth, chewing quickly.
In a flash—
Brilliant golden light burst from its eyes and mouth, illuminating the dim room like daylight.
"Ji-PAA!!!"
Three seconds later, the light gradually faded.
Caleb leaned in with concern. "You okay?" Was that a new move?
At that moment, Pachirisu's yellow electric sacs visibly flushed red.
Its breathing became rapid and labored, each breath sounding more strained.
After a while, Pachirisu finally opened its mouth, panting heavily.
"Hoo—"
With that breath, its body suddenly went limp, collapsing on the ground motionless.
"Wait... did it just eat an aphrodisiac?" Caleb said, genuinely confused.