Pokemon: With Title System

Chapter 50 – The High-IQ Magikarp

The next morning, Asahi woke up feeling refreshed. Stretching his arms, he found they were completely recovered.

"The human body is truly amazing!"

Reflecting on his good fortune, Asahi remembered the golden Magikarp he'd caught the day before. As his fourth Pokémon, it was about time he had a proper conversation with it.

"Come on out, Magikarp!"

The golden Magikarp emerged from its Poké Ball.

Seemingly unsettled by its surroundings, the Magikarp immediately began flopping around on the ground. Its golden scales sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight as it bounced.

Seeing this, Asahi fetched a basin of water and placed the Magikarp inside.

Calmed by the water, the Magikarp stopped flopping and began blowing bubbles, its dull eyes staring blankly at him.

Magikarp: (⊙_⊙)

Asahi: (ー`′ー)

Man and fish stared at each other for several minutes.

"..."

Looking at the Magikarp's vacant expression, Asahi felt a little uneasy.

Yesterday, he'd been preoccupied with dealing with Team Rocket, so he had only checked to make sure the Magikarp wasn't traumatized before choosing it.

Now, while it didn't seem to have any issues, it somehow felt... not very bright.

"Could it have some kind of defect? Is that why Team Rocket left it in the game corner as a prize?"

Pondering this, Asahi pulled up the Magikarp's status screen.

[Pokémon: Magikarp (♂)

Type: Water

Ability: Swift Swim

Level: LV21

Moves: Splash, Tackle

Held Item: Mystic Water ×2]

"Okay... wait, what?"

At first glance, everything seemed normal. But...

"What's with this level!?"

Asahi looked at the seemingly sluggish Magikarp, then back at the status screen. He couldn't believe this seemingly useless fish was already level 21!

And the items—two Mystic Waters?

Grabbing the Magikarp from the basin, Asahi inspected it thoroughly, ignoring its struggles. Despite turning it over multiple times, he couldn't find any trace of the Mystic Waters.

Still, he trusted the system wouldn't be wrong.

The Mystic Waters had to be somewhere on the Magikarp.

Calling out Gardevoir, Asahi looked at her questioning expression and said, "Gardevoir, use Psychic to examine Magikarp's body for me."

Nodding, Gardevoir's eyes glowed blue as she scanned the Magikarp with her psychic powers.

Meanwhile, Asahi held down the squirming Magikarp.

In just a few seconds, Gardevoir found the answer and conveyed it telepathically:

[There are two unusual energy sources in its abdomen.]

"Well, well..."

Hearing this, Asahi immediately understood where the Mystic Waters were hidden.

"Impressive."

Looking down at the seemingly dimwitted Magikarp in the basin, Asahi recalled how the game corner had mysteriously run out of Mystic Waters. He had a hunch:

"Somehow, you managed to swallow all the Mystic Waters from the game corner and used their energy to reach this level, didn't you?"

Blowing bubbles in the basin, the Magikarp's vacant eyes seemed to say, 'I'm just a fish; I have no idea what you're talking about.'

Watching this display, Asahi's eyebrow twitched. This Magikarp's intelligence was clearly much higher than it let on—far beyond that of an ordinary Magikarp.

For most trainers, this kind of behavior would've been impossible to detect. After all, who would suspect a Magikarp of feigning stupidity?

But was Asahi an ordinary trainer?

Smiling faintly, Asahi placed his hand on the Magikarp and activated the power of Viridian to sense its emotions.

Under the influence of Viridian's power, no Pokémon's disguise could remain hidden.

And then...

"Foolish human, you think you can see through my act?"

For a moment, Asahi sat in stunned silence. Then, a vein popped on his forehead.

His fists clenched tightly.

He couldn't believe it—a fish had just mocked him.

But Asahi was nothing if not composed.

Regaining his calm, he looked at the Magikarp with a "kind" smile.

"If I heard correctly, you were just mocking me for not seeing through your act, weren't you?"

The Magikarp froze, its bubbles halting midstream. A flicker of panic crossed its vacant eyes.

Magikarp had no idea how Asahi could perceive its inner thoughts.

But from Asahi's tone, it sensed something bad was about to happen.

Before it could react, it saw Asahi raise his head and look at Gardevoir across the room.

"Gardevoir, it's all yours! Show it who's the boss here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Magikarp noticed a shadow looming over it from behind.

Three minutes later.

Magikarp sat obediently in the water basin, tail tucked, and conveyed its story honestly to Asahi, who was using the power of Viridian.

According to Magikarp's account, it had encountered many humans in the past. From their reactions, it realized that its golden body was highly sought after in human society.

Thus, living in constant danger in the wild, it came up with an idea: to intentionally appear before humans, seeking to be captured and find itself a long-term source of food.

And it succeeded.

Magikarp had been at Team Rocket's game corner for six months. Thanks to its golden scales, it was always well-treated, enjoying the best food and drink. It had even managed to swallow two rare Mystic Waters unnoticed during that time.

Because it was just a "weak, pitiful, helpless Magikarp," no one suspected it afterward.

Then, Asahi had exchanged for it. Reluctant to leave the game corner, Magikarp had initially planned to play dumb so Asahi would think he'd received a defective Pokémon and return it to the game corner.

But unexpectedly, Asahi had seen through its act at a glance.

"Just as I thought, but you can forget about going back," Asahi said firmly.

Return it? Not a chance. After going through all the trouble to get a shiny Magikarp, there was no way he'd send it back to Team Rocket.

Hearing this, Magikarp's mood sank. It felt as though its once-glorious life was slipping away.

Seeing Magikarp's dejected look, Asahi knew he needed a mix of "stick and carrot" to deal with this cunning creature.

So he reached into his bag and pulled out an energy cube, waving it in front of Magikarp.

Once Magikarp's full attention was on the cube, Asahi smiled and said, "Do you know what this is? This is my secret recipe for energy cubes—something money can't buy!"

"If you behave and follow me from now on, you'll have unlimited access to these. I promise your treatment will be way better than what you had with Team Rocket!"

With that, he tossed the cube into Magikarp's mouth.

As the energy cube melted on Magikarp's tongue, the delicious flavor sent waves of delight to its brain.

Instantly, all its earlier disappointment vanished.

Team Rocket? Game corner? What were those again?

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