"Hello? Is anyone there?"
Eddie knocked on the door of the Sea Cottage, waiting for a response.
However, no matter how many times he knocked, no one answered from inside.
"Is he not here right now? Maybe he's out in the field studying Pokémon?" Eddie wondered aloud. "That seems likely. Bill is a Pokémon researcher after all. It makes sense he'd be out studying wild Pokémon."
The resident of the Sea Cottage was named Bill.
He was a renowned Pokémon researcher who, despite his young age, was considered an expert in many fields.
He had invented numerous devices that benefited the entire Pokémon world.
His most famous creation was the Pokémon Storage System—a revolutionary technology used throughout the Pokémon world.
When Eddie considered the possibility that Bill was out conducting field research, he felt a headache coming on.
He had originally planned to complete this quest as quickly as possible, but with the owner absent, he couldn't progress at all.
"Have I come all this way for nothing? Do I need to wait for him to return?"
Eddie was constantly planning his actions meticulously, with every step carefully considered.
If he wasted time waiting for Bill and failed to reach the next city by nightfall, he would need to adjust his entire schedule.
He weighed the pros and cons, trying to determine the best course of action.
"If I leave now, other players will definitely discover this hidden quest later and claim the reward I'm after."
"But if I wait here, I'll probably have to return to Cerulean City to rest tonight. I just said goodbye to Misty—returning dejectedly this evening would feel awful."
Eddie was torn, finding it difficult to decide.
After all, hidden quests offered extremely valuable rewards. This was evident from the prizes he'd received from his previous hidden quest completions.
At least half of Eddie's current strength could be attributed to these hidden quest rewards.
The rarest item he'd obtained so far was the Exp. Share. With this device, Eddie could travel efficiently with his main Pokémon without worrying about their training.
Before acquiring it, he had planned to spend several days grinding levels in Mt. Moon.
Therefore, it was difficult for Eddie to abandon any hidden quest. If he didn't complete it, someone else eventually would, and the opportunity would be lost forever.
"Wait a minute—Exp. Share, leveling up, Morning Sun..."
Thinking about the Exp. Share reminded Eddie of leveling up, which in turn made him check his Pokémon's current levels.
All were at level 34, with his three starter Pokémon just two levels away from evolution.
"That's it! The key is that after Charmeleon evolves into Charizard, I can fly!"
"While I wouldn't use flying to replace walking for leveling up or finding hidden quests, it seems perfectly appropriate to use it in this situation to save time."
Eddie had owned flying Pokémon in his previous life, but most players rarely used them to traverse entire regions.
After all, people played the game for the experience. Using a flying Pokémon occasionally for the sensation was fine.
But replacing walking adventures with flying would diminish the journey.
Whether to avoid missing adventures or to level up and discover quests, serious players seeking to become stronger rarely chose flying over walking.
Eddie normally followed the same philosophy, but for situations requiring urgency, he wasn't opposed to making exceptions.
This was a special circumstance. To maintain his schedule while still completing this hidden quest, using Charizard to expedite travel was the logical solution.
Fortunately, there were no hidden quests along the route to the next city, and relatively few Trainers, so he wouldn't miss many opportunities.
"Perfect, it's decided. I'll level up nearby until Charmeleon evolves into Charizard, then wait for Bill to return from his research. After completing the quest, I'll fly to the next city."
Eddie put his plan into action immediately. He released Charmeleon and headed to a nearby grove to train.
"There's a Raticate. It looks like a giant rat with a yellowish-brown body and tough front teeth."
"Just remove its head and the rest can be... ahem, sorry, got sidetracked there."
"As a Raticate, its level should be at least 20, and in this area probably between 25-30."
"Though the experience gained from defeating a Pokémon of this level is somewhat minimal for a level 34 Charmeleon, most Pokémon in this region are around this level, so we'll have to make do."
"Charmeleon! Flamethrower! Take care of it!"
Eddie brought Charmeleon to a clearing where he spotted a Raticate. It had its back turned to Eddie, dragging a small piece of wood while walking slowly.
Though somewhat confused by the Raticate's unusual behavior, Eddie didn't think much of it and commanded Charmeleon to attack.
Just as Charmeleon prepared to strike, the strangely-behaving Raticate turned its head and looked at Eddie.
That wasn't the surprising part. What shocked Eddie was that this Raticate had a human male face! When it saw Eddie, it actually smiled and then spoke in human language!
"Is someone there? Someone's come to my cottage! Excellent! I thought no one visited such a remote place... Wait!!! Don't attack me! I'm human! I'm friendly!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!! What is this?! A Pokémon with a human face? Some kind of human-faced mutant? Or just a monster?"
"Charmeleon, attack quickly! This is too frightening!"
Eddie looked shocked and quickly ordered Charmeleon to attack.
Of course, his "shock" was half genuine and half pretense. Seeing the Raticate like this, he immediately recognized the situation.
This was the scenario from the anime where Bill had accidentally merged himself with a Pokémon. Though in the anime it had been a Kabuto rather than a Raticate, the principle was the same.
His fear, however, was partially genuine.
After all, he had only seen this depicted in the anime in his previous life.
And anime, naturally, took artistic liberties for entertainment purposes.
It was one thing to watch it as a cartoon.
But in reality? This was genuinely disturbing—like something from a horror movie.
So Eddie's half-genuine, half-feigned "shock" appeared completely authentic, and Charmeleon was indeed preparing to attack.
Bill was now jumping up and down frantically, repeatedly insisting he was friendly and begging not to be attacked.
"Don't worry," Eddie finally said with a slight smirk. "I just communicated with Charmeleon. It'll only scare you a bit—it won't actually harm you."
Watching Bill hop around in panic, Eddie felt quite satisfied.
After all, Bill's appearance had genuinely frightened him moments ago. Now he was pretending shock while simultaneously getting a bit of harmless revenge.
That's right—Eddie could be rather petty sometimes.
If you disagree, you're welcome to challenge him in battle!