Chapter 18: Baili Yuan and His Little Elves (First Update)

“Come out, everyone!” Baili Yuan shouted toward the courtyard.

Several figures rushed out from various corners of the yard, running toward him.

The ground bulged as a Oddish pulled its feet out from beneath the soil, running happily toward Baili Yuan.

A blue-green large frog, over a meter tall and carrying a massive flower bud on its back, ran over from the nearby pond.

*Splash—*

A graceful, slender figure burst from the pond. Predominantly green in color, her silhouette was elegant and delicate, yet she was over six meters long, making her a behemoth compared to the less-than-one-meter-tall Baili Yuan.

Running beside her was another slender blue figure, nearly two meters long.

A blue, flat-round figure by the water's edge was splashed by the spray and performed a sudden spring upward; it was characterized by a spiral pattern on its white belly.

“Cha!”

A red figure leaped high from the distance, trailing purple light as it descended from the sky, being the first to land by Baili Yuan's side.

The figure had a chicken's head topped with burning flames, looking every bit the fighter. Standing nearly two meters tall, it looked down at Baili Yuan and instinctively reached out to pat his head.

Baili Yuan: *So what if I'm short?*

A figure with green hair suddenly appeared beside Baili Yuan, hugging him happily.

The newcomer was about 1.6 meters tall, dressed in light clothing, looking like a human girl with a pair of red eyes.

“Bi, bi—”

From the small woods on the other side, bird calls rang out as a beige figure with a stylish, upright pompadour flew out from the trees.

It was a large bird, one meter tall.

Simultaneously, three figures—one red, one yellow, and one blue—charged out from the woods.

The red one resembled a mantis, the yellow one a hamster, and the blue one was a round sphere with a wide mouth and a shark fin.

*Rumble, rumble, rumble.*

The ground began to tremble as a metallic-sheened figure that looked like a rhinoceros ran from the distance, profoundly demonstrating the meaning of "running like an earthquake."

Following closely behind it was a rolling stone.

Only then did a soft, pink, round figure drift in from afar.

Below it was a white fox walking with elegant steps, while a brown figure hopped around it playfully.

The Pokémon ran to Baili Yuan's side, and he greeted them with a smile.

“Good morning, everyone.”

“Bi, bi—”

“Cha!”

“Pika, pika...”

“...”

Looking at the Pokémon smiling back at him, Baili Yuan also broke into a grin.

During this past month, while passing the time, Baili Yuan had been playing that "hellish" handheld game. Through experimentation and leveling up, he had figured out many things regarding the device.

First, the Pokémon captured in the handheld would appear by his side. However, the Pokémon appearing in reality were different from the ones in the game; they were living beings that grew. For instance, Oddish had grown significantly larger than it was a month ago.

While the Pokémon in the real world could synchronize their level-ups with the data in the game (and vice versa), there were many differences.

For example, even without a final evolution, they could possess Abilities.

As for evolution, Pokémon in the real world could evolve through accumulation; Evolution Stones were not a necessity!

For instance, Bulbasaur and Poliwag had evolved into Ivysaur and Poliwhirl respectively through their own efforts.

Recently, the flower bud on Ivysaur's back had been getting larger and had begun to release fragrance; Baili Yuan felt that Ivysaur might be on the verge of another evolution.

Beyond that, the restrictions found in the game no longer applied. As long as a move could be learned, they could learn and use it freely!

Then there was the matter of top-ups. Microtransactions were possible!

His Shiny Milotic, Shiny Blaziken, Shiny Koffing, Shiny Ninetales, Eevee, Scizor, and Garchomp were the best proof.

All of these had been obtained through spending money.

Once a top-up was selected, the handheld would automatically deduct money from Baili Yuan.

Fortunately, when topping up, there was no exchange rate for the currency of this world; it was 1:1.

Baili Yuan felt as if he had seen a shortcut to becoming powerful, but reality slapped him hard in the face!

I, Baili Yuan, am poor!

Training Pokémon in the real world also cost money!

Pokémon are living creatures; they need to eat, and cultivation consumes resources. Even maintaining them within the Emblem had a cost, albeit a slow one.

Regarding these "contracted beasts," Andy had said the Academy would only help him raise them until he officially enrolled at age seven, and even then, the limit was twenty. After age seven, Baili Yuan would have to support them himself.

Because of this, Baili Yuan did not dare to capture Pokémon indiscriminately.

Andy gave him 1,500 yuan in pocket money every month, but Baili Yuan had spent more than half of it on top-ups, so his pockets were not currently wealthy.

Finally, there were matters related to training and combat.

Through continuous training in the real world, although their levels in the game remained unchanged, their Individual Values (IVs) and quality were actually increasing and breaking through limits.

At this moment, Baili Yuan's Pokémon were

His starter, Ivysaur (evolved from Bulbasaur): Level 31.

The first Pokémon captured, Oddish: Level 20.

The Poliwag pulled from the Gashapon machine: Level 30.

The top-up Pokémon: Shiny Milotic (Level 35), Shiny Blaziken (Level 39), Shiny Koffing (Level 15), Scizor (Level 38), Shiny Ninetales (Level 35), and Garchomp (Level 25).

Member Reward: Eevee (Level 15).

Daily Check-in Reward, Summer Gardevoir: Level 26.

Seven-day Check-in Reward, Pikachu: Level 38.

Rhyhorn, caught to test the Hunting Ground: Level 25. (Pokémon caught in the Hunting Ground appear in the real world just like those caught in the wild.)

Geodude, obtained while testing the Gashapon multi-pull: Level 25. (If Pokémon from the Gashapon are not claimed, they disappear from the machine after a certain time. If multi-pulling, they enter a warehouse and do not appear immediately; they only appear in the real world once placed in the backpack.)

Furthermore, once a Pokémon appears in the real world, its corresponding data in the handheld is locked; it cannot be unlocked or released.

Finally, Pidgeotto (evolved from Pidgey): Level 25.

Dratini: Level 20.

Currently, only these sixteen Pokémon were summoned to the real world.

...

“Alright, let's start morning training.” Baili Yuan clapped his hands and began running through the courtyard with the Pokémon. The Pokémon instinctively formed a line, with Blaziken, Scizor, and Garchomp leading the way.

The courtyard was large enough for Baili Yuan and his massive, sixteen-Pokémon procession to begin their run.

Blaziken, Scizor, Garchomp, and Pikachu were the four most hardworking Pokémon, competing with one another. However, the main rivalry was between Blaziken, Scizor, and Pikachu; this was also why their levels were so high. Garchomp was still a child and was mostly just joining in the fun.

Although Ivysaur wanted to work hard, he was about to evolve and wasn't suited for strenuous exercise, so he just performed normal training.

Poliwhirl stayed close to Ivysaur's side; perhaps because they were both "frogs," their relationship was inexplicably good.

Milotic, Ninetales, and Gardevoir ran in the middle, neither competing nor rushing, acting as three quiet beauties. By the way, Baili Yuan was quite lucky; the Gardevoir he got from the check-in wasn't the type with "large assets" under her skirt.

Dratini followed closely behind its "big sister" Milotic, while Eevee followed Ninetales. Baili Yuan suspected that Eevee would likely evolve into a Flareon in the future.

The heavyweights, Rhyhorn and Geodude, were at the very back, jogging leisurely. It wasn't because they had short legs... well, Geodude didn't have legs, but both were naturally "domineering" Pokémon. The reason they weren't moving fast was that they were afraid if they charged, they would knock the entire front row flying. Worst of all, if they knocked the others over, those Pokémon would definitely come looking for trouble, and since they couldn't win the fight, they'd end up getting beaten. Thus, they could only obediently jog at the rear.

But then again... Milotic, Ninetales, and Gardevoir looked beautiful when they moved in unison.

Rhyhorn and Geodude blushed mysteriously.

Pidgeotto flew freely, having no such inhibitions.

As for Oddish and Shiny Koffing, for some reason, they had become "salted fish" type Pokémon. All day long, besides acting cute, they would run around looking for hugs and kisses. While the other Pokémon trained, the two of them would run off to play by themselves.

Oddish's brand of romance was "leaving whenever it felt like it"—if it got tired or hungry, it would just plant its feet in the ground. Shiny Koffing just giggled all day. Such was their nature; Baili Yuan didn't expect them to carry the team, so he eventually just let them play, treating them like two pets.

(End of Chapter)