A spirit descends, Gardevoir is my childhood friend?

Xiao Lan took Xinlinbao out for training. Lin Xiaolin had been a bit tired lately, so Xiao Lan decided to let Lin Xiaolin take a good rest during the holiday. She helped with Xinlinbao's training.

Then, Xinlinbao, who had just been lying on the ground preparing to rest, was picked up and taken away while looking completely bewildered.

"Chirp chirp!" No, no, I want to sleep too.

The Heartscale Baby struggled fiercely in Xiao Lan's hands, but then Xiao Lan glared at it, and the Heartscale Baby immediately wilted.

-

"Xiao Lin, Xiao Lin." Lin Xiao Lin opened her eyes vaguely and saw her mother.

"Ha~ Mom, you're back." Lin Xiaolin yawned and sat up.

"Hmm, why are you asleep on the sofa again? Be careful not to catch a cold," Lin's mother said worriedly.

"Mom, where did you go during the day?"

“I’m in your dad’s lab. He’s the kind of person who won’t eat or sleep if I don’t go there. I have to go and keep an eye on him. You two, one big and one small, are both a worry to us,” Lin’s mother complained.

"Haha~" Lin Xiaolin yawned again, then looked out the window and saw that it was already dark.

"Then I'm going back to sleep." Lin Xiaolin got up, picked up the blanket, and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute, I have something to tell you." Lin's mother suddenly called out to Lin Xiaolin.

"Hmm? What is it?" Lin Xiaolin turned around and looked at her mother.

"Let's get up early tomorrow morning. The black market opens tomorrow, and we'll go check it out."

Lin Xiaolin thought for a moment. The black market was an annual festival, not a black market in the true sense. In previous years, there were many black markets in the Dragon Kingdom that smuggled elves, but they have basically disappeared after the country cracked down on them.

Later, every year for a few days, a bunch of people would return to the original location of the black market to trade and buy and sell. Of course, these were all legal transactions, and they could only sell Pokémon eggs and items that had legitimate channels.

This black market is similar to a second-hand market.

"Okay, around what time?" Lin Xiaolin decided to go and take a look, maybe she could find a bargain?

"Around eight or nine o'clock. Your dad will be going tomorrow too, and then our whole family will go shopping together."

"Okay." After saying that, Lin Xiaolin returned to her bedroom.

-

The next morning, Lin Xiaolin was woken up by Xiao Lan. After getting ready, she went out and saw her parents sitting at the dining table having breakfast.

"Mom and Dad," Lin Xiaolin greeted them as she walked over, then sat down to eat breakfast.

"Is there anything Xiao Lin wants to buy on the black market?" Lin's father asked from the side.

Lin Xiaolin thought for a moment and realized that there really wasn't anything she wanted. Oh right, the Dragon Gem of Heartscale Treasure is almost gone. She wondered if she could buy it on the black market.

"The Dragon Gem, Xiao Bao. We're almost out of Dragon Gems, but we don't need anything else."

"Dragon Gems, there should be plenty of those on the black market. We could stock up on some for Xiaobao to use later," Lin's father said, thinking to himself.

After breakfast, the family took a taxi to the black market. Xiao Lan and Xin Lin Bao didn't want to go, saying they wanted to stay home and train for a while. Of course, Xin Lin Bao was 'voluntary' in doing so.

The black market is located on several roads near the city center—yes, several of these roads were originally the site of the black market.

As soon as Lin Xiaolin got out of the car, she saw a dense crowd.

After paying the fare, Lin Xiaolin and his family entered the black market. Both sides of the road were lined with stalls selling all kinds of items, including Pokémon eggs.

However, most of them were not very rare Pokémon; I didn't even see any starter Pokémon.

The three of them walked along the crowd, looking at each stall. To Lin Xiaolin's surprise, there were no fakes in this black market; everything was genuine, and what was written on the signs in front of them was exactly what it said.

"Dad, are there no counterfeit goods in this black market?" Lin Xiaolin asked as she walked to her father's side.

"What are you thinking? Of course not. The black market is managed by the association now. If you want to set up a stall here, you need to apply to the association. All the goods have to be tested by the association. If you get caught selling counterfeit goods, oh my god, you're in big trouble. The minimum is three years of free room and board."

Lin's father shrugged, and Lin Xiaolin immediately lost interest. How could he find a bargain without counterfeit goods?

However, Lin Xiaolin still accompanied his parents as they strolled around. At one stall, his father spent 300 million Alliance Coins to buy nine low-level Dragon Gems.

This made Lin Xiaolin smack his lips. He hadn't expected that the price here would be higher than at the association. But there was nothing he could do. The association only allowed the use of points for redemption, and it was difficult to find this item elsewhere.

Lin Xiaolin put the nine Dragon Stones she had bought into her backpack and continued walking with the crowd.

The morning passed, and I did see quite a few good things, but they were all clearly priced; they were good, but also really expensive.

However, Lin Xiaolin's family also bought quite a few things. Lin Xiaolin's Dragon Gem, Lin's father also bought a bunch of rare tree fruits, and Lin's mother bought some small ornaments.

After having lunch at a small restaurant near the black market, the three of them continued to wander around the black market.

Lin Xiaolin had lost all interest in the black market. Everything here was clearly priced and even inspected by the association. What was the point of not giving him any chance to find a bargain? Lin's parents, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves immensely, so Lin Xiaolin had no choice but to help carry their bags from behind.

"Brother, this is too expensive. Can you make it cheaper?"

"It's really not going to be cheaper, my price is already this low."

As they walked past a stall, they heard a customer haggling with the stall owner, and the three of them, who were just curious, also went over to watch.

The stall owner was a man in his forties, and his stall was filled with strange and unusual things. When Lin Xiaolin took a closer look, she realized that they were all research materials.

Chapter 72 Telephone

Lin Xiaolin walked to the stall and carefully observed it. Most of the materials on the stall were E-grade research materials, with a small number of D-grade and C-grade materials.

Lin Xiaolin immediately lost interest; most of the items on the stall were useless.

Just as they were about to leave, the customer who had been haggling regretfully placed his items on the stall and departed.

Lin Xiaolin glanced at it.

Props: Light Clay

Description: Makes the effects of the carried Light Wall and Reflective Barrier stronger and longer-lasting.

Damn, Lin Xiaolin had seen this thing in the research materials warehouse and wanted to take it, but unfortunately he didn't get it in the end. He felt a surge of excitement, but his face remained expressionless.

"How much is this, boss?" Lin Xiaolin asked casually as she picked up the clay of light.

"50 is the lowest, and I can't go any lower," the stall owner said decisively when Lin Xiaolin asked about the price.

Lin Xiaolin played with the clay of light in his hand. This thing was cheaper than the one in the association. It cost 10 points to exchange in the association, which is equivalent to 100 million Alliance Coins.

But this price is normal. Other materials are relatively scarce, and the association may buy them at 90% of the selling price. However, no one knows what use the research materials are, so the association usually buys them at around 30%.

After all, no one has discovered its use yet, so naturally no one knows its price. What if someone spends hundreds of thousands to buy a piece of junk? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?

Seeing that Lin Xiaolin remained silent, the boss quickly took out another certificate.

"This is genuine Grade C research material, certified by the association. You won't regret buying it," the stall owner said, pointing to the certificate.

Lin Xiaolin didn't speak, but turned to look at her father, who immediately understood.

"Brother, I'm not trying to be rude, but I'm a [C] level researcher. You probably know that 80% of these research materials are useless. If you hand them over to the association for recycling, they'll only give you 30,000 points at most. How about this, we'll take a loss and get 350,000 Alliance Coins. That way, you'll still make a profit, and I'll bear all the risks. What if it's just a useless thing?"

Lin's father immediately chimed in, and the stall owner hesitated upon hearing this, but after thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and made the deal.

Lin Xiaolin was in a great mood the moment she got the Clay of Light, and continued to follow behind her parents carrying their bags.

"Xiao Lin, what's the use of this glowing mud?" Lin's father asked Lin Xiao Lin.

"Hmm, this thing is related to whether I can become a researcher." Upon hearing this, Lin's father immediately understood. It seemed that Lin Xiaolin had figured something out, and perhaps this mud really had some great use.

Lin's father did not ask any further questions. The three of them continued to browse the black market. After having dinner at 6 p.m., Lin Xiaolin and the others returned to the dojo.

As soon as she returned to the bedroom, she saw Xinlinbao lying on the floor. It seemed that he had also been quite tired from training today. Lin Xiaolin put the dragon-type snacks she had bought at the black market in her hand.

Upon seeing this, Xinlinbao immediately felt no more backache or leg pain and ran straight to Lin Xiaolin to eat snacks.

After Xinlinbao finished eating, Lin Xiaolin put the two large bags in the bedroom and called out to Xiaolan in her mind.

Xiao Lan appeared in the room in an instant.

"Sister Xiaolan, these are some snacks I bought for you and Xiaobao," Lin Xiaolin said, pointing to the two large bags.

"Okay." Xiao Lan stepped forward, picked up a small cookie from the bag, and ate it. The taste really suited her.

-

At night, Lin Xiaolin sat at his computer, looking at the clay of light in his hands. He was seriously writing a research report. Although he had never done any actual research, he could easily write a fake research report based on his existing knowledge.

After all, research is something that research associations should do themselves. They submit their reports, and the association members implement them. They can just sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor. It's so great!

For the next few days, Lin Xiaolin stayed at home revising his research report. As for training the Pokémon?

As a seasoned trainer, you should train your own Pokémon, right?

Finally, on the last day of the holiday, Lin Xiaolin completed the research report on the Light Clay and sent it to the research association as a trainer.

Next, all that's left is to wait for the research association to verify my credentials and then I'll receive my researcher status and rewards. So awesome!

Lin Xiaolin stretched and went to sleep; she had class tomorrow.

Logically, a research report shouldn't take this long, but Lin Xiaolin hadn't actually done any research, so he could only write it as if he had.

The result was that after much revision, it was finally finished within a week (of course, this doesn't exclude the possibility that Lin Xiaolin would go play games while writing, and play for hours at a time).

The next day, Lin Xiaolin slept until noon before returning to school. There were no classes in the morning, and it wasn't said that she had to be at school early. So, she let Xinlinbao absorb the power of the spirits at home in the morning.

Lin Xiaolin went to school after getting up and having lunch. There was just one hour left before training started, so Lin Xiaolin went straight to the training room.

"Good morning, seniors." Lin Xiaolin walked into the training room and found that most of the seniors had already started training. There was still an hour before class. No wonder the other seniors usually arrived long before the five of them came to class.