Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

The meal ended with everyone enjoying themselves.

After dinner, Mingyi accompanied Xia Chen towards his home, taking a walk and helping him clean up.

I haven't been back for five months, so the house definitely needs a thorough cleaning.

Halfway there, Xia Chen suddenly said, "Oh, right, I also prepared a gift for you, but it's still on its way by air and will arrive in two days."

Mingyi asked curiously, "You're only telling me now? It's so mysterious! What is it?"

Xia Chen explained, "It's a Pokémon egg, a reward from the Kalos League to recognize my contributions. The parents are Elite Four level Pokémon, and it's highly likely to be one of the top-tier Kalos starter Pokémon. You can choose whichever you like."

He hadn't originally wanted the Carlos Alliance reward, since he didn't plan on having a "fifth child" for the time being.

But after learning that Mingyi was going to study in the Padia region, Xia Chen suddenly thought, why not give this elf egg to Mingyi?

Mingyi hurriedly waved her hand, "This is too precious, I can't accept it. Besides, I've already caught a Scorbunny with the [Free Spirit] ability, and Greninja is a bit too heavy. I don't want to raise the other two."

With the existence of breeding bases, the current starter Pokémon are not particularly rare; you can buy a starter Pokémon with average or above-average stats for a few hundred thousand.

But if the parents are Elite Three starter Pokémon... the price will be more than ten times higher, not to mention Froakie, which is one of the more sought-after ones.

A gift worth tens of millions is indeed a bit too expensive.

Xia Chen joked, "Didn't we tease each other back then, saying 'If we become rich, let's not forget each other'? My buddy made a fortune in Carlos, a croaking frog is nothing."

While it may be a bit of an exaggeration, that's really the case.

The prize money from Dr. Blatano's initial mission, the parting gift from Vladari, the proceeds from the Grand Contest, the millions of dollars included with the Luminous Medal, Xerneas's blessing upon Xanb and Kirlia...

Compared to all the gains along the way, a single croaking frog is really just the tip of the iceberg.

…………

Mingyi was still a little hesitant.

Xia Chen shrugged. "It's not appropriate to sell this reward. Since you don't want it, I can only return the Pokémon egg. I only recently caught Zoroa and don't have any plans to raise new Pokémon, let alone a Froakie."

Frog Bro is handsome, but ever since Xia Chen found out that the scarf around his neck is actually his tongue, he can no longer bear to look at him.

As for the other two members of the Carlos Big Three...

Hmm... Do you have these two Pokémon?

Actually, Xia Chen had asked if it could be replaced with Carlos the Quasi-God Goober, as he had a pretty good impression of Goober.

The wet, sticky, and docile dragon still really appealed to Xia Chen.

Unfortunately, it can't be replaced.

Seeing Mingyi's still conflicted expression, Xia Chen said softly, "Take it. Consider it as accompanying you on your adventure in Padia on my behalf."

Wait a minute...

Does this sound familiar?

It looks crimson again.

However, this time it was when I gave him a multi-functional bicycle before we parted that I said those words.

Following behind, Xianbu shook his head, saying the same thing: "What an old scumbag..."

After some hesitation, Mingyi seemed to have made up her mind, nodded emphatically, and accepted this special gift.

Xia Chen was somewhat amused and exasperated. Those who knew the situation would think he was receiving a gift, while those who didn't would think he was accepting some kind of life-or-death mission...

…………

As they spoke, the two had already arrived in front of the old house.

Xia Chen scratched the chin of the little fox in his arms. "This will be our home from now on."

"Yo~"

Zorua excitedly climbed over the wall and rushed inside, looking very curious about his future home.

Xia Chen smiled, opened the door, and went inside.

After five months of neglect, the yard was overgrown with weeds, and two wild grasses, seemingly out of nowhere, were shamelessly reproducing under the cover of night.

Hearing the door open, they hurriedly separated and then rushed away.

Xia Chen: "......"

So you think my house is deserted?

Xia Chen looked at the yard full of weeds and released all the fairies, "Everyone, come out and get to work!"

Mingyi also summoned Serperior and Saurami to help.

Three hours later.

With the hard work of the two people and the six elves, they finally managed to clean and tidy up the house.

It was almost bedtime, so Mingyi took her two elves and said goodbye. Xia Chen also took Sylveon and Zoroya back upstairs.

"Hey, Zoroya, this room is yours from now on. Tomorrow we'll go to the Elf Department Store to buy you some necessities. You can make do with this tonight."

Xia Chen pointed to an empty room and said.

"Yo~"

Having endured a life of hardship and displacement before her death, Zoroia had no time to be picky. She happily ran inside and bounced around on the soft bed.

Xia Chen smiled, settled Soroya in, and then returned to his room.

But his little followers followed him closely.

Xia Chen turned around and said irritably, "Didn't we agree that you would sleep by yourself after you evolved into Kirlia?"

Kirlia retorted confidently, "Kirlia—(That was Ralts's promise, what does it have to do with me, Kirlia?)"

Xia Chen: "......"

How come I, who doesn't understand Elvish, could understand it?

Not quite. Kirlia pointed to Sylveon, who had already quietly slipped into her room, "Kirlia—(Sylveon hasn't gone back to her room either, has she?)"

Xia Chen: "......"

There was no other way but to let her into the room.

Forget it, once Kirlia evolves into Gardevoir, I'll definitely let her sleep alone!

"Yo..."

Kirlia had barely stepped into the room when she was revealed to be Zorua, who was staring at her with hopeful eyes.

That look clearly said, "Are you going to show favoritism?"

Xia Chen: "......"

Can I go to the top floor now and sleep with Milotic?

------

Sylvanas gradually realized that the battle in which she borrowed the power of the antlers that day, and the subsequent blessing from Xerneas, had a tremendous impact on her.

Besides the basic changes in his body that he could feel immediately afterward, Sylvanas discovered even more surprises during his daily sparring matches with Milotic.

First of all, she noticed that when she entered battle mode, she inexplicably emitted a faint fairy aura similar to Xerneas's unique trait, [Fairy Aura].

This aura can enhance the power of Fairy-type moves used by the Pokémon in the areas it covers.

This conclusion was drawn from having Kirlia accompany him in experiments; the enhancement was not significant, approximately 10%.

But having an extra "feature" out of nowhere is a good thing no matter how you look at it.

Strangely, Kirlia, who also received Xerneas's blessing, did not have this ability.

So Senbu thought this must be a benefit of that battle.

Perhaps... it's because I forcibly used the energy from the Horn of Xerneas too many times, causing my body to be repeatedly burst by that energy and then rebuilt multiple times?

Xianbu secretly wondered to himself.

Following this hypothesis, Xianbu tried to use [Earth Control] again, which he had used with the help of the antlers, but after trying for nearly half a month, he still failed.

However, this failure only refers to the failure of the result; the process itself was not a complete failure.

Xianbu could clearly sense a strange energy that was extremely similar to that day, flowing continuously from the earth into his body.

But at the last moment, they always fall short.

Is something missing?

Sylveon didn't understand. Although he had the memories and information from his ten years of rebirth, Earth Mastery was, after all, a move exclusive to legendary Pokémon, and not so easy to comprehend.

Xenbu could only keep this to himself and wait until he was stronger enough to try again, or until he met Xerneas again.

…………

Simulated World: The Incredible Maze, Crystal Lakeside.

Kirullian stared intently at the forest lizard that was coldly staring at her.

In the previous scene, it was this forest lizard that defeated Arknom, one of the three legendary mushrooms, and stole the Time Gear from Crystal Lake.

Kirlia, who witnessed the power of Xerneas and Yveltal firsthand, knew all too well just how powerful the divine beasts were.

Although there are differences between mythical beasts.

Or perhaps in this simulated world, the legendary Pokémon are far less powerful than those in the real world, since even they could defeat Groudon's illusion.

But no matter how much you try to boost it, Azelf is still a legendary Pokémon, and the strength of this forest lizard is evident.

However, capturing the forest lizard that stole the Time Gear is a necessary part of the main storyline, so Kirlia has no choice but to bring Pikachu along and grit her teeth and go for it.

Five minutes later.

Kirlia stared at the grayed-out failure screen, lost in thought.

This strength... it feels so much stronger than the last boss, Phantom Groudon. Is it really possible for me to defeat it at this stage?

Just then, the system's voice suddenly rang out.

[You failed to defeat the forest lizard. Continue the simulation?]

This situation, which hadn't occurred in the first half of the year, puzzled Kirlian. If she hadn't defeated them... why could she continue simulating?