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

He murmured to himself.

The soft, warm silk wrapped around his hands, and Xia Chen's heartfelt wish was answered.

"Don't thank me, you idiot... No matter which world I'm in, meeting you... is just wonderful!"

Xia Chen suddenly felt a stinging sensation in his nose, and he raised his hand to rub his eyes.

Strange, is the sandstorm still not over?

Chapter 473 The Flaming Bird Who Forgot to Go Home

December 1st marked two days since the successful conclusion of the Donghuang Conference.

Discussions about this match remain heated.

Many of the most spectacular plays that flashed by during live streams were recreated by countless viewers during replays.

That's how it is with top-tier Pokémon battles—there are so many dazzling details that you can't understand them without slow-motion replays and analysis.

Just like how a fast ball speed in ping-pong can affect the viewing experience, the same applies to Pokémon battles. Many matches only reveal their full brilliance during the post-match review.

This was the case in many of the matches of this Donghuang Tournament, especially the matches between Chihong and Xia Chen. Seven of the top ten most popular videos in the P-site Elf Battle Zone were their matches in the tournament.

The most frequent keywords in the bullet comments and comment sections were simple and unambiguous phrases like "Holy crap!" and "You can fight like that?"

Compared to the enthusiastic response online, the participants of the Donghuang Tournament have returned to their peaceful daily lives.

Red and Green returned to Pallet Town together, Daigo and Michael flew back to Hoenn, and the others went home. Xia Chen first sent Eterna back to Galar, and then went to another small island that was still under development.

This island was the reward for a Dynamax exhibition match with Leon back then, but that was the ostensible reason. The deeper reason was to resolve the Eternatus incident and discover the reward of Dynamax.

The impact of these two events is quite profound, so the Galar Alliance's investment is not small at all. The island is 100 square kilometers in size, which is roughly equivalent to three Spirit Islands.

Xia Chen hasn't figured out how to plan yet.

Aside from being larger in area, this place is inferior to Yuanling Island in other aspects such as geographical location and climate.

Not to mention that the area was developed earlier and its infrastructure is already complete.

The main purpose of this trip was to visit Moltres. More than a month ago, after Xia Chen captured it, it was sent here to guard Team Rocket's troops as they cleared the land.

Saying it was captured isn't accurate, since even the Poké Ball that represents complete capture wasn't put in. Moltres and Xia Chen's relationship was more like that of prisoners of war.

…………

This unnamed island is located in the southern part of the Galar region, only a few dozen nautical miles away from the Isle of Armor.

Xia Chen didn't know how many wild Pokémon there were on the island, but with Moltres suppressing them, no foolish Pokémon would dare to cause trouble.

Riding the Milotic southwards, not long after leaving the Galar continent, Xia Chen caught a glimpse of the outline of the nameless island.

The environment here is peaceful and serene, no different from any other island.

It's not surprising, considering that the Team Rocket members and their Pokémon who were "exiled" to the island totaled just over a hundred. Putting them on such a large island was like a drop in the ocean.

Xia Chen didn't rush to check on Team Rocket's progress in clearing the land, but instead searched for Moltres's whereabouts.

It wasn't hard to find. This guy was spreading his aura without any guard up. With a little mental energy, I found it on a small hill on the island by following the aura.

When Xia Chen saw the Flamebird, it was doing something intimate with several Arrowhawks, making high-pitched cries as it did so, while several proud chicks waited for its turn.

This scene left Xia Chen speechless.

I sent you here to be exiled and suffer, but you not only haven't suffered at all, you've even started driving around.

Jealousy drove Xia Chen to command Milos to fire a water cannon, slaying the pair of lovers.

Moltres, engrossed in its game, was suddenly interrupted. Startled and angry, it turned to look at the location where the water cannon had been fired, wondering which fool dared to ruin its fun.

Then I saw an elegant and beautiful Milotic and Xia Chen with a half-smile on its body.

The mollusk immediately deflated, hiding its anger and flapping its wings to fly over and greet it.

If Moltres had the same expressive range as humans, its face would be plastered with fawning right now.

"Screech—(Lord Xia Chen, what brings you here?)"

Moltres has lost all dignity in front of Xia Chen. Even without seeing Guleton and Deoxys, it dares not act recklessly.

Xia Chen looked at it with amusement. "You seem to be doing quite well here? Haven't you thought about flying back to Team Rocket?"

The molten lark replied sincerely, "Screech—(Life here is wonderful; I have no thought whatsoever about going back.)"

Xia Chen suddenly felt that the conversation was a bit strange... Upon closer inspection, wasn't this the conversation after A Dou was kidnapped and taken to the State of Wei?

However, Moltres isn't very cultured and probably doesn't understand the story of "being so happy that one forgets one's homeland," so these words are definitely what it truly means.

…………

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Xia Chen asked, "Tell me about the island. Are there any spirits or strange occurrences?"

Moltres replied obediently, "Screech— (The Pokémon here are mainly native Galar Pokémon. Their numbers... I haven't counted, but there are quite a few. Their strength varies, but the strongest doesn't exceed Milotic beside you.)"

Although it was captured by Team Rocket for a period of time, Moltres is clearly not used to describing the strength of Pokémon as being of a certain level.

As for not exceeding Milotic, that would be below the Elite Four level.

This is normal. It's very difficult for ordinary wild Pokémon to reach this level. This island is indeed quite large, but its resources are average, so it's normal that there are no Elite Four level wild Pokémon.

Moltres continued, "Screech—(As for any unusual phenomena... nothing has been detected yet. If you're interested, I can keep an eye out for them.)"

"Ah."

Xia Chen made a nasal sound, quite satisfied with the Moltres's attitude, and said, "It's alright, you can continue playing."

The mollusk shamelessly rubbed against Xia Chen to show its submission, then turned and flew back to continue its interrupted activity.

As it flew, it screeched, "Screech—(Proud pheasant, call the Steelraven over here too!)"

Xia Chen: "......"

This guy is pretty fancy.

I wonder if a legendary Pokémon like Moltres can breed with a regular Pokémon. If it can, will the hatchling be a Moltres or a regular Talonflame?

In the original lore, Moltres seems to have its own race, but in the game, it's said that Pokémon can't hatch eggs. It's unclear what the situation is in this world...

Lost in thought, Xia Chen took a quick look around the Team Rocket prisoner camp before preparing to return to Zhijiang.

On the return trip, I rode the Guleton, since the Galar and the Eastern Empire are quite far apart, and the Milotic is not fast or durable enough.

On the way, Xia Chen and Gu Leton talked about the legend of elves reproducing.

"I remember you mentioned that you also had your own race in that world, right? How did you reproduce?"

If it were the elegant lady Diancie, Xia Chen wouldn't have asked so bluntly, because he knew Diancie would definitely be too shy to speak. But it didn't matter with Guleton. Having spent so much time together, he knew that this giant lizard never cared about such things.

"How do you reproduce? By mating, of course."

As expected, Gu Leighton answered crisply, "However, we can only produce offspring by mating with our own kind, and the probability is extremely low."

Xia Chen nodded in understanding; it seemed that the more powerful and long-lived a creature was, the more difficult it was for it to pass on its genes.

He suddenly remembered something and asked curiously, "By the way, do you lie down or stand up when you mate?"

Therefore, Leighton's gender has always been a mystery, a question that has troubled Xia Chen for a long time.

Upon hearing this, Xia Chen immediately felt the temperature beneath him rising rapidly.

Xia Chen was stunned. This guy was...red-hot?

He grinned mischievously and pressed on, "Are you shy?"

This time, Gu Leton's reaction was even more violent. His body jolted without warning, and then Xia Chen was thrown off Gu Leton's back.

Feeling his body plummeting downwards, Xia Chen understood the answer to that question.

…………

One hour later, in Donghuang, Zhijiang, Yuanling Island.

Chrissy looked at Xia Chen, who was soaking wet, and asked in confusion, "Hey, how come you're all wet...did you fall into the sea?"

She herself found this hard to believe. If a traffic accident could happen while riding a Gurren Lagann, what in the world is safe?

Xia Chen curled his lip and complained, "Some guys can't take a joke. They're just chatting, why are they getting so worked up?"

Chrissy rolled her eyes speechlessly. "You must have said something to upset Gu Leton. You only got what you deserved."

Even so, the head steward of Yuanling Island still had Wang Yan bring him a dry towel and thoughtfully dried Xia Chen's body, saying, "Hurry up and go inside, be careful not to catch a cold."

Although it wasn't below freezing in early December in Zhijiang, it wasn't far off.

Xia Chen nodded, released all the Pokémon, and then returned to his long-lost home next to Volcarona.

After taking a hot shower, my body finally warmed up completely.

Back in the living room, Xia Chen leaned against the cozy Volcarona, eating the fruit Gardevoir fed him, and asked, "Has anything gone wrong on the island lately?"

Chrissy stretched and said, "Thanks to you, everything is going smoothly. By the way, the dojo doesn't need to open anymore after the Eastern Empire Tournament starts. It's so comfortable."

Xia Chen smiled slightly, "Enjoy this vacation. I might be going to Alola in the first half of next year, so I'll continue to entrust the gym matters to you then."

Chrissy's smile froze instantly, and she said weakly, "Understood, Master."

Despite her complaints, Chrissy wasn't an ungrateful person. Her current life was like paradise compared to her time with Team Lava, and the pay was much better.

Most importantly, Xia Chen... or rather, everyone here treated her with equality and respect, a ray of humanity she could never experience in that dark world.

It was he who pulled me out of that hellish abyss...

Chrissy stared blankly at Xia Chen, lost in thought.

"Oh, right, I haven't given you a break since you've been here. Why don't you take a break during the closure period, go back to Hoenn or travel somewhere else to relax?"

Xia Chen's suggestion interrupted Christa's thoughts. She smiled faintly, "No need, I'll just stay on the island. Hoenn... there's nothing worth going back to there."

"Okay, whatever you want."

Xia Chen shrugged. "Then don't complain when we make you work overtime."

Chrissy smiled gently and did not answer.

He just muttered to himself, "Does dealing with family matters count as working overtime?"

…………