I run an orphanage in the Pokémon world.

As Fujiki pushed the stroller, he listened to Saki's constant chatter and watched her walk past one person after another. Fujiki had a very subtle feeling. Combined with Saki's bunny girl outfit, Fujiki felt that Saki was just like that Mai-senpai.

When paying, Teng Shu took out the discount card given to him by the boss, and the cashier gave him a discount right away, saving Teng Shu some money.

Just as Teng Shu was about to leave with his things, he saw Xiao Guang, who was fast asleep between the two cat bosses. Beside him was Xiao Guang's father, who was looking at Xiao Guang with a doting expression.

“Guangmei Supermarket…” Teng Shu’s eyes held a hint of a smile; Xiao Guang’s father still loved him quite a bit.

“This uncle…I think I saw him yesterday.” Saki rested her chin on her hand and floated beside Tengshu.

"Hmm? You've seen her before? Where?" Teng Shu looked at Saki with some curiosity. Saki was a ghost who wandered around, so it was normal for her to see other people.

"Hmm... a nightclub, the kind that's a bit risqué~" Saki said with a smile. Fujiki was slightly taken aback when he heard this. A nightclub, the kind that's a bit risqué?

Teng Shu's expression turned strange, but he didn't say anything. After all, it wasn't his place to interfere in other people's business. He just looked at Xiao Guang, unsure of what to say.

This father is really quite conflicted.

Chapter 262 Ghosts and Immortality?

"This uncle goes to nightclubs?" Teng Shu asked Saki beside him as he loaded things onto the small truck.

"I don't know, I only bumped into him yesterday. But this uncle is really amazing. He was dancing by himself, and some girls even went up to him and asked if they could dance with him." Saki rested her chin on her hands, floating next to Tengshu.

Upon hearing this, Teng Shu understood. It seemed that the uncle was innocent. Although the man had gone to that kind of special dance hall, he hadn't done anything outrageous.

This made Teng Shu feel a little relieved, although he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he felt sorry for Xiao Guang.

Then Teng Shu drove back to the orphanage. All along the way, all Teng Shu could hear was "Uncle Teng Shu" and "Uncle Teng Shu". He was so tired of hearing his ears that they were practically turning into the shape of Uncle Teng Shu.

"Hey, I said, didn't you go out earlier?" While waiting at a traffic light, Teng Shu squinted at Saki, who was turning her head back and forth beside him, and said in a slightly annoyed tone.

He now felt it was better for this woman not to be here; she was just too noisy.

"Of course I'll go out, but if I run into you, Uncle Tengshu, then it means we're destined to meet. Since we're destined to meet, I'll definitely follow you, Uncle Tengshu." Saki said matter-of-factly. Tengshu had a bit of a headache, and he couldn't help but pinch his brow.

This girl is really troublesome. It seems we need to find out what's bothering her as soon as possible and send her to the spirit world. Otherwise, keeping her here isn't a good idea...

"Ahhh!" Just as Tengshu was thinking, he heard Saki scream in pain next to him. Tengshu turned his head and saw that Saki was struggling and rolling around like before. Tengshu wanted to drive, but as soon as he started driving, Saki's body remained in place. Tengshu had no choice but to hesitate for a moment and then park the car on the side of the road.

He still couldn't bring himself to leave Saki here suffering alone. Even though Saki was just a ghost, what if something happened to her?

This time, however, Saki was still fine. After the intense pain and rolling around, Saki's expression calmed down. Finally, she sat up in a daze, looked around blankly, and then noticed Tengshu. She happily flew over.

"Uncle Tengshu, what are you doing here?" Looking at Saki in front of him, Tengshu's eyes were thoughtful. It seemed that this girl's situation was a bit special. Every time Saki experienced such pain, she seemed to completely forget the feeling of the previous pain attack. She probably thought it was like having a dream.

But in that case, how should he investigate the girl's identity?

What a headache.

...

"So, Dean, you mean you ran into Saki again when you went out to buy food?" Locke was playing with his daughter Luo Xin in the infirmary, but his expression turned serious after hearing Teng Shu's words.

Tengshu nodded, then glanced out the window of the infirmary. There, Saki was looking curiously at Munchlax, while Munchlax was sneakily eyeing the Murkrow's berry tree. The little guy's mouth was starting to water again, and he even seemed to want to eat something.

I ate 100 kilograms of food this morning, and now I'm hungry again.

"I never imagined these ghosts could roam the world so freely. As it stands, aside from having to endure the pain of death every day, this is practically another kind of..." Locke squinted, a hint of excitement in his eyes. Teng Shu's lips twitched, and he coughed as he looked at Locke.

Locke then snapped his thoughts back from wandering.

"It's not that simple. If ghosts could stay in this world forever, then logically the world would be overflowing with all sorts of ghosts by now. But in reality, so far, I've only seen two that have any consciousness and can be communicated with." Teng Shu curled his lip.

The afterlife is not something that can be easily studied; researching the afterlife is not an easy task.

In their past lives, the wealthiest people were spending money to support teams. What were they supporting these teams for? They were actually researching immortality. Which of those top billionaires wanted to die? So the emergence of AI technology is related to this. After all, AI is also very useful in the field of medicine, and it's hard to say that all diseases will become curable in the future.

Moreover, if everyone could stay in this world after they died, the world would probably have become a complete mess long ago. But so far, Tengshu has only seen two: a gambling addict and Saki.

Other souls have been seen before, but they are all relatively special. These souls are not very intelligent and were attracted by the Beacon of Death, taken away, and then disappeared.

"Two? Who was the first one?" Locke was a little curious. He wasn't usually a very curious person, but he couldn't help it. This was a field that no one in the entire alliance had ever studied, so it was only natural for him to be curious.

“The other one is Grandpa Xingzhen’s son, a gambling addict.” Teng Shu took a sip of tea, while Saki had already crawled in and was curiously circling the medical pod.

Locke understood, but he also knew it was best not to ask too many questions, so he didn't pursue the matter further. Instead, he started talking about the little dragon's treatment.

As Tengshu listened, he looked at Saki. He remembered that Locke had mentioned seeing Saki's photo on a small card before. Generally speaking, this situation would fall into two categories: one is that Saki's photo had been stolen, and the other is that Saki herself had worked in this industry.

Based on Saki's previous unintentional actions, Fujiki felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

"Huh? What's this?" Saki seemed to have seen something, and she went straight out, which dashed Fujiki's plan to call Saki over and ask her.

"Gah!" Seeing the chaos outside, Tengshu stopped chasing after Saki to ask her what she was thinking. Instead, he left the infirmary and came to the Murkrow's fruit tree. Then Tengshu saw Murkrow blocking the way for Munchlax, while Munchlax stared at the fruit tree, drooling.

Seeing the little Munchlax's eager look, Teng Shu's lips twitched. He then glanced at his phone. There was still some time before lunchtime, and the little Munchlax was already hungry.

"Little Munchlax, come here, you can't eat this." Tengshu pulled Little Munchlax away. If this continued, Little Munchlax would soon start gnawing on the trunk of the fruit tree.

Chapter 263 Troublesome Pokémon

"Little Munchlax, you should know that you can't eat those fruit trees." Tengshu looked at the little Munchlax in front of him, pinched the guy's face helplessly, and then glanced at the little Munchlax's belly.

That's strange. So much food was put in, yet it didn't seem to grow at all. Could it be that Snorlax and other Pokémon have dimensional bags in their stomachs? Otherwise, how could they possibly hold so much food?

"Kahoo~" the little Munchlax cried out, then stared longingly at the bag in Tengshu's hand. Tengshu's lips twitched as he looked at the little Munchlax.

Did this guy really understand what I was saying?

Tengshu suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. This was the first time he had encountered such a difficult Pokémon to deal with. Other Pokémon, even one like Newleaf Meow, were not that difficult to handle. Munchlax was the most troublesome Pokémon Tengshu had ever encountered.

However, Teng Shu was somewhat prepared.

Previously, when Teng Shu was running the welfare home, he received some special training from the League, including a course on mindset training. Teng Shu was very curious at the time why there was such a course. In the course, the teacher had them, the persons in charge, come into contact with all kinds of Pokémon with bad tempers.

Munchlax, being simply gluttonous, is relatively normal.

Some Pokémon have manic disorder, some like to play pranks, and some of these pranks can be deadly. Others have very unique lifestyle habits. The teacher also told them, "Although most Pokémon are cute and cuddly, there are some troublemakers among them."

It seems that Munchlax is much more difficult to deal with than other Pokémon.

"Alright, try which side tastes better?" Teng Shu tore open the Snorlax's special food, poured out one portion from each side, and handed it to the little Snorlax.

Immediately afterward, Munchlax pounced on the more expensive portion without hesitation, picked it up, and poured it directly into its mouth. Then it picked up the cheaper portion and poured it all into its mouth as well, as if it didn't need to chew at all.

Looking at the little Snorlax's appearance, and then at the expensive food, Teng Shu thought, "So you really do prefer the expensive stuff? After all, it's made with more ingredients and has more food in it, so it naturally tastes better."

"Hmm, it does smell quite good. The only downside is that it's a little salty." Teng Shu picked up a piece of Snorlax food and tasted it. The flavor was indeed quite subtle.

The cheaper ones taste a bit bland.

"Kahoo!" The little Munchlax grabbed Tengshu's trouser leg and kept calling out, while its eyes were fixed on the food Tengshu was holding, its little eyes filled with great longing.

"Alright, here you go." Tengshu poured the food into the bowl, but since it was Pokémon-specific food, he didn't need to pour too much. Munchlax didn't mind that it was poured from the cheaper kind; it just burrowed in like a starving ghost and ate it in big mouthfuls. It finished eating in no time and patted its belly contentedly.

Teng Shu glanced at his phone. Only three hours had passed since breakfast time, and the little Snorlax was already hungry, having eaten the equivalent of 100 kilograms of food.

"Wow, it can really eat." Teng Shu looked at the satisfied expression on the little Snorlax's face, rested his chin on his hand, and sighed.

It seems that this time, if we're going to find an adopter for Munchlax, we'll have to find someone who's rich. Someone who's not rich really can't afford to raise Munchlax. Munchlax was almost starving before and was even gnawing on tree trunks. If we don't feed it properly, it'll be a real problem.

"Kahoo!" Munchlax called out again. Teng Shu turned his head and saw Munchlax grabbing him, staring at him expectantly. Teng Shu's lips twitched.

"Are you hungry again?" Teng Shu looked at the little Munchlax with a strange expression. Didn't this little guy just finish eating? If it's hungry again, Teng Shu really has to take the little Munchlax to the Pokémon Center for a check-up.

The little Snorlax shook its head, then casually pulled a biscuit from its fur and handed it to the vine.

Teng Shu took the cookie blankly and glanced at it. The cookie was still in its packaging, but it was clear that it had been there for a long time and had even been taken out many times. Teng Shu noticed that the cookie inside was already broken. If it weren't for the fact that the text on the packaging hadn't completely disappeared, Teng Shu wouldn't have been able to tell that it was a cookie.

"Is this your...food?" Teng Shu looked at the fluffy fur on the little Snorlax and thought of a rumor about this Pokémon.

Because Munchlax is a Pokémon that gets hungry easily, and finding food in the wild is troublesome, Munchlax has developed a habit of hiding any extra food in its fur as emergency rations.

However, sometimes I forget about it myself.

The little Snorlax nodded, then found a dried berry in its fur and handed it to the vine.

Tengshu also took it; the fruit was somewhat shriveled, and it was unclear how long Munchlax had hidden it.

"Kaka!" the little Munchlax cried, its eyes sparkling.

Teng Shu suddenly laughed.

For a Pokémon like Munchlax, being able to bring out its emergency food supplies...

"Thanks, Munchlax." Teng Shu put the two items away. He didn't plan to eat them, since they had been on Munchlax for who knows how long. But Teng Shu also knew that refusing Munchlax at this time would be very hurtful, so he didn't refuse directly.

"Kara!" Munchlax laughed happily, then hopped and skipped away.

Tengshu stood behind, watching the little Snorlax's figure.

It seems this little foodie isn't so difficult to deal with after all.

"Now..." Teng Shu stretched and turned his head to look around, but as soon as he turned his head, he saw a pink cell phone floating in front of him. Teng Shu was stunned for a moment. This must be Kai's cell phone.

Ah Kai, this is...

I'm going to become Kadjara!

There was a line of text written on it. Teng Shu looked at it with some surprise. Akai had actually evolved? That was truly amazing...

Wait, no, it's about to evolve, not evolve. No, these days Pokémon can even know whether they need to evolve or not?

"So... should I do something?" Teng Shu looked at the phone with some curiosity and asked. What did Kai want from him? Could it be that he was planning to change locations to complete his evolution?

The words were slowly deleted, and then the phone started typing on its own.

"I...don't want...to evolve...huh?"

Chapter 264 Akai Doesn't Want to Evolve

"You don't want to evolve? You don't want to evolve into Kadabra??" Teng Shu was a little confused. He admitted that he was even a little confused when he saw this line of text, and he doubted whether he had read it wrong. After all, for Pokémon, evolution is a very normal thing. In fact, many Pokémon are eager to evolve. It is a subconscious desire engraved in their genes.

Genes are a wondrous thing...

Shit Mountain Code.

Yes, shit mountain code.

While genes are amazing, they also have many intricate and useless aspects. However, most of the time, there are subconscious influences that are etched into our being and cannot be erased. For example, most people feel uneasy when they smell the stench of a corpse, which is the body telling you that there is danger here and a threat that could kill its own kind.

For Pokémon, evolution is something etched into their genes that is almost impossible to erase. Most Pokémon are obsessed with evolution, just like many Magikarp want to evolve into Gyarados. So Tengshu couldn't understand why Kai didn't want to evolve into Kadabra.

The phone went silent for a moment, or rather, Akai went silent for a moment, and then the phone simply disappeared. Teng Shu looked at this scene, somewhat confused. Had Akai run away?

In the attic, Akai was sitting by his bed, leaning quietly against the wall. The winter sun shone on Akai, but Akai subconsciously shrank into the shadows. Akai's eyes were somewhat confused and tinged with fear.

Every clever Abra should become an even smarter Kadabra, until they use their knowledge to become Alakazam.

It was said to it by Casey's mother's mother, and Casey always remembered those words. However, as it sensed the rhythm of this evolution, Casey became somewhat afraid.

"...You mean, Akai said she's going to evolve, but doesn't want to?" Teng Shu immediately went to Locke, since this kind of thing seemed like Locke's job.

Tengshu was certain that Akai had no health problems. After all, Akai had been perfectly normal since arriving at the orphanage. Tengshu had examined Akai before, and Akai indeed had no diseases and was very healthy. Moreover, Akai had said that it did not want to evolve, so Tengshu thought that Akai might have some concerns.

"Well... I'm not sure how to say. From a psychological perspective, Pokémon, which don't evolve, are generally categorized into these types." Locke's expression became more serious.

When he worked at the orphanage in the Vine Tree, he made a file for most of the Pokémon. This was his habit, so that he could understand and know the Pokémon better later. Then he found that he couldn't make a file for one Pokémon, which was Kai.

Casey, who has social anxiety.

However, seeing how reassured Dean Tengshu was, Locke gradually let go of his confusion. Later, Locke discovered that although this Akai was like an invisible creature, it did exist and was not something that Tengshu made up. Moreover, it was indeed very socially awkward, so he gradually stopped taking it to heart.

Who knew that this time he would get himself into trouble?

"The first type is because they have been abused by their trainers, or their trainers did not want their Pokémon to evolve." Locke began to recount some of the medical records above, while also mentally considering what type of case Akai might have this time.

"The second type is that the Pokémon itself has witnessed something, which has caused it to develop a fear of evolution, and even to reject evolving itself." Locke continued, and Teng Shu frowned slightly when he heard this. If Locke's words were true, Akai was definitely not the first type, but possibly the second type.

"The last one is a bit more troublesome. That is, the Pokémon itself doesn't want to evolve. It is more accepting of its current state than the evolved state." Locke said softly. Upon hearing this, Tengshu couldn't help but think of Ash's Pikachu. Speaking of which, Pikachu has never been able to evolve. Although Ash has had the opportunity many times, he has given up at Pikachu's request.

Although Tengshu felt that Pikachu wasn't allowed to evolve in the anime because Pikachu was cuter, and evolving into Raichu wouldn't be as cute and might even lower its popularity, that's why Pikachu wasn't allowed to evolve.

After all, everyone says Pikachu is cute, but what about Raichu? Raichu is one of the least noticeable final evolutions.

“I’m not too sure about Kai’s situation, but it shouldn’t be the first type, so it might be the second or third.” Teng Shu sat on the chair in the infirmary and chatted with Locke. He didn’t know if Kai was listening at the moment. He didn’t even know why Kai suddenly didn’t want to evolve anymore. Because Kai had social anxiety, Teng Shu had always taken care of Kai’s feelings and left Kai alone in the attic.

Now, finding Akai is a very troublesome matter.

"The key is whether Kai can communicate with us. If he can't, to be honest, I don't know how to provide psychological counseling." Locke Bear shrugged. He really had no idea what to do. Kai's situation was quite special, and even if we wanted to make a diagnosis, we would have to talk to him first. But Kai was socially anxious, and Locke thought he was even a little autistic. That was the problem.

Teng Shu scratched his head. Of course he knew this, but ever since Akai visited the orphanage and talked with him, Teng Shu's communication with Akai had been limited to mobile phone communication or stream of consciousness. In any case, they had never met in person.