Chapter 18

"It's about to hatch!"

After a flash of intense white light, the Pokémon egg vanished, replaced by a handsome Linoone.

"Lino~~"

"Lu~"

Linoone affectionately rubbed against Bai Jing.

Pokémon are a magical species; they are born with combat power, as if they had already passed their infancy inside the egg and emerged directly into the growth stage.

"Linoone, welcome to this wonderful world. Today I'll take you to explore, and we'll start training tomorrow."

"Lu~"

Linoone raised its paw and handed Bai Jing something.

"What?"

Bai Jing was greatly surprised. "This is a Mega Stone!"

And it's the exclusive Mega Stone for Linoone.

How does it have this?

"System, is this your doing?"

"Ding! Surprised? Amazed?"

"Perfect. Bring me more surprises like this in the future."

Whether it's an Evolution Stone or a Mega Stone, they are extremely rare worldwide, and their price is beyond words.

If not for the System's gift, Bai Jing's background could never have obtained one.

"This is your treasure. Carry it—you'll need it later."

Pokémon also have personal storage spaces and can carry various items.

He put the injured Slurpuff into a Poké Ball, then took out a new red-and-white ball and completed the capture ritual.

"Come on, let me show you around the forest."

Besides helping Linoone become familiar with the world, Bai Jing also had his eye on hidden treasures.

This forest isn't large—just a few kilometers across. A single walk around would reveal all hidden treasures.

"Ding! Treasure detected at six o'clock, five hundred meters away."

"Ding! High-quality wild Pokémon detected at nine o'clock, seven hundred meters away."

"Ding! Treasure detected at five o'clock, nine hundred meters away."

After circling the forest, night had fallen, and Bai Jing's haul was impressive!

He gained another Evolution Stone, a Soothe Bell, a Skill Disc, and a high-quality Rattata.

The Disc was for the Fighting-type move Sonic Punch—he taught it to Linoone immediately.

The Soothe Bell increases bond between Trainer and Pokémon. After thinking it over, he gave it to Slurpuff, to keep its resentment from growing too strong after training.

Rattata

Gender: Male

Type: Normal

Ability: Run Away

Qualities: HP (C), Physical Attack (A), Physical Defense (B), Special Attack (B), Special Defense (C), Speed (A)

Potential: Elite-level

Strength: Novice (Mid-stage)

As for Pokémon with Common or Elite potential, they're worthless—the System doesn't even bother to notify.

That means, in an entire forest teeming with at least ten thousand wild Pokémon, there was only one with Elite-level potential—truly one in ten thousand!

Bai Jing naturally captured the Rattata—not to train it, but to sell it.

Hunting Pokémon is illegal, including his earlier theft of the Pokémon egg.

But money is a Wang Ba—why pass up an opportunity when you find one?

He had his own way to handle it!

"Let's go back!"

Back in the city, at his doorstep, Bai Jing didn't enter his home—he turned instead toward the neighboring Pokémon shop.

The shop was average-sized, selling only Pokémon and Pokémon eggs.

It was a legitimate store, legal, but prices were exorbitant.

High-quality Pokémon were nonexistent; most were Common, at best Elite potential.

"Welcome... Oh, it's Bai Jing again? Here to play with Pokémon again?"

Bai Jing was a regular customer—the clerk naturally recognized him.

"No, I'm looking for Uncle Zhang."

"He's in the back. Go on in."

"Thanks!"

He passed through the shop and entered the backyard, finding the owner, Zhang De.

"It's little Jing again, come to ruin my Pokémon again?"

Zhang De, a middle-aged, pot-bellied, greasy man.

"Uncle Zhang, I'm here specifically for you."

"For me?"

Zhang De invited him to sit and asked, "Need your uncle's help with something?"

"No!"

Bai Jing lowered his voice and said, "I caught a small Rattata with good potential in the wild, but I didn't want it, so I came to you. See if you can..."

Zhang De understood, then gave him a sharp rap on the head, advising, "Don't do this kind of thing again. If you get caught, you'll have a stain on your record, or even go to jail. Do you still want to be a Trainer?"

Bai Jing stuck out his tongue. "Isn't it because I'm short on money? I promise it's only this once!"

"That's your promise. This time I can help you handle it, but you can't do it again!"

"Rest assured, it won't happen again!"

The two neighboring families had a good relationship, and since Zhang De had watched the child grow up from a young age, he naturally had to advise Bai Jing not to take a wrong path.

"Fine, then bring it over!"

Bai Jing took out the Poké Ball and said, "This one has the rare potential of a pseudo-legendary; you'll know once you test it!"

Do not underestimate human technology. By observing the Pokémon's condition and appearance, and using various instruments to test their attack, defense, and other stats, one can accurately measure their quality, with very few errors.

Of course, Pokémon Eggs cannot be tested, but their quality can be roughly assessed through their parents, though that isn't very accurate either.

As for the Slakoth line, why does no one want them despite their potential reaching pseudo-legendary heights?

Heh, a lazy creature like that would never cooperate with a test!

Anyway, this species has already been abandoned by humans, which is what allowed Bai Jing to find such a treasure.