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

His collection of coins stemmed from a deep inner desire, and he was not actually familiar with these coins.

However, it was certain that it only put in the most common Pokémon coins, and every time it opened the treasure chest and put coins in, the coins on the top layer were still the most common type.

With Suo Cailing's animated gestures and Xianbu's translation, Xia Chen understood the information Suo Cailing possessed.

"So, could it be that the coin turned like this because it was in the treasure chest for too long?"

Mingyi offered the most direct and reasonable guess.

The treasure chest itself has the peculiarity of having a capacity far greater than its surface size, and the presence of mutated coins is not unreasonable.

Xia Chen shrugged. "It certainly seems that way, but who knows the truth?"

The biggest mistake in research is to hastily establish a direct link between two phenomena. Whether it's because of the treasure chest still needs more evidence to confirm.

…………

Xia Chen is still unsure how the gold coins appeared. However, he thought of something else: a short story in the "Padia Local Chronicles" that he had seen with Teacher Mo Lan before his trip.

That golden, mysterious sprite, seemingly an evolved form of the Money-Grubber.

At the time, Xia Chen and Mo Lan speculated that the gold mine might be the key to the evolution of the Money-Seeking Spirit.

Evolution that can only be completed in a certain place is a special kind of evolution, and the Crying Mask of the Galar region is a typical example.

Now it seems there's another possible evolutionary path.

For example, can a Money-Gathering Spirit evolve only when it has collected a certain number of coins that have been converted into gold coins?

In this way, the evolution method of the Money-Grubber is a very typical example of Pokémon item evolution.

This is a fairly common phenomenon in the research and development of Pokémon evolution.

Like the Spirit Cloth of Night Demon, the Beautiful Scales of Milotic, and the Dragon Scales of King Thorn Dragon.

As for whether the Money-Grubber evolves through location like the Galarian Crying Mask or through an item like the Night Demon, Xia Chen didn't want to worry about it. Why not just try both?

After a moment of contemplation, Xia Chen asked, "Soul Catcher, do you remember when you first started collecting coins?"

"Chirp?"

Suo Cailing thought for a moment and then used two coins to represent it.

Two years?

Xia Chen guessed.

"Chirp!"

Suo Cailing nodded affirmatively.

Xia Chen frowned slightly. In a year, he had only converted a few dozen gold coins, and more than half of them were not even fully converted. If this was indeed an evolution condition, and the required number was large, this was not a research project that could be completed in a short period of time.

unless...

Xia Chen's heart skipped a beat, and following his current train of thought, he had a bold idea.

If all the treasure chests of the Money-Gathering Spirits have the ability to mutate coins, then can the coins of other Money-Gathering Spirits become their own evolution items?

Daydreaming yields no results; practice yields true knowledge.

…………

Xia Chen, his evil intentions growing, suddenly asked, "Money-stealing spirit, do you know where your other kind live?"

"Chirp?"

Although Suocailing was puzzled by Xia Chen's question, it still nodded.

Niangguang City is so big, there are naturally more than just this one money-grabbing spirit; it has seen at least three others.

The Money-Gathering Spirits are not social spirits; in fact, they have a clear division of their own territories.

The reason is... it can be roughly compared to the fact that each garbage collector has a designated area, and it's not good to cross that boundary and pick up someone else's coins.

The money-stealing spirit also discovered its kind while committing crimes beyond its designated boundaries.

"Why are you asking this? Do you want to subdue a second money-grabbing spirit?"

Mingyi couldn't help but express her doubts, and Suocailing also looked at Xia Chen with concern.

For it, the best it would be to be the one and only money-gathering spirit in the team.

Xia Chen shook his head and smiled slightly, "This gold coin might be related to the evolution of the Money-Gathering Spirit. I'd like to know if other Money-Gathering Spirits' treasure chests contain such gold coins, and if so..."

"...You're not trying to steal the money spirit's gold coins, are you?"

Mingyi couldn't help but ask.

Although robbing wild Pokémon doesn't seem to be illegal—anything not prohibited by law is permissible—it still feels a bit strange to actually do it.

Xia Chen, however, didn't see it that way. "Don't forget where the money-grubbing spirits got their coins. Their behavior isn't any more noble than mine, is it?"

Mingyi thought about it and realized that it made sense; stealing was no more noble than robbing.

This is a case of double-crossing.

Ultimately, Xia Chen still had a conscience, he added, "And I don't want much, just the gold coins that have been transformed. If they are willing, I will use ordinary coins of equal value as processing fees. If they are not willing... then I will have no choice but to persuade them with virtue."

Mingyi rolled her eyes. Knowing Xia Chen so well, how could she not know what "winning people over with virtue" meant?

"Alright, so how do you plan to find other money-gathering spirits?"

Xia Chen replied, "That's easy. Just follow the money-grubbing spirit to the designated area and continue the entrapment operation."

I glanced at the time; it was a little past eleven, almost lunchtime.

Xia Chen stretched and said, "Let's go. We won't cook for ourselves for the next few days. It'll be a good opportunity to try some of the local specialties of Parthia."

After returning the coin to the Money-Grubber's treasure chest, the two and the elves followed the Money-Grubber's directions and took a ride to a restaurant in the southern part of Brewlight City.

That place is where the spirit of wealth said that a kind of creature of the same kind roams.

…………

Xia Chen took care of the gold coins, but Suo Cailing didn't pay much attention to it.

Its focus now is on that discounted item in the mall: the forced exercise machine.

On the way to the restaurant, the consciousness of the Money-Seeking Spirit re-entered the item shop interface.

The first thing to do, naturally, is to redeem points.

"System, evaluate all the assets in my treasure chest and see how many points I can exchange for?"

[Dear host, your current assets have been converted into 287100 points. Would you like to convert them all?]

Less than 300,000 points?

Suo Cailing had never counted her assets before, but after checking the system today, she realized that she didn't seem to have as much as she had imagined.

By the way, it seems that the coins come in more than just 100 yuan denominations; there are also quite a few 10 yuan denominations.

There weren't any one-yuan coins, because the Money-Grubber didn't think it looked good enough...

However, 28 points is enough, if you exclude the mutated coins.

After thinking for a moment, Suo Cailing asked, "Can I only exchange for coins that haven't changed?"

The system was incredibly intelligent, replying in just two seconds: [No problem. Gold coins that have completed or are in the process of mutation have been automatically categorized as "Coins of the Money-Gathering Spirit." Remaining redeemable points are 224100.]

Suo Cailing glanced at his points balance. Overnight, it had risen to over 670,000, which, combined with his existing balance, was more than enough.

"Then please help me exchange all the coins except for the mutated gold coins for points."

With the goal of evolving and becoming stronger, Suocailing felt that his desire for coins had greatly decreased, and the coins he used to cherish were no longer as appealing as points.

[Redeem successful. Your points balance is 895723.]

"Purchase a forced exercise machine."

[Purchase successful. Would you like to use the Forced Exercise Machine (Magic Edition) now?]

The system's prompt made Suocailing hesitate. This forced training device only lasted for one hundred days, and it wanted to make the most of that time.

There's not much time for training and battles while traveling, so can we maximize the use of this training device now that it's open?

However, if you use it now, you can immediately add points to your abilities and then upgrade the system. In the long run, you can obtain more breathing rewards.

After some thought, it decided to use it anyway.

Besides the reason mentioned earlier, Suocailing had another consideration.

It's just an item worth 800,000 points, there's no need to be so fussy. With the system around, there will be plenty of similar items in the future.

"Use it now."

[Successfully completed. You are now in a mandatory workout state.]

…………

The system's mention of a "forced training state" didn't cause the Money-Seeking Spirit any unusual feelings, so it temporarily forgot the system's warning from the previous night.

The money spirit couldn't wait to enter the ability point allocation interface and clicked the plus sign next to speed.

In an instant, a pain I had never experienced before, a pain that felt like my heart was being ripped out and my bones were being torn apart, swept over me unexpectedly.

Even the real-world version of it was affected, trembling uncontrollably.

"Money-stealing spirit, what's wrong with you?"

In the back seat of the taxi, Mingyi noticed Suo Cailing's pain and asked her with concern.

Without a word, Gardevoir unleashed a healing wave. The pink energy particles, imbued with life force, healed the Money Spirit, making it seem much better.

Hearing the commotion, Xia Chen, who was sitting in the front row, turned around and looked at Suo Cailing, who seemed to have suddenly fallen ill, with great concern.

While it may be due to some mysterious force, we cannot rule out the possibility that the money-seeking spirit's body is actually malfunctioning.

He turned to the driver's seat beside him and said, "Driver, let's change our route and go to the nearest Pokémon Center."

The taxi driver was used to this kind of thing and calmly nodded, saying, "Okay."

"Chirp..."

However, before the route was changed, the Money-Grubber, whose spirit had recovered slightly, waved his hand to indicate that he did not need to go to the Spirit Center.

Xia Chen immediately understood that Suo Cailing should be aware of his physical condition and the reason for this sudden situation.