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

Xia Chen jokingly guessed, "So you chose to become an idol?"

Kiju readily admitted, "Ten years ago, the Calvo Foundation devised a plan to train a gym leader for the City of Breathtaking."

Xia Chen nodded in understanding, "You've been chosen."

Qi Shu shook his head. "No, I should say that I stood out from the selection process that involved raising Gu poison."

Xia Chen remained silent.

Qi Shu concluded, "My current strength is not enough to turn against them, and I also need the resources they provide, so I want to maintain the current balance."

So it turns out I was just meddling in other people's business...

Xia Chen nodded helplessly, "I understand. However, whether you believe it or not, my initial intention was truly good."

The strange tree remained silent.

Just as the air fell silent, Mingyi suddenly ran back.

"Xia Chen, Qi Shu, there's a huge whale king outside! Are you sure you don't want to come out and take a look?"

"Okay, I'll be right there."

After replying, Xia Chen looked at Qi Shu and said, "That's settled then. I'll head out now. You can eat slowly."

Qi Shu silently watched Xia Chen's departing figure, a hint of warmth suddenly flashing in his eyes.

…………

Since we've come all this way to the sea, it would be a shame not to take a swim.

After stopping the yacht, Xia Chen changed into his swimming trunks and stood on the deck to warm up before going into the sea, while waiting for Mingyi and Qishu, who were still making a fuss in the room.

Unlike Xia Chen, the two girls couldn't simply take off their clothes. Changing into swimsuits, applying sunscreen... all these things take time.

Xia Chen, who had been waiting patiently under the scorching sun, showed no impatience whatsoever. Swimsuits... and swimsuits for two beautiful girls at that, were worth the extra patience to wait for.

About half an hour later, the door to the cabin on the second floor finally opened.

"Sorry to keep you waiting~"

With a beaming smile, Mingyi stepped out of the room first. She was wearing a lake-green swimsuit with ruffled edges. Her jade-like skin was delicate and radiant, glowing softly in the sunlight.

Her long, white, and tender legs reminded Xia Chen of the finest stone-ground tofu.

This girl was already very tall; Xia Chen only became noticeably taller than her when he grew to 1.7 meters two years ago.

She usually keeps a low profile, but when she changes into a swimsuit, which accentuates her figure, her stunning physique becomes apparent.

Of course, the most eye-catching feature was the two smooth, snow-white mounds that seemed ready to burst forth beneath the tender green ruffles of the swimsuit.

When Xia Chen last saw swimsuit-clad Cynthia, he thought her prowess was no less than Ming Yi's.

But when he actually saw her in person, Xia Chen could only sigh silently, "You're still the best, Xiao Qiao... Ming Yi."

Compared to Mingyi, who openly displays her perfect figure, Qishu is much more reserved and shy.

She was wearing a black swimsuit with a lot of fabric. Although she wasn't as eye-catching as Mingyi at first glance, she had a unique kind of cool beauty.

As a trainer, and a gym leader at that, Qishu's physique is the kind of healthy beauty that comes from years of training.

Her slender waist had a clearly defined V-line, and although her upper body was not as full as Mingyi's, it was still small and cute.

As the two beautiful girls, like twin lotus blossoms, walked hand in hand toward him, Xia Chen, this innocent young man, couldn't help but feel his heart race.

He couldn't help but think to himself, going to sea was indeed the wisest choice!

…………

"How is it? Does it look good?"

Mingyi teased with a smile.

Xia Chen blinked his dry eyes and replied, his words contradicting his true feelings, "It's alright..."

We can't let Mingyi become so easily arrogant and complacent. Xia Chen is playing the long game.

Qi Shu scoffed and glanced disdainfully at Xia Chen, who was blatantly lying.

Throughout the entire journey, this guy didn't blink even once!

Knowing his lie was clumsy, Xia Chen changed the subject, saying, "I just used the ship's radar to detect that a group of ferocious light cods live in this area. You should be careful."

Light cod are the dominant species in the Padian waters, and legend has it that the Swamp King was forced to come ashore because he couldn't compete with them for territory.

These creatures possess powerful regenerative abilities; they often shed excess fat to become stronger before chasing prey.

The sea area where Xia Chen and his group are now is quite a distance from the mainland. The elves here may not have seen humans before, and they might launch a sneak attack.

Although Xia Chen and his group brought quite a few Pokémon, only Milotic, Froakie, and Gardevoir, which can use psychic powers to create barriers, are truly capable of fighting in the water.

If it's on the sea, the giant water lily is also a threat, so swimming in the sea still carries certain risks.

"Minatra, keep an eye on their safety."

Xia Chen gave Minas some instructions.

"Fuwoo!"

Milotic raised its head and let out a proud cry.

If they were in the water, he was even confident that he could hold his own against a Gym Leader-level Pokémon.

"Gardedoll, come with me, we're going to get something."

"Sana~"

Gardevoir liked the arrangement very much and nodded happily.

Mingyi asked curiously, "What are you two going to do?"

Xia Chen kept everyone in suspense, saying, "You'll find out in a bit."

He wanted to collect some of the excess meat shed by the light cod, which was said to be very delicious. As a chef, Xia Chen certainly wouldn't let go of a new ingredient he had never tried before.

With everything arranged, the three of them jumped from the deck into the water, splashing up waves.

The remaining elves had no interest in swimming and continued to play on the deck or in the cabin.

Only Nian Nian Bao stared blankly at the western sky, a strange premonition suddenly welling up in his heart.

…………

With his own and Gardevoir's mental detection abilities, Xia Chen's journey to collect the Light Cod's excess fat went very smoothly.

In no time, the net bag that Xia Chen brought down was already half full.

But the good times didn't last long; when the mesh bag was half full, it could no longer detect the presence of excess fat.

That's normal. Light cod don't just wiggle their flesh for fun; they only do that when they see prey.

Wait, the prey...

Xia Chen suddenly had a bold idea.

He pointed upwards at Gardevoir, who understood and, with a quick movement, took Xia Chen's arm and teleported him to the surface of the sea.

Taking a deep breath of fresh sea air, Xia Chen called out to the ship, "Zoroark, can you come and help me?"

"Suo?"

Although he was on the top of the cabin, Zoroark, with his keen hearing, immediately ran down after hearing the summons and looked at Xia Chen with a puzzled expression.

Xia Chen explained simply, "Come down and help us cosplay as fish bait."

Although he didn't quite understand Xia Chen's request, Zoroark obediently jumped down.

"You transform into a giant tongue clam, and then just run around when you see a light-bodied cod. I want the meat that falls off its body."

Xia Chen explained his simple plan.

Trolley shellfish are one of the favorite foods of swarf cod; no swarf cod can resist their allure.

Although the plan is simple, dealing with these mindless wild elves doesn't require any particularly sophisticated methods.

Moreover, who would have thought that an ordinary-looking giant trolley in the sea would be Zoroark in disguise...?

After finalizing the plan, Xia Chen and the two elves went back into the water.

The giant trolley, which Zoroark had transformed into, swam leisurely in the sea, soon attracting the attention of a shrew with sharp teeth and claws.

It swayed its tail slightly, and several pieces of snow-white, clean fish meat fell off its body. Xia Chen was delighted and quietly swam under it and put it into the net bag.

The light cod ignored the fish thief; its eyes were only on the tender and plump giant clams.

Shedding its excess fat, the slender cod's body, as fluid as a shuttle, suddenly sprang into action, lunging fiercely at the leisurely giant clam.

And then... I came up empty-handed.

The light-bodied cod shook its head, utterly puzzled. How did that giant tongue clam... suddenly disappear to where it went?

Its mind, preoccupied with the delicious clam meat, couldn't think too much. It flung the meat at the giant tongue clam again, and then... missed once more.

The light cod felt like it was seeing a ghost; it was the first time it had ever encountered prey that it had failed to catch after two attempts to catch it.

Even with its powerful regenerative abilities, two consecutive instances of losing weight caused its kidneys to start to ache slightly.

But since I shrunk it twice, wouldn't it be a bigger loss if I didn't eat this giant clam?

Driven by the sunk cost mentality, the slender cod charged again, only to fail in their hunt once more...

A few minutes later, looking at the light cod that was almost just a fish skeleton, Xia Chen felt that he had been too cruel and quickly gestured for Zoroark to turn back and leave.

He then threw down a few Power Cubes as compensation, before returning to the surface of the sea with Gardevoir in his arms.

Looking at the full net bag of snow-white fish meat in his hand, Xia Chen nodded in satisfaction. This much should be enough for them to eat.

…………

Back in the galley, Xia Chen put the fresh, light cod fillets into the freezer to chill before returning to the deck.

Just as he was about to jump into the sea to play with the two swimsuit-clad beauties, the sticky creature at his feet grabbed him with its tentacles.

"What's wrong, Sticky Baby?"

Xia Chen lowered his head and asked.

"sticky--"