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

Xia Chen was wondering how it was going to take so many coins back when Suo Cai Ling pulled out a bag from somewhere, stuffed all the coins into it, and then dragged the bulging bag away.

Indeed, there are always more solutions than problems.

Xia Chen chuckled and shook his head, ignoring it, and led Gu Leton toward the cave entrance.

…………

The cave where the Money-Grubber lived was very narrow, about the size of a ball. Of all Xia Chen's Pokémon, only the Gooey Pokémon could squeeze into it.

Fairy Cloth could easily pull out the Money-Gathering Spirit or its treasure chest by sticking the silk inside, but that would be too undignified.

Xia Chen called out directly from the cave entrance: "Old Suo, I know how Suo Cai Ling evolves into Sai Fu Hao. Come out and let's talk."

Xia Chen heard the name Sai Fuhao from Suo Cailing, but he had no idea how Suo Cailing got it from him.

However, judging from the description in that book, "The Local History of Padia," the little man covered in gold is quite fitting for the image of Saifuhao. If I discover the evolutionary process in the future, it would be good to use this name.

While calling out to Old Suo, Xia Chen gave Gardevoir a wink, signaling her to be ready to unleash Trick Room at any moment.

If Lao Su is not dignified, then I will help him be dignified.

Perhaps sensing the powerful aura of Guleton outside, Old So emerged gracefully from the cave. Its body was hunched, and it looked much older than its own Soca Spirit, which was not even two years old.

Of course, Pokémon will grow old and even die, even Ghost-type Pokémon; otherwise, the number of Pokémon in this world would have exploded long ago.

Whether Ghost-type Pokémon can be reborn as Ghost-type Pokémon after they die is another topic altogether...

Generally speaking, apart from racial factors, the lifespan of Pokémon is also related to their strength, which is a major topic in Pokémon academia. The specific reasons are unknown, but the mainstream view is that it is related to the energy intensity within the Pokémon's body.

In short, this money-grubbing spirit in front of me... clearly looks like an old spirit.

It raised its head and glanced at the imposing Guletun before looking at Xia Chen with its dim eyes: "Young man, what do you want to know, or do you want my gold coins?"

Although Old Su's eyes were cloudy and dull, his mind was as clear as a mirror.

Since Old Suo was so direct, Xia Chen didn't keep it in suspense any longer. "I read in a book that the Money-Gathering Spirit also has an evolved form, which may be related to the gold coins in its treasure chest. I heard that you are also collecting gold coins, so I specifically asked you about it."

"That's true, but I've only heard about it."

Suo Cailing readily nodded and said, "Two months ago, I helped a pink elf I had never seen before in the forest. It looked a lot like Jigglypuff, but it was bigger than Jigglypuff, and it had something like a braid on its forehead."

Xia Chen nodded thoughtfully. Judging from the description, it seemed to be Jigglypuff's ancient paradoxical roar tail.

Two months ago, which seems to be shortly after the riots in District Zero, makes sense.

So it was the ancient Roaring Tail that told the Money-Grubber how to evolve?

Xia Chen suddenly remembered something: Gu Leton was also an ancient paradoxical spirit...

Why didn't you tell me?

Xia Chen used his waveguide power to communicate telepathically.

Therefore, Leighton innocently replied: "[I can't get there!]"

Xia Chen sighed helplessly. Fine, after all, a divine beast is not a god, nor can it be omniscient and omnipotent.

…………

Over there, Old So continued, "It told me it was an ancient spirit. I didn't really care about that, but it said it wanted to repay me and told me how to evolve a Money Spirit... collect a thousand Money Spirit coins."

One thousand!

From the moment he began researching the evolutionary path of the Money-Seeking Spirit, Xia Chen finally heard a definite method and a definite number.

Whether it's true or not, there's always hope, isn't there?

Old Suo thought the same thing. "I know my days are numbered, so I was thinking about whether I could verify this evolution method, which I don't know if it's real, before my life ends. But this forest, though small, can still trap me. Even with all the power of Suo's wealth spirit, I've only collected a little over four hundred gold coins so far. I'm afraid I won't live to see that day."

It shook its head regretfully, looking at Xia Chen and the young money-gathering spirit at his feet, "You are different. You are still young, you have powerful companions, and most importantly, you can travel all over the country, so..."

Does this tone suggest that he intends to leave all the inheritance to himself?

Before Xia Chen could even feel happy, he heard Suo Cailing say, "So can you exchange some gold coins for me? I don't want to die."

Xia Chen: "......"

Okay, so that's what it meant after all that buildup.

He wasn't angry. Since he was eager for Old Suo to give him gold coins, why would he be upset that it was asking him for them?

Despite not being angry, Xia Chen bluntly refused, saying, "I don't have that many, and even if I did, I wouldn't give them to you."

"I see..."

Old Su sighed, shook his head, then crawled into the hole and brought out his box.

Xia Chen asked in surprise, "You're going to give me a ride?"

Old Su shook his head helplessly, "If I don't give it to you, you won't steal it?"

Xia Chen rolled her eyes. "Do I look like that kind of person? You can keep it for yourself."

He never actually had that idea from beginning to end. Exchanging gold coins was a mutually agreeable business transaction based on information asymmetry, commonly known as "picking up a bargain," which is fundamentally different from robbery.

Stealing a Pokémon isn't illegal, but Xia Chen can't get over it in his mind.

Moreover, evolution leads to strength, and strength extends life. Taking away these gold coins would undoubtedly rob Old Suo of even a sliver of his life force.

For the first time, surprise appeared in Old So's dim, cloudy eyes. It slowly said, "You're different from those humans..."

Xia Chen shook his head. "Anyway, take care. We're leaving now. I hope you'll be radiant when we meet again."

The evolution method has been determined. All that's left is to collect coins. Even if we have to wait for those coins that haven't fully mutated to "mature," the Money-Gathering Spirit's evolution is only a matter of time.

Just as he was about to ride the Guleton back to camp, the Suocailing at his feet suddenly spoke up, "Can I have a private chat with Old Suocailing?"

Xia Chen looked down in surprise, only to see his own money-grubbing spirit looking at Old Suo with a sincere expression, "I have a way that satisfies both sides."

Chapter 266 You genderless lizard, why are you blushing like a teapot?! (Bonus Chapter 12/12)

Although the entrance to Old So's habitat is narrow, once inside, there is a whole different world. The most important treasure chest for the So Wealth Spirit, containing treasures collected over decades, is neatly arranged in the cave.

This is everything Old So has accumulated over decades of living in this forest.

The two money-seeking spirits, one old and one young, had just met and naturally didn't have much to reminisce about, so they went straight to talking about the topic they had just discussed.

"Senior, it's like this. The perfect solution I just mentioned is to give you all the gold coins in my treasure chest that haven't been completely mutated, and exchange them with you."

The Money Spirit directly presented his idea: "I have seven or eight hundred of these coins on hand. Adding yours, there are definitely more than a thousand. We just need to put them in the treasure chest and wait for three to five years."

Old Su shook his head and sighed softly, "But what I lack most right now is time..."

If it had learned of this information ten years earlier, it would have tried to go to big cities and various parts of Parthia to search for gold coins and pursue the possibility of evolution.

But now, I have the will but not the strength...

The Money-Seeking Spirit was clearly prepared, and it replied confidently, "I have something that can prolong your life."

Old So naturally didn't believe it. It frowned and said, "If you want gold coins, I'll give them to you. Why lie to me like this? Life and death are irreversible. Aging and death are the rules of this world. How can an ordinary elf change them?"

It didn't make any definitive statements; having lived for so long, it must have heard some of the legends.

Just because a regular Pokémon can't do something doesn't mean a legendary Pokémon can't.

It had heard a hawk say that in its homeland of Carlos, there was a divine deer that could share eternal life, and it had also learned from a hawk that there was a sacred bird in the land of Kanto that could bring the dead back to life.

Could this money-grabbing spirit possess those two eternally existing divine artifacts?

Old Suo watched as Suo Cailing took something out, and a wave of emotion surged within him.

To its disappointment, the item that the Money-Seeking Spirit took out was not a treasure that seemed to be brimming with boundless vitality, but rather an ordinary machine.

The well-informed old man immediately recognized that it must be a human creation.

It chuckled to itself.

It's ridiculous that I actually fantasized about such a thing existing.

If humanity possessed this ability to reverse life and death, the world would have been doomed long ago.

The Money Spirit ignored Old So's disappointed look and explained, "This is a training machine. Its effect is to slow down all physiological activities of the Pokémon after it is worn, including cell aging and death. After the training ends, the physical function growth gained during the training will be doubled. The time and multiplier can be adjusted."

These are the discounted items in the Money-Seeking Spirit system this week; it hadn't originally intended to buy them.

It wasn't because of the price, but because of the results.

This thing seems to work well, but the effects on the Pokémon during the slowdown of their physiological activities are so great that even normal training becomes difficult.

It's somewhat useless as a training machine, but it's just right for Lao Su's situation.

On the other side, Old Su looked at the unremarkable machine and fell into deep thought. "I've never heard of such a thing before. How can you guarantee it's real?"

Suo Cailing handed over the machine and smiled slightly, saying, "Whether it's real or fake, we'll know once we try it."

…………

Seeing the money-seeking spirit walk out of the cave with its head held high and chest out, Xia Chen knew that its plan had most likely succeeded.

Sure enough, the first thing it did after it came out was to share the good news with Xia Chen.

"Chirp! (We're less than two hundred gold coins away from a thousand!)"

This month, we collected over 380 gold coins, while Lao Su collected over 400, bringing the progress to over 80%.

Basically, if you search for another ten days to half a month in a metropolis like Brewmaster City, the Money-Grubber will be able to complete its evolution.

"Good job!"

Xia Chen praised generously, saying that although the evolution of the Money-Seeking Spirit was only a matter of time after knowing the evolution conditions, it was better to do it sooner rather than later.

What if that Roaring Tail reveals its evolution method to someone else?

Xia Chen was very satisfied with the results of this afternoon's battle. Not only did he resolve the issue with the Tianxing team, but he also took a big step forward in his research on the evolution path of the Money-Seeking Spirit.

Watching the sun gradually set in the west, Xia Chen recalled the elves and straddled Gu Le Dun.

"Let's go, Guleton."

After the round trip, plus the time spent communicating with Lao Suo, it was already dusk when we returned to the camp, and we could see wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys in the distance.

It was Mingyi who was preparing dinner.

To be honest, after being around Xia Chen for so long, a normal person should have already developed excellent cooking skills. For example, his personal disciple Gardevoir already has 70% of Xia Chen's abilities.

But Mingyi is truly impervious to all persuasion. She's better now, but at the beginning she was a terrible cook who couldn't tell the difference between salt and sugar. Even if Snorlax came, she would have to lie down and leave.