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

Pipa, who had no flying sprite to ride, could only cheer him on from the ground.

…………

The next main Pokémon, Volcarona, has not yet been born, and Xia Chen's current main aerial combat Pokémon is only Guleton.

However, just Gurren Laden is enough.

With his own injuries being treated, Leton naturally stopped worrying about whether his opponent was worthy of his attention.

In just three minutes, this Stone Bird, whose strength was comparable to that of a Champion, was utterly defeated by Guleton.

In fact, if Xia Chen hadn't told it to hold back, the Stone Bird definitely wouldn't have survived a single move.

The unconscious elf couldn't lead them to the secret plant hidden somewhere.

So Xia Chen had Gu Leton release some sea creatures and fight the Stone Bird for several rounds before finally defeating it to the point where it had to go find the secret plant.

After flapping its wings awkwardly twice, the stone bird flew to a rather secluded spot beside the rocky mountain and crashed open a cave entrance.

The cave entrance conceals a hidden world.

A large patch of dark green wildflowers swayed in the wind, greedily breathing in the fresh air that came in from outside the cave.

Xia Chen smiled slightly; these little cuties still knew how to hide things.

When all the birds are gone, the good bow is put away.

Once the cave entrance opened, the Stone Bird that had led Xia Chen there completely lost its usefulness. Just as it was about to eat the secret plant to save itself, it was first hit with a merciless punch from Gu Leton behind it.

The Stone Bird eventually collapsed before the secret plant it had fought so hard to protect, watching helplessly as Xia Chen plucked the delicate, powerless flowers right before its eyes before leaving.

And it could only shed tears of regret for letting the wolf into its house.

…………

The process of defeating the Treasure Master Spirit and collecting the Secret Plant went quite smoothly.

However, some unexpected things happened when these secret plants were used to make seasonings.

"It's been a few months, how come your cooking skills have declined so much?"

Papa, who had eagerly taken a bite of the dish, wore a bitter expression, as if he had eaten a specially made braised pork intestine that was deliberately kept to retain its original flavor.

Xia Chen shrugged. "There's nothing I can do about it; that's just how the seasoning tastes."

He calls it a seasoning only because it's also a secret plant.

Xia Chen's expression wasn't much better than Pappa's when he first tasted the seasonings after grinding them.

The secret seasoning is characterized by its extreme flavors. The first few seasonings are extremely salty, extremely spicy, and extremely sweet, all of which are very mainstream flavors.

But extreme bitterness... Xia Chen couldn't find such a dish on his menu.

Bitter melon and romaine lettuce are bitter because the ingredients are bitter; no cuisine would intentionally use seasonings to make a dish bitter.

Therefore, Xia Chen could only prepare it as a medicinal dish.

Having learned from Pipa's mistake, other elves were less inclined to make such a bold attempt.

Only the two elves, Guleton and the Mastiff Godfather, were fortunate enough to have this privilege. The two elves frowned and forced themselves to finish all the dishes that had been prepared.

There's an old saying: good medicine tastes bitter but is good for the disease.

It tastes bitter, like Chinese medicine, and the secret plant has amazing healing effects. According to feedback from Guleton, it is the most effective of the four seasonings.

However, because it had already recovered to legendary level some time ago, the recovery of its strength is not so obvious.

Only Guleton knew that on the system panel, his level had simply returned from 80 to 81.

Pipa's mastiff godfather is much more remarkable; he now looks almost exactly like a healthy elf.

Compared to when Xia Chen first met her, they were completely different.

…………

"So when are we going to look for that iron track?"

Pipa was quite excited that he only needed one more seasoning to complete the exploration, and asked in a hurry right after finishing his meal.

Xia Chen looked at Papa, who was excited but looked exhausted, and was speechless.

"Let's go to the nearest city to rest for a while, and I'll look up some information about iron ruts."

The reason he was researching wasn't because he was worried that Guleton couldn't beat that iron track, but because he was interested in paradoxical species.

He had a feeling that, like the Ultra Beasts of the Alola region, the origins of these enigmatic Pokémon were far more complex than they appeared.

I only knew about the Sun and Moon series through games and anime, but I knew nothing about the Padia region.

Damn it, if only I had time-traveled a few years later...

Xia Chen thought to himself with these thoughts.

The closest major city to the Honghong Desert is Boping City, a metropolis known as a "water town".

What's peculiar about this city is that it's artificially divided into three levels, with people traveling between them via giant elevators distributed throughout the various areas.

In some ways, it's similar to the mountain city of Donghuang—you think you're on the first floor and look out, but you're actually tens or hundreds of meters in the air.

Xia Chen and Pipa's hotel was on the top floor, very close to the Glass Bottle Dojo.

Speaking of which, the Glass Bottle Dojo and Donghuang have quite a history. The dojo owner also runs a Donghuang-style restaurant called [Haidai Club], which is quite famous in the area.

Xia Chen went there after hearing about it, and sure enough, this Donghuang Restaurant in the Padiya region really did have something special.

It goes without saying that the dishes will be drastically modified from those of Donghuang cuisine; this is inevitable.

To cater to local tastes, even restaurants run by people from Donghuang have to be modified.

Whether it's good or bad depends on the chef's skill level.

The restaurant's modifications... according to the trainer's level classification, Xia Chen could be rated as a gym leader.

Xia Chen himself, without boasting, is undoubtedly a champion at the peak level.

It's worth mentioning that Xia Chen, who was just there for a simple meal, was recognized by the restaurant's owner, Hai Dai, who is also the head of the Glass Bottle Dojo.

The middle-aged man, sporting a handsome mustache and a powerful hairstyle, who claimed to be a loyal fan of Xia Chen, was quite excited and immediately issued a challenge to him.

It's about cooking, not about fighting elves.

Xia Chen, who had seen countless fans of his looks, battles, training, wives, and even mothers, was thrilled to encounter a genuine cooking fan for the first time in real life. His excitement was no less than Hai Dai's.

The two hit it off immediately and had an impromptu culinary showdown in the restaurant's kitchen.

In the end, it ended with Haidai silently shedding two streams of tears on his face.

If I had known, it would still have been Xia Chen!

…………

After much persuasion, Xia Chen finally gave up on Hai Dai's idea of ​​becoming his apprentice.

She then taught him some cooking tips in the kitchen, and he finally returned to the hotel.

After taking a cold shower to wash away the dust and fatigue from his journey, and eating the fruit that Senbu fed him with silk, Xia Chen lay comfortably on Gardevoir's lap, living a life that even King Zhou would envy.

"Rotom, gather all the information about the Paradoxical Species and project it onto the big screen."

Rotom's voice remained energetic as he replied, "Okay, Rotom!"

The electronic ghost spun rapidly, sifting through the complex world of the internet for Xia Chen to find information about paradoxical species.

It responded shortly afterward: "We have found 9174 videos and 31841 text messages for you, Loto!"

Xia Chen was surprised to find that there were nearly 10,000 videos. It seemed that quite a few paradoxical species had escaped from Zone Zero.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Chen said, "Play the clearest video, the one related to the iron tracks, first."

"No problem, Loto!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a video appeared on the TV, sourced from Pixiv.

Without any ads, the video started immediately.

Chapter 301 Simulated Rewards: Gardevoir Evolution Stone? (5.2k views, please vote!)

(A heads-up before reading this chapter: the third god of Zhu Zi will be released in the winter DLC. Fanfiction writers can't wait that long. I will write the plot based on some existing information about the game, some interesting speculations online, and my own imagination. Okay, armor stacking complete!)

The creator of this video is a well-known outdoor adventure streamer in the Galar region. He is quite skilled, and at the age of 26 or 27, he is already close to the gym level.

This is also the most important reason why he has the confidence to explore everywhere.

The video begins with a rather meaningless monologue, the gist of which is: "[I heard the Paradoxical Spirits of the Padia region are very popular lately, so I've come here to reveal their secrets, choosing this Iron Tracks spirit that's famous for its large size and agility.]"

As the saying goes, "People are afraid of becoming famous, just as pigs are afraid of getting fat," because that pig doesn't have extraordinary strength.

If it were like this iron rut, it would be the people and elves around it that would be afraid.

Compared to ordinary tun armor, Iron Tracks is covered in steel helmets and armor made of an unknown metal.

His eyes didn't resemble those of a living being; they were more like the indifferent, cold gaze of a robot.

Therefore, there are rumors online that it is a scientific weapon made by aliens.

However, no one dares to draw any conclusions about the truth.

Like ordinary donkeys, Iron Tracks like to curl up into a ball and roll around to launch surprise attacks.

The difference is that the ground left by the rolling iron tracks will have a mark that looks like it has been scorched by high temperature.

That must be where its name comes from.

Since this iron track is a Pokémon spirit, it is larger than the average individual, and the tracks it left in the video are even more eye-catching and exaggerated, with a width of nearly one meter!

To better showcase the video, this content creator recklessly stood in front of the inevitable path of the rolling iron ruts while carrying a camera to film.

If Corviknight hadn't been quick enough to grab it and lift it into the air, the joke about "only one camera left when they arrived at the scene" would have become a reality.

The content creator, who narrowly escaped death, quickly left and then uploaded this high-definition video, which has great academic research value, to the internet.

Undoubtedly, the "pseudo-intimate contact" with paradoxical species made this video an instant hit.

When Xia Chen looked at it, the number of views had already exceeded six million.

After the video ended, Xia Chen didn't watch the next one, but instead fell into thought.