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

The Donghuang region is vast and populous. While the top champions may not rank among the top in the region, the core strength is still very solid. Competing for the top four is no easy task.

Fortunately, there is still at least six months to prepare, so Xianbu is in a hurry.

Chapter 343 Can cross-server communication also reach a consensus?

October 11th, Zhijiang City.

After nearly two months away, Xia Chen returned to his hometown and finally met Nian Mei'er and Cang Yan Ren Gui, who had stayed at home.

Contrary to his expectations of a chaotic scene, the house, inhabited by only two elves, was remarkably well-organized.

To Xia Chen's surprise, Noodles had actually evolved into Noodles Dragon!

Standing over two meters tall, Xia Chen couldn't reconcile her with the clingy little one who used to stick to him like glue at the beginning of the year.

The massive steel shell on its back, almost as tall as the body, gleamed with a cool metallic luster in the sunlight.

The only thing that hasn't changed is Nian Meilong's clingy and affectionate personality; as usual, she throws herself into Xia Chen's arms the moment they meet.

Given her current size, the only outcome would be that she would end up hugging him and collapsing onto the soft grass in the yard.

"Okay...stop it...it itches."

Ignoring the sticky tentacles that were wriggling haphazardly on his body, Xia Chen got down to business, "How did you evolve so quickly?"

Based on the energy intensity predicted before departure, it will take at least until the end of the year to reach the energy intensity required for evolution.

But it happened so much earlier than expected?

Nian Meilong looked around nervously, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the Azure Flame Blade Demon not far away.

He kept changing the subject, saying things like, "Sticky—(Oh, isn't it almost time? Oh right, when are we moving to our new house? I'm so excited!)"

Xia Chen looked at the sticky, giant steel dragon, which was already two heads taller than him, with a strange expression, and at the Azure Flame Blade Demon, which seemed to be resting with its eyes closed in the corner. He thought to himself that these two must have secretly done something while he was not at home.

It's worth mentioning that Goodra only took ten short months from birth to its final form...

Humans gestate for ten months, and this is a late-blooming quasi-god!

If we were to use a metaphor, she should be the kind of protagonist who is an ordinary person, so how did she become a protagonist who is a genius who sweeps across the world?

Xia Chen didn't know if this speed broke the world record, but even if it didn't, it was still somewhat astonishing.

But no matter what, evolution is always a good thing.

After having Guleton check Goodra's body and internal energy and finding nothing wrong, Xia Chen put aside his doubts and began testing Goodra's evolved strength.

…………

To sum it up first, it's very strong, extremely strong, so strong that it's impossible for a Pokémon under one year old to possess such power.

A one-year-old Gym Leader Pokémon—Xia Chen had never even dared to dream of such a thing before!

Eevee and Feebas are already exemplary in their rapid growth, but even if we take a year back from the point of meeting them, they would only barely reach the Elite level.

It wasn't until a year later, which is now, that they achieved gym-level strength.

The fact that Nume-ryu shortened her progress by half is likely due to her terrifying talent, which she displayed from birth, and probably also to the Azure Flame Blade Demon.

Speaking of Azure Flame Blade Demon, Xia Chen recalled the strange behavior he displayed during that video call, as if he had become a different Pokémon.

He couldn't help but scrutinize this special Pokémon, which had joined the team the latest, only to find that it was also gazing at him with a wistful expression.

The detached, world-weary look in his eyes was no longer there at the beginning; instead, there was a feigned calmness mixed with curiosity and bewilderment.

Although this is what a newly tamed young elf should look like, the difference before and after still made Xia Chen feel a little strange.

I'm going back to Zhijiang this time to build a small island, and I won't be leaving for a while, so it's a good opportunity to get to know him better.

Xia Chen thought to himself.

To celebrate Goodra's successful evolution and his safe return with his Pokémon, Xia Chen decided to host a big dinner that evening.

He invited his two assistants, Yan Shu and Christina, who had stayed in Zhijiang, as well as Jiang Qian, who had returned from Padiya last month, to his home for dinner.

In fact, Xia Chen's relationship with them was not only that of friends, but also that of superior and subordinate.

So even though they specifically emphasized not to talk about work at the dinner table, the three of them still couldn't help but chat about some work-related things.

"The commercial development of the secret plant is progressing smoothly. By the time I returned to Donghuang, the seasoning made from the earliest discovered salty secret plant had entered the trial production stage. The other flavors have also made progress one after another. As for the energy cubes... due to the shift in work focus, there hasn't been much growth. I'll send you the specific data after I finish eating."

Jiang Qian briefly described the company's recent developments.

Xia Chen had no choice but to smile wryly and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Sister Jiang. Let's eat first."

Seeing that even the second-in-command was acting this way, the junior assistant Yan Shu and the newbie Christa dared not slack off.

Yan Shu put down his chopsticks and reported earnestly, "The construction of the island is also proceeding in an orderly manner. Water, electricity and internet have been connected. Buildings like the Pokémon Center and Gym are large in scale and have a long construction period. However, your residence is expected to be completed before the end of the year. With Grass-type Pokémon like Bellossom and Miss Dixie that can purify the air, you don't need to worry about health issues and can move in at any time."

Since Christina has only been here for less than a month, her workload is much lighter.

She shrugged and said, "The ecological planning work on the island is relatively easy. It's not difficult to communicate with the wild elves, and most of them are willing to cooperate, except for one heterochromatic bear."

Xia Chen knew about this holdout, the circled bear guarding the island's secrets, but hadn't they already reached an agreement last time?

He frowned and asked, "What, is it dissatisfied?"

"There's one area that they just won't let us in," Chris said helplessly.

Xia Chen squinted and nodded, "I understand. I'll meet it with it myself when we get to the island."

…………

After lunch, the three of them left to continue working for their boss.

Xia Chen, having just returned from Hoenn, wasn't in a hurry to inspect the island he'd been longing for; after all, the island was there and wouldn't run away.

He went to Azure Flame Blade Demon's room, intending to chat with him and improve their relationship.

As soon as he finished eating, he rushed back to his room, I don't know what he was in such a hurry for.

Xia Chen knocked on the door twice out of curiosity, only to find that the door was not locked, but ajar.

A moral dilemma was presented to him—should he secretly spy on what the Azure Flame Blade Demon was doing in the room, or should he obtain its permission before entering?

Out of consideration for the elf's privacy, Xia Chen chose the latter.

But things didn't go as planned. After knocking on the door several times, there was no response from inside, so Xia Chen had no choice but to choose another option.

He pushed open the door and found the room to be very hot and filled with smoke, as if something was burning.

Is Azure Flame Blade Demon making something to eat by itself?

The cook, Xia Chen, immediately put himself in Xia Chen's shoes and considered this possibility.

But didn't we just eat? Or... did he think my cooking wasn't good enough, so he came back and cooked for himself?

Xia Chen couldn't stand it anymore. You can question my character, but you can't insult my cooking skills!

He walked through the wisps of smoke, quite unconvinced, ready to see what this guy was making that was more tempting than his own cooking.

To his utter astonishment, the source of the smoke in the room was not kitchen utensils such as pots and pans, but a dark, unidentified... cauldron?

Meanwhile, Azure Flame Blade Demon sat before the black cauldron, circulating its chilling, ghostly flames, completely absorbed in... alchemy?

For a moment, Xia Chen thought he had traveled to some fantasy world. Touching the round Poké Ball in his hand, he confirmed that he was still in the Pokémon world.

So, the problem isn't with me, but with refining pills in a world where pills don't even exist. The problem lies with Azure Flame Blade Demon!

In other words, the reason why Nianmei'er was able to evolve so quickly is most likely related to the pills refined by Cangyan Rengui.

After a simple process of elimination, Xia Chen discovered the truth.

However, he felt no joy in discovering the truth, because for his own elf, it seemed abnormal if there were no problems...

So Xia Chen quickly accepted the fact that Cangyan Blade Ghost could refine pills—what else could he do but accept it? Could he lie to himself that he was actually just making mud pills?

But where did all these random skills come from...? Is it Arceus's twisted sense of humor?

This was a question that Xia Chen couldn't understand at this stage, so he buried his doubts in his heart and began to observe the alchemy process of the Azure Flame Blade Ghost.

…………

He was so focused that he didn't notice Xia Chen standing behind him for a long time.

The flame in his hand flickered, sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, never maintaining a continuous state for even a minute.

Xia Chen pondered for a moment. The difficulty of refining pills seemed to be much higher than cooking or making energy cubes. No wonder the Azure Flame Blade Ghost was completely unaware of his arrival.

He was afraid of disturbing the Azure Flame Blade Demon, so he just stood quietly behind him and watched without saying a word.

The alchemy process lasted for nearly half an hour. Finally, when the intensity of the strange fragrance in the room reached its peak, the white flame quietly went out, and the Azure Flame Blade Ghost opened its eyes.

He took a light sniff of the aroma lingering in the air, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes. He muttered to himself, "Crunch... (Finally, I've refined a top-grade Dragon Power Pill...)"

Were you refining pills just now?

The sudden sound behind him startled Azure Flame Blade Ghost. He turned around abruptly and found it was his own trainer.

Xia Chen pointed to the door and explained, "I wanted to chat with you, but the door wasn't closed, so I came in."

Azure Flame Blade Demon then realized that he had gotten so used to having only himself and Noodle Dragon at home that he had even forgotten to lock the door while refining pills.

Fortunately, Xia Chen didn't disturb her, otherwise this would have been a complete failure.

Wait a minute... Azure Flame Blade Demon suddenly discovered a blind spot he had just overlooked.

"Karuru? (You...how do you know about this called alchemy?)"

These are precious memories left to me by my other consciousness before it left. How could he know?

Xia Chen smiled. "I probably know more than you think. Was this something another being taught you? Give him my regards."

If he wasn't mistaken, the Azure Flame Blade Demon's body should contain an old man from some fantasy world, which would explain why the Azure Flame Blade Demon behaved so strangely before and after his departure.

That's when the old man will take over the body!

In fact, Xia Chen's guess was already pretty close to the truth, but the reality was even more outrageous than he had imagined.

But within the Azure Flame Blade Ghost Ear, Xia Chen's words meant that he knew almost everything—the existence of Yao Chen's soul, the origin of the strange fire and alchemy, and even more things that he himself did not know.

The eulogy, "Give my regards to him," suggests that he and his other consciousness knew each other before his original consciousness awakened, and that they even had some kind of communication!

Seeing that Cangyan Rengui remained silent for a long time, Xia Chen assumed that he was communicating with the "old man" and quickly said, "Don't be nervous. I know him too, so I won't interfere with his guidance to you. Just don't hide things from me in the future. I will support you. And if you need anything, I can help you, just like when he was here."

…………