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

Many of Xia Chen's fans, who live as far away as Galar and Padiya, have expressed their desire to come to Donghuang specifically to challenge their idol.

The only downside is that this multi-attribute dojo, registered as [Yuanling Dojo], has not yet opened for business.

Moreover, they won't be able to open until at least next spring.

…………

Having long been accustomed to being at the center of public opinion storms, Xia Chen spent a few days wandering around the Qianlong Martial Arts Academy and his alma mater, Beijing University, before returning to Yuanling Island.

After successfully completing the gymnastics competition, he shifted his focus to another important matter—hatching Burning Bugs.

As the egg's birth date approaches, the frequency and amplitude of its shaking become increasingly noticeable.

This wasn't the first time Xia Chen had personally hatched an elf egg, but the process of welcoming a new life always filled him with such excitement.

The same applies to their predecessors, such as Sylveon and Gardevoir.

Just like welcoming last year's Sticky Baby, they prepared gifts for the yet-to-be-born Burning Worm well in advance.

No one dislikes a cute little creature inside an egg. After all, a Pokémon that joins the team halfway through its journey might clash with the older members due to personality flaws or other reasons.

But this situation certainly wouldn't occur with a newborn elf who is completely inexperienced and like a blank sheet of paper.

However, Nymph doesn't think so. Perhaps because she had been inside the fairy egg for thousands of years, she regained consciousness as soon as she was awakened by life energy, and even embarked on a crazy and wonderful adventure.

So, what will this new companion be like?

Despite the temperature in the incubation chamber being far higher than a comfortable environment, the Goomeron stared blankly at the elf egg with its fiery red pattern interspersed with black spots.

Meanwhile, inside the fairy egg.

The sealed, pitch-black space resembled a chaotic, undeveloped universe.

Legend has it that this world was formed from the egg of the spirit that hatched Arceus. The eggshell is the boundary of the universe, the slime inside is the Milky Way, and the countless cells and molecules inside are the stars that adorn the universe.

Many people still believe this claim.

However, the Burning Bug's egg obviously did not have such great power. Inside the empty eggshell, there was only a larva with snow-white fur and a few tufts of fiery red antennae around its head, sleeping quietly with even breathing.

Its intelligence had already begun to awaken, just like the sticky treasure that was still in its eggshell at the time. It could occasionally glimpse half of the world from the words of Xia Chen and the elves who came to visit it.

However, the sleepiness of a newborn elf means it spends most of its time in [sleep], just like right now.

…………

[In sleep] there is nothingness.

The so-called nothingness is an extremely strange world where there is not even darkness, except for a bright red light at the center.

Driven by an instinct to seek light and heat, the burning insects have been slowly crawling toward the source of light and heat ever since they became conscious.

Now, it has finally arrived before that ray of light.

From God's perspective, this is a spark, a slightly dim spark, yet one with boundless vitality, like life itself.

But the Burning Bug, which had no worldview whatsoever, didn't recognize the thing, only feeling a strange sense of closeness to it.

The long-dormant embers also suddenly came alive as the fireflies approached, leaping about joyfully like a dance.

Attracted by it, the burning insect unconsciously stretched out its black legs and touched it.

A spark of fire split off, forming a structure resembling tentacles that traveled in both directions.

In an instant, the flame vanished, and the burning insect's vision was completely obscured by nothingness.

At the same time, it sensed a murmur within its own body that resembled flickering flames.

This is a very mysterious feeling, so given the current level of cerebellar development of the Burning Worm, it can only be described in very abstract language.

That thing... entered my body?

Aside from special Pokémon like Slowpoke, most Pokémon's intelligence is directly proportional to their species' potential.

As the offspring of the champion-level Volcano Moth, the Burning Bug, though still in its egg, already possesses some intelligence.

It can sense the fire that enters its body, which seems to transform into blood and integrate into every part of its body.

The feeling was wonderful, even though it didn't know what it was.

After merging with the fire, the burning insect became even more lethargic. This time, however, it dreamed not of a void, but of a world devoid of light and heat, tightly enveloped in darkness.

The burning insect gazes at the earth like a god; though it cannot see, it can sense the numbness and despair of the creatures living there.

Sunlight, water, and air are the foundation for the survival of all living things. In this world where the sun has been banished, all living things live like zombies.

I have to do something!

A thought suddenly arose in the mind of the Burning Insect, the origin of which it did not know.

Suddenly, an extremely evil and indifferent gaze slowly swept across the entire world.

The burning insect was startled by the gaze, shivered involuntarily, and curled up, not daring to show its face.

This world is terrifying...

It was unclear how much time had passed, or whether the gaze had disappeared, but the burning insect's consciousness gradually faded, returning to its original world.

Chapter 354 You will become the new Sun God!

(The overdue updates have been paid)

The burning insect's body was a little stiff from sleeping for so long. It wriggled as usual, and then a crisp sound was heard.

click-

click-

A sliver of light and heat penetrated into this originally airtight little world, causing a slight tremor in the heart of the burning insect, which was still unable to open its eyes.

Having experienced that terrifying dark world in my dream, everything in this world seems so warm now.

Then, several sounds that had been frequently heard in the sprite eggs during this period entered the ears of the Burning Bug.

"Click! (It moved! The eggshell moved!)"

"Wow! (Is it going to hatch? I can't wait!)"

"Sanai... (Can you two be quiet for a second? Don't scare the fireflies...)"

"Hey! (That's right, everyone move aside and give Xia Chen some space!)"

The noisy yet warm sounds gradually subsided, and the burning insects, yearning for the light and heat of the outside world, focused on creating more cracks through their wriggling, breaking free from their constraints.

The process was effortless, and soon, amidst a series of crisp, vibrant sounds, cracks appeared all over the red and black elf eggshell, like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Then, a crimson tentacle resembling a flame stubbornly broke through the eggshell, announcing the arrival of new life.

The Burning Worm hatches!

Xia Chen originally thought he wouldn't really like Bug-type Pokémon, but when this round little guy with snow-white fur looked at him with curious deep blue eyes, he changed his original prejudice.

Insects are quite cute, aren't they?

He squinted and smiled at the Firefly, then lightly touched the fiery red antenna on its head with his index finger, saying, "Hello, Firefly~"

The burning insect's antennae, which resembled flames, instinctively retracted at first, but sensing Xia Chen's kind and warm feelings, it mustered its courage and extended its antennae in response.

Any living being will feel a natural affinity for the first person or spirit it sees when it opens its eyes.

The burning insect responded haltingly with the few words it had recently learned from the elves: "Lava... (How are you?)"

Xia Chen smiled and scratched the snow-white fur on its head. The latter wriggled and let out a soft hum of comfort.

"Welcome to this world, Burning Worm~"

…………

"The female burner is in stable condition and very healthy. No congenital diseases have been found so far. This is the detailed report."

The beautiful Miss Joy took the sleeping Burning Bug from Lucky Egg and handed it to Xia Chen along with the examination report.

The Pokémon Center on Yuanling Island was completed during Xia Chen's absence, and several Nurse Joys and staff members moved in.

Although they were civil servants of the alliance, their actual salaries were paid by the island owner, Xia Chen, who was not short of money. They were very polite to Xia Chen because of their generous salaries.

Xia Chen took the Burning Worm like a child and thanked Miss Joey and Lucky Egg.

Although they are insects, the burning insects are actually quite large, reaching half a meter in length, which is larger than a typical newborn baby.

After they pass through their growth period, they can grow to over a meter in size, much larger than larval sprites like caterpillars and unicorns.

Xia Chen had heard a story that Volcarona was originally expected to become a pseudo-legendary in the Unova era, but it was abandoned due to the lack of a good second-stage design.

The Vulcan Moth's handsome appearance, extremely high upgrade level, and powerful strength seem to confirm this.

After saying goodbye to Nurse Joy, Xia Chen left the Pokémon Center and arrived at an ecological park built specifically for Burning Bugs and Azure Blade Ghosts, where the temperature is kept constant at forty degrees Celsius all year round.

With Xia Chen's superhuman physique, this temperature won't have any effect on him.

The ecological park's design style is inspired by desert oases, featuring lush greenery and a touch of humanistic elements.

Inside the garden, smoke billowed from a house, presumably the alchemy master Cangyan Rengui was busy at work again.

Xia Chen didn't disturb them, and carried the still-sleeping Burning Insect to another glass room here.

He placed the burning worm on a warm, soft blanket made of the finest wool from the wool of the finest woolly horn sheep, and then prepared special "baby food" for the burning worm in the room.

The early stages of life are the best time to build a bond, and Xia Chen happened to have some free time during this period, so he began his long-awaited life of taking care of the baby.

The burning insect was startled awake by the slight movement and looked up at Xia Chen, who was busy at work.

Although she didn't know what this human who had been by her side ever since she came out was doing, her intuition told her that it must be related to her.

Feeling the warmth enveloping it from the inside out, the burning insect rolled over on the incredibly soft cashmere and continued to drift off to sleep.

…………

Cold, desolate, dark... a sensation completely opposite to the warm world suddenly overwhelmed the Burning Insect, causing it to shiver and slowly open its eyes.

This place again... Where am I? A dream?

Recalling that gaze that made her soul tremble, Burning Insect felt that it wasn't that simple.

[This is my world... so that's what it is]

A clear, ethereal voice suddenly rang in his mind, and the Burning Insect was slightly startled.