Chapter 11: Arrival at Oreburgh City
Early the next morning, Chenxi, as usual, arranged for his Small Elves to absorb the first rays of sunlight.
He also packed up, putting his camping gear back into his spatial backpack, and began preparing for departure.
The middle-aged man and the little girl also tidied up a bit, and the three of them began their search for Pokémon.
Having agreed to let them hire him, Chenxi believed they had no ill intentions, but even so, Chenxi consciously maintained a certain distance from the two, and summoned Floette to his shoulder.
Even if there was a trap or crisis, Floette’s reaction would definitely be much faster than his own, after all, she was a Master Pokémon.
The group then began searching for Pokémon on Route 206.
Chenxi walked and said, “Route 206, due to its varying terrain and proximity to Mt. Coronet, is considered a valley region.
There are grasslands and rivers here, so finding Rock Type, Grass Type, and Water Type Pokémon is not difficult.
The most representative among them are Geodude, Budew, and Psyduck.
As long as you are patient, you will eventually find these three types of Pokémon.”
“Then, little brother, which Pokémon do you think Xiaoju should choose?” the middle-aged man asked upon hearing Chenxi’s words.
Chenxi shrugged and replied, “I mentioned these three standards just to give Xiaoju a baseline expectation.
Ultimately, what she chooses depends on Xiaoju’s fate with these Pokémon.
From my perspective, since you work in the Black Gold Carbon Pit, if Xiaoju was truly interested in Geodude, she wouldn’t be going through this much trouble to find one.
And while Budew is a Grass Type Pokémon that is easy to raise, it ultimately possesses Toxic attributes, which can be dangerous if not handled carefully.
Therefore, choosing a Water Type Pokémon would be more suitable.
Of course, if she really doesn’t like Psyduck, there’s another advantage to following the river: water sources.
Water sources are crucial for the survival of wild Pokémon, and by following the river, we are more likely to encounter Pokémon drinking water.”
The middle-aged man listened to Chenxi’s words, pondered for a moment, and naturally nodded repeatedly, saying, “We’ll follow the river!”
Listening to Chenxi’s calm analysis, the blue-haired, silver-eyed little girl looked at Chenxi with stars in her eyes.
Perhaps it was because she had never met a peer who was so composed and calm, even able to converse with her father.
Following Chenxi’s suggestion, they quickly found Pokémon in the river.
The most common was Magikarp.
Because the river was clear, Chenxi felt that if Floette used a whip, many Magikarp would float to the surface.
However, it is quite difficult to raise a Magikarp to level 20.
A quick glance at the river didn't reveal many Pokémon of decent quality that were worth training.
Chenxi didn't expect all of his Pokémon to reach Blue Grade, or even Purple Grade, but Green Grade was the absolute minimum standard.
After all, it’s not impossible to train a juvenile Pokémon that can’t even reach Green Grade to be a Tianwang or even Champion Pokémon, but it would require far too many resources, even Chenxi would be reluctant.
But for ordinary people looking for Pokémon, a Yellow Grade Pokémon, or even an Orange Grade Pokémon, is generally sufficient.
If this little girl is truly diligent, a Yellow Grade Pokémon, with normal training and without excessive overexertion, has the potential to become an Elite Class.
If she then encounters some rare treasures to improve its aptitude, becoming a Master Pokémon is not impossible.
As Chenxi said, Pokémon drinking by the river were seen from time to time.
Chenxi casually glanced around, seeing that the grades of these Pokémon were not particularly high, so Chenxi naturally didn't pay much attention.
At this time, the middle-aged man was quite astute; whenever he saw a Pokémon he didn't recognize, he would open his mouth and ask Chenxi.
After all, as a miner in a mine, his knowledge of Pokémon was truly not as extensive as Chenxi's.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to hire Chenxi, even if they didn't catch a good Pokémon, it was still beneficial to gain more knowledge.
Chenxi didn't hide anything; he might not have known every Pokémon like the back of his hand, but at least he had some understanding of these common Pokémon.
Even if it wasn't intentional, the world's suppression of Pokémon knowledge was quite severe.
As for the little girl, she barely spoke along the way, but her eyes were already sparkling with admiration for Chenxi.
“Oh?!”
Just as Chenxi and the middle-aged uncle were walking and chatting, Chenxi unexpectedly saw a Level 7 Gligar drinking water, and it was a Green Grade, Dream Special Gligar, which surprised Chenxi slightly.
“Young Master, what’s wrong with this Gligar…?” Seeing Chenxi stop, his gaze fell upon a Gligar.
The middle-aged uncle hesitated slightly and said, “If the young Master likes it, you can capture it yourself.”
Chenxi smiled faintly and said, “This Pokémon is a bit of a dilemma for me, not worth keeping, but a shame to discard.
From what I see, this Gligar’s potential is quite good; with proper training, it should have the potential to reach Elite Class.
How about it, do you want to catch it?”
Chenxi concealed the upper limit of this Gligar, because for ordinary people, a Pokémon that can be trained to Elite Class is already worth a lifetime of investment.
As for Master Pokémon, if they knew about it, Chenxi was afraid they would be blinded by greed.
Since he didn't care for this Pokémon, there was no need to increase its value, which would only make him more dangerous.
“Elite Class?!” Hearing Chenxi’s somewhat disdainful tone, the middle-aged uncle became even more certain of Chenxi’s background.
But the Pokémon that Chenxi looked down upon could potentially change the fate of the middle-aged uncle’s Family.
“Xiaoju, do you like this Pokémon?”
Although the middle-aged uncle knew the value of this Pokémon, he didn't immediately try to catch it, but instead asked the little girl beside him first.
The little girl looked at the Gligar, a hint of difficulty appearing on her face.
But when she looked up at the middle-aged uncle, a smile had already appeared on her face, and she sweetly said, “I like it.”
“Girls are indeed liars; the prettier a girl is, the more she lies, and little girls are no exception.”
Chenxi naturally saw that the little girl wasn’t particularly fond of the Gligar; perhaps the middle-aged uncle also noticed.
But the little girl clearly knew that this Pokémon was what her father hoped she would catch, so she still chose it.
It’s truly heartwarming to see such a sensible child.
Chenxi didn't interfere with the two catching the Pokémon, after all, this matter had nothing to do with him.
And letting a Level 28 Machoke deal with a Level 7 Gligar, as long as the Gligar didn't escape, even if it was a Flying Type Pokémon, it would still be defeated.
Most importantly, because it was only Level 7 and in its juvenile stage, even if it wanted to fly with the wind, it couldn't go far.
So, the middle-aged uncle still took out a Poké Ball and successfully caught the Gligar.
After successfully catching the Gligar, Chenxi shared some small tips on raising Gligar, then let the little girl try to play with it.
To be honest, Chenxi didn't think this little Gligar would gain much strength under the little girl's training.
The reason is very simple: Gligar… or more accurately, Gliscor, especially a Dream Special Gliscor, is actually not suitable for ordinary people to raise.
Because Gligar’s evolution requires the item Razor Fang, and for Chenxi, this item might not be much, and even a non-top-quality Razor Fang wouldn’t catch Chenxi’s eye.
For ordinary people, just knowing about the Razor Fang item is not an easy task, let alone acquiring one.
Even if a Dream Special Gligar successfully evolves into a Dream Special Gliscor, to utilize its Poison Heal ability, it still needs the Toxic Orb, an item that is almost considered rare and uncommon.
Even the Yuan Family, despite having the raw materials to make Toxic Orbs, did not possess the manufacturing process for them.
Therefore, truly unleashing the potential of a Dream Special Gliscor is not something an ordinary Trainer with nothing can do well.
However, Chenxi didn't tell the uncle in front of him about these things, because telling him would only add to his worries.
For the uncle, having a Pokémon that could grow to Elite Class was enough.
If he were a truly potential Trainer, an Elite Class Pokémon would already be enough to change his destiny.
And so, three days later, Chenxi and the uncle's group returned to Oreburgh City.
“Young Master, are you really not staying at my house? Don’t worry, it will be cleaned very thoroughly,” the uncle invited Chenxi.
Chenxi smiled and refused, “No, my Family has property here in Oreburgh City, so uncle, don’t worry.
Then uncle, let’s meet the day after tomorrow. I’ll come to your house the day after tomorrow morning. How about you arrange for me to go to the Black Gold Carbon Pit then?”
“If that’s the case… alright!” The middle-aged uncle nodded and said to the little girl, “Xiaoju, say goodbye to big brother.”
The little girl, holding her Gligar, waved at Chenxi and sweetly said, “Goodbye, big brother, miss Xiaoju!”
“Got it.” Chenxi smiled slightly and also bid farewell to the middle-aged uncle, just about to turn around, but then paused slightly and said to the middle-aged uncle, “Oh, by the way, uncle, if you dig up soft sand or hard stones while mining, you can grind them into powder and add a small amount to Gligar’s food. This will help with its training.”
“Hard stones and soft sand, huh…?” The middle-aged uncle nodded upon hearing this, indicating he had remembered.
He was about to express his gratitude to Chenxi, but Chenxi had already disappeared into the crowd, nowhere to be seen.
Oreburgh City is a coal town with abundant natural resources, and to increase mining efficiency, ventilation shafts have been built throughout the city to exchange foul air from underground with fresh air from the surface.
The entire Oreburgh City is the Ju family’s most profitable industry, as the Ju family monopolizes over 50% of the mining and real estate industries in the entire Sinnoh region, with the only competition barely coming from the Aura Family of Iron Island.
But unfortunately, the Aura Family are outsiders in Sinnoh. Although they have settled and taken root in Sinnoh for over a hundred years, compared to the Ju family, a thousand-year-old Family of Sinnoh, they are still far behind.
Furthermore, a very important reason why the Ju family and the Yuan Family do not see eye to eye is land.
Because for the Yuan Family, land is also a crucial and indispensable factor for Family development.
The Yuan Family primarily operates in the food and agricultural industries, with 60% of the cultivated land in the entire Sinnoh region under their control.
In the Sinnoh region, there is a large population but limited land. Although there is abundant water and fertile soil, the available arable land area is genuinely not large.
Because Mt. Coronet and its various branches occupy at least one-third of the entire Sinnoh region, and the arable land available for cultivation in Sinnoh is basically concentrated south of Mt. Coronet.
Therefore, the Ju family and the Yuan Family often have disputes over land issues.
Over thousands of years, these two of the Five Great Families naturally became the biggest rivals.
However, while the two sides may argue and bicker, they also have their respective bottom lines.
The Yuan Family does not engage in any mining industry; even if resources are discovered, they will seal them off and choose to continue farming.
And although the Ju family has a large sum of money from mining and real estate, no matter what they invest in, they will not get involved in the agricultural or medical industries.
Yes, the medical industry!
The entire Sinnoh medicinal market is also monopolized by the Yuan Family, so the medical industry is also a pillar industry of the Yuan Family.
At this time, the Pokémon Alliance had not yet invaded Sinnoh, so there were no Elf Centers or Nurse Joy here. If Pokémon had any headaches, fevers, or discomfort, they were basically sent to the Yuan Family’s Elf Garden for treatment.
Basically, whether they were sick or not, letting them sleep on the lawn of the Elf Garden would usually cure about 70-80% of their ailments.
Of course, this nap was not cheap; one night cost eight hundred eighty-eight Pokémon coins, with other services charged separately.
This was not an ordinary lawn, but a special lawn created by combining the Grassy Terrain ability with special grasses.
It retained the effects of Grassy Terrain, which is why Pokémon sleeping on it experienced healing effects.
Not to mention the various flowers and herbs planted on this lawn, which retained the effect of aromatic scents, capable of removing status conditions.
As long as the Pokémon brought over were not dead, basically, a nap here would largely fix them.
If not, then another nap.
However, the setup of this Grassy Terrain is not easy. Apart from the annual maintenance required for a mature Grassy Terrain, simply for it to exert its healing effects, it requires 3 years of initial investment to make the Grassy Terrain mature and ready for use.
Therefore, every Elf Garden is a very important industry for the Yuan Family.
Of course, such facilities are basically prepared for Trainers of Elite Class and above; it is absolutely impossible for ordinary people to enjoy such treatment.
Ordinary people come to the Elf Garden to buy Energy Powder, which costs five hundred Pokémon coins per packet.
One packet of Energy Powder, when opened, can be slowly steeped in water with a small spoon, providing excellent recovery effects for Pokémon.
Of course, even if this stuff is consumed by humans, aside from being a bit bitter, it can basically achieve the effect of refreshing the mind and boosting energy.
