Chapter 25: Preparing for the Great Hunt
Faced with the sudden price hike to 50 million, the Pokémon Trainers who were originally competing hesitated. After all, ordinary Pokémon Trainers had to consider the cost-effectiveness of their purchases.
Of course, a few people followed suit and raised the price, but this time Chenxi deliberately called out slowly, waiting until the third hammer was about to fall before raising it to 60 million.
From then on, those few who had deliberately raised the price fell silent. Not everyone had money like Chenxi, which seemed to come from nowhere. If it really ended up in their hands, they wouldn't know where to cry.
Competing for this purple crystal ball at a price of 60 million? They must be crazy.
After buying the Soul Dew, Chenxi didn't buy anything else.
After all, he had spent about 150 million in bits and pieces.
But thinking about it, out of the 1 billion he received, he only spent 150 million in the end. He didn't seem like a qualified spendthrift at all.
Chenxi sighed at his thrifty virtue and leisurely waited for the third mysterious item to be auctioned.
The third mysterious auction item was a Shinny Eevee, especially one that had mastered Wish.
Currently, the officially announced Eevee evolutions were only Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon. However, Spirit Hunters in Sinnoh had heard rumors of Glaceon and Leafeon, they just didn't know the specific methods.
Even so, this Shinny Eevee was very attractive.
After all, for hunters, this Shinny Eevee was not just for show; it would definitely be a very good addition to their strength.
Especially when injured in the wild, an Eevee with Wish could be an excellent team medic.
Even if they took a step back, if they wanted to resell this Eevee, they were confident that someone would be willing to buy it.
Chenxi looked at the Shinny Eevee in front of him, sighed slightly, greeted the officials, and left with Ci Lang after collecting the items he had auctioned here. He did not participate in the bidding for this Eevee.
Because this Eevee's level was only Green Grade, and it wasn't a Dream Special.
"What's wrong? You bought so many things, why do you look so down?"
Chenxi realized that he wasn't the only one affected by the auction house; Ci Lang also had his head down and wasn't speaking.
"Nothing..." Ci Lang hesitated for a moment but finally said, "I just feel that those Small Elves are too pitiful. Can't we humans be friends with Small Elves?"
"Ci Lang is still such a good boy!" Chenxi couldn't help but think of Ci Lang's future self, snatching Small Elves.
Perhaps this was the so-called phenomenon where people eventually become the person they despise. For example, in his previous life, he disliked rich people.
"Perhaps individually, Pokémon and humans can become friends, but as an entire species, it's really not easy for humans and Pokémon to coexist harmoniously." Chenxi thought for a moment and said, "However, we humans will continue to adapt to Pokémon. We have coexisted in this world from ancient times to the present, and it is precisely because of their existence that we humans are not alone!"
To be honest, Chenxi felt that the people in this world were exceptionally pure compared to the money-driven world of his previous life.
Perhaps that other world was more brilliant and grander, but this world made him feel so warm.
Not because he was a wealthy young Master, but because he always had companions by his side.
Thinking of this, Chenxi couldn't help but stroke the chin of the Floette by his side.
Floette held up the gracidea flower in her hand, giggling "Flower ~ Flower ~" as if she could feel his mood.
Ci Lang looked at Chenxi and Floette, and he could feel the tacit agreement between them.
Perhaps some Pokémon suffered misfortune due to human interests, but there were also some Pokémon who felt happy because of their interactions with humans.
Ci Lang looked at the Poké Ball containing his Carnivine, thinking that it was also his good partner.
Soon after Chenxi and Ci Lang returned to the courtyard prepared for them by the Wetland Shrine, High Priest Changxin was already waiting there.
Seeing them return, High Priest Changxin came forward and said to them, "Did you two have a good time?"
"We bought many things at the auction, which will greatly benefit the growth of our Small Elves," Chenxi replied with a smile to High Priest Changxin.
"That's good!" High Priest Changxin nodded upon hearing this, took out two maps, and handed them to the two, saying, "I came here to give you two maps for the Great Hunt, so it will be convenient for you to explore the Great Marsh."
"Maps?!" Chenxi took the map and saw that it had many Pokémon distribution diagrams.
In addition to these, the map also marked many pond-like annotations, with attributes such as Poison, Ground, Grass, and Water noted next to them.
"In the Great Marsh, while Pokémon resources are the most abundant, the most precious things for Trainers are these special mud pools.
Pokémon can use the energy within these mud pools to purify their own energy.
Not only can it purify the Pokémon's own energy, but it is also beneficial for Pokémon when they are attempting to break through to the Quasi-Heavenly King level.
Pokémon cleansed by the mud pools are more likely to withstand the purification of energy infusion, thereby increasing the probability of breaking through to the Quasi-Heavenly King level.
So, if you encounter a mud pool of the corresponding attribute, you can let your Pokémon go in and wash themselves." High Priest Changxin said.
"Additionally, we will prepare for you a Guardian Charm with the Protect skill sealed by at least a Master-level Psychic Pokémon.
Under attacks not exceeding the Master level, as long as energy is continuously injected, it can last for five minutes. You must bring it with you.
Once this skill is triggered, our priests at the temple will sense it and come to rescue you as quickly as possible!"
High Priest Changxin solemnly admonished, "The Great Marsh is a lawless place. We won't stop you from going in to adventure, but you must be careful!"
"Thank you, High Priest Changxin!"
Chenxi decisively took the item from High Priest Changxin's hand, and Ci Lang hesitated for a moment, but also followed Chenxi's example and accepted the Guardian Charm.
Seeing Chenxi and Ci Lang accept the Guardian Charm, High Priest Changxin also let out a slight sigh of relief.
For the Wetland Shrine, it was naturally aware of the chaos that ensued after entering the Great Marsh.
Especially since many of the Spirit Hunters who entered were of Superior level, letting the two of them go in so openly without anyone accompanying them, who knew what would happen if something went wrong.
Could the Wetland Shrine really afford to accompany two young Masters?
So, for people with such backgrounds, it was natural to take precautions to ensure that these two young Masters had a good time at the Wetland Shrine.
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Yes, they had to have a good time, otherwise, it would cause trouble for the Wetland Shrine.
Even if invitations were sent out, different people received different treatment.
For example, Zhen Xing would at most have Shi Ying watch over him, and after entering the Great Marsh, he would definitely be responsible for his own life and death.
But for Chenxi and Ci Lang, the Wetland Shrine definitely had to guarantee their safety.
To put it more seriously, if even a single hair was harmed, it might even escalate into a serious regional conflict.
Ci Lang watched High Priest Changxin leave with a sense of relief, but he was slightly puzzled and asked, "Is that Great Marsh very dangerous?!"
"A place where a group of Spirit Hunters, at least of Superior level, are located, letting us children go in. If there isn't some extra defense, that would be strange!"
Chenxi looked at the Guardian Charm and decisively put it on, "Once inside, remember to hang up your identity markers. As long as we don't provoke others, any Spirit Hunter with a brain won't bother us!"
"What if we encounter someone without a brain?" Ci Lang asked with some apprehension.
"As long as no Elite Four level guys appear, I believe that even if they don't have brains, they will definitely still respect the strong!"
Chenxi looked at the Floette dozing on his shoulder and said very solemnly.
Ci Lang looked at Chenxi, always feeling that Chenxi at this moment seemed truly dangerous.
There was about a week left until the official Great Hunt. The prices of various supplies for survival in the Great Marsh, such as Potions, antidotes, and compasses, all rose.
However, this increase didn't matter to Chenxi. He asked the Wetland Shrine for a reserve list and then had the Elf Garden prepare them for him.
He also returned the authority to allocate 800 million resources to Yuan Zihua. As for the roughly 50 million in change that was wiped out during this process, he figured Delia wouldn't care too much.
Aside from these miscellaneous tasks, Chenxi didn't idle during this week. He diligently studied the meditation method from the "Liuli Record."
This meditation method wasn't very troublesome. Aside from the difficult-to-understand theories within, simply put, it required a fist-sized, transparent crystal to be placed on the brow, twice a day, for fifteen minutes each time, to feel the essence of the sun and moon.
Basically, if one could feel the essence of the sun and moon, it meant they had the potential to cultivate Psychic abilities and could proceed with cultivation.
If one couldn't feel the so-called essence of the sun and moon, then it was just a meditation method for refreshing the mind and nourishing the spirit.
No Psychic user had initially awakened Chenxi's Psychic abilities, so Chenxi couldn't feel any essence of the sun and moon at all.
The only effect was that meditating with this method during the day made him especially energetic, and meditating with it at night made him sleep particularly soundly.
It's also worth mentioning that the meditation crystal Chenxi used was the Soul Dew.
After use, he wore it on his body, which could more or less prevent surprise attacks from Ghost-type Pokémon, essentially using it as a Guardian Charm.
As for whether he could Master the so-called Psychic abilities, Chenxi purely held the attitude of 'nothing ventured, nothing gained.'
Anyway, doing this wasn't much trouble, and it made him feel energetic, so why wouldn't he meditate a few times?
In contrast to his lack of desire for his own abilities, after Chenxi acquired the "Liuli Record," the cultivation of Staryu also began to follow a process.
Many things that Chenxi had only guessed at were described in detail in the "Liuli Record."
The "Liuli Record" clearly stated two cultivation directions for Staryu.
One was to resonate with the stars to form a "Peerless Under the Starry Sky" dazzling starlight mode.
Simply put, at night, it would have an infinite blue bar. As long as it wasn't instantly killed, the stars in the sky would continuously replenish Staryu's stamina.
The other was the Water Blade mode, where all the Water Guns fired were high-pressure Water Blades.
Even Pokémon with the Water Absorb ability would be directly sliced to death by the physical properties of these high-pressure Water Blades.
The only drawback was that the power of the high-pressure Water Blades diminished with distance, and beyond two meters, their power was similar to ordinary Water Guns.
Of course, what was written on it was naturally all sorts of incredibly impressive things, making one feel as if they had found some martial arts secret manual.
But in reality, these were all extraordinary skills combining four elements. To fully Master them, Pokémon that haven't reached the Quasi-Heavenly King level should just go to sleep; anything is possible in dreams.
When they reach that level, who doesn't have one or two trump cards?
However, these things were still very valuable for Chenxi's reference, with various ingenious tactics that were truly mind-blowing.
For example, the so-called Starlight Dazzling mode requires using the brilliance brought by Shinny to resonate with the stars as a channel, then using the Cosmic Power skill as the absorption core, then reverse-analyzing and restoring the Seal skill to completely refine the energy absorbed by Cosmic Power, and finally using the Protect skill to make the body completely adapt to this power drawn from the starry sky.
Then, with a 'pop,' a Starmie theoretically invincible under the starry sky is born.
As long as it doesn't encounter an opponent that can defeat it in one hit, with the endless power of the starry sky and Staryu's recovery ability, even if it encounters an Electric-type Pokémon, it can withstand Thunderbolt and slowly wear the opponent down to death!
But in reality, to cultivate such a Pokémon, just selecting a Dream Special Staryu with the Analytic ability is enough to make most people give up.
More importantly, to ensure that the future Starmie can withstand the power of the stars, Staryu needs to be fed star sand, star piece, comet meteorites, and the like from a young age. Simply put, if you don't have money, don't even think about cultivating it.
Even when Staryu evolves into Starmie, it doesn't just need one Water Stone, but two stones: a top-grade Water Stone and a top-grade Moon Stone.
And if Staryu's potential isn't enough, it will directly be overwhelmed and die from this process.
And just up to this point, to cultivate a top-tier Starmie, the number of Staryu that would be screened out would definitely be in the tens of thousands, and these screened-out Staryu would probably all have at least Green Grade potential.
However, Chenxi breathed a slight sigh of relief. Fortunately, he had a golden finger that allowed him to directly see Staryu's potential and ability.
Otherwise, even if he had this "Liuli Record," it would definitely not be an easy task for him to cultivate a top-tier Starmie.
After all, if you invest a large amount of cultivation resources and then find out in the end that Starmie's aptitude exploded because it was just a tiny bit short, it's something that probably no one could bear.
In the world of Pokémon, if you don't try your best to cultivate a Pokémon to its fullest, no one knows how much potential that Pokémon truly has.
After all, it's not an online game where everyone comes with an appraisal system.
