“Scorbunny! Spark!”
“Xiao Mei! Disperse it with Thunder Wave.”
Scorbunny shot out a small Spark, flying towards Xiao Mei.
Xiao Mei, with a round palm, gently pointed forward, emitting a faint Thunder Wave that scattered the Spark.
Liu Jianshan continued, “Scorbunny, can you still use Spark? Encore.”
“Cough, cough, cough…” Scorbunny obeyed Liu Jianshan’s command, trying to use Spark again, but failed.
“Alright, Scorbunny, that’s enough for today.” Liu Jianshan told Scorbunny to stop and walked over to gently pat its back.
“Not bad! Scorbunny, you just learned Spark, and your aim is already so good!” Chen Kai also praised.
A few days later, Liu Jianshan’s Scorbunny had just reached the beginner stage today, learned Spark, and had grown taller, now 30 centimeters.
These past few days, Chen Kai trained at the Botanical Garden during the day, went to his grandfather’s house for dinner in the evening, and occasionally played ball or went shopping with Liu Jianshan and Zhang Yongchao at night.
Life was very fulfilling.
Chen Kai turned to Zhang Yongchao, “Zhang Yongchao! Have you decided? Your starter Pokemon.”
Zhang Yongchao, however, looked conflicted, “It’s hard to choose. How about you guys come with me to see them tonight?”
“Sure! We’ll go with you to take a look!” Liu Jianshan decided immediately.
“But you must have a few Pokemon in mind already, right?”
Zhang Yongchao nodded, “Yeah, I prefer Electric-type Pokemon. Those few are all pretty cute. Help me decide.”
Chen Kai said, “What Electric-type? Not Mareep, right? I think Mareep is pretty good. Ampharos is the best in the world!”
Xiao Mei also raised a hand:
“Rong!” (I’m the best in the world!)
Zhang Yongchao waved his hand, “Go away! You two, get lost. You only know Mareep. There are many Electric-type Pokemon, alright!”
The three arrived at ‘Qian Da Plaza’.
Stepping into this mall was like being immersed in a colorful ocean of goods.
The first-floor hall was spacious and bright, with high ceilings adorned with magnificent crystal chandeliers like giant blooming flowers, casting brilliant light that illuminated every inch of the space.
In the center of the hall, an exquisitely designed fountain rhythmically spouted water, reflecting the lights like a dreamlike water curtain, shimmering with colorful light. Several Goldeen swam in the pond.
Chen Kai felt like complaining. Some bosses on Earth liked to keep goldfish, and on Blue Star, it became keeping Goldeen.
People came and went in the mall, a constant flow. The largest area was the Pokemon section.
Several shops specialized in selling Pokemon items, such as Focus Band, Zoom Lens, and other items.
There were also shops specializing in selling stones. For example, a Thunder Stone caught Chen Kai and Xiao Mei's attention, but seeing the six-figure price, he gave up.
The most crowded shops were those selling Pokemon. People always preferred to look at cute Pokemon, and with high school sophomores about to start school, everyone needed to buy Pokemon. Chen Kai and his two friends squeezed for a long time before finally reaching the Electric-type Pokemon section.
Zhang Yongchao pointed inside the glass and said, “Look, this Pichu is really adorable.”
The Pichu inside the glass tilted its head and let out a cute cry:
“Chu?”
Zhang Yongchao then pointed to the other side, “And look at this one, very rare in the country, just arrived, Togedemaru. Look at how round it is! I asked the staff, it has the Lightning Rod ability, not Iron Barbs, so it won’t prick me.”
“And then look at this one…”
Chen Kai and Liu Jianshan exchanged glances and laughed.
They hadn't expected Zhang Yongchao to like cute Pokemon.
Zhang Yongchao talked to himself for a long time before turning to ask his two good brothers, “I’m so conflicted! Do you two have any suggestions?”
“I still think Mareep is good,” Chen Kai said.
“I still think Fire-type Pokemon are good,” Liu Jianshan said.
Zhang Yongchao said angrily, “Damn it, I shouldn’t have asked you two. Useless.”
The three argued for a while, but still couldn't decide. They sat in a corner of the mall, staring at each other.
“I think if you like it and it feels right, you don’t need to be so conflicted,” Liu Jianshan advised.
Chen Kai nodded, “Yeah, just listen to our opinions.”
“Then I was already going to choose Pichu, why are you two sighing over there!” These two bad friends couldn’t help at all, just spouting nonsense. Zhang Yongchao was so angry he wanted to hit them.
At this moment, a staff member pushed an iron cage past them. The cage was covered with a cloth, vaguely revealing a canine Pokemon.
They hadn't seen any Pokemon kept in cages in the entire mall. Chen Kai curiously waved and asked, “Young man, what’s inside?”
The staff member, hearing Chen Kai greet him, said somewhat flustered, “It’s a Smeargle. We’re not abusing it, it’s just that it’s really good at escaping, and we have no choice. We can only keep it in here.”
Zhang Yongchao asked, “Smeargle? It’s good at escaping? I haven’t heard that Smeargle are good at escaping! Did you do something?”
The staff member quickly removed the cloth, revealing the Pokemon inside.
It was indeed a Smeargle, but its appearance was utterly disheveled.
Its fur was tangled in clumps, like hemp threads roughly kneaded by a naughty child, each strand caked with varying shades of mud. Where the mud had dried, it formed hard scabs, occasionally flaking off crumbs as it shook.
Its ears were not spared either, with several clumps of mud hanging from its drooping auricles, like strange earrings. Its face was even more unbearable, mud covering half of it, revealing only a pair of wet eyes, looking around blankly.
“You see, this time it escaped and ran into a mud pit, I don’t know what it was doing. Every time I find it, I have to clean it again, it’s so annoying,” the staff member said helplessly, waving a hand.
“Why do you keep running out?” Zhang Yongchao leaned closer and asked the Smeargle.
“Smear!” The Smeargle actually responded to him.
Hearing the Smeargle’s reply, Zhang Yongchao’s expression became subtle.
“You can understand what it’s saying?”
Liu Jianshan asked somewhat curiously. Usually, people who had been with Pokemon for a long time could roughly understand what Pokemon were saying, but Zhang Yongchao had just met the Smeargle. From his expression, it seemed he understood.
Zhang Yongchao nodded, “I can roughly understand some of it. It said it wants to go out and see the scenery.”
“Is this Smeargle also for sale?” Zhang Yongchao then asked the staff member.
“It is for sale, but… you should ask my boss!” The staff member answered with some hesitation.
He led Chen Kai and his two friends to the shop where he worked and spoke a few words with a middle-aged man. This middle-aged man was likely his boss or manager.
The middle-aged man’s face lit up after listening, and he quickly walked up to Zhang Yongchao.
“Young man, I heard you want to buy this Smeargle?”
Zhang Yongchao nodded, “Somewhat, so I came to ask you first.”
The middle-aged man said to Zhang Yongchao happily, “Alright, then let me explain first. Smeargle are very rare Pokemon.
Although this one is a bit mischievous and has a small problem, I can give you a discount, a special price for you, young man.”
“A discount, how much is it?”
The middle-aged man took out a calculator, did some calculations, and said, “30,000! 30,000 yuan, special price for you. A normal Smeargle starts at over 100,000.”
Zhang Yongchao scratched his head. Unless his dad came, he couldn't come up with 30,000 all at once.
But he still asked one more question, “What’s that small problem?”
Hearing Zhang Yongchao’s words, the boss’s smile stiffened. He hesitated for a moment, then made up his mind and said, “Actually, it’s been running out frequently recently, and I don’t know why. One time it came back, and it couldn’t produce colors anymore.
But it should just be a bit unwell recently. With some rest, it will definitely recover after a while.”
“This…” Chen Kai and Liu Jianshan were a bit surprised after hearing that. If a Smeargle couldn’t produce colors, that wasn’t a small problem at all!
It might not even be able to use its only move, Sketch.
But Zhang Yongchao seemed even more interested.
Seeing this, Chen Kai and Liu Jianshan each took a side, ready to pull him away.
The middle-aged man saw Zhang Yongchao was interested, and Chen Kai and the others wanted to dissuade him. He gritted his teeth and said, “8,000! 8,000 yuan. You can take it now.”
He estimated that the young man in front of him could probably scrape together 8,000 yuan.
If he didn’t take it, this Smeargle would probably be stuck with him, and this Smeargle also liked to run around, so he wouldn’t even know when it got lost.
“Deal! Wait a moment!” Zhang Yongchao readily agreed.
“No, Zhang Yongchao, this…”
“I know, Chen Kai, Liu Jianshan.” Zhang Yongchao interrupted what his two best friends wanted to say.
“I know everything, but I really like that Smeargle!
I don’t have enough money in my pocket. Can you lend me some?!”
Chen Kai and Liu Jianshan looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Finally, Liu Jianshan sighed, “Alas, I spent all my money on Scorbunny. I don’t have much left in my pocket either.”
Chen Kai said helplessly, “I’ll lend it to you, but Zhang Yongchao, you need to think carefully!”
Zhang Yongchao patted his chest, “It’s a deal! Brother!”