Spirit Egg

Seeing Gary leave, Qian Bing was briefly at a loss, unsure what to do next.

However, he did not remain confused for long. Drawing on his experience playing the game "Pokémon" in his previous life, he quickly concluded that the town he was currently in was Pallet Town, Ash's hometown in the Kanto Region.

In the game, after the player received a starter Pokémon from Professor Oak and defeated Gary, they seemed to be able to head for Pewter City, where the first Gym in the Kanto Region was located.

With that thought, Qian Bing found his direction.

"So, I should take Bulbasaur out into the wild to level up and adventure, then head to Pewter City to challenge the Gym."

Having made up his mind, he eagerly set off along the road leading out of town.

Before long, Professor Oak walked out of the research institute and looked around, but Qian Bing was nowhere to be seen.

"Why is Xiao Bing in such a hurry? He went off adventuring without even taking his Spirit Ball or Spirit Illustrated Handbook. It looks like I'll have to find another chance to give them to him."

The wilderness outside the town was filled with wild Pokémon.

The moment Qian Bing stepped into the grass, a wild Pidgey hopped out and launched an attack at him.

As his gaze fell on Pidgey, familiar information instantly flooded into his mind.

Pidgey: A Flying-type Pokémon that disliked fighting. It often hid in the grass and caught small insects for food.

Quality: Dull-Witted

Level: 3

Gender: ♂

Skills: Violent Wind, Sand Attack

Nature: Chaotic

"Dull-Witted quality? If I remember correctly, Bulbasaur's quality is Quasi-King Grade. This Pidgey's quality is extremely low—it isn't worth catching."

Qian Bing immediately understood how fortunate it was to possess the Spirit Illustrated Handbook Spirit. Without its prompts, he would have had to catch and release countless Pokémon before finding a high-quality one worth raising.

But now, all it took was a glance... It was simply too convenient.

Since Qian Bing had already determined that this wild Pokémon was not worth catching, he had no reason to hold back.

Before long, the Pidgey, which habitually used Sand Attack, was beaten by Bulbasaur until it exhausted its stamina and fainted on the ground.

Qian Bing did not know whether it was just his imagination, but he felt that Bulbasaur seemed to have grown a little at the moment Pidgey fell.

The instant he thought of checking Bulbasaur, his left palm grew warm, and Bulbasaur's information entered his mind again.

Bulbasaur:

Quality: Quasi-King Grade

Level: 2

Gender: ♂

Skills: Tackle, Howl

Nature: Gentle

Sure enough, after defeating that wild Pidgey, Bulbasaur had leveled up, so its body had grown accordingly.

Qian Bing could now almost confirm that some of the mechanics in this Pokémon World were remarkably similar to the handheld game "Pokémon" he had played in his previous life. As long as he worked hard at grinding wild monsters, his Pokémon could level up!

With this realization, his enthusiasm instantly surged, and he excitedly began charging about through the grass.

Two hours later, much of Qian Bing's enthusiasm had faded.

After more than a dozen battles in the wild, he had encountered common Pokémon such as Rattata, Kakuna, and Spearow.

Bulbasaur's experience had also soared all the way to Level 8, and it had learned a new skill, Leech Seed.

Yet Qian Bing had still not found a single wild Pokémon of sufficiently high quality that was worth catching.

By then, he had learned from the Spirit Illustrated Handbook Spirit's analysis of Pokémon quality that Pokémon quality was divided into nine grades, which determined their growth limits.

From lowest to highest, the nine grades were: Dull-Witted, Ordinary, Elite, Quasi-King Grade, King Grade, Near Champion Grade, Champion Grade, False God Grade, Following God Grade, and True God Grade.

With every increase in quality grade, a Pokémon's maximum level increased by ten.

For example, the first Dull-Witted Pidgey Qian Bing had encountered could only reach Level 10 at most.

His starter partner, Bulbasaur, a fourth-grade Quasi-King Grade Pokémon, could reach Level 40.

Most Pokémon capable of evolving three times completed their final evolution between Levels 30 and 40, so Qian Bing had set the minimum standard for Pokémon he would catch at Quasi-King Grade.

However, Quasi-King Grade wild Pokémon seemed exceedingly rare. Every one Qian Bing had encountered so far had been Dull-Witted or Ordinary quality, which was why he had yet to have a chance to test his Spirit Ball Spirit.

"Sigh, a good Pokémon is as rare as a good-looking girl willing to hold hands with you. I should just calm down and wait patiently."

As Qian Bing sighed, he walked beneath a large tree by the roadside and leaned heavily against it, intending to rest for a moment. Then he heard some movement above his head.

"Chirp~"

Pfft!

Suddenly, after a bird cry mixed with a strange muffled sound, Qian Bing felt something odd drop onto the top of his head.

He reached up and wiped it. Yellow, white, mushy, smelly...

Ugh, it was clearly a lump of bird droppings!

"Ah! Fuck!"

Qian Bing shouted as he sprang up from the ground. Looking up, he spotted a Pidgey outside a nest made of branches in the tree above him. It was much larger than any Pidgey he had seen before, and it did not seem nearly as timid as the others. It had turned its head to look at him.

Qian Bing was about to summon Bulbasaur and give this hateful Pidgey a proper lesson when he suddenly noticed that several words in the information from his Pokédex had been noticeably enlarged.

"Elite Grade Pidgey?"

This was the first Elite Grade wild Pokemon Qian Bing had encountered, and he could not help giving it another look.

Its tawny feathers seemed darker, its red beak brighter, and its spread wings...

"Huh! There seems to be a Spirit Egg in the nest!"

The Pidgey's outstretched wings happened to point directly at the Spirit Egg in the nest. If Qian Bing's gaze had not followed the movement of its wings, he would never have noticed it.

"Damn, I almost overlooked something this important!"

Generally speaking, Pokemon hatched from Spirit Eggs inherited their parents' strengths and became even more powerful.

The Pidgey in the tree possessed Elite Grade quality, so this Spirit Egg clearly had even greater potential. It might even reach Quasi-King Grade—or King Grade!

At that thought, Qian Bing was overjoyed. He hurriedly summoned Bulbasaur and took revenge on the Pidgey that had attacked him with Poop Throw...

A short while later, Qian Bing happily hugged the Spirit Egg as he made his way toward Pewter City.

When Qian Bing opened his eyes again, it was already the next morning. The experiences from the Pokémon World flashed through his mind.

After obtaining Pidgey's Spirit Egg, he had continued forward along Route 1 and soon arrived at a city. However, it was not Pewter City, home of Pewter Gym, but Viridian City, which had no Gym.

Still, with Qian Bing's current strength, he was not in a hurry to take on a Gym Challenge, so he was not disappointed in the least.

He first visited the Pokémon Center and found Nurse Joy to treat Bulbasaur's injuries. Then, in passing, he learned from her that he could ask the Pokémon Care Center to help hatch the Spirit Egg.

As it happened, Viridian City had a Pokémon Care Center!

So Qian Bing immediately went there, entrusted the Spirit Egg to them for incubation, and waited in the waiting room. As he waited, he gradually drifted off to sleep.