"Money Tree"

"Money Tree"

After some fiddling, Jing He finally managed to temporarily block the incessant comment notifications popping up on his computer.

He briefly skimmed through some of the comments.

To be honest, most people had come to "watch the excitement" because of Professor Oak's comment. After all, not everyone was interested in studying Pokémon. Still, that excitement had activated his online consultation room.

Compared to the comments beneath his paper, he was more interested in the people who had come seeking advice.

After all, they were good observation samples for him.

However, some of the visitors left him rather speechless. For example, one asked whether a Pokémon refusing to eat was a psychological problem, while another asked whether humans and Pokémon should coexist. Their questions were either too simple or too profound.

If Jing He had not already known Mewtwo's account, he might have suspected that the person called "Math Magician" was Mewtwo.

By comparison, the user called "Eevee Eating Cabbage," who asked what to do about a Pokémon being too insecure, had a fairly normal psychological issue.

Still, considering how difficult it had been to attract so many clients, and wanting to use this opportunity to establish a reputation, he replied to them one by one.

It would be helpful when he opened his own counseling office in the future.

Jing Zhong Zhi He: If a Pokémon refuses to eat when it is not full, could it be because the food does not suit its taste?

The first question was very simple.

For the third, Jing He chose to throw the question back at the other party. Anyone capable of asking such a question probably already had their own answer in mind, so he might as well hear what they had to say first.

Jing Zhong Zhi He: If humans and Pokémon should not coexist, then how do you think they ought to get along? As for the second question—Jing Zhong Zhi He: There are many reasons for insecurity, such as physical factors, past experiences, environmental factors, psychological factors, and so on. "Little Growlithe" and "Math Magician" did not reply, but "Eevee Eating Cabbage" quickly sent another message.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: I think... it might involve all of them.

An intense internet user?

He had not expected the other party to reply so quickly.

After giving it some thought, Jing He began typing.

Jing Zhong Zhi He: That makes things rather troublesome. But no matter what factors are involved, there is always one fundamental issue. As long as that issue is resolved, I believe the rest of the effects will naturally be addressed as well.

Remembering the misunderstanding Mewtwo had caused last time, he continued replying.

Jing Zhong Zhi He: Could you show me what kind of Pokémon it is? A picture soon came through.

It looked like it had been taken on the spot with a phone.

But when he saw the Pokémon in the picture, he fell silent.

Lush greenery surrounded it, grass covered the ground, and a fish Pokémon swam about in a crystal-clear pond.

Its entire body was almost muddy yellow, with several uneven bumps. Its fins and tail were pale blue, but they looked somewhat tattered, while its eyes appeared dull and vacant.

A Water-type Pokémon—Feebas! Jing He: "..."

He pressed his lips together and stared at the Feebas for a long while, momentarily at a loss for words.

If one had to name the most insecure Pokémon of all, then Feebas would undoubtedly rank first. Well, perhaps it could contend with that Pokémon capable of seeing through everything. But curing Feebas's insecurity... was truly a tiny bit difficult.

Jing He even suspected that this person was deliberately making things hard for him.

Perhaps because Jing He had not replied for some time, the other party sent another message.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: Is there a way?

Jing He took a light breath.

Jing Zhong Zhi He: Yes.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: Really? Jing Zhong Zhi He: It will be difficult. It requires a combination of psychological treatment and physical intervention. Given your circumstances, we can only use physical intervention. First, try feeding it a bitter berry or vegetable, such as a Wiki Berry. Then decide on the next method based on its reaction.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: Okay, thank you.

Seeing the name quickly dim, apparently because the person had gone to look for a Wiki Berry, Jing He could not help rubbing his temples.

Curing Feebas's insecurity?

There was actually only one way—make it evolve!

In the games, Feebas had two evolution methods. One was raising its Beauty to 170, while the other was having it hold a Prism Scale before trading it.

But in reality, considering how difficult it was to obtain a Prism Scale and his uncertainty regarding the other party's finances, he chose the safer method: raising its Beauty.

The reason he had suggested the bitter Wiki Berry was that raising Beauty required bitter Energy Cubes or Poffins. He first needed to determine whether this Feebas could accept bitter flavors.

Gastly definitely could not accept them, anyway.

Besides, slowly raising its Beauty was more like a form of "treatment."

If it went smoothly, perhaps he could use it as theoretical support for a paper on Feebas evolving into Milotic?

Beep beep!

Just as Jing He was about to turn off the computer and take Gastly out for training, another message popped up.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: Sorry, I forgot to ask about the consultation fee.

The fee?

Jing He's eyes lit up slightly.

Right. He was not providing psychological counseling for the school's students' Pokémon. He did not need to work as a volunteer.

However, since the outcome of this "treatment" was still unknown, he thought it over and decided to wait and see.

He could not let himself gain a bad reputation before he had even made a name for himself.

Eevee Eating Cabbage: I found your account. Sorry, I'm a little short on money lately, so it took me a while to gather it. I don't know if this is enough. If it isn't, I'll send more next time.

Registering a League account generally required complete personal information, so Jing He's bank account was not hard to find.

Looking at the notification on his phone—

Your account has received 20,000 League Credits. Remaining balance: 45,000 League Credits.

Jing He silently deleted the words he had just typed: "Let's wait until we see the results."

That was honestly a bit too much.

Mewtwo, look at them! This was only the consultation fee. There would still be the follow-up treatment. This is the true driving force behind my desire to open a counseling office. Jing He silently sighed.

When he looked at Eevee Eating Cabbage's dimmed account again, it felt like he was looking at a jingling "money tree."

"Gastly!" Jing He suddenly called out.

"Koujie?!"

Gastly, who was holding a phone, jolted upright. What is it?

"Give me the phone. Order two more cases of Moomoo Milk!"

"Kou! Jie?!" Gastly's voice shot up three pitches.

Really?!

"No matter how poor we are, we can't let our Pokémon go hungry. When have I ever lied to you?" Jing He widened his eyes slightly.

"Koujie." Gastly curled its lips, looking utterly unconvinced.

Last time, you told me I couldn't inhale too much gas, and that I'd die if I did it more than three times. Jing He: "..."

Was that lying?

Only after Gastly watched Jing He place two more orders on his phone did it finally believe him.

"Koujie?"

Did you win the lottery? Jing He smiled but did not answer.

"Come on, let's train."

They needed to become Registered Trainers as soon as possible, and also improve their strength as much as they could before the autumn excursion.

"Koujie!"

Gastly was full of Vital Spirit.

Sure enough, for food-loving Pokémon, food was one of their driving forces.

Thanks to Beloved Baby Tiger Dragon for the 8.3k point donation! Thanks as well to Magical Cutie, Wind-Snow Yiling, Light Dust on the Road 799, Sky Gray SGrey, Equanimity Is Me, and many others for their donations!

Everyone, please don't stockpile chapters—please keep reading! Considering Beloved Baby Tiger Dragon's request for bonus chapters, as well as my earlier promise to update more, I'll try to add more chapters. I may not make it today, but perhaps tomorrow or the day after. If conditions allow, I'll see whether I can maintain three updates a day. Finally, please keep reading—your continued readership is truly important for a new book!