Taking Stock and Looking Ahead (Please Bookmark, Vote, and Send Monthly Tickets)

Jiang Jing knew this Pokémon. Back when he played games in his previous life, he had loved catching one, training it until it evolved into Aggron—it looked incredibly cool, especially after learning Hyper Beam.

Aron!

Known as the Iron Armor Pokémon, it was a Pokémon wrapped in armor of steel.

When it evolved, new armor formed. Its shed armor could be used as material for specialty products.

Jiang Jing recalled the general introduction to Aron from his textbooks.

The armor it shed after evolving was very valuable. He had seen videos about it on Douyin before; one jin could sell for around ten thousand yuan, which had made him intensely jealous.

After letting his thoughts wander for a moment, Aron opened its big eyes and looked blankly at the human before it.

Pokémon fact: A newly hatched Pokémon regarded the first person it saw as the person closest to it.

Aron: (Hugs.)

It took little steps and threw itself into his arms, rubbing Jiang Jing with its steel head.

He picked it up, feeling the warm hardness in his hands, as though he were holding a piece of heated steel.

Fine, it was not as comfortable to hold as Pikachu or Pachirisu, but it was his Starter Pokémon after all.

He was satisfied with Aron. No, he was exceptionally satisfied—it had far exceeded his expectations.

Originally, he would have been happy with a Sandshrew, Pichu, Oddish, Machop, or something similar.

He had never expected this blind box to contain an Aron. Its final evolution, Aggron, was exceptionally handsome and fierce.

Its base stat total was also as high as 530. Not just anyone could own one.

Most importantly, a Pokémon like Aron had a minimum aptitude of two stars.

Its potential was frighteningly high. At a Breeding House, such a Pokémon would sell for at least a hundred thousand.

He had won the lottery—a huge jackpot.

He had barely had time to celebrate before there was a knock on the door.

Knock, knock!

"Xiao Jing, what happened? Why did your room suddenly light up?"

Jiang Jing opened the door. Seeing Jiang's Mother's worried expression, he explained, "Mom, the Pokémon Egg hatched."

Jiang's Mother walked in excitedly. When she saw Aron, she said, "Isn't this... that, what was it... Aron?"

"I saw one at Pastoral Nursery before. It was so expensive. An Aron with two-star aptitude cost one hundred ninety thousand. Someone bought one at the time, so I remember it clearly."

"I never expected the one your dad picked up would be an Aron. Xiao Jing, you've struck it rich."

Jiang Jing said, "We have to thank Dad for that. Thanks to him for bringing me an Aron."

Jiang's Mother turned and headed out. "Right, I'll get some Moomoo Milk. I remember there are still two bottles at home."

Moomoo Milk was highly nutritious milk produced by Miltank.

Both humans and Pokémon could drink it, and the effects were roughly the same.

However, the Moomoo Milk Jiang's Mother mentioned had been specially prepared for Pokémon. It was not nearly as effective for humans.

Jiang Jing watched Aron drink milk in the living room and began considering what he should do next.

Training was definitely out of the question. For the first ten days, the main priority was to let it eat well, drink well, and sleep well.

Next came the matter of food. Since he had started with a two-star Pokémon like Aron, its food certainly could not be subpar.

First, Moomoo Milk was indispensable. A 300 ml basic bottle at the supermarket cost fifteen yuan.

Looking at Aron, which had already finished two bottles of fresh milk, it seemed that it would need six bottles of Moomoo Milk a day, costing ninety yuan.

When Pikachu had first arrived, it drank only half a bottle per meal. With Aron, the amount had jumped twelvefold.

Then there was Pokémon Food. A 2 kg serving of ordinary food suitable for all Pokémon cost forty-nine yuan.

Pikachu and Jigglypuff ate this kind of pet food. Stores carried quite a few brands of Standard Pokémon Food, all at similar prices.

Then there were foods designed for Trainers, including low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade foods suitable for all Pokémon.

Beyond that, there were foods specially categorized by attribute, such as Fire-type low-grade food, Fire-type mid-grade food, and Fire-type high-grade food.

There was also food custom-made specifically for a single kind of Pokémon. Needless to say, those prices were outrageously expensive.

Of course, there were many other foods that a poor person like him could not afford right now.

He also knew that, aside from food, wealthy people prepared Pokéblocks for their Pokémon. In the games, Pokéblocks did not seem to have much effect on a Pokémon's growth.

But this world was different. All kinds of Pokéblocks had enormous effects on improving Pokémon abilities. Naturally, he could not afford them yet.

He took out his phone, opened Taobao, and searched for Pokémon Food.

The page refreshed, displaying rows upon rows of Pokémon Food along with their prices.

At the top was Alibaba's Standard Pokémon Food, priced at forty-nine yuan per serving. Its original price was fifty-four yuan, but it cost forty-nine after using a discount coupon.

Next was Tencent Brand, also forty-nine yuan for 2 kg.

The third was Snorlax Brand Standard Pokémon Food, which was a little cheaper at just forty-five yuan for 2 kg.

In Hua Nation, the three biggest Pokémon Food brands were Alibaba, Tencent, and Snorlax.

Other companies could only survive in the cracks between those three giants.

Jiang's Mother fed Pikachu and Jigglypuff Tencent Brand Pokémon Food.

Its effects were decent, but Jiang Jing had seen reviews of all three brands online, and their results were about the same.

The three simply had different strengths and weaknesses: Alibaba gave more food, Tencent tasted better, and Snorlax was cheaper.

After comparing them, Jiang Jing felt that Snorlax Brand was the better choice.

Of course, he was not planning to buy it online. He intended to get it at a nearby supermarket, since every Sunday there were discounts of at least ten percent off storewide.

So he would go to the supermarket tomorrow.

At the same time, he accepted the twenty thousand yuan his father had transferred to him.

Besides the twenty thousand yuan from his father, he also had the pocket money he had saved from childhood, including the red envelopes his relatives gave him every Spring Festival.

Sixteen years of New Year's money—many times, he had been tempted to take some out and spend it, but he had always held back. Now, he finally did not have to restrain himself anymore.

He returned to his room, took out a golden Meowth piggy bank, and smashed it with a hammer.

Bang!

The Meowth immediately shattered into pieces, revealing the red, yellow, and green banknotes inside.

Jiang Jing plopped down on the floor and began counting the money.

He counted from three in the afternoon until four-thirty, taking an hour and a half to finish. There was simply too much small change.

Looking at the thick stack of banknotes in his hands, he felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

After counting it all once, there was a total of 46,375.5 yuan. Jiang Jing's hometown was Mountain City, and the Spring Festival red envelopes each year were not particularly generous. Together with his frugal spending, he had only managed to save a little over two thousand yuan each year.

Adding the twenty thousand yuan his father had transferred and the 573 yuan in loose cash on him, he had 66,948.5 yuan altogether. He had never possessed so much money before.

He would need to budget it carefully. He had no idea how long it would last.

Thanks to reader When Storms Rage for the 100 Qidian Coins tip!