Pokédex

According to the information Liu Bin had gathered from upperclassmen at No. 8 High School, once students entered Spirit Studies, eighty or even ninety percent of the money spent on training came from their families. Only ten or twenty percent was earned by themselves.

Once they entered Spirit Studies and became Trainers, there were plenty of ways to make money, regardless of whether their Pokémon were strong or weak.

But how much they could earn depended on their own abilities. Most chose to participate in all kinds of battle competitions. That was the simplest option with the lowest barrier to entry, but it placed the greatest emphasis on strength.

Other than that, they could become Douyin bloggers, Bilibili creators, streamers, or take part-time jobs at police stations, construction sites, and so on. It was just a matter of how much they earned.

He would probably need to find a way to make money this summer too. Otherwise, all the pressure later on would fall on his parents. Besides, Steel-type and Rock-type Pokémon were famously expensive to raise.

"Ding!"

His phone rang. When he opened it, he saw that Liu Bin had sent him a message on Tencent.

Liu Bin: "Jing-ge, come out for barbecue tonight. My treat. 😊"

Shangcang Food Street was particularly famous throughout Rongcheng. The three most common descriptions people gave it were: the most stalls, the best smells, and the liveliest atmosphere.

The food street was five kilometers away from Taiyu Residential Complex. A short bus ride would get him there.

The sun was nearly swallowed beneath the horizon, and the sky was blanketed in the colors of sunset. The scorching heat of the day was gradually fading.

Time: 6:15

The moment Jiang Jing got off the bus, he could see the food street in the distance. Many vendors had already begun setting up their stalls.

People were starting to fill the streets, while the scents of snacks spread through the air.

The barbecue stalls were in the latter half of the food street rather than the bustling central area. According to Liu Bin, rent became more expensive the closer one got to the center, and the spaces were smaller too.

That was why they had chosen a spot in the latter half. It was much larger and could accommodate more than twenty tables of customers at once.

"Come try it! Delicious bobo chicken! Absolutely authentic!"

"Boss, one mango pomelo sago, please!"

"Yamper, stop running around!"

"I heard there's a stinky tofu place up ahead that's pretty good."

Colorful lights and countless tasty snacks complemented one another. The constant flow of people and Pokémon made the entire street exceptionally lively, its bustling, everyday warmth filling Shangcang Food Street.

Jiang Jing stopped outside a milk tea shop whose logo was modeled after an Ice Vulpix and glanced at the golden lucky Meowth displayed on the counter.

The server smiled and asked, "Hello, what would you like to drink?"

Jiang Jing said, "Two signature milk teas. Add pearls to one and coconut jelly to the other."

Five minutes later, Jiang Jing arrived at his destination. A neon sign hung above the storefront: Liu's Barbecue Restaurant.

Someone was already standing at the entrance. It was Liu Bin. When he saw Jiang Jing, he grinned and scolded, "Do you know how long I've been waiting? Half an hour!"

Jiang Jing handed him a cup of pearl milk tea. "Here, have a drink. Your favorite, Ice Fox Milk Tea."

Liu Bin took the milk tea. "Oh, not bad."

"Come on. My mom saved us an excellent spot. Let's get inside."

By then, the first floor of the barbecue restaurant was almost full. Only one table was empty; everyone else had already started eating.

The restaurant had two floors, and the seats upstairs were nearly full too. Liu Bin led Jiang Jing to a corner table on the second floor. It was cooler there, and they could feel the evening breeze.

After they sat down, someone came over. She was a slightly plump middle-aged woman around 162 centimeters tall, ordinary-looking but kind when she smiled. She was Liu Bin's mother.

There was a fair amount of sweat on her forehead, likely from being too busy.

Mother Liu smiled. "Jing, you're here. Eat plenty today, and don't stand on ceremony with us."

Jiang Jing smiled. "Thank you, Auntie."

Liu Bin said, "Mom, we already told you what we wanted."

Mother Liu said, "Your dad's already grilling it. It'll be ready soon. All right, I need to get back to work. I won't disturb you two."

Besides Father Liu and Mother Liu, there were two employees and two Pokémon helping out in the barbecue restaurant.

Jiang Jing asked curiously, "Why did you call me out tonight? And you're treating me to barbecue? That's pretty extravagant."

Liu Bin took a sip of milk tea. "It's nothing. I just wanted someone to talk to."

"Oh, right, Jing-ge. My starter Pokémon hatched." He looked rather pleased as he said it.

Jiang Jing asked curiously, "Oh? What Pokémon is it?"

Liu Bin took out his phone, opened his photo album, and handed it over. "It's a Shinx!"

Jiang Jing took the phone and looked. The photo showed a Shinx, like a little kitten. The front half of its body was blue, while the back half was black. Its ears and tail both bore four-pointed star patterns.

He said in surprise, "Shinx's final evolution is Luxray. Its base stat total is over 500, and a newly hatched Shinx has two-star aptitude."

"Your family actually bought you a two-star aptitude one?"

Liu Bin explained, "I was shocked too. When I found out, I was so happy I nearly went crazy."

"My dad told me that he and my mom didn't want me to lose at the starting line, and that they worked so hard to earn money for my sake."

"So they gritted their teeth and spent 150,000 to buy a Shinx egg. Hehe." Liu Bin could no longer hide his smile as he said that.

Damn, weren't we supposed to be starting out as ordinary people together? How did you secretly spend money in the game already?

After showing off for a while, Mother Liu brought over a large platter of meat skewers.

After eating a few skewers, Jiang Jing said, "This tastes really good. If you want barbecue, you have to come to your place. Other places just won't do."

Liu Bin said with a smile, "Of course. Otherwise, how could our business be this good? We've been here for over ten years."

"Oh, right. What about your starter Pokémon? Didn't you say your dad had already prepared one for you?"

Jiang Jing calmly took out his phone and handed it to him. "Here. This is my starter Pokémon. Like yours, it hatched today."

Liu Bin took it and looked.

"An Aron? Hmm, an Aron!"

Liu Bin's eyes widened as he shouted, "Holy crap, it's an Aron! What's going on?!"

Jiang Jing said, "Calm down. What's so surprising about it?"

Then he explained Aron's origins all over again.

After hearing it, Liu Bin's expression became extremely complicated. In an instant, even the barbecue in front of him no longer smelled as good.

Everyone had been unlucky, only for one friend to suddenly reveal that he was actually incredibly lucky.

That was more or less how Liu Bin felt right then.

Liu Bin said somewhat enviously, "Your luck is way too good, isn't it? You just picked up a two-star aptitude Aron like that. That's the equivalent of getting over a hundred thousand for free."

"Why don't I ever get luck like that? Damn it, I should've made you treat me. Turns out I was the clown all along."

After calming himself down, Liu Bin said, "There's one more thing. When my parents bought my Shinx, they got a first-generation Pokédex as a free gift."

"I've always been using my sister's old one. Now that I have a new one, the old one is useless."

"Do you want it? If you do, I'll sell it to you cheap."