After they had weathered such a huge crisis together the day before yesterday, the "Crazy Quack" scenario had only reached 30% completion. Even the extra 2% had come from Shen Qi eating an egg.
Apparently, if he refused massages and didn't eat eggs, nothing he did would raise his completion rate.
The Difficult Scenario was truly terrifying.
The second 50% reward payout for "Speedy Hot Girl" came first.
It was straightforward: one [Skill Proficiency Card 1] and one [Inspection Card].
Plus a [Memory Image].
The rewards were exactly the same as last time.
Next came the second-stage rewards for "Crazy Quack."
[Skill Proficiency Card 1] was a generic item reward with nothing particularly special about it.
Then came the special item corresponding to Chansey:
[Energy Comprehension Card 1: assimilates and consolidates the results of recent energy cultivation]
"This is good stuff!"
In the short term, an item that advanced his energy cultivation was much better than some rear spoiler.
Two nights ago, an outside force had forcibly opened Shen Qi's ability to sense Psychic-type energy. It was a little like a master imparting enlightenment directly into him, leaving the internal power he had received unstable.
Now, when he tried sensing the Psychic-type energy in the air, it seemed a little less clear.
Chansey showed no signs of waking yet. After eating the dinner delivered by the Pokémon Center and getting a little exercise, Shen Qi returned to bed to calm his mind.
It felt a little like those fantasy and cultivation novels where someone took "Focus Energy Powder" or a "Spirit-Building Pill" and needed a safe, quiet environment to absorb its effects.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Shen Qi felt the pose was a bit ridiculous. He switched to a more comfortable position, reclining against his pillow.
He clicked to use the item: [Energy Comprehension Card 1].
There was no warm current bursting out of his lower abdomen like in a fantasy novel. Shen Qi simply felt his own perception sharpen. Even with his eyes closed, he could sense two colors of energy more and more clearly.
Grayish white, Normal-type energy. He had already been able to sense it before, but now that perception seemed to have risen to another level, with a faint sense of communication and interaction.
Pink, the Psychic-type energy he had been forced to gain the ability to perceive yesterday. After weakening when he woke up, his perception of it was gradually strengthening again.
...There was more!
He had thought that was the extent of the game item's effects, but a fresh shade of emerald green emerged in his mind.
Only then did Shen Qi remember that Grass-type should have been the second energy he had begun to sense. Instead, Psychic-type had abruptly cut in, forcibly poured into him by an outside force.
His perception of Grass-type energy, for which he already had a foundation, continued to expand and became exceptionally clear as well.
Yesterday, Celebi had left a green orb of light brimming with life on Shen Qi's forehead. Presumably, that had also helped him perceive and communicate with Grass-type energy.
No wonder he had remained unconscious for over a day before coming around. That night in Ruins Valley, he had opened his ability to perceive two types of Type Energy with almost inconceivable efficiency.
Grayish white, pink, emerald green...
The different types of Type Energy branched out within his consciousness, like hands on a clock face, rotating according to their own patterns.
An energy chakra!
Once someone comprehended three types of Type Energy, an energy chakra would open within their mental world.
There should also have been a process of combining the energies to stabilize that foundation, but [Energy Comprehension Card 1] had taken care of it in one stroke.
Shen Qi was so excited that he nearly jumped out of bed.
Although an energy chakra was nothing rare—every Pokémon Trainer had one, and eight or nine out of ten Pokémon Workers had opened theirs—it was the prerequisite for everything that followed.
To learn Pokémon Trainer skills and control different types of Type Energy to work and fight alongside Pokémon, he had to open his energy chakra first and continually develop it.
Having made a huge leap forward, Shen Qi felt wonderful. Next, he could explore other types of energy or spend more time with the three he already knew, gradually turning simple perception and preliminary communication into control.
Before that, though, he still needed proper rest.
His mental world had undergone dramatic changes in just two or three days, and fatigue washed over him again.
Shen Qi shifted onto his side against the pillow and looked at the still-sleeping Chansey.
"Thank you. You've given me another wonderful gift... Wake up soon."
The Pokémon Center's medical staff had been unable to determine what had injured Chansey. Only the on-site investigation had revealed that she had been affected by some kind of radiation-like rays.
Shen Qi's gaze moved across the game interface and settled on an item: [Inspection Card].
Its description read: examines detailed data on the target Pokémon.
As a gamer, he had naturally assumed it was an item for checking base stats and specific values such as Attack and Defense.
In fact, after spending so many days around Pokémon, Shen Qi had already realized that real-world Pokémon weren't constrained by such rigid species data. Learning moves wasn't as mechanical as it was in the games, either; they didn't automatically learn them at fixed levels, but needed various opportunities.
That meant [Inspection Card] probably worked differently from what he had imagined.
Surely it wasn't some barely useful item that only displayed Attack, Defense, and HP...
He currently had two [Inspection Cards] and one [Memory Image]. Shen Qi planned to use both kinds of items on Chansey. Ideally, he would uncover some clues. If not, he could at least learn more about this Pokémon who would eventually become his own.
He used [Inspection Card] first, aimed the selection box at Chansey lying in bed, and clicked confirm.
A huge table immediately appeared right in front of Shen Qi's face.
"I thought it'd be a stats panel. Why does it look like a financial report? There are way too many entries!"
Besides the usual Attack and Defense data, the table included sex, age group, and even information such as physical and mental health.
When playing a game, who would have imagined that raising a Pokémon required monitoring so many indicators?
Chapter 31: Changes within
[Chansey: adult] [Female]
Skipping the combat-related Attack and Defense data, Shen Qi found Chansey's HP in the table.
Her HP was around 90%, but the value labeled "Body Health Index" was only 51%.
After thinking it over, Shen Qi roughly understood the difference.
The HP bar showed whether there were any direct injuries under her current circumstances, but couldn't represent fatigue or a cold. A physical disability would probably just reduce maximum HP, making it impossible to tell as well. Anything that couldn't be directly represented by full or low HP was therefore reflected in the [Body Health Index].
A circled exclamation mark appeared after the Body Health Index entry, indicating an annotation.
"Wow. When it says detailed data... it really means detailed."
He clicked the annotation button, expanding a new piece of information.
[Affected by laser radiation; internal changes are currently occurring]
"Laser radiation?"
The Security Bureau's investigation had found traces of some unknown radiation in Ruins Valley that night. Chansey had most likely been affected by it. Fortunately, the dose hadn't been large, and after emergency treatment, her body could repair itself.
That more or less matched the detailed data displayed by [Inspection Card].
Laser radiation... The concept sounded extremely vague, but his knowledge as a player gave him something to go on.
Deoxys had been like that too: originally a space virus attached to a meteorite, it had mutated because of laser radiation, becoming something like a peculiar alien.
Still, he couldn't conclude that it had definitely been Deoxys. More than one Pokémon could travel beyond the atmosphere.
Besides, laser radiation didn't necessarily come from outer space. If things were really as Xatu had said, and Groudon had manipulated the power of the earth to produce some mineral magnetic field or radiation deep underground, that seemed plausible too.
Speculation at this level was far beyond Shen Qi's abilities. The Security Bureau would probably ask him to cooperate and give another statement later anyway. He would wait for their investigation results.
After the Body Health Index came [Mental Health Index: 95%].
"Huh. Is Chansey, the Crazy Quack, really that psychologically healthy?"
Actually, when Chansey hadn't heard keywords like injury or illness, she was usually no different from other Chansey: innocent and kind.
He just had to avoid flipping that awful switch with the wrong keywords.
[Mental Stability Index: 90%]
Seeing that figure put Shen Qi much more at ease.
Mental stability meant she wasn't suffering or showing signs of nightmares. She was simply sleeping peacefully.
[Mental Concentration Index: 90%]
"Huh?! That's not right!"
This figure was completely wrong. Normally, someone asleep wouldn't have such a high level of mental concentration. At 90%, she might as well have been taking an exam in her dreams.
Come to think of it, Chansey had slept for two days without changing her sleeping position.
He really couldn't understand what state she had entered. Still, the Pokémon Center's diagnosis was much the same as the data Shen Qi had found, so their treatment plan should have been sound too.
For now, they would let Chansey keep sleeping while her body repaired itself. Once she woke up, they would examine her again and discuss any further treatment needed.
Shen Qi noticed a countdown at the bottom of the large table opened by [Inspection Card]: 23 hours and 36 minutes remaining.
The card's effect lasted for 24 hours, updating in real time throughout that period. Once the time ran out, Shen Qi would no longer be able to view Chansey's remarkably comprehensive data like this.
Scrolling farther down, he could also see her move list and the corresponding proficiency levels.
[Skill Proficiency Card 1] was just what he needed here, though he could only use it on Pokémon whose scenarios Shen Qi had completed.
"Let's see what moves she's learned."
Egg Bomb: Skill Proficiency 69%
"Heal Pulse," which she had only learned the day before yesterday, had a Skill Proficiency of 6%.
"Defense Curl," which she had used in Shen Qi's car to raise her Defense, had a Skill Proficiency of 31%.
There were also "Helping Hand" and "Work Up," both of which Chansey had used during the race. Their Skill Proficiencies were 16% and 45%, respectively.
After all, without a Pokémon Trainer, she was effectively a wild Pokémon with no systematic training. However hard Chansey worked, she still had few moves, and her proficiency with most of them was low.
"What else... Double-Edge?!"
It was a Normal-type move Chansey learned later on, with 120 power and 100 accuracy.
A move with that much power and such high accuracy usually had a downside, unless it was exclusive to a Legendary Pokémon.
Before you continue