After getting out, Chansey hopped happily away, looking back every few steps before disappearing into the woods.
Chapter 8: Her Egg
Sunday's lazy sun peeked out from behind the mountain, but Shen Qi had already finished a round of studying at his desk.
His current physical condition and his ability to sense energy were still below beginner level. He needed to work harder.
Grrr...
His stomach let out a mournful growl. Shen Qi realized he had rushed straight into studying after waking up and had yet to eat breakfast.
"I'm fifteen. I need to take good care of myself, not bring over those bad habits from my corporate-slave days before transmigrating."
He opened the mini fridge. Inside sat a fairly large ellipsoid.
It was Chansey's egg...
Shen Qi hadn't eaten the egg right away after receiving it the night before last.
Yesterday, Saturday, Dev from the market had invited Shen Qi to eat with him, so he hadn't touched the egg then either.
"It shouldn't have gone bad, right?"
Taking out the ellipsoid, which rivaled an Ostrich Egg in size, Shen Qi sniffed it.
Egg products had a very distinct smell when they spoiled. This egg of Chansey's had nothing to do with the eggs of egg-laying animals and wasn't meant for reproduction, so ordinary methods of checking food for spoilage might not work.
One day in the fridge... most things wouldn't go bad that quickly.
Not wanting to waste it, Shen Qi began heating it as he would a boiled egg.
The egg had no hard shell and felt supple, with more springy bounce than a regular boiled egg. As it heated, wisps of a refreshing scent drifted out, a little like lime.
"It's fine."
Shen Qi opened his mouth and took a bite.
Since the egg wasn't intended for reproduction, it had no separate yolk and white. It was white with a hint of pink both inside and out, looking like something with a very mild flavor. Yet after two chews, a bizarre, complex taste shot straight into his skull.
What kind of flavor was this?!
Roaring inwardly, Shen Qi couldn't speak. He couldn't even gag, and forced everything in his mouth down in one gulp.
"Cough, cough, cough... cough, cough! What a terrifying taste!"
Calling it disgusting... wasn't quite right. It wasn't disgusting in the usual sense, nor did it have the off taste of spoiled food.
It was like grilled pork belly, fish soup, and chocolate. They were all delicious, but if you mixed them together thoroughly and put them in your mouth, the flavor could kill you.
That was exactly how Shen Qi felt.
He could vaguely pick out spices, vanilla, seafood, and other flavors in Chansey's egg, all pulverized and blended together on an industrial scale.
Swallowing it felt like the top of his skull was about to fly off.
"Are Chansey's eggs really this awful? That can't be right!"
He opened an online shopping platform. Chansey eggs sold for 300b each, even more than a Poké Ball.
Chansey was a Pokémon native to Kanto, and the Pokédex textbook also contained information about it. It specifically mentioned that the eggs were delicious and highly nutritious.
What's more, they could keep for a month when refrigerated at four degrees.
The one in Shen Qi's hand had only been laid by Chansey the night before last.
Melodious, gentle music rang out. It was his phone's ringtone.
Feeling his way from the kitchen to the bedroom, Shen Qi felt as though even his vision had become slightly distorted.
The screen displayed the caller's name: Xia Yang.
The Racing Driver he had met on Friday night was calling, most likely in response to Shen Qi's request.
Lilligant might have a race!
At that thought, Shen Qi's mind steadied a little.
"Good morning."
"Shen Qi, what a coincidence. I was chatting with my colleagues at the Luxury Resort yesterday, and they mentioned an amateur race on Island 6. Tsareena signed up."
"Whoa. When?"
"Tonight, at eleven."
Late at night, the offshore islands saw almost no ordinary vehicles or pedestrians. As long as warning lights were placed along the relevant roads, those in the mountain-racing scene would know there was a race on that stretch.
"I'll be there on time!"
Shen Qi noted down the time and place Xia Yang gave him, then absentmindedly brought the food in his left hand to his mouth.
"Aaaaargh-"
After the anguished cry, his phone fell to the floor, and urgent questions came through the speaker.
"Shen Qi? Shen Qi! What happened?"
"N-nothing. I stubbed my little toe on a table leg while walking."
"Ouch, that must've hurt. Be careful."
After ending the call, Shen Qi looked helplessly at the egg in his hand.
He could confirm it hadn't spoiled, but... it tasted terrible.
Throwing it away would mean wasting Chansey's kind gesture.
Remembering the adorable Chansey from yesterday and her innocent smile, Shen Qi felt he would be letting her down.
Wait!
The strange sensation in his body didn't seem to be caused by the awful taste. Shen Qi touched the crumbs of egg lingering at the corner of his mouth.
There was... a perfectly ordinary energy on them.
This was...
"Normal-type energy!"
I can sense Normal-type energy this clearly!
Ever since transmigrating, Shen Qi had known that communicating with and controlling energy were fundamental skills for Pokémon Workers and Pokémon Trainers, and he had kept practicing diligently.
Normal-type energy was the most basic kind, but Shen Qi could only sense it vaguely at best. His perception of its concentration and strength was extremely dull.
A few students had a special affinity for other types of energy. A boy in the neighboring class had started by sensing Water-type energy.
Shen Qi had no talent in that area, so he had dutifully followed the curriculum.
He had never imagined... that his breakthrough in sensing Normal-type energy would come from Chansey's egg.
"Oh, right. Chansey is... a Normal-type Pokémon, but..."
Shen Qi picked up his phone again to look it up.
According to scientific research, Chansey's eggs were nutritious and delicious, but no one had ever mentioned that they could improve one's perception of Normal-type energy.
If that were true, 300b per egg would be far too cheap.
Soon, Shen Qi realized that something was very unusual about that particular Chansey. She was far too special.
Compared with established scientific knowledge, her egg lacked the qualities it should have had, yet possessed an effect it shouldn't have had.
That Chansey had to be special.
"If I get a chance to see her... I'll have to ask."
Shen Qi still had a [Script Detector]. The night before last, activating it hadn't even crossed his mind. He had only felt that winning over one Lilligant was hard enough, and he didn't have the money to raise her anyway.
Now things were different. If Chansey really was that special, he had to win her over.
The key thing was... she was pretty cute, too...
Ahem.
Clearing his throat, Shen Qi felt relieved that no one else knew about his jumble of thoughts.
He looked again at the egg on his plate, seventy percent of it still remaining. Since it could improve his Normal-type Energy Perception, he had to finish it somehow.
Picking up the egg with a trembling hand, Shen Qi closed his eyes and sensed it. Sure enough... it contained Normal-type energy with a peculiar structure.
Pokémon moves were essentially patterns traced out by Type Energy of the corresponding type, much like a mage using elements to draw a magic circle, or a cultivator shaping spiritual energy into a talisman.
Inside this egg... there might be the energy pattern of the move "Egg Bomb."
In the game, Egg Bomb could restore half the user's HP during battle, and outside battle, it could give a fifth of the user's own HP to a companion.
Only the Chansey family could learn Egg Bomb naturally.
Shen Qi wasn't asking for any moves. First, he needed to master communicating with Normal-type energy.
"Eat!"
Steeling himself, Shen Qi took huge bites of the egg and chewed vigorously.
Blergh-
"Keep eating!!"
Blergh, urk, urk, urk, blergh-
Bizarre sounds and equally bizarre cries of self-encouragement kept drifting out of the little house.
Beside the road outside, Bellsprout and Oddish huddled together, trembling.
Chapter 9: Miss Tsareena
"Hey, over here!"
At the entrance to the mountain road, Xia Yang waved beside his car, while Krabby imitated his owner's pose and waved his claws.
The Little Sheep approached, and Shen Qi got off to greet him. "Good evening."
"Good evening... huh? Shen Qi, you look awful. Are you okay?"
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