Li Xiaoyu took the Thunder Stone in hand, gave her Eevee a glance, then turned to Su Bai with a puzzled look.
"Uhh… how exactly do I use this?"
Su Bai smiled and pointed at the excited Eevee, its eyes wide and glowing at the sight of the Thunder Stone.
"Just place it on its forehead. That's all."
Items produced by the system always came with clear instructions. As the shop owner, of course Su Bai knew how to use them.
Li Xiaoyu nodded and gently set the Thunder Stone on top of Eevee's head.
In an instant, dazzling bolts of lightning burst forth from the stone!
Electricity surged around Eevee's body as it became wrapped in a cocoon of crackling light.
Within that brilliance, Eevee's form grew larger, sleeker—until a majestic yellow Pokémon, its fur spiked like a thunderbolt, appeared before them.
Jolteon had arrived.
"Whoa! That looks awesome!"
Zhou Xiaofei watched in awe. This was only the second time he'd seen a Pokémon evolve.
He couldn't help but wonder… when would his Magikarp finally evolve?
"Jolt! Jolt!"
The freshly evolved Jolteon immediately pounced on Li Xiaoyu, knocking her down and licking her face with enthusiasm.
It really did act like a big, fluffy electric dog.
Su Bai chuckled and opened the Pokédex. Suddenly, he let out a surprised sound.
"Huh? It's got a Hidden Ability?"
"Your Jolteon has Quick Feet!"
Apparently, there were quite a few lucky draws happening in the store lately.
Hidden Abilities were rare, yet they were starting to appear more and more often.
Zhou Xiaofei scratched his head.
"Quick Feet? What does that do?"
Su Bai nodded and explained:
"Jolteon has two possible Abilities: Volt Absorb and Quick Feet."
"Volt Absorb lets it absorb Electric-type attacks and heal instead of taking damage. It's a great Ability, especially for countering Electric-types."
"It's in the same league as Flash Fire or Sap Sipper—great niche utility skills."
"But Quick Feet? That's a whole other level of utility."
"If Jolteon's ever affected by a status condition—like paralysis, poison, or burn—its speed increases by 50%."
"And it ignores the usual speed drop from paralysis. That bonus alone makes it ridiculously fast."
He added with a knowing tone:
"And if, say, wild Pokémon ever become a thing… Jolteon's Quick Feet would make wild encounters far less dangerous."
"It might not mean much now, but once we start venturing into the wild, it'll be very useful."
Li Xiaoyu nodded furiously, hugging both her Jolteon and Umbreon close.
"Right? Right? My Eevees are the best!"
"And so good-looking, too!"
"Definitely cool," Su Bai chuckled.
Jolteon had a unique aesthetic—like a cross between a big cat and a canine, with fur that looked constantly charged with electricity. Aside from the black inside its ears and the white ruff around its neck, the rest of its body was a striking electric yellow.
With both Jolteon and Umbreon evolved, Li Xiaoyu's duo could now rival any veteran customer's team in synergy and strength.
She had truly leapfrogged ahead.
"I'm gonna head over to the Breeding House before the others show up," Li Xiaoyu said with a grin as she stood up.
Su Bai wasn't surprised. With two Pokémon fully evolved, it was time for her to start planning her third partner.
But why the rush before the others arrived?
He'd have his answer in less than twenty minutes.
Li Xiaoyu returned, practically strutting, with an Eevee in each arm—light on her feet and smug on her face.
Su Bai watched the scene unfold from the back, stunned and speechless.
Two more Eevee?
Apparently, right after she entered the Breeding House, two Eevee had approached her on their own.
Was this… fate? Or was Li Xiaoyu secretly some kind of Eevee magnet?
"You really gonna collect all eight evolutions?" Su Bai muttered.
He almost teased her about her mysterious "Eevee Attracting Aura," but decided against it.
Maybe some people really were just naturally attuned to certain Pokémon.
Just like some Awakened Trainers had affinities with specific elemental types, maybe this was her destiny.
"Alrighty then. Time to put you two into Poké Balls for now~"
Li Xiaoyu took out two Poké Balls and returned both Jolteon and Umbreon.
Once that was done, she was once again flanked by two adorable base-form Eevee.
Anyone who hadn't seen what just happened would never guess that she actually had two fully evolved Pokémon tucked away.
"Damn… even Li Xiaoyu's starting to play dirty?"
"Is Wang Tao corrupting the group?"
Su Bai stared blankly at the scene, and then it hit him.
She was about to ambush Ding Yue and the others.
Exactly like what Wang Tao had done to Liu Yunlan not long ago.
"The whole atmosphere's gone downhill…" Su Bai muttered.
Still, he chuckled and brewed a few cups of tea, personally handing one to Li Xiaoyu.
"One cup before the battle?"
Most of the regulars would stop by the Pokémon Center daily—restocking potions, medicines, and, of course, looking for battles.
As full-time Trainers now, there were just too many benefits to a good fight.
"Make way! Princess has arrived!"
Ding Yue pushed open the door, grinning as she strolled in. A majestic Fletchinder soared in circles above her head.
Her Fletchinder had been on a hot streak lately, dominating one match after another.
Except for that coward Wang Tao, who kept dodging their inevitable battle, everyone else had already taken a loss to her.
With Fletchinder's early-game Flying-type advantage, Ding Yue was riding high on confidence.
"Anyone wanna go another round with my Fletchinder today?"
She scanned the room, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Not me," Wang Tao muttered with a shrug.
Flying and Fire both countered his Grass-type team hard. His Hippopotas hadn't matured yet, so no matter how you looked at it, it'd be a massacre.
"Hmph! Just wait till my Monferno finishes training!" Liu Yunlan pouted defiantly.
There was no way she, a proud genius Trainer, would fall for the same trap twice!
"My Honedge doesn't have any ranged attacks. Pass."
"Same for Machop…"
Pei Jingguo and Xiao Zhang exchanged glances, equally frustrated.
Flying-types were too overpowered in the early game.
And with Fire also countering Steel, Honedge was just begging to get roasted.
Don't even talk about strategy—Fletchinder could just toss some fireballs from the sky and wreck both of their melee-based Pokémon.
Without long-range skills, they simply had no way to fight back.
So how the hell were they supposed to battle that?
One by one, Ding Yue's challenges were refused.
She even mimicked Liu Yunlan's exaggerated sigh and joked:
"Being undefeated is~~ soooo~~ lonely~~~"
Before she could finish the line, a voice suddenly rang out.
"I'll battle you!"
It was Li Xiaoyu.
Ding Yue hadn't even asked her before—she knew Li Xiaoyu's Pokémon hadn't evolved yet.
How could she possibly win?
Two cute little furballs? She couldn't even bring herself to fight them.
Ding Yue looked at the two Eevee standing beside her and asked, confused:
"You sure? With just Eevee?"
Li Xiaoyu nodded with a sly smile.
"Yup. With Eevee. You're not scared, are you?"
Ding Yue, now cocky beyond reason, obviously couldn't back down.
She puffed up her chest and declared that she wouldn't go easy on her, then led the way to the battle arena.
Li Xiaoyu followed behind, the corners of her mouth curled in a subtle smirk.