"Brendan, I wanted to know if the Breeding House has any 'Tangela' Pokémon eggs?"
While walking, Kai suddenly asked. In his training plan, he hadn't expected the most suitable Pokémon to actually be Tangela.
"Tangela?"
Facing Kai's question, Brendan, who was leading the way, was slightly taken aback. He recalled the information and remembered that the announcement manual and the official website of the Breeding House didn't describe Tangela in detail. First, their numbers were relatively small. Second, this kind of Pokémon was mainly distributed in the southern regions.
Tangela was unpopular and not particularly handsome. Why was this boy named Kai interested in it?
Brendan couldn't figure it out.
"Well… we don't seem to have any in stock right now, but if you place a reservation, I think one could be delivered within a week." After thinking, Brendan replied.
"Never mind… let's first look at the other Pokémon eggs." Kai breathed a sigh of relief. It was fine if they didn't have it; he didn't like Tangela that much anyway.
Besides Tangela, what other Pokémon could he choose? Kai had been thinking about this on the way. If there was no Tangela, he could take a step back and consider Bellsprout or Oddish.
However, Kai also had other ideas.
Although he'd spent considerable energy conceiving the Grass-type Pokémon training plan over the past half-month, Kai was actually a little uncertain about it.
He had zero hands-on training experience and was a pure rookie. In reality, raising Pokémon wasn't as simple as "fighting and leveling up"; it required more rigor. Therefore, instead of directly experimenting with his conjecture on his first Pokémon, Kai decided to accumulate enough experience and scientifically verify the training plan before putting it into practice.
Thus, in addition to Grass-types, Kai also considered other types of Pokémon.
Altogether, he'd picked out three categories.
First were Grass-type Pokémon like Tangela, Oddish, and Bellsprout, which were suitable for his conceived training plan.
Second were Bug-type Pokémon that could use Psychic-type moves after evolution, like Caterpie, Venonat, Wurmple, and similar species.
These Bug-types were very easy to raise, and their growth cycle was short. Within a year, they could complete their natural evolution and possess decent strength. Psychic-type moves were also rare and powerful abilities.
However, it seemed that in reality, Bug-type Pokémon like Butterfree, Venomoth, and Dustox rarely mastered Psychic moves. This was different from learning moves upon leveling up in the games. There was a risk. If the Pokémon couldn't master a Psychic move, they wouldn't have a significant advantage, and Kai wasn't sure he could help them learn one.
Brendan led them to different spacious rooms, carefully introduced one Pokémon egg after another, and gave appropriate advice.
"This is a Nidoran Pokémon egg…"
"This is a Meowth Pokémon egg…"
"This is an Eevee Pokémon egg…"
"Pokémon like Eevee are Normal-types, and the Normal-type is also known as the most adaptable type."
"Besides, this is a type we highly recommend. Eevee has a docile personality and is easy to raise. Moreover, it has four known evolutionary branches: Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, and Leafeon. After evolution, its strength improves significantly. If the goal is the college entrance battle exam, then choosing it could maximize your pass rate."
"We also sell matching Evolution Stones, which can be used when Eevee enters its growth period. You can enjoy a 5% discount if you purchase it with the Pokémon egg." Brendan introduced with a smile.
"Eevee…"
Kai couldn't take his eyes off it. He didn't care about the discount. This was the third category of Pokémon he had picked out.
To his knowledge, Eevee had at least eight evolutionary branches.
Currently, the Pokémon Alliance had announced the existence of 702 Pokémon species. Glaceon, Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon—these forms of Eevee that evolved through other methods—were not included in that 702… Kai had verified this after extensive online research.
Pokémon had been part of modern society for only a few decades, so it wasn't surprising that their secrets remained unexplored.
There were other such examples besides Eevee's evolutionary branches.
For instance, Slowbro and Slowking were still considered separate species, and the full evolution pattern of Slowpoke remained a mystery to the public.
How Feebas evolved into Milotic was also not common knowledge.
What humans didn't know were the secrets of common Pokémon. Ironically, they had obtained more information about Legendary Pokémon from ancient murals in some Secret Realms.
......…
In fact, the price of an Eevee wasn't high, because it had a docile nature and wasn't considered ideal for fighting. Its public status had always been that of a pet. What was expensive were the Evolution Stones.
Even the lowest-quality Evolution Stone cost several times more than the Eevee itself.
Eevee could reproduce, but Evolution Stones were a non-renewable resource. They were very rare, only procured from Secret Realms, and their distribution was heavily monopolized. Each stone sold for a high price. The scenario of someone casually giving one away, like in the anime, wouldn't happen to ordinary people like Kai.
This Breeding House was clearly also in the Evolution Stone business. Bundling Eevee with stones was no doubt a sales tactic. If economic conditions allowed, most families might be tempted.
However, if everyone's understanding of Eevee was only at the level of using an Evolution Stone to become stronger, then Kai could be sure that Eevee was definitely one of the most underrated Pokémon!
Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon, which required other evolutionary conditions and didn't need stones, had the same potential as the other branches.
Perhaps because Kai had stood in front of the Eevee egg longer than any other, his parents looked at each other.
"What do you think of Eevee?" Kai's father asked.
"It's good, very good. It could be said to be the best choice, but…" Kai pondered. Compared to Grass-types and Bug-types, Eevee was a safer bet—easy to raise, docile, highly adaptable, with great potential, and seriously underestimated… It seemed like a lucky find waiting to happen.
"Then that's it. Don't worry about anything else. We can still afford to pay for an Evolution Stone," Kai's father said, patting his shoulder.
Kai looked up, stupefied. It's not because of that… Forget it, he couldn't explain it to him now. If he chose Eevee, he would definitely not let it evolve into Flareon, Jolteon, Vaporeon, Glaceon, or Leafeon—using a stone for that would be too extravagant, given what he knew.
However, Kai felt things wouldn't go so smoothly. Moreover, explaining to his parents why he'd buy an Eevee without planning for an Evolution Stone would be troublesome…
He couldn't just say Eevee had other evolutionary branches.
The question became a classic choice of one out of three.
Before coming to the Breeding House, Kai hadn't decided properly, but now that he was here, he couldn't hesitate any longer.
"I'd like to look around once more."
Kai asked Brendan to show him around again, paying special attention to the three categories of Pokémon eggs.
Bug-type Pokémon, Grass-type Pokémon…
And the Eevee egg, with its brown stripes on a white background, patterns as harmonious and comfortable as clouds.
When making his choice, Kai thought he would be rational, but he found that in the end, the biggest factor in his preference turned out to be appearance.
Whether it was the look of the egg itself or the face of the Pokémon that would hatch, it was Eevee that made Kai's heart flutter…
Sure enough, face value is justice….
Looking at the Eevee Pokémon egg, Kai declared his final decision:
"This is the one."