The place Chen Mo lived in now was just a very ordinary studio apartment. In Anping City—a place that could at best be considered a second-tier city—rent was relatively affordable. On top of that, he'd rented directly from an elderly landlady, so there were no agency fees, cutting the cost down even further.
"Pichu!"
After getting Chen Mo's permission, Pichu wasted no time wriggling out of the backpack upon arriving at its new home, curiously inspecting everything around it.
After briefly warning Pichu about which household appliances were dangerous and then letting it roam freely, Chen Mo flopped onto the sofa and began tallying up the gains from this livestream.
When he opened the system shop, it showed that this stream had earned him a total of 6,183 Outreach Points, and that number was still creeping upward at a very slow pace as the recording of the stream continued to circulate.
"Not bad at all."
Although he hadn't encountered many Pokémon on this trip, Chen Mo liked to branch out during his explanations—talking about evolutionary lines, as well as a Pokémon's allies and natural rivals in the Pokémon world. Over time, those bits added up to a decent amount of Outreach Points.
More importantly, during the long livestream, the viewers who chose to stay gradually built more and more trust in Chen Mo. And since Outreach Points were closely tied to trust, this was a major reason the points skyrocketed later on.
"So the question is… how should I spend these points?"
First of all, the system shop didn't sell Pokémon directly—no Pokémon, no Pokémon Eggs—so fantasies like getting a Legendary Pokémon straight from the system were completely out of the question.
Second, the shop didn't sell Poké Balls outright either. You could get Poké Balls, sure—but only by buying the blueprints and crafting them yourself.
That was also why Chen Mo hadn't bought even a basic Poké Ball on the way home to store Pichu inside.
He simply couldn't.
In fact, most of the Pokémon-world technology sold in the system shop came in blueprint form.
This left Chen Mo deeply troubled.
He had money, but nowhere to spend it.
Even though he could already afford some of the blueprints, given his current financial situation, buying them wouldn't mean he could actually research or manufacture anything.
"But there's no rush."
Blueprints like Poké Balls were definitely things he'd need to buy eventually, but in the current social environment, the appearance of Poké Balls and the rise of Trainer culture might not be a good thing at all. They could even end up empowering poachers and making the situation worse.
After thinking it over, Chen Mo decided that for now, he should focus on slowly accumulating wealth. When his finances were stronger and the environment more suitable, then he could start promoting those things.
With that settled, he left the technology section of the system shop and shifted his attention to the items section.
Now that he'd taken in Pichu, he could at least be considered a Trainer.
And a Trainer's responsibility was, of course, to help their Pokémon grow stronger—while respecting their wishes.
"Thunder Stone…"
Chen Mo stroked his chin as he looked at the Thunder Stone listed in the shop.
It wasn't very expensive, but at this stage, Pichu couldn't use it anyway.
"According to the games, Pichu needs to reach a certain level of friendship before it can evolve into Pikachu—and the required friendship is pretty high."
He used Detection Eye again to check the bond between himself and Pichu.
Compared to when they first met, the friendship value had jumped from 23 to 66—but it was still far from what was needed for evolution.
"Found it!"
There weren't many items that could increase a Trainer's bond with a Pokémon, but having played several Pokémon games, Chen Mo remembered a key one.
The Soothe Bell.
The system shop did sell it, but…
"Way too expensive. It actually costs ten thousand Outreach Points."
Chen Mo suddenly felt a lot less rich.
Shaking his head, he was just about to scroll down—
When a special item caught his eye.
"Electric Ball?"
On the display image was a golden, glowing sphere shimmering with electric light. In the games, this was Pikachu's signature held item—often called the Light Ball.
Chen Mo remembered seeing a post on a Pokémon forum in his previous life claiming that one major reason Ash's Pikachu was so strong was because it carried a Light Ball.
Of course, that argument was immediately shot down—whether Ash's Pikachu even had a Light Ball aside, the idea that a single item could let Pikachu go toe-to-toe with Legendary Pokémon was obviously absurd.
That said—
As Pikachu's exclusive item, the Light Ball was undeniably powerful.
"Once Pichu evolves, I'll definitely have to get one for it."
Chen Mo casually tapped into the detailed description of the Electric Ball. Then, almost immediately, he noticed something odd.
[Electric Ball: A mysterious, electrified sphere. Touching it will cause numbing shocks. Suitable for Electric-type Pokémon.]
At first glance, nothing seemed wrong.
But on closer inspection—
It said suitable for Electric-type Pokémon, not specifically Pikachu.
Chen Mo fell into deep thought.
Could it be that…
He stared at the Electric Ball's price—5,000 points.
He admitted it.
He was tempted.
At the very least, if he could give the Electric Ball to Pichu now, it would surely speed up Pichu's growth—and might even help it learn new Electric-type moves.
"Let's do it!"
Points were meant to be spent. Pichu's growth was the top priority right now. And even if Pichu couldn't use it immediately, once it evolved into Pikachu, the item would still be useful—no risk of waste.
As Chen Mo confirmed the purchase, a flash of white light appeared. In his hand materialized a heavy sphere—transparent on the outside, with lightning seemingly flashing within.
But before he could properly admire the treasure he'd just spent five thousand Outreach Points on—
A surge of electricity shot from the Electric Ball straight through his body.
"Hiss—!!!"
In pain, Chen Mo reflexively jerked his hands back, sending the Electric Ball rolling across the floor.
"Pichu!?"
Hearing Chen Mo's cry, Pichu hurried back into the living room.
Seeing Chen Mo collapsed on the floor, his body still twitching slightly, hair standing on end from the electric shock, Pichu slowly tilted its head as a question mark practically popped up over it.
What… just happened?
At the same time—
The Electric Ball rolling across the floor toward it caught Pichu's attention.
"Pichu?"
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