Chapter 22

Hearing the sound, the female secretary and Ningguang, who was seated on the sofa, glanced at Takumi, and then were stunned. They probably didn't expect the young owner of the store to be so good-looking.

The ripples in Ningguang's beautiful eyes revealed a sense of wonder.

Tsk, this extraordinary appearance is even better than Zhongli, the consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

Ningguang's smile was friendly, and her voice was much gentler than it usually was in Qunyu Pavilion, making people feel a sense of warmth:

"In the past two days, even in Qunyu Pavilion above the sky, I've constantly heard news about Club Manager Takumi."

"The prosperity of Liyue Port is thanks to operators like you, who find and transport rare and exotic creatures from Teyvat, collecting, distributing, and selling them here, thus increasing the diversity and prosperity of Liyue Port's business."

See, she is indeed a Tianquan star who started out as a businesswoman. Her eloquence was remarkable.

Her words were pleasing to hear.

"Ah, Lady Ningguang?"

"Tianquan Star!"

Hu Tao and Xiangling also came out upon hearing the commotion. The chatter from the back room could be clearly heard at the counter area of the front store.

With focused gazes, they glanced at the "employee," Cresselia, who had just entertained them behind the sofa.

The Legendary Pokémon remained floating in mid-air.

It was obviously aware that Ningguang had been observing it.

Cresselia blinked its bright eyes.

"What do the guests need? Any questions?"

A slightly shy voice echoed in their minds.

Ningguang:...

God knows how shocked she and the secretaries were when they heard Cresselia's voice for the first time upon arriving.

This way of communication inevitably reminded Ningguang of the aloof Morax, the God of Contracts, who once ruled Liyue's fate.

"Is this the legendary beast mentioned in Hongyi's report?" Ningguang took a deep breath.

Hongyi approached Xiangling and Hu Tao:

"It turns out you two had a battle just now, but unfortunately, I couldn't watch."

Hu Tao clenched her fists, "Then it's better you weren't there. It was embarrassing."

Xiangling, happy as the winner, exclaimed:

"Yes, it's such a pity there wasn't an audience to witness my heroic appearance!"

Hu Tao gritted her teeth angrily.

Damn it! You can gloat for ten more days, but I swear, once my little Gible learns more moves, I will come back and avenge my loss!

"There's a video of the battle. Would you like to watch it?"

Ningguang's face lit up with interest.

Takumi coughed.

W-what?!

Hu Tao's resolve to seek revenge seemed to waver, her expression freezing.

"There's a video...?" Hu Tao wailed inwardly. "Is the dignity of this parlor master destined to be ruined today?"

Takumi ignored Hu Tao's changing expression, downloaded the footage of the "Arena" from the store's intranet, and played it on the big screen in the front store.

Complete and uncensored battle scenes.

"Larvesta—!"

"Gible!"

Seeing the match from a third-person perspective, Xiangling's expression froze as well. Her feet were planted so firmly that her little boots almost buckled through the floor in embarrassment.

Is that foolish person on screen me?

Ah??

Ningguang, Hongyi, and the secretaries:

(￣ω￣;) sweat...

Ningguang opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but she couldn't find the words.

The battle video ended.

An awkward atmosphere filled the front of the store.

Takumi smiled secretly.

The plan was a great success! Making me recall the fear of babysitting energetic girls? Now it's your turn!

And this is just the beginning! The large advertisement screen outside the store will play the highlights of this match in a loop, day and night.

It's hard not to become famous and spark discussion.

Of course, ignoring the amateur mistakes, many elements of the Pokémon battle were enough to pique Ningguang and Hongyi's interest.

"Take Down? Is that the skill that can bring down a house? Such a small body, but with that explosive power!"

"The restricting effect of String Shot was quite significant!"

"Wait, the Bug also knows Ember?"

After watching, Ningguang pondered for a moment before looking at Takumi:

"Store manager, can you give me an evaluation of the training direction and potential of Gible and Larvesta?"

She was not in a rush to ask for a blank Pokédex to register and draw an initial Pokémon.

Instead, she displayed her wisdom by intending to gather more information from Takumi first.

Takumi's eyes showed admiration.

As expected of the one managing Liyue after Morax's disappearance—the nominal prime minister of Liyue's Seven Stars.

"Actually, what matters most about a Pokémon are its potential, type, and evolutionary forms."

After all, this is reality, not a game.

Even though there's an attribute panel, it's mainly for the convenience of trainers here in Teyvat.

For example, in the games, Pokémon learn specific moves at certain levels, but in reality, there is no such setting.

Hongyi's Growlithe learned Ember, and Hu Tao's Gible learned Sand Attack.

These are all opportunities.

Growth and training are dependent on effort and experience.

And regarding personality—it's not like in the games, where personality directly affects Special Attack or Defense stats. Instead, personality manifests in behavior.

For example, a hardworking Pokémon will certainly put in extra effort during training.

As for "effort values," it's practically nonsense in reality.

There's also another difference Takumi noticed. It seemed that when Pokémon arrived on Teyvat, with its abundant elemental energy, their elemental moves were significantly enhanced.

Two Embers were enough to knock out Gible...

In the games, that would have barely scratched the surface.

Perhaps this is a kind of fusion between Pokémon's elemental properties and Teyvat's elemental system—something Takumi hadn't considered before.