Chapter 109: Stephanie Arrives

"997, 998, 999, 1000!"

In the backyard, Zhong Meiqing, aka Ashborn, was finishing a set of squats while holding his Steelix on his back.

Each squat left deep impressions in the ground beneath his feet. When he reached 1,000, he lifted Steelix off his back and gently placed it on the ground.

Steelix gave Ashborn a resentful look. Whenever Ashborn needed his help, he affectionately called Steelix "Little Sweetie".

But at other times, he used the far less endearing nickname "Mr. Ox."

Luckily, Ashborn's parents weren't around to witness this spectacle.

If they had been, Ashborn would have avoided showing off such feats, not wanting to raise suspicion and risk being "sliced" for research.

"Ding! Daily task completed.

Reward: 50 Meltan Candies, 200 Points."

Hearing the system's notification, Ashborn muttered,

"Finally, I've collected all 400 Meltan Candies."

The Meltan evolution required 400 Meltan Candies, and while he could buy them from the system store, they were expensive.

Instead, Ashborn relied on completing daily tasks to accumulate candies. 

Although he now had enough candies to evolve Meltan into Melmetal, Ashborn wasn't in a rush.

He didn't want to admit he was being frugal with his points, so he convinced himself to delay the evolution.

As Ashborn wrapped up his training, his Pokémon—Metagross, Steelix, Dragonair, Aron, and Meltan—gathered around him.

He distributed their meals: rough diamonds and fire ore for Aron, high-grade steel energy blocks for Steelix, and Aron's shed shell for Meltan.

Meltan had grown particularly fond of Aron, often lying on Aron's shell or licking it, even if it couldn't eat the shell at the time.

While Ashborn's family had plenty of Aron shells from other Arons, Meltan had become partial to the shell of Ashborn's Aron.

To Meltan, other Aron shells were mere "trash."

Meanwhile, Steelix, after devouring its energy block, reflected that leaving the secret realm with Ashborn had been the best decision.

With a constant supply of delicious food and growing strength, all Steelix had to do was assist Ashborn in battle—a small price to pay for such luxury.

Suddenly, Ashborn's phone rang with Jigglypuff's song as the ringtone. It was Stephanie.

"Hey, Ashborn, I'm at your door," Stephanie said.

"Oh, sorry! I'll come open it right away," Ashborn replied, quickly remembering that Stephanie was visiting today.

Ashborn greeted Stephanie at the door and led her into the house.

"This is the first time I've been to a national gymnasium," Stephanie remarked. "The battle field is so big!"

"Well, it has to be. To challenge a national gym, you need at least pseudo-Elite level Pokémon, so the battle field has to accommodate that," Ashborn explained.

As they walked through the house, Stephanie noticed a graceful Pokémon—

Ashborn's "Love Butler," a Pokémon from the country where the sun never sets. It specialized in caretaking and was quite rare in their country, Xortros.

"Wow, this Pokémon looks so gentle," Stephanie said, admiring the Gardevoir.

Gardevoir's rarity made it a prestigious Pokémon, usually found in elite sanatoriums or high-end restaurants.

Ashborn's was female, which made her appearance even more gentle compared to her male counterparts, who had a more stoic and stern look.

The Love Butler/Gardevor, sensing Stephanie's admiration, served her a cup of tea, while Ashborn received a glass of Moomoo Milk.

"Cough-cough, I'll drink tea too," Ashborn protested, not wanting to be the only one drinking Moomoo Milk in front of a guest.

But the Love Butler/Gardevoir insisted, smiling at him.

Ashborn had no choice but to take the milk, much to Stephanie's amusement.

"Would you like some?" Ashborn offered, trying to play it cool.

"No thanks. I don't like the taste," Stephanie replied, shaking her head.

Though Moomoo Milk had a strong milky smell, many people still drank it for its benefits.

The milk Ashborn was drinking was from a pseudo-Elite Miltank, worth over 5,000 Poké and usually reserved for the upper class.

After their drinks, Ashborn took Stephanie to the backyard. He had already returned Meltan to its Poké Ball.

"Whoa, is this your Steelix and Aron?" Stephanie exclaimed in awe, noticing how much larger Aron was compared to the average one.

"Yep! Steelix was caught in an intermediate secret realm, and Aron was a Totem Pokémon," Ashborn explained.

Stephanie was impressed but also envious.

"It must be nice to have such a big family of Pokémon. Totem Pokémon, Metagross, and a Dragonair too…"

Ashborn grinned inwardly, thinking how lucky he was to have the system. "Don't feel bad," he said with a smirk.

"Some things you're just not born with."

Stephanie was speechless. She could almost hear Terry's annoying voice in Ashborn's snarky remark.

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Adios