The post with Beldum in the title attracted a lot of attention.
However, in the subsequent replies that kept refreshing, skeptical voices made up the majority.
After all, Pokémon like Beldum are very rare, found only in deep mountain mines, and are extremely difficult to catch, let alone being a beginner’s starter Pokémon.
Many people questioned in the replies, mocking the poster for whether he was dreaming.
But among the sarcastic replies, the user with the ID “X” was replying seriously.
[X: Although your description isn’t very clear, you mentioned at the very beginning that you fed it a lot of magnets when you first got the Beldum.] [X: Magnetism is like blood to a Beldum, but humans also have symptoms of high blood pressure; too much of a good thing can be bad.] [X: For newborn individuals, too much high-purity magnetic intake will disrupt the magnetic field inside the Beldum’s body, making it unable to control its balance, which in turn causes dizziness and anorexia, leading to other problems.] Steven suddenly straightened his back in front of the screen.
Although the tone of these lines was cold, the logic was clear and hit the nail on the head.
X really understands Beldum.
The reply instantly enlightened Steven, as if he had seen a bright lantern in the mist.
“Too much…!” He recalled the moment he first met Beldum.
Because he was so excited and wanted to express his affection, Steven had his staff prepare an entire crate of Top-quality Magnets.
He personally fed those magnets to Beldum, one after another.
Beldum itself was a newborn, and its craving for energy was instinctive; it had no sense of portion control and would eat as much as was given until it simply couldn’t move anymore.
Looking back now, it was entirely his lack of experience as a Pokémon Trainer that had led to Beldum’s current suffering.
“I’m sorry, Beldum.” Steven turned around and looked at the silver hunk of iron that was still floating unsteadily, his face full of guilt.
He reached out and gently stroked Beldum’s cold metal shell.
“Du…” Beldum nudged his palm slightly as if trying to comfort him.
After X’s pointers, Steven already knew where his problem lay, and a vague idea for a solution had formed in his mind.
However, having just made a mistake, Steven felt uneasy, unsure if his idea was correct and terrified of making things worse again.
He couldn’t help but return to the computer, his fingers tapping on the keyboard with an attitude that had become incredibly respectful.
[Steven: Thank you for your answer!
You’re right, I was indeed inconsiderate in some areas, but I’m thinking of handling it like this next…
Do you think it’s feasible?] Click send.
Steven stared intently at the screen, waiting for the mysterious ID to light up again.
However.
Time passed minute by minute.
The popularity of the rare topic involving Beldum gradually rose, and the number of replies in the thread increased.
All sorts of people were joking around below, but X was nowhere to be seen.
It was as if that ID had never appeared.
“Did they go offline…?” Steven felt a bit disappointed and leaned back in his chair.
In his view, X must be a professional who was very skilled at raising Pokémon.
A veteran Superior Trainer?
A Breeder specializing in Steel-type Pokémon?
Or even some Pokémon Professor who didn’t want to reveal their name?!
Someone who could use a computer fluently at this stage and had such a deep understanding of the habits of obscure Pokémon might not necessarily be very old, but their mindset and experience were certainly much more mature than his own.
Steven suddenly felt a bit worried.
Was the small amount of forum gold he had set as a bounty before posting too measly to even catch the eye of such an expert?
No, rather, the way X suddenly vanished after answering the key points suggested a style that might not care about bounties at all.
The previous reply was likely just a momentary whim.
Feeling anxious about the gain and loss, Steven remained unwilling to give up for a long time, but eventually, he could only let it go and focus on the task at hand.
…
“What kind of young master raises a Beldum as their first Pokémon?
They must be really bored.” Kaname sighed while giving the side of the greyish-white monitor a forceful slap.
“Smack!
Smack!” The crisp slapping sounds echoed in the study.
But aside from her small hand feeling a bit sore, the blacked-out screen showed no reaction.
Just now, as she was preparing to look at other posts on the forum, this old machine suddenly let out a groan, and then the internet connection was completely severed.
Dial-up internet in this era was inherently unstable, and Erika’s house likely had too many telephone extensions.
Most likely, someone downstairs had picked up the phone, directly cutting off the already fragile network signal.
Forget it.
The forums of this era didn’t have much worth seeing anyway.
Aside from the occasional fun of encountering a rich young master seeking help online like just now, most of it was just mindless fluff.
Kaname lost interest in redialing and reconnecting.
“Kaname—!
Mom says lunch is ready—!” From outside the study came Erika’s energetic call, accompanied by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching.
“Coming.” Kaname responded immediately.
She decisively turned off the computer’s power, jumped down from the chair, and turned to leave.
…
Lunchtime.
This household didn’t have a rule against talking while eating, so the atmosphere was quite relaxed.
While looking after the two children as they ate, Erikas Mother took the initiative to find a topic, naturally bringing up the fact that Kaname had spent the whole morning in the study.
“Kaname, how did you feel in the study this morning?
Were the books too profound?” Kaname swallowed her food, put down her chopsticks, sat up straight, and gave a polite response.
“The collection in the study is very valuable.
I read the section on the geography of the Kanto Region and gained a new understanding of the Pokémon ecological distribution around Celadon City.” “As for the computer, although the operating system is quite troublesome, I tested it and the function to connect to the external network works normally.” The air went silent for two seconds.
Erika bit her chopsticks and tilted her head, looking completely dazed.
Erikas Mother also blinked, clearly not understanding at all.
In the end, she could only give an awkward but polite smile and sighed.
“Kaname, you really know a lot…
Even though you’re the same age as Erika, you speak so logically that I can barely understand you.” She thought of the machine in the study that her husband had spent a lot of money on, only for it to sit there gathering dust for years.
“If you have the chance, I really hope you can teach my husband how to use the computer.” “Sure, that’s no problem.” Kaname nodded, agreeing very decisively.
She was trying to slowly lay the groundwork for her ‘prodigy’ persona.
Although she didn’t want to change too abruptly and make those around her view her as a monster or an anomaly, which would cause unnecessary panic.
However.
Kaname also didn’t want to be treated like a 5-year-old child forever.
Whether at the Daycare Center or here, being a young child meant being cared for, but it also meant having no voice and having one’s actions restricted at every turn.
Moderately displaying intelligence and learning ability beyond her age would allow her to gain more respect when facing adults and provide convenience for future or even current actions.
For example, gaining the right to use the computer freely.