Erika.
The eldest daughter of the renowned Flower Arranging art family in Celadon City.
Within the small confines of the Daycare Center, Erika was the undisputed queen of popularity.
Whether it was the other snot-nosed brats, the usually stern teachers, or even the parents who occasionally came to pick up their children, everyone couldn’t help but smile when they saw the well-mannered and sweet-looking young lady.
Logically speaking, a popular little princess like her should always be surrounded by people like stars orbiting the moon.
But Erika was an oddball who insisted on playing with Kaname.
This left many people very perplexed.
Why her?
Confusion gradually fermented into jealousy, to the point where Kaname was tacitly isolated by the older children in the Daycare Center who knew better.
However.
Even without the connection to Erika, Kaname’s status in the Daycare Center was already delicate.
Because she had refused adoption too many times.
After all, the Daycare Center wasn’t a charity; every resource was accounted for.
For an orphan, being adopted was the only chance to change their fate.
Kaname’s behavior—being clearly adorable yet repeatedly rejecting kindness and even “wasting” adoption opportunities—was seen as an arrogant display of showing off in the eyes of other children who yearned for a family.
“She must be too immature.
Who would like a child who keeps rejecting kindness?” “I heard her personality is too cold, adults don’t like her…” Similar whispered discussions spread through the corners of the Daycare Center.
Kaname naturally noticed the subtle exclusion around her.
There was always one less piece of meat on her tray than others, she would be intentionally bumped into while passing by, and the books in her desk would occasionally be scribbled on.
If she were a real child, she probably would have hidden under her covers and cried her eyes out long ago.
But Kaname just found it amusing.
A group of snot-nosed brats trying to bully her felt childish to her, and her heart remained completely unmoved.
She was very busy right now.
Kaname was also preparing for a future outside the Daycare Center.
She was still young, and no matter what she wanted to do, she needed to solve countless problems.
Even with memories of her past life, in the real world, becoming a qualified Pokémon Trainer or even gaining a foothold in the turbulent times ahead required far more than just experience from playing games.
She had to start from scratch, meticulously learning Pokémon knowledge that she only had a rough understanding of or that had been simplified by game mechanics, absorbing it like a sponge.
All of this was very troublesome.
But if she didn’t solve them because they were troublesome, the future would truly be nothing but darkness.
That being said.
Now, in addition to the troubles she already had to solve, an Eevee had been added.
—And a curious young lady.
…
Because of the shock from Kaname’s injury, Erika was somewhat distracted throughout the entire morning.
It wasn’t until lunch break that she suddenly remembered yesterday’s Eevee.
Taking advantage of the teacher’s inattention, she boldly barged into Kaname’s private room.
“Kaname—!” The door was pushed open, bringing in a gust of wind.
“Gah!” The Eevee nesting under the bed was startled, its fur instantly standing on end.
Although they had only spent one night together, Eevee was very obedient to Kaname.
During the day, it stayed tucked away in the darkest corner under the bed, not daring to take a single step out.
It had already gotten used to Kaname.
Even though her attitude was cold, the faint milky scent of the room made Eevee feel at ease.
But facing the loud, sudden intruder, Eevee’s reaction was not so friendly.
“Hiss—!!” It lowered its body, baring its teeth and letting out a threatening hiss at Erika, who was lying on the edge of the bed looking in.
“Wow…” Erika didn’t seem intimidated at all; instead, she cupped her face with her hands, her eyes seemingly glowing.
“It’s so energetic!
Even its fierce look is super cute!” “…” The Eevee under the bed was clearly stunned, its threatening posture freezing.
…Is there something wrong with human hatchlings’ heads?
Ignoring the Eevee that was starting to doubt itself for a moment.
Kaname didn’t pay attention to the interaction between the two little ones.
She was sitting at her desk, using the sunlight from the window to flip through a thick, heavy tome she had borrowed from a teacher.
“Basic Berryology and Identification of Wild Herbs: Revised Edition.” The pages were already somewhat yellowed, with doodles left by children from unknown previous years, but the content inside was an immediate necessity for the current Kaname.
“Kaname, what are you looking at?” After teasing Eevee for a while without getting a response, Erika quickly lost interest and moved to the desk, resting her chin on Kaname’s shoulder.
“Introduction to Berry Pharmacological Reactions and Neutralization.” Kaname didn’t look up as she stated the chapter title.
“To put it simply, it’s the study of how the chemical components within different Berries react when mixed, and how to use these reactions to create prototypes of Pokéblocks suitable for different Pokémon constitutions.” “Oh…
Ohhh!” Erika blinked her large eyes and nodded with a face full of confusion.
Although she understood every word, when put together, they seemed like a heavenly script.
She most likely didn’t understand.
But her pride as a young lady wouldn’t allow her to show weakness, so she pretended to understand and commented with feigned seriousness.
“That sounds really impressive!
It’s just like cooking, right?” After saying that, to hide her embarrassment.
Erika immediately turned back and continued trying to lure the Eevee under the bed with her finger.
“Come here~ little puppy~ look over here~” “Bui!!” Who are you calling a dog?!
Eevee was furious, its hissing becoming even more intense.
But anyway, at least it wasn’t her being disturbed, so her ears were finally a bit quieter.
Kaname was now able to concentrate fully on the book.
She pressed her finger to the edge of the page, took a deep breath, and began to flip rapidly.
Flip-flip-flip— The speed of flipping the pages was astonishingly fast, almost showing only afterimages.
It didn’t look like normal reading at all; rather, it looked like she was fanning air.
If a teacher saw this, they would surely scold her for damaging the book.
But this was exactly the new ability Kaname had discovered.
—Quantum Speed Reading!
Of course, it wasn’t the kind of deceptive training class trick from her past life.
[Recording text information…] [Detecting images and charts…
Performing vectorization…] [Database updating—’Basic Berryology’ progress: 35%…
68%…
100%] Accompanied by dense system notification sounds, every word and illustration in the book was imprinted in Kaname’s mind with absolute clarity, as if scanned by a scanner.
Not only that.
[Summarizing knowledge points and performing logical reorganization…] [Key knowledge points extracted: Mixing ratio taboos for Oran Berries and Pecha Berries, optimal harvest time for Antidote herbs, analysis of side effects of Leppa Berries during energy recovery…] Kaname closed the book and let out a long breath.
The originally obscure and difficult professional book had now turned into a well-organized knowledge tree in her head, ready for use at any time, with an understanding perhaps even deeper than the original author’s.
—This will probably be very useful.
Kaname thought reflectively, her fingertips stroking the cover of the book.
In this era, there was no such thing as AI.
Computer technology had only just developed its prototype, with those bulky CRT monitors being the mainstream.
As for the colorful internet of later generations, it was currently only an internal communication network between major research institutes and the League’s top brass.
Only a tiny fraction of people could enjoy the convenience of easily accessing knowledge.
Even the internet itself.
Truly high-end breeding knowledge and core move secret techniques wouldn’t necessarily be uploaded to the network even in later generations, let alone the hidden science involving Legendary Pokémon.
In this era where knowledge was monopolized by large corporations and families, the difficulty of obtaining information was as hard as climbing to the heavens.
But the pokédex system Kaname possessed could rapidly digest printed materials.
It was practically a portable super library, even a supercomputer.
Although it was still just a guess, if a computer were placed in front of her, she might even be able to use the Pokédex to create some kind of data-level link with the computer and directly “plunder” knowledge from the physical level.
Even though she could currently only record book knowledge into the Pokédex, this alone allowed Kaname’s imagination to run wild and make certain adjustments to her future plans.
Since her combat power couldn’t keep up for now, choosing the “academic path” first seemed like a good option?
Just as Kaname was immersed in her visions of the future— Thump, thump, thump.
Rhythmic footsteps came from the hallway, accompanied by the sound of the teacher checking the rooms.
“It’s lunch break time, is everyone sleeping?” Kaname’s heart skipped a beat, and she reflexively stuffed the book into the drawer.
Beside her, Erika didn’t even need Kaname to remind her.
This young lady’s movements were exceptionally practiced; she swiftly kicked off her small leather shoes and, with a smooth roll, burrowed into Kaname’s covers.
“Shh—” Faced with the small hand reaching out from under her own blanket, Kaname could only lie down as well, huddling together with Erika as she pulled the quilt over both of them.
The bedroom door was pushed open a crack.
The teacher poked her head in to take a look.
Seeing the two little ones lying obediently in bed “sleeping,” she nodded in satisfaction and gently closed the door again.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Inside the covers, the dark and narrow space instantly became intimate.
The two lay on their sides facing each other; Kaname could even smell a faint fragrance coming from Erika—like the scent of some kind of flower.
Having a shared secret clearly made Erika very excited.
She squinted her eyes with a smile in the darkness.
“Hey, Kaname.” Erika leaned close to Kaname’s ear and whispered a question.
“…What kind of Pokémon is Eevee, exactly?” Kaname remained silent for two seconds.
She didn’t think Erika could fully understand what it meant to be an Evolution Pokémon, or the various unique aspects of Eevee’s body.
And so, Kaname thought for a moment and answered using simple terminology that a child could most easily understand.
“It’s the kind of Pokémon bad people like.” “Eh?” “…I mean, it’s a Pokémon that Team Rockets would be ecstatic to catch.” Kaname shared the knowledge with a straight face.
“To put it simply, it’s very valuable, very rare, and the type you almost never encounter normally.
If bad people find out, they’ll definitely try to take it away, and even we might be in danger.” Erika instantly covered her mouth, her large eyes going wide in the darkness.
From her perspective, Kaname was practically glowing right now.
Not only had she treated the injured Eevee and possessed more knowledge than the adults, but she was even constantly on guard against potential “bad people” to protect it.
She was just like the protagonist of a comic book?!
So Kaname had been silently guarding such a secret all along!
Seeing Erika suddenly cover her mouth and giggle, Kaname raised an eyebrow, puzzled.
…What is this child thinking now?
Kaname didn’t focus too much on the inexplicably excited Erika beside her.
Her ears twitched slightly.
Even through the window and the quilt, the low rumble of an engine reached her ears.
Vroom— It seemed a car had slowly come to a stop in front of the Daycare Center’s large iron gate.