Chapter Forty-Five: The Ecological Garden

Cheng Cheng focused intently, using his psychic powers to sense the approaching presence. The overwhelming aura of psychic energy drew nearer, and then he saw it—a green Pokémon. Cheng Cheng froze in astonishment as he recognized the Pokémon before him: Celebi, the very same being that had brought him into this world. But he couldn’t be sure if this Celebi was indeed the one that had transported him here.

Just seeing Celebi filled Cheng Cheng with excitement. If he could persuade Celebi to use its time-traveling power once more, perhaps he could return home. Yet, as thoughts of all he had grown attached to in this world surfaced—the daycare, Aunt Meixuzi, his own Pokémon—Cheng Cheng found himself hesitant to leave.

While he was lost in thought, Celebi suddenly darted over and snatched the food roasting by the fire. Cheng Cheng realized that this must be the same Celebi who brought him here; such a gluttonous Celebi was indeed rare.

He quickly used his system to scan Celebi’s information:

Pokémon: Celebi
Type: Psychic, Grass
Level: 72
Rank: Deep Blue
Rarity: Epic
Ability: Natural Cure
HP: 90/100
Attack: 78/100
Defense: 82/100
Special Attack: 85/100
Special Defense: 85/100
Speed: 90/100
Total: 510/600
Moves: Leech Seed, Confusion, Recover, Heal Bell, Safeguard, Magical Leaf, Ancient Power, Baton Pass, Nature Power, Perish Song, Heal Block, Future Sight.

Such formidable stats! With numbers like these, Cheng Cheng knew he stood no chance of resisting Celebi. Fortunately, Celebi was known to be a kind-hearted Pokémon—it was unlikely to do him harm.

Taking advantage of the moment, Cheng Cheng tried to communicate with Celebi. He reached out with his psychic power, establishing a connection. Celebi, startled by the psychic link, was even more surprised upon realizing it was Cheng Cheng—a human capable of communicating this way.

“Hello, Celebi.”

“Bii~ (Hello).”

“Celebi, do you remember me?”

“Bii~ (Who are you?)”

“Do you recall once visiting a place, where you snuck some food, were discovered, and in your panic, used a time tunnel to escape? Then, you realized someone had followed you through the tunnel—and that person was me.”

“Bii~ (Let me think a moment).”

“Bii~ (I’ve been to so many places, but in my memory, I don’t recall anyone traveling through time with me.)”

“It seems you’re not the Celebi I met back then.”

Cheng Cheng ended the connection. Even now, he couldn’t keep up telepathic communication for long. This short exchange had already left him tired.

Watching Celebi munch on his food, Cheng Cheng felt a bit disheartened. He had thought only the first Celebi he met was greedy, but it seemed all Celebis had a voracious appetite!

Soon, Celebi finished all the food Cheng Cheng had roasted, so he had to prepare more. He set aside another portion for Celebi and asked Chimecho to try communicating. With the help of food, Celebi and Chimecho quickly struck up a lively conversation, seemingly delighted—proof, perhaps, of the power of good cuisine.

That night, Cheng Cheng didn’t attempt further contact with Celebi, nor did he try to capture any more Pokémon. He simply sat quietly with Celebi as the night deepened and eventually entered meditation.

The next morning, Cheng Cheng awoke to find Celebi gone, but in its place he discovered a leaf, radiating the unique energy of Celebi. Now, finding this Celebi again in the future would be much easier.

He put the leaf away. With a few hours left, he decided to see if he could catch another one or two Psychic-type Pokémon.

Cheng Cheng’s luck held out. In the last hour, he managed to catch three more Psychic-type Pokémon. And just like that, his day at the psychic outpost came to an end, and he was teleported back by the system.

When he came to, Cheng Cheng found himself back in his own room.

After resting for a while, Cheng Cheng tallied up his gains from the psychic Pokémon outpost. He had caught a total of twenty-one Psychic-type Pokémon, all quite rare, although most were native to Hoenn. Because Psychic-types were so scarce, each region’s species were similar, making it impossible for Cheng Cheng to deduce his current location from his catches.

The quality of his new Pokémon was also impressive—the lowest was Yellow Rank, and the highest was Deep Green. This outing had been quite profitable, but the greatest reward was establishing contact with Celebi.

This time, Cheng Cheng had caught three Ralts, one Kirlia, two Abra, three Natu, two Spoink, three Girafarig, two Slowpoke, and five Exeggcute—a bountiful harvest that made him very happy.

He placed all the new Pokémon in his own ecological park. Since the park would soon welcome a large batch of Pokémon, and with Mr. Tianzhi as a resource, Cheng Cheng no longer needed to report externally-caught Pokémon to the League. With the ecological park, he could send any surplus Pokémon there, saving himself a great deal of trouble.

However, before doing so, he still needed to apply to the League to establish the park. The process was similar to that of setting up a daycare, but since ecological parks housed many more Pokémon, their environments had to be inspected and approved before opening.

Cheng Cheng had already submitted his application. Though the next steps would be tedious and time-consuming, they wouldn’t impede the construction of the park, so he put the matter out of his mind.

The next morning, all the Pokémon and eggs he’d purchased from Mr. Tianzhi arrived—a total of fifty eggs and twenty Psychic-type Pokémon.

After receiving and scanning them, Cheng Cheng found that most were Yellow Rank, a few were Green, and only two were Light Blue. Satisfied with this batch, he paid Mr. Tianzhi a portion of the money, but the rest would have to wait until he’d sold some Pokémon—his remaining funds were insufficient.

He also worried about feeding all these Pokémon. Including the ones he’d caught, there were now forty-one in the park, and with his own, the total reached fifty. The daily food consumption was immense, and his berry orchard had yet to bear fruit, so everything had to be purchased.

Financial troubles were mounting again. After negotiating with the system, it agreed to buy non-Psychic-type Pokémon at a tenth of the standard price.

So Cheng Cheng decided to head out to the forest outside Verdanturf City again to catch Pokémon. This time, he brought Lunatone and Chimecho and used his prior methods. After three days of effort, his immediate economic woes were resolved.

Meanwhile, the eggs sent by Mr. Tianzhi began to hatch one by one, and everything seemed to be progressing well. With his own Pokémon included, the park’s population now exceeded fifty, enabling him to submit his third task.

“Ding, congratulations to the host for completing Task Three. You’ve earned 1,000 achievement points.”

Having completed three tasks, he now faced the fourth: selling one hundred Pokémon or eggs—a formidable challenge. It was time to focus on developing the daycare.

The thousand achievement points made Cheng Cheng quite excited. With them, he could buy several more Grade-Boosting Potions for his Pokémon. Combined with the two Green-Rank potions he’d obtained earlier, he was confident his Pokémon would advance rapidly in the near future.

The most pressing need now was to boost the reputation of his daycare, and the best way was to go online. Cheng Cheng had already listed his shop on the League’s official website, offering Psychic-type Pokémon for sale. Many had browsed, but limited variety and quantity meant nothing had sold yet.

He updated all the listings, shifting focus to selling Ralts, Natu, and Exeggcute, while the others became supplemental offerings. He also added Pokéblocks for sale, confident that soon he would see online orders for both Pokémon and Pokéblocks.

After updating the information, Cheng Cheng returned downstairs to the daycare. As the number of Pokémon increased, the workload for Xiaoli and Ali grew heavier—especially for Ali, who had to care for nearly fifty Pokémon and prepare their food in overwhelming quantities each day.

Cheng Cheng considered hiring more help, but his mounting debts made him abandon the idea. Instead, he paid Ali more and frequently joined him in preparing food, teaching him techniques for making Pokémon food and caring for them.

During this period, both Cheng Cheng and Ali greatly improved their skills in making Pokémon food and Pokéblocks. Indeed, practice makes perfect.

Cheng Cheng decided that, for now, he would stay put and focus on managing his Psychic Daycare with full dedication.