Pokémon: Master System.

"We're here." Charlotte had been here before and seemed quite familiar with the place, while Xia Yu had been here once before but wasn't qualified to enter the core area: "This is your second time here, isn't it?"

"Mm." Xia Yu nodded. The last time he came here was when he was ten years old. His father brought him here to choose a starter Pokémon for him.

The Flame Realm covers a vast area, and its gate is quite luxurious and grand, appearing imposing from afar. Cars come and go, and there are even long queues at the entrance.

This time, the two of them didn't have to squeeze in; they used a dedicated VIP lane and only needed to go through security to enter.

"Xia Luo, Xia Yu, you can go in now."

The two walked through the glass corridor, and through the transparent heat-insulating glass, they could see a large number of Fire-type Pokémon in the secret realm.

"This is just the outer area, and the Fire-type Pokémon here have limited potential." Charlotte explained to Xia Yu, "The real core area consists of four places: the Volcano Zone, Sunlit Valley, Blazing Forest, and Blazing Plains. The outer area is like an exhibition hall, where there are Pokémon with slightly lower potential."

Of course, the so-called inferior aptitude is relative; it is still much stronger than the vast majority of wild Pokémon.

"The volcanic area is home to heat-resistant Pokémon such as Camerupt, Lava Snail, and Magmortar. It is said that the official Fire Realm has plans to introduce Salazzle and Torterra."

"The Sunlit Valley is home to Pokémon such as Charizard, Typhlosion, Darmanitan, and Volcarona."

"The Blazing Jungle is home to Pokémon such as Blaziken, Infernape, Talonflame, and Moltres."

"The Fiercefire Plains are home to Pokémon such as Houndoom, Arcanine, and Rapidash. The Cinderace species from Gull Island was introduced two years ago, and Cinderace eggs have already been bred this year."

As the Fire-type Gym Leader, Charlotte naturally kept a close eye on the dynamics of the Fire Realm and knew the distribution of Pokémon within it like the back of her hand. She acted as a guide, constantly introducing them to Xia Yu.

"Let's go check out the Blazing Plains first." Compared to the Pokémon they had before, Charlotte was more interested in the newly introduced Cinderace. As they walked, she chatted with Xia Yu: "Actually, I really like the unique Fire-type Pokémon Samurai from the Oasis. Both of its evolutions are quite good. Both Cinnabar Knight and Blaze are very strong Pokémon, but unfortunately we don't have them here."

"I still prefer Charizard and Blaziken, and Houndoom is pretty good too," Xia Yu said deliberately. This is because Charizard, Blaziken, and Houndoom are Pokémon that can Mega Evolve. Once Mega Evolution is announced, the prices of these three Pokémon will definitely skyrocket, especially Charizard and Blaziken.

"We'll see," Charlotte sighed. One of his Pokémon that had died was Blaziken, and raising another Blaziken would always remind him of the times he spent with it. "Let's go check on Cinderace's Pokémon egg first."

Chapter 21 Jiang Qinglan

The Blazing Plains is an extremely open plain. Due to the dense fire-type energy, the entire plain is barren and devoid of any vegetation. Walking on the ground, you can even feel the heat beneath your feet. This environment is extremely suitable for Pokémon that excel at running, such as Rapidash and Arcanine.

Charlotte took Xia Yu on a tour of the Blazing Plains, visiting some Pokémon activity areas before heading directly to the Blazing Plains Hatchery. After all, their main purpose in coming here was to select Pokémon eggs; sightseeing was just a side trip.

The hatchery in the Blazing Plains is one of only two hatchery in the entire Flame Realm. The other hatchery is located in the volcanic area and is specifically for hatching eggs of heat-resistant Pokémon like Lavabug, Magmortar, and Camerupt, which prefer to live in lava areas. The number of Pokémon eggs in that hatchery is also much smaller, about one-tenth of that in the Blazing Plains.

Most of the Pokémon eggs are kept in the hatchery in the Plains of Fire. As soon as Charlotte and her companion arrived at the hatchery door, a young and beautiful woman came to greet them.

"Welcome to the incubation room, esteemed guests."

Inside the incubation room, there were many young and beautiful women. They all looked very young, between twenty and thirty years old, the most beautiful age for women. They were all at least 1.68 meters tall, and with their uniform attire, they were a beautiful sight in the incubation room.

"I am Jiang Qinglan, your guide in the hatchery, and also your guide for selecting Pokémon eggs this time. I am honored to serve you, and I am a fan of yours." After introducing herself, Jiang Qinglan smiled sweetly, turned around and walked in front to lead the way for the two brothers, showing them her beautiful back view.

Jiang Qinglan was the guide specially arranged for Xia Luo by the official Flame Realm. She had been waiting for Xia Luo since nine o'clock in the morning, which is why she was able to recognize Xia Luo immediately.

Jiang Qinglan was in a good mood. She was a third-year student at Xishu University and would be a senior in September. She would soon face the problem of employment. In order to make her resume look better, she specially submitted her resume before the holiday and applied for an internship in the Flame Secret Realm.

Given her family background, she would never have had the opportunity to intern in the Flame Realm. There were plenty of people with connections here, and outsiders were scrambling to get in for internships. Logically speaking, it would have been impossible for an ordinary person like her to get a chance.

However, during the interview, because she was a top student majoring in Pokémon breeding at Xishu University, coupled with her outstanding appearance, her high academic qualifications and good looks made her pass the internship application for the first time. Then she was assigned to the hatchery in the Fierce Fire Plains as a guide, specifically responsible for introducing the hatchery to VIPs and promoting high-end egg hatching services.

Egg hatching is one of the core revenue streams of the Flame Rift. Many wealthy individuals pay to send their Fire-type Pokémon here for hatching. Firstly, the Flame Rift has abundant Fire-type energy, which can slightly improve a Pokémon's stats. Secondly, there are dedicated breeders to look after them, so there's almost no need to worry about any accidents. Of course, the cost isn't cheap, and it's definitely beyond the reach of ordinary families.

“Each elf egg in the incubator has its own incubator.” Jiang Qinglan introduced to the two as they walked, a standard smile on her face: “These incubators are all the latest high-end incubators made by the international brand Devon. Each incubator can independently control temperature, humidity, light, heart rate, and eggshell status 24 hours a day.”

Xia Yu's gaze fell upon rows of incubators. He noticed that many of them contained nutrient solutions, and even more remarkably, a significant number contained precious fire-elemental energy nutrient solutions. This made Xia Yu sigh in admiration; there were truly many wealthy people who could use million-dollar energy nutrient solutions so readily.

“Mr. Charlotte, the Pokémon eggs with blue tags on the incubators are those that customers have left here for incubation. You cannot choose the Pokémon eggs with blue tags.” Jiang Qinglan explained to the two of them with a smile, her smile extremely beautiful, as radiant as the stars: “The Pokémon eggs with red tags are from the Flame Secret Realm. If you want to choose a Pokémon egg, you can only choose the one with a red tag.”

"This area is for selling Pokémon eggs, which you can buy with money. Your selection slot is very valuable, and I don't recommend wasting it on Pokémon here. If you really like one, you can buy it. I suggest you use your selection slot to choose a Pokémon egg from the Treasure Room. The Pokémon eggs in the Treasure Room are not for sale and are only used to give out rewards."

"Okay, I understand. Let's take a look first. We've come all this way to the Flame Realm, so let's see if there are any good Pokémon eggs here and buy some to take back." Charlotte replied with a smile. He had lost two of his ace Pokémon and needed to replenish his strength, so it wouldn't hurt to take a look around.

Charlotte immediately went to Cinderace's Pokémon egg, carefully examining it and assessing its quality.

Xia Yu also quickly began selecting Pokémon for his older brother. As for the three Cinderace eggs, Xia Yu glanced at them and left. The three eggs didn't have very good stats; two only had Elite-level stats, and one had Lord-level stats. Among the starter Pokémon, they were considered relatively poor.

Of course, this is not the fault of the official Flame Kingdom team, because Cinderace is a Pokémon imported from abroad. If it can be exported overseas, its quality must be very poor. And these three Pokémon eggs are only the first generation, so their quality is naturally not very good.

After skipping over the three Cinderace Pokémon eggs, Xia Yu used the system's identification ability to quickly look around, searching as if he were browsing through goods at a street market.

"A Gym Leader-level Houndoom won't do; it has to be at least a near-Champion level."

"How can this Growlithe have such poor aptitude? It's only elite level, yet it's displayed here."

"The Pokémon Association is quite something; this Fire-type Pokémon has pretty good potential."

…………

Having only explored one-fifth of the area, Xia Yu spotted three Pokémon with Gym Leader-level potential and a near-Elite Four-level Pokémon—something unthinkable elsewhere. He couldn't help but marvel at how this Fire-type Secret Realm truly was a paradise for Fire-type Pokémon; the mere fact that it slightly improved the potential of Fire-type Pokémon was enough to make Fire-type trainers willingly part with their money.

"It's a pity that there are no Pokémon with the potential of Champion or higher. It seems that no matter where you are, Pokémon with the potential of Champion are still too rare."

Meanwhile, on the other side, Jiang Qinglan was introducing the three Cinderace Pokémon eggs to Charlotte.

"These three Pokémon eggs are the first batch bred by Cinderace, which we normally don't sell to the public. Firstly, because these three eggs aren't very good and aren't suitable as starter Pokémon. Secondly, because the secret realm wants to hatch these three eggs to strengthen the Cinderace population. Of course, if Gym Leader Charlotte wants them, that's fine with me."

"What a pity." Charlotte had clearly noticed that the three Pokémon eggs weren't very good, and couldn't help but sigh. He really liked Cinderace, but unfortunately, its aptitude was too poor, so he had to give it up. The Pokémon Association's reward for selecting Pokémon eggs was far too precious; he would have to be a fool to choose these Cinderace eggs.

"Huh, where's Xia Yu?" Xia Luo only then realized that Xia Yu had gone quite far away at some point. "Miss Jiang, you don't need to follow me. It's not that troublesome. I can manage on my own. You go and keep my brother company."

“Yes, Master Charlotte.”

Xia Yu continued selecting Pokémon when he suddenly smelled a fragrant breeze. Turning around, he saw Jiang Qinglan gracefully approaching.

"Mr. Xia Yu, are you here to help your brother choose a Pokémon egg? There are a few Pokémon eggs in the treasure room that were born this year by rare near-Elite Four level Pokémon from the Flame Secret Realm. Their potential is definitely not bad. You can come and take a look."

"No rush, let me look at these Pokémon eggs first. You don't need to come with me, I'll just look around by myself. You go with my brother." Although the beautiful woman was pleasing to the eye, Xia Yu was completely focused on the Pokémon eggs and had no time to pay attention to Jiang Qinglan.

"..."

Jiang Qinglan was speechless for a moment, which made her doubt her own charm. She was the campus belle of Xishu University, so why did these two brothers dislike her so much?

Chapter 22 Dharma Baboon

"Huh, this Pokémon?"

Xia Yu, walking and stopping intermittently, focused his gaze on a Pokémon egg, examining it carefully. This was the first Pokémon with Champion-level potential that Xia Yu had discovered in this area.

【Elf Egg】

火红不倒翁

Gender: male

Attribute: Fire

Qualification: King level

Ability: Spiritual Power

Skill:? ? ?

The fiery red roly-poly toy is shaped like a round, red-haired monkey, covered in fluffy red fur. Its limbs can be retracted and hidden within the fur, transforming it into a round, roly-poly shape. Its eyebrows are yellow and cloud-like, it has three yellow spots on its abdomen, and seagull-shaped yellow stripes on its back.

This fiery red roly-poly toy has a hidden ability called Spirit Power, which means it will evolve into a Daruma Baboon, and its next ability will be Daruma Mode.

In the game, the Daruma Baboon with the Daruma Mode ability will transform into Daruma Mode when its HP is less than half. Its speed and attack will decrease, while its defense, special defense, and special attack will increase dramatically. In addition, its type will change from Fire-type to Fire-type plus Psychic-type. It is a type that can be used for a variety of tricks.

While it looks flashy, it's not very practical in the game. Players prefer to use the Daruma Baboon's other trait: the removal of additional effects from moves and a 30% increase in skill power—simple, direct, and damage-boosting. Since the game is turn-based, with each player using only one move, a 30% power increase could potentially one-shot an opponent.

However, reality differs from the game. In reality, Daruma baboons with the Daruma Mode trait are quite popular, and their prices are several times higher than those with the Forced Mode trait. This is because Daruma baboons with the Daruma Mode trait in reality can enter Daruma Mode voluntarily, rather than only when their health is below half.

This means that the Daruma baboon can transform into Daruma mode to increase its defense when defending against attacks, and can switch back to its normal form when attacking, making it flexible and powerful.

Another creature with this characteristic is Ghoststeel Aegislash, whose Battle Switch ability is incredibly overpowered. In Shield Mode, both its Defense and Special Defense are 140, while in Sword Mode, both its Attack and Special Attack are 140. Combined with its Speed ​​and HP of 60, Aegislash is theoretically a legendary Pokémon with a base stat total of 680. This is after an official nerf; initially, both its forms had 150 Defense and Special Defense and both Attack, totaling 720.

What does a base stat total of 720 mean? It's the same as the base stat total of the alpaca Arceus.

Combined with its excellent Ghost and Steel attributes, it has only 4 weaknesses of double, but 3 type immunity, 8 type resistance, and 1 type quadruple resistance.

Whenever Xia Yu thinks of this, he always wants to shout, "My Steel System is the best in the world!"

"Mr. Xia Yu, do you like this Pokémon egg? This is a Darmanitan egg, not a native Chinese Pokémon. The Darmanitan population in the Flame Rift has been introduced for fifteen years, and this batch of eggs has very good potential. Moreover, this egg is available for sale. As long as payment is made, it won't take up any of Gym Leader Charlotte's two selection slots."

Jiang Qinglan noticed that Xia Yu lingered in front of the elf egg the longest, and her eyes lit up as she carefully explained, "The Flame Secret Realm has been introducing the Daruma baboon tribe for fifteen years. During this time, they have also bred many batches of fiery red tumblers, but the aptitude of the hatched ones is generally not high. Even the highest aptitude of the last batch of fiery red tumblers hatched was only at the Overlord level."

The sudden appearance of this Heavenly King-level Dharma Baboon was unexpected even by the officials of the Flame Secret Realm, which is why it was put up for sale, and at a low price, only **

】

.

Huh? Wait, 128 million?

This price is indeed not expensive for a Pokémon with Champion-level potential, but you should know that Fire Realm believes this Pokémon egg only has Overlord-level potential, so daring to ask for 128 million is really ruthless.

Xia Yu really wanted to buy it right away, but unfortunately he didn't have that much money on him. But his older brother had money: "Wrap up this egg, and we'll pay for it together later."

“Okay.” Jiang Qinglan smiled brightly. She would earn a lot of commission from this deal, and her smile widened.

Xia Yu then circled around outside and didn't encounter another Elite Four-level Pokémon, but he did find three Pokémon with near-Elite Four-level potential.

Just then, Charlotte looked around and walked over.

"What is this Pokémon egg?" Charlotte asked, looking at the Pokémon egg that Jiang Qinglan had packed.

"Brother, this is the Pokémon egg I picked out for you. It doesn't take up a spot, and it's only 128 million," Xia Yu said quickly.

Huh? Only 128 million?