Chapter 20: The Powerful Effect of the Lucky Egg

As the group left, a familiar sound echoed in Ryo's mind—it was the system's voice.

『Mission complete: Assigned a Pokémon to a plot-relevant character. Rewards: 1000 points, 1 Bronze Exclusive Chest!』

Ding... Ding... Ding...The voice in his mind rang out four times in total. Hearing it, Ryo couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement.

After all, this haul earned him four more bronze chests, which meant he could combine them into one silver chest once again.

Next, Ryo glanced at the money in his hand."With the money from Kakashi and the others, I should be able to furnish the cabin a bit."

Thinking about it, Ryo couldn't help but sigh bitterly. Initially, he only focused on ensuring safety, which he had now achieved.However, when it came to money—he was still far from having enough.

"It seems I can't just rely on plot-relevant characters. I need to entrust Pokémon to ordinary people too."

Although the points earned from ordinary people were much lower, the money they provided for purchasing items was the same.More importantly, there were far more ordinary people. If he reached a certain number, the accumulated points would be enormous.

"Another thing—I need to change the current Pokémon selection method," Ryo mused.Kiba's behavior earlier had given him a valuable reminder. While Pokémon were intelligent, there were still significant differences compared to humans.Not all Pokémon were like this, but many were.

Moreover, a Pokémon's recognition of a person could change over time.Suddenly, a thought flashed in Ryo's mind—he recalled the Pokémon-catching fields from anime.

"If I could replicate that and place all the Pokémon in the back mountain...""Then people could explore and capture them on their own.""As long as I establish a rule forbidding people from forcing Pokémon, it should work."

The more he thought about it, the brighter Ryo's eyes became.This approach would reduce much of his trouble—he wouldn't have to personally lead people to choose Pokémon anymore.

If he required anyone who wanted access to the area to purchase a Pokéball first, his income could increase significantly as well.

"As for whether the Pokémon will listen to me without being forced, there's nothing to worry about.""Dragonite can keep an eye on things. The mountain isn't that big—how could anything escape its senses?"

"It's just a pity that I don't have enough money right now. And ordinary people still don't know what Pokémon are."Ryo sighed in disappointment.

"Well, I'll take it slow and transform things bit by bit. One day, I'll succeed."Tightening his grip on the money in his hand, Ryo carried Espeon and headed toward the backyard.

Dragonite followed closely, its eyes filled with curiosity. It had noticed Ryo's expression earlier and seemed confused.

When they arrived, several Pokémon were still hanging around in the open area.Perhaps it was because they had only just met, so they didn't feel comfortable enough to wander far yet.

Ryo shook his head and stopped overthinking. He glanced at Espeon before pulling out a pure white egg from his pocket.

The egg was about the size of a fist, slightly larger than a chicken egg.It emitted a faint, enticing fragrance—though Ryo couldn't quite identify the specific scent.

"Espeon~"Espeon, sensing something, lifted its head from Ryo's arms and fixed its gaze on the egg.

"Boop~""Chirp~""Plap~"The other nearby Pokémon also seemed to sense something special, slowly gathering around and staring intently at the egg.

Except for Dragonite, who only glanced at it with a flicker of interest before looking away.

Seeing this, Ryo was a little surprised. "Is this Lucky Egg really that powerful?"He hadn't expected that merely taking it out would attract so much attention from the surrounding Pokémon.

"Everyone, I'm sorry, but this egg is for Espeon. I can't give it to you all," Ryo said with an apologetic smile. He was starting to regret bringing it out here—it might have been better to upgrade Espeon in his room instead.

At his words, the surrounding Pokémon showed disappointed expressions.

"Don't worry, everyone. This is for now, but maybe you'll all have a chance to get something like this in the future," Ryo said, feeling a little bad. He took out some energy cubes Hinata had used earlier and handed them out to the group.

Upon seeing the energy cubes, the Pokémon quickly perked up again. They nodded and happily began eating.

Ryo sighed in relief and turned his attention back to Espeon in his arms."Espeon?"Espeon looked at him curiously, as if to ask if the egg was really for her.

Patting her head, Ryo nodded and handed the Lucky Egg to her. "Yes, it's for you. Go ahead and use it."

A delighted smile appeared on Espeon's face as she eagerly opened her mouth and swallowed the Lucky Egg whole.

Ryo watched closely."Espeon~"Espeon let out a contented cry. Her body glowed briefly and grew slightly larger.

She then jumped out of Ryo's arms, joyfully circling him.

[Espeon (Shiny Silver)]Gender: FemaleCategory: Sun PokémonType: PsychicAbility: Magic Bounce (Reflects any negative effect)Level: 14 (Genin)

Item: Lucky Egg

Skills: Psychic, Teleport, Helping Hand, Tackle, Quick Attack…

Glancing at the system panel, Ryo crouched down with a smile, gently patting the head of his Espeon. "Congratulations."

"Espeon~"

The Espeon rubbed its head against Ryo's hand, its eyes narrowing in contentment and its face radiating happiness.

Ryo shook his head with a soft chuckle. "Alright, go ahead and eat these too."

As he spoke, he pulled out fifteen mysterious fruits and placed them in front of Espeon.

Espeon's eyes immediately lit up, its expression turning excited.

However, the nearby Pokémon weren't drawn to it this time.

They likely couldn't sense any benefit from the fruit, so none of them approached Ryo. After all, the system had set a rule—these Pokémon couldn't gain experience from him.

The Lucky Egg from before was different. It offered long-term benefits, as it could increase experience gain by 50%. This was something the Pokémon could sense and be attracted to.

But the mysterious fruit only had the effect of raising levels.

For the Pokémon whose level had already been suppressed and couldn't be raised, it naturally wasn't appealing.

"Come on, eat up. Once you get stronger, you'll have to protect me," Ryo said softly, noticing Espeon hesitating.

Hearing these words, Espeon nodded seriously and then started eating the fruits on the ground.

The mysterious fruit could increase the level of a Pokémon without any side effects.

It was entirely as if the power had been cultivated naturally through hard work.

If there had been any negative effects, Ryo wouldn't have allowed Espeon to consume them in the first place.