Wanderer of the Pokémon World

Chapter 304: A Prodigy's Mind, A Parent's Worry

Xiu went upstairs and found the Chen family. They were accompanying Sol on the balcony on the second floor, with many different books placed around them.

And Sol really was, as Rinko had described, an astonishingly fast reader. She would just take a quick glance at a page and then turn to the next.

It was so fast that Xiu even doubted whether she could possibly be seeing the words clearly, let alone comprehending them.

Abra also possessed a photographic memory, but its process wasn't this exaggerated.

"Good morning," Xiu greeted as he leaned over to observe.

After a quick look, he saw that Chen and Mei were holding books related to Pokémon.

He had to admit, these two people were really dedicated as parents. If their daughter wanted to learn these things, they were determined to learn them too, if only to understand her world better and be able to communicate more effectively with her.

This kind of parental dedication was rare.

When Chen saw Xiu coming over, he stood up and responded, closing the book in his hand.

"How are you finding them?" Xiu asked, gesturing to the books. "Do you understand these Pokémon basics?"

When Chen heard this, he exchanged a look with his wife, then smiled bitterly and shook his head.

Xiu looked at him and realized that these books were indeed a little difficult for them.

After all, they had very little, or even no prior experience in this area— but they were not the main reason he had come here. Xiu turned his attention to Sol.

When he looked towards her, Sol seemed to sense his focus. She stopped her rapid page-turning and looked up at Xiu.

Xiu noticed that the books in Sol's hand were now advanced botanical texts from Rinko's family collection. As for those basic books about Pokémon, she had apparently already read them all.

Xiu picked up one of the Pokémon books Sol had finished and sat down next to her. "I'm going to test you now," he said.

Xiu randomly picked out a few questions from the material. Sol responded directly through telepathy, her answers concise and accurate.

Soon, Xiu was cycling through books one after another, and the difficulty of his questions became progressively harder.

They were no longer limited to simple memory recall but combined critical thinking and required cross-referencing information from other texts— but none of these could stump Sol. Her answers were clear, insightful, and close to perfect.

It was evident that her quick glance was not as simple as just memorizing the page; she was also thinking, processing, and integrating the information at an incredible speed.

This was terrifying.

Xiu finally experienced the same feeling of awe and slight unease that Rinko had felt.

It seemed he had still underestimated the true extent of Sol's abilities, the true gift of the Power of Viridian. Xiu couldn't help but think of Sol's previous state of almost constant, passive mental contact with him before she learned to control her telepathy.

If she had maintained that heightened state of awareness for a long time, it would explain her current accelerated development. This gift from the Viridian Forest was truly immense.

Even Xiu couldn't help but feel a fleeting twinge of jealousy, but it disappeared in the blink of an eye. He could only smile bitterly and shake his head at this extraordinary phenomenon.

"How did she do?" Chen and the others asked, curious when they saw Xiu's reaction. They didn't know whether their daughter had passed his impromptu test.

"I have to say, Sol is exceptionally talented," Xiu stated. "Her learning ability is far beyond that of ordinary people. Honestly, I have nothing more to teach her in basic areas." Xiu had no intention of hiding anything and told them the situation directly.

Naturally, Chen and Mei were very happy to hear this. After all, in their eyes, Xiu was a very strong and knowledgeable Trainer. If he said so, it meant that their daughter was truly remarkable.

Seeing how happy they were, Xiu couldn't help but add a dose of realism. "But actual Pokémon handling and training are not solely based on what is in a book. These texts are just for reference, a foundation.

We will have to wait until Sol actually comes into contact with Pokémon, forms bonds, and gains practical experience to know the specific situation and her true aptitude."

Neither his praise nor his cautionary reminder seemed to elicit much of a reaction from Sol herself. Xiu's words seemed to have no direct emotional effect on her.

It's a bit of a headache dealing with someone so detached, Xiu thought and decided to set aside the puzzle of Sol's emotional responses for now.

Instead, he looked at Chen and Mei and said something to them. "You two come out first. I have something important to tell you."

They didn't know what Xiu meant, but they followed him out of the balcony area anyway. Sol showed no outward curiosity about this, simply continuing to flip through the book in her hand.

After leaving Sol to her studies, Xiu told Chen and Mei the news that the immediate crisis around Viridian City had temporarily stabilized.

"So, you can go back now if you wish."

Upon hearing this news, Chen and his wife were very happy. After all, no matter how good this place was, it was not as comfortable or familiar as their own home, and their family business was still in Viridian City.

But before they could be happy for long, Xiu poured a bucket of cold water on them.

"Don't be too happy yet. I received news that the Kanto League will most likely liquidate businesses and individuals like yours who fled during the crisis. So, it's best to be thoroughly prepared before going back."

When Chen heard this, his face changed drastically. He hurriedly explained, "But we didn't do anything wrong! We just fled for our safety!"

"Whether you did anything overtly wrong or not, you violated the League's directive at the time and escaped from Viridian City during a declared emergency. This is the reality," Xiu stated bluntly.

"Do you think the League, in its current financial desperation, will care about your individual circumstances? You'd better get your affairs clean and in order, otherwise, the League will make you 'clean' in their own way by seizing assets or imposing heavy fines."

Xiu's tone was calm, without any discernible emotion, but just these simple, direct words made Chen understand the grave danger they were in. He could only frown deeply and think, his earlier joy extinguished.

After a while, Chen said to Xiu with a serious, troubled face, "I understand. Thank you very much for this warning, Xiu."

Xiu knew from his expression that Chen had no good immediate solution, so he couldn't help but ask, "By the way, what exactly is your business? What do you do?"

Although they had met before, it was only a brief, one-time encounter, and they had mostly talked about the general humanities and history of Viridian City.

As for their second meeting in Pallet Town, Xiu had been so busy that there had been very little opportunity for casual communication. So, until now, Xiu's understanding of them was still largely limited to their names.

"We are in the fashion design business," Chen explained. "We used to work as designers in Mei's father's company. That's where we met. Later, we started out on our own.

Now, we have a small studio with about 30 people, specializing in custom fashion design. Our annual income is roughly 400,000 to 500,000 Poké Dollars."

"Do you have any high-level connections?" Xiu asked. "For example, do you know any senior officials within the Kanto League?"

"How is that possible?" Upon hearing this, Chen smiled bitterly in helplessness. If he didn't know that Xiu was not the kind of person to mock others' misfortune, he would have thought that Xiu was deliberately taunting him.

Under the current circumstances, Chen's company could only be considered a small company, or even a micro-enterprise in the overall economic environment.

It was nothing significant in a major commercial hub like Viridian City. If he really had to go back now, let alone whether he could bear the fine from the League, even if he could, the predatory actions of the larger companies that would inevitably follow would be the most terrifying threat.

Xiu explained the likely situation in a few simple, unvarnished words, and now the couple looked even more frightened.

They were afraid that the foundation they had worked so hard to build for so many years would be gone. And what about Sol's future if that happened?

"Don't be so pessimistic yet," Xiu said, seeing their despair. "Go back and see how much the fine actually is. If you really have no other options, I can introduce you to someone.

She has some abilities and influence in Viridian City and may be able to help solve your problem— but she is, first and foremost, a businesswoman, so you'd better be prepared to negotiate when you approach her."