c39: Shopping and Daily Training
Fukushi Pokémon Center.
"Grandma, I've just caught a new Pokémon—Conkeldurr! From now on, if anything at the Breeder Field needs renovations or repairs, Conkeldurr can handle it. Its craftsmanship is excellent! I'm transferring it to you now," Chen Xiaoxiao said cheerfully.
After finishing her two-month wilderness training arc in the Fushi Wild Area, Chen Xiaoxiao arrived at the local Pokémon Center to contact her grandmother through the PokéCom system. She initiated the remote transfer of Conkeldurr's Poké Ball to her grandmother's PC account.
Since her grandmother was aging and the family lacked any adult male presence, Chen Xiaoxiao knew that having a sturdy Pokémon like Conkeldurr at home would make a difference especially one trained in construction. Conkeldurr had just finished building a castle-style villa in Chen Xiaoxiao's Pokémon space. Thanks to its constant building work and shared Exp. Share boosts during battles, it had broken through from quasi-Elite to true Elite-level strength.
Although Shencheng, where her grandmother lived, was relatively peaceful, leaving behind a strong Pokémon gave Chen Xiaoxiao peace of mind.
Yes, she was a deeply filial granddaughter. That was absolutely the reason she transferred Conkeldurr.
Definitely not because she found Conkeldurr's face a little hard to look at.
Nope. Absolutely not.
"After so much time living in the wild, returning to a bustling city actually feels… surreal," Chen Xiaoxiao murmured to herself after leaving the Pokémon Center. As she gazed at the passing crowd of Trainers, office workers, and vendors, she felt a brief pang of cultural whiplash.
It was not unlike soldiers returning to civilian life after long deployments where the silence of the battlefield is replaced by the noise of daily life, and the structured tension of combat gives way to social chaos.
"Whatever. First things first furniture!"
Shaking off the strange weight in her chest, Chen Xiaoxiao tapped open her Pokédex, searching for the largest furniture market in Fushi. She hailed a ride-share cab a kilometer away and headed straight to the city's premier furniture complex.
The villa in her Pokémon space had been built in a European-style castle towers, arch windows, and classic stonework. In her previous life, Chen Xiaoxiao had once dreamed of being a prince. In this life, her family's financial status had risen sharply, but while the "prince" fantasy remained out of reach, the "princess" version was now very attainable.
Led by a knowledgeable shopping guide, Chen Xiaoxiao wandered into the European-style showroom section and began curating her ideal castle interior.
She picked out furniture with premium materials and masterful detailing, with white and pastel tones dominating the color palette. Elegant wardrobes, chaise lounges, vintage vanities, and canopy beds flowed into her purchase list.
When it was time to check out… the total was a few million PokéYen.
Compared to what Trainers spent on high-grade Held Items, Technical Machines, or Evolution Stones, this was pocket change. A top-tier TM like Hyper Beam cost tens of millions. Premium Evolution Stones? Even more. And don't even start on rare Pokémon eggs.
Thanks to the world's developed space-folding technology, Chen Xiaoxiao had the entire furniture set transported directly into her Pokémon space using her bracelet's integrated mini-storage module. Of course, to casual observers, it looked like she simply stored everything in her portable capsule bracelet.
As for arranging and installing the furniture in the castle?
That job went to Gardevoir.
Yes, Chen Xiaoxiao completely trusted her. Gardevoir had long since graduated from "competent maid" to "elite housekeeper," with organizational skills that could rival a professional interior designer. Each piece of furniture would find its exact place under her psychic control.
"Hmmm, what else do I need to get?"
She scrolled through her mental list. All the kitchenware and appliances had already been bundled with her building materials order, and Conkeldurr had either installed or prepped the infrastructure before being transferred.
"Oh right… the walk-in wardrobe's still half-empty, and a lot of what's there is last season. Guess it's time for a wardrobe upgrade!"
Leaving the furniture complex, Chen Xiaoxiao hailed another taxi and headed to Fushi's largest fashion plaza. Once again, she unleashed her inner shopping queen.
Buy, buy, buy!
Luxury streetwear, athletic wear, formal gowns, and plenty of daily wear filled her cart. And, in a moment of playful indulgence, she selected over a dozen different styles of maid outfits just for Gardevoir.
Gardevoir's graceful, bashful reaction upon receiving them made Chen Xiaoxiao laugh uncontrollably.
With her clothing spree complete, she walked to a nearby mega-mart and bought loads of long-lasting ingredients fresh vegetables, herbs, high-grade Pokéfood ingredients, and rare berries like Sitrus, Lum, and Kee.
By the time she walked out, her bags floating behind her via psychic assistance, the sky had already begun to turn orange with evening light.
Returning to her Pokémon space, Chen Xiaoxiao was greeted by the familiar environment she had painstakingly cultivated. The flow of time in this space perfectly synchronized with the outside world, including the natural transitions between day and night, as well as changes in temperature and humidity. Unlike traditional Poké Balls or isolated subspaces used by average Trainers, her custom-developed Pokémon space maintained full environmental realism.
Not only that, the Pokédex signal remained strong within the space. Activating the GPS module displayed her coordinates as exactly where she had entered useful for maintaining orientation and reconnecting with the outside world if needed.
Chen Xiaoxiao issued a mental command to Gardevoir, who had long taken on the role of both elite housekeeper and psychic multitasker. Soon, a rich assortment of gourmet dishes was laid out in the ornate dining area of the newly furnished villa prepared entirely via psychic cooking and high-efficiency appliances synced through the space.
To celebrate the completion of their new home, Chen Xiaoxiao hosted a small but heartfelt "moving-in" dinner party with all of her Pokémon.
Laughter, playful banter (telepathically translated through her Advanced Psychic Pokémon Language ability), and the clinking of cutlery filled the dining hall as they enjoyed dishes tailored to each Pokémon's preference from specially grilled Berries for Togekiss to seared Magikarp fillets for Lapras.
Chen Xiaoxiao felt a rare peace. After spending months training in wild terrain and overcoming Elite-level challenges, moments like this quiet, warm, and full of camaraderie were the true reward.
After dinner, she played and relaxed with her Pokémon for a while, before retiring to her room. Nestled in a plush white bed beneath a canopy of twinkling LED stars, she drifted into deep, uninterrupted sleep.
---
"Gardevoir, gather everyone. It's time to train."
At exactly 6:00 a.m., just after sunrise, Chen Xiaoxiao rose from bed. This had been her daily rhythm since she entered high school at age twelve. Unless she was deep in a wild zone or caught in a major event, she never skipped morning training.
No truly Excellent Trainer became strong by relying solely on Pokémon.
Good physical conditioning and tactical instincts were essential especially in tightly matched battles, where split-second decisions or stamina differences made all the difference.
Unless her team was so overwhelmingly powerful that they could brute-force any opponent which, admittedly, Solgaleo sometimes could Chen Xiaoxiao refused to rely on brute strength alone.
---
Wearing tight black athletic shorts and a matching sports bra, Chen Xiaoxiao led her Pokémon in a warm-up jog through the vast Pokémon space. Togekiss flew low in synchronized formation just behind her.
But this wasn't a casual run.
Thanks to Gardevoir's Gravity control, every Pokémon and Chen Xiaoxiao herself was running under custom-calibrated Gravity pressure, adjusted according to their physical stats. The strain was real. The benefits, even more so.
Ever since acquiring the Pokémon space, Chen Xiaoxiao had methodically developed a training blueprint. The landscape manipulated through terrain modules featured everything from jagged mountain paths and dense forests to arctic glaciers and wind-blown desert dunes.
The daily route changed often, but always followed the same guiding principle: environmental adaptability.
When entering sand terrain, she and her Pokémon had to lighten their steps lest they sink or trip with the added weight of Gravity.
Crossing glacial ground required fine-tuned balance; excessive force would crack the ice, and poor coordination meant slipping.
During water crossings, the Gravity boost turned swimming into resistance training one wrong stroke, and they'd sink like a rock.
This wasn't just physical it was strategic. The level of exertion and reflex conditioning surpassed even that of special ops training units from her previous life.
In fact, if not for the biologically enhanced stamina of humans and Pokémon in this world (as explained in Pokémon Adventures manga, where human-Pokémon synergy was shown to border on the superhuman), such an intense routine would likely result in illness or injury.
After completing one full lap, Chen Xiaoxiao clapped her hands. "Break time! Skill control drills start soon Gardevoir, follow the schedule."
"Understood, Xiaoxiao."
Once a month, Chen Xiaoxiao conducted a full assessment of each Pokémon's performance evaluating move accuracy, cast speed, and power scaling.
Based on those evaluations, she would revise their training goals and submit the detailed plan to Gardevoir, who acted as team coordinator. Gardevoir, despite her gentle demeanor, could command the respect of even the mighty Solgaleo, who obediently followed her instructions.
Slackers had no place here but discipline didn't come from fear. It came from loyalty, from a shared desire to grow stronger. Most of Chen Xiaoxiao's team even trained beyond the designated hours, driven by their own aspirations.
Still, Chen Xiaoxiao set firm boundaries: overtraining was forbidden. Gardevoir enforced that too. When outside the space, Solgaleo took up the mantle of supervising the younger team members.
---
With everything in order, Chen Xiaoxiao headed to her personal gym facility a newly built training annex in the west wing of the villa.
When she first began physical training, she had worried that it might make her bulky, that she'd become a muscle-bound warrior and lose her femininity.
But over time, as she saw the results defined abs forming into a light vest line, toned limbs that retained elegance, and her natural figure unharmed she grew confident. Her body reflected not brute strength, but controlled power.
Power with grace.
And that was exactly how she wanted to fight.
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