Capítulo 24: The "Money Tree"
After a bit of fiddling, Johan finally managed to temporarily mute the constant stream of comment notifications from his computer.
He skimmed through some of the comments.
To be honest, most of the people commenting were just there to "check it out" because of Professor Oak's comment. After all, not everyone had the patience to study Pokémon psychology. Still, this surge of attention managed to "activate" his previously quiet online consultation room.
Compared to the comments under the research paper, Johan was more interested in the people who came to consult him.
For him, these were valuable observational samples.
However, some of the inquiries left him speechless. Like the person asking if a Pokémon refusing to eat was a psychological issue, or the one asking whether humans and Pokémon should coexist...
Some questions were far too simple, while others were ridiculously profound.
If Johan didn't already know Mewtwo's username, he might have suspected that the user called "Math Magician" was Mewtwo in disguise.
In comparison, the user "Eevee Eats Cabbage" asking how to handle an overly insecure Pokémon seemed like a more reasonable psychological issue.
Since he finally had so many people consulting him, Johan decided to seize this opportunity to make a name for himself, replying to each inquiry in the hopes of building his reputation.
After all, this would be useful when he opened his own Pokémon psychology clinic in the future.
[Grain in the Field]: "If your Pokémon isn't eating and it's not full, could it be that the food isn't to its taste?"
That first question was simple enough.
For the third question, Johan decided to flip it back to the asker. People who posed such deep questions likely already had their own ideas. It might be more useful to let them express those thoughts first.
[Grain in the Field]: "If humans and Pokémon shouldn't coexist, how do you think they should interact...?"
As for the second question...
[Grain in the Field]: "Insecurity can arise from various causes, such as physical factors, past experiences, environment, or psychological reasons..."
The users "Little Growlithe" and "Math Magician" didn't respond, but "Eevee Eats Cabbage" quickly replied again.
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "I think... it might be a combination of all of those."
'Online 24/7, huh?'
Johan didn't expect such a quick response.
After some thought, he began typing again.
[Grain in the Field]: "That's a bit tricky, but no matter how many issues are involved, there's always a core problem. If we can identify and solve that, the other issues should resolve themselves."
Considering Mewtwo's previous "misunderstanding," he added another question for clarification.
[Grain in the Field]: "Could you show me what kind of Pokémon it is?"
A photo arrived quickly—seemingly taken in real-time on a phone.
However, when Johan saw the Pokémon in the picture, he fell silent.
Surrounded by greenery, in a pool of crystal-clear water, was a fish-like Pokémon.
Its body was mostly a dull brown, with several rough patches on its skin. Its fins and tail were light blue, though they appeared a bit ragged. Its expression looked dull and listless.
It was a Water-type Pokémon—Feebas!
Johan: "..."
He stared at the image of the Feebas for a long time, unsure of what to say.
If someone asked which Pokémon was the most insecure, Feebas would undoubtedly rank first. Well, maybe only the Pokémon that could see through everything would rival it…
But curing Feebas's insecurity… that was going to be extremely difficult.
Johan even wondered if the person was deliberately trying to challenge him.
As if noticing Johan's long silence, the user sent another message.
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "Is there a way?"
Johan took a deep breath.
[Grain in the Field]: "Yes."
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "Really?"
[Grain in the Field]: "It will be challenging. It'll require a combination of psychological treatment and physical intervention. But considering your situation, we'll have to focus on physical methods first. Try feeding it a bitter-flavored berry, like an Apicot Berry, and observe its reaction before we decide on the next step."
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "Got it, thanks!"
The user quickly logged off, likely to search for an Apicot Berry, leaving Johan massaging his temples.
Curing Feebas's insecurity?
There was really only one way to do that: evolve it!
In the games, Feebas could evolve in two ways—by increasing its beauty stat to 170 or by holding a Prism Scale and being traded.
But in the real world, considering how difficult it was to obtain a Prism Scale, and unsure of the user's financial situation, Johan chose the more reliable method: increasing Feebas's beauty stat.
The reason he suggested using the bitter-tasting Apicot Berry was that improving beauty required feeding Feebas bitter Pokéblocks or Poffins. Johan needed to see if this Feebas could tolerate bitter flavors first.
Gastly definitely couldn't tolerate them.
Moreover, using the method of slowly increasing beauty would feel more like a gradual "treatment."
If things went well, perhaps Johan could even write a paper on the topic—"On Feebas's Evolution into Milotic"?
Ding ding!
Just as Johan was about to log off and take Gastly for training, a new message popped up.
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "Sorry, I forgot to ask about the consultation fee."
Consultation fee?
Johan's eyes brightened.
Right, he wasn't offering free services to academy students here. This wasn't volunteer work.
However, since the effectiveness of this "treatment" was still unknown, Johan hesitated. He didn't want to ruin his reputation before he even had the chance to build it.
[Eevee Eats Cabbage]: "I found your account info. Sorry, money's a bit tight recently, so it took a while. I hope this amount is enough. If not, I'll send more next time."
Since League accounts usually required full details, finding Johan's bank information wasn't difficult.
Johan stared at the message on his phone: Your account has received 20,000 Pokédollars. Your remaining balance: 45,000 Pokédollars.
Silently, he deleted the message he had typed out saying, "Let's wait and see how things turn out first."
They gave a lot.
Mewtwo, take note!
And this was just for an initial consultation. There would be follow-up treatments later on…
"This is exactly why I want to open my own Pokémon psychology clinic," Johan thought to himself.
Looking at the now-offline [Eevee Eats Cabbage] account, it felt like he was staring at a "money tree," its branches jingling with coins.
"Gastly!" Johan suddenly called out.
"Ka-kah?!" Gastly jolted, startled. What now?
(ˇˇ)
"Hand over the phone. Let's order two more crates of Moomoo Milk!"
"Ka-kah?!" Gastly's voice shot up three octaves. Really?!
"Never skimp on your Pokémon's food. When have I ever lied to you?" Johan's eyes widened playfully.
"Ka-kah," Gastly pouted, full of skepticism.
Last time, you told me inhaling gas more than three times would kill me...
Johan: "..."
Was that really a lie?
It wasn't until Johan placed the order for two more crates of Moomoo Milk that Gastly finally believed him.
"Ka-kah?" Did you win the lottery or something?
Johan just smiled without answering.
"Come on, time for training."
Gastly was brimming with enthusiasm.
Indeed, for Pokémon who loved to eat, food was one of the greatest sources of motivation.
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