A Relaxing Day, Failed Capture?

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Yan Yang was taking his Litleo out for some exercise.

There were no particularly good training methods for Pokémon in the early stages, and Yan Yang himself did not know exactly how to train them properly, so he could only improve their endurance through simple exercise.

The simplest method was running. It required nothing and could be started right away. It was also one of the few forms of exercise most people engaged in.

Though simple, the key was persistence. Many people could not even keep up half an hour of running every day, so naturally they saw little improvement.

Pokémon like Litleo rather enjoyed running, though they might not like it as much once they grew up.

They were lively and energetic when young, but became less active after evolving. Examples like that were quite common in the Pokémon world.

That was why training was especially important for Pokémon in their early stages. Otherwise, once they grew up, they would not want to move much. Keeping up their enthusiasm could also make training twice as effective with half the effort.

After running, they could jump rope.

He tied one end of the rope to a tree, held the other end himself, and began swinging it for Litleo to jump over.

At first, Litleo was a little afraid. Like most people jumping a long rope for the first time, he was worried about getting hit by it.

But under Yan Yang's coaxing and temptation, Litleo naturally could not refuse. After successfully jumping over it for the first time, he fell in love with the feeling and jumped with even more enthusiasm. Even when he accidentally tripped, it did nothing to dampen his spirits.

Perhaps he was enjoying that brief moment when his body left the ground.

Then came ball play.

It seemed that all cats liked round things. The moment Litleo saw the little rubber ball, his eyes lit up. He pounced on it, wanting to catch it, but if he failed to hold it securely, the ball would roll away, and Litleo would happily chase after it.

Who could say that ordinary games did not count as exercise?

Once they were done exercising, Yan Yang took Litleo to bathe.

The river water was still ice-cold at this time, though it was not quite so cold for Pokémon.

Yan Yang was still sensitive to the cold, but compared to winter temperatures, this was nothing worth mentioning. It was still within the range he could endure by gritting his teeth.

The more he thought about it, the more annoying it was. He used to bathe in water at this temperature all the time, yet now even a cold bath made him shiver.

Fortunately, Entei was not around, or he would definitely have lectured him.

It was precisely because Entei was absent that Yan Yang dared to openly take a cold bath. When children had been repressed for too long or grew bored, they liked secretly doing things adults would not allow.

As a Fire-type Pokémon and a feline that disliked water, Litleo should have hated bathing.

However, Yan Yang bathed him often, and by now he was not afraid of water at all. In a roundabout way, it had also slightly improved his resistance to the Water element.

Still, Water-type moves did not consist of water alone; they also contained Water-type elemental energy. So even Pokémon that were not usually afraid of water still had to fear Water-type moves.

Yan Yang lifted Litleo up and, before he could react, tossed him straight into the river.

Litleo gulped down a mouthful of water and choked a little. He turned back and looked at his Trainer with resentful eyes.

Yan Yang burst out laughing, then took off his clothes and dove in after him.

He had once been a little embarrassed about bathing in front of Entei and the others, but now his expression did not change at all. There was no one nearby, so what was there to fear? There was no need to impose so many rules from human society in front of Pokémon.

The water really was cold, and Yan Yang shivered slightly. But he could not make it too obvious in front of his Pokémon; he had to leave him with a good impression.

There was no body wash or anything like that, so bathing himself just meant scrubbing his body and rinsing off with water.

But that was for himself. He was not nearly so casual when washing his own Pokémon.

Pokémon with fur needed to be cleaned especially thoroughly.

He could also take the opportunity to get a handful of soft fur.

Cat lovers would definitely envy a little kitty that was not afraid of water, right? Hehe, he had one at home. Not only did it not resist, it was even quite cooperative.

Bathing a Pokémon was also a way to increase intimacy.

Effective petting was already a quick way to strengthen the bond between both sides. Of course, ineffective petting was another matter entirely.

Yan Yang remembered that the first time he bathed Litleo, he had deliberately checked down there. Sure enough, there had been no little bells.

Although he knew Pokémon were all born from eggs, he still could not help but complain. Was a male lion without that really still a male lion?

Ahem, he had gotten off track. Time to keep bathing Litleo.

After his bath, all of Litleo's fur was plastered down. How was he any different from a drenched chicken?

Can't find it by searching the book title? Try searching for the author instead—it may have simply been renamed!

Unable to hold it in, Yan Yang burst out laughing.

Litleo: "6."

This Trainer was hopeless. He laughed at him every time after a bath. Sure, he did look a little ugly, but did he have to do this every single time? He had seen it several times already, so how could he still laugh?

Litleo was very angry right now—the kind that no amount of tasty food could solve.

No matter the species, being angry during infancy did not really count as anger. It felt more like a bit of spoiled pouting, so adorable that it was impossible to resist.

Yan Yang quickly picked Litleo up, letting him shake the water from his body all over him.

It counted as letting him vent a little.

"Alright, alright. We'll have something delicious later. Whatever you say."

After hearing that, Litleo's mood instantly brightened. He really was a little glutton.

Yan Yang could not help wondering: if both Entei and he were away from home, would this little glutton eat all the food in the house?

Probably not. There was so much food, and he was not Snorlax. Even if they let the still-young Litleo eat his fill, how much could he possibly eat?

After drying himself off, Yan Yang dried Litleo as well, and that adorable little Litleo was back again.

Once they were dressed, Yan Yang took Litleo for another walk around before heading back to prepare something for him to eat.

After all, it was better not to eat immediately after exercising or taking a bath.

Yan Yang had not cared about such things before, but now that he had someone to look after, it was naturally better to keep a more regular routine.

He knew it was probably unnecessary. Pokémon had excellent physical constitutions and would not suffer problems over such minor things.

Still, a regular schedule and diet were never bad things.

Build good habits, live to a hundred and three.

Back home, they ate a little, then he began playing with Litleo again.

With Pokémon by his side, he truly did not feel bored at all.

Litleo happily accepted his Trainer's teasing. It seemed he had been played with often enough that he sometimes even took the initiative to beg for it.

Yan Yang was naturally delighted.

After playing for a while, Yan Yang looked at the Poké Balls set beside him and fell into thought.

He wondered whether he should put Litleo into a Poké Ball. Strictly speaking, Yan Yang was not yet Litleo's Trainer.

Entei was not even worth considering. He probably would not agree, and as a powerful Legendary Pokémon, he should not have to give up certain things just because of Yan Yang.

Yet putting Litleo in a Poké Ball somehow felt a little strange.

Could a captured Pokémon still count as family?

But he soon figured it out. Who said a Pokémon and Trainer could not be family? His relationship with Litleo would not develop cracks because of a single Poké Ball.

Besides, once Litleo was captured, no one else could steal him away. After all, a Pokémon could only have one Poké Ball. To forcibly capture someone else's Pokémon, they would first have to smash its original Poké Ball.

Having made up his mind, Yan Yang picked up a Poké Ball and said earnestly to Litleo, "Yan Bao, are you willing to truly become my Pokémon and grow alongside me?"

Litleo found it a little strange that his Trainer had suddenly become so serious, but he liked his current Trainer and was naturally very willing to become his support.

After receiving his agreement, Yan Yang threw the Poké Ball.

The scene of successful capture that he had imagined did not appear.

The Poké Ball bounced away.

What was going on?

Yan Yang checked it and discovered that this Poké Ball already had an occupant.

They had all been empty when he checked them before.

That meant a Pokémon had already become his Pokémon without his knowledge.

And these Poké Balls had always been in the cave. No other Pokémon had entered the cave recently.

So which Pokémon was inside this Poké Ball was already obvious. Yan Yang simply still did not quite dare believe it.

"Dad... Daddy..."