Entei had seen Little One use it once before. After that, Little One had fallen asleep from overexertion.
"You're still too young to control this power properly. It'll drain your strength. Don't use it without my permission," Entei said gravely.
At that, a huge question mark seemed to pop up over Dongshu's head.
What was Entei talking about?
Using the system didn't require him to burn up his life or offer his soul. All it took was a few Shock Points!
But seeing Entei's serious expression, Dongshu belatedly realized that Entei seemed to have misunderstood something.
He tried to explain, but all he could manage were incoherent baby noises. In the end, he had no choice but to give up.
Entei turned his gaze to Marshadow.
It was just about to say something when it saw Little One fetch the milk bottle he had left over from earlier. He poured some Moomoo Milk into it, then hugged it and crawled toward Marshadow.
Entei and Marshadow both froze slightly at the sight.
A guest was a guest. He and Entei were drinking Moomoo Milk here; they couldn't very well leave Marshadow watching them drink from over there, could they?
That would be terribly rude.
Thinking this, Dongshu pushed the milk bottle in his hands toward Marshadow.
Marshadow froze on the spot.
Was this human baby... sharing food with it?
"Waa!" Drink up!
Dongshu looked at Marshadow, who was just a little taller than him, and spoke to it.
Marshadow's face showed unmistakable astonishment. It parted its lips slightly and stared at the human baby before it in disbelief.
When it didn't move, the baby seemed a little confused.
He looked down at the bottle, then pushed it closer to Marshadow.
"This is Little One's gift to you. Take it," Entei said, his voice full of authority.
It walked slowly over to Dongshu. Ignoring Marshadow, it took Dongshu by the clothes and carried him back to the Leaf Bed it had just made.
Marshadow remained silent. The Ghost type flames around it drifted and burned soundlessly.
A moment later, it bent down and picked up the bottle of milky-white liquid. Then it looked up at Entei and its young charge before silently slipping into the shadows. It was gone in no time.
Dongshu grinned. Nice! Marshadow really had come through for him!
That had earned him 25 Shock Points in one go. Adding the 15 from before and subtracting the 5 he had just spent on Moomoo Milk, Dongshu still had a whopping 35 points.
Dongshu opened the System Store.
Poké Balls for catching Pokémon, Rare Candies for raising their levels, and Secret Power for creating a Secret Base all required huge amounts of Shock Points. They were far beyond his reach for now.
Compared to those, he would be much better off exchanging points for things that were more useful to him at the moment.
Like a soft, comfortable bed and bedding, a new set of clothes, a toilet for convenience, a door to block the wind, and kitchen utensils for cooking.
With a thought, a series of items that met his needs appeared in the store.
[Baby Crib: A bed suitable for babies, designed with sturdy safety features to prevent falls. Exchange cost: 500 Shock Points.] [Fully Automatic Flushing Toilet: A household fixture for personal hygiene. Must be installed where there is a water source. Can be paired with a Distortion Space connection device; waste expelled by the user will be automatically flushed into the Distortion World. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]
Dongshu: "..."
What the heck was the Distortion World doing in there?!
Wouldn't Giratina, the god of the Distortion World, come and kill him that very night if he did that?
[Baby Clothes: A complete set of baby clothes for changing, suitable for all four seasons. Exchange cost: 200 Shock Points.] [Door: A door that provides privacy and security for the user. Automatically adapts to any type of doorframe. Exchange cost: 300 Shock Points.] [Kitchen Utensils: A complete set of utensils for cooking. Exchange cost: 500 Shock Points.] [Tableware: A complete set of dishes and utensils for meals. Exchange cost: 300 Shock Points.] [Striped Wood Flooring: Automatically changes the floor of your home when used. Exchange cost: 500 Shock Points.]
Dongshu gazed at the dazzling array of items and silently wept. So expensive... His "fortune" wasn't enough to buy even one thing.
Still, there was one thing worth being happy about. With so many fully equipped household items available, he could be self-sufficient in the future, even if he never returned to a human city and lived with Entei on Heavenly Green Mountain instead.
With that thought, Dongshu searched the store again.
Before long, several new screens appeared before him, showing items unlike the household goods from earlier.
[Farmland: A 9x9 plot with exceptionally fertile soil. Any crop planted in it will grow well. Can be placed anywhere. Exchange cost: 5,000 Shock Points.] [Fish Pond: A fish pond with a built-in water-circulation system. Can be used to raise ordinary fish for food, and also provides a perfect habitat for Water-type Pokémon. Exchange cost: 5,000 Shock Points.] [Automatic Sprinkler: An automatic watering device that can be placed in a field. Exchange cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]
Expensive. Way too expensive!
Dongshu glanced at the store's Trainer section again.
[Poké Ball (Red and White): A Poké Ball used to catch Wild Pokémon. Average performance. Exchange cost: 200 Shock Points.] [Rare Candy: A candy that raises a Pokémon's level. The price varies according to the Pokémon's level. A single candy for a low-level Pokémon costs only 1,000 Shock Points. The price rises as the Pokémon's level increases, reaching as much as 100,000 Shock Points per candy.]
One hundred thousand Shock Points?
The only thing Dongshu could think of was a level 99 Pokémon reaching level 100.
But in the real world, levels didn't exist, and a Pokémon's strength could fluctuate depending on various factors, such as its bond with its Trainer—or what people commonly called a power-up. He had no way of judging.
Looks like I'll have to find a way to get some Shock Points, Dongshu thought to himself.
The Trainer section could wait. At the very least, he needed to improve the quality of life for himself and Entei first.
If only he were in the human world.
But he was far too young to pull off the trick of riding a Legendary Pokémon and showing off in front of ordinary Trainers to earn Shock Points.
In that case, he'd have to find a way to earn them from the Pokémon around him.
Which raised the question: he'd gotten some Shock Points earlier by peeing all over Entei. When Ho-Oh returned to Heavenly Green Mountain, would he earn more by peeing on Ho-Oh?
No... wouldn't Ho-Oh beat him to death for that?
Before you continue