Raikou Brings a Child

[Your proactive help left Raikou, who harbors wariness and prejudice toward humans, utterly stunned.]

[Shock Points from Raikou +50!]

A message flashed across the panel, but Dongshu paid it no mind. More than that, what intrigued him was how Raikou had gotten injured—or rather, what kind of being could harm it.

A Pokémon? No, it had to be humans.

Dongshu's mind then conjured up the plot from the movie Raikou, Legend of Thunder, where Team Rocket tried to capture Raikou.

The only ones who could threaten Raikou were likely Team Rocket.

[Remember the domain name: Taiwan Novel Net, t͜͜͡͡w͜͜͡͡k͜͜͜͡͡a͜͜͡͡n͜͜͡͡.c͜͜͡͡o͜͜͡͡m͜͜͡͡, super useful.]

Raikou's eyes flickered, as if it hadn't yet snapped out of the scene from moments ago.

But soon, a thunderclap instinctively rang through its mind.

What scheme does this human have?!

Raikou's gaze shot like lightning at the human cub before it.

Yet, after healing the wound on its arm, the other simply lay back down obediently, pressed against its fur, closed its eyes with a docile look, and continued sleeping.

What audacity!

This brat dares to be so presumptuous with it!

If it were any other time, Raikou would have pulled away and scolded the other for such reckless behavior.

But... its mind then flashed back to the scene of the other helping treat its injury, and it silently shut its mouth.

Outside the cave, the moonlight was clear, and Raikou's heart gradually calmed.

It looked down at the human cub curled up beside it, nestled against it in sleep, and a deeply complex feeling stirred within.

This was the first time it had been this close to a human.

The sleeping human cub looked utterly harmless, nothing like the treacherous, cunning humans it had encountered.

"..."

The night passed without a word.

The next morning, when Dongshu opened his eyes from sleep, Raikou was already gone.

Dongshu rubbed his eyes. Just as he was about to go out and look, he saw Raikou walk in from outside, carrying a few Berries in its mouth.

Seeing him staring, Raikou spoke coldly through telepathy: "Don't overthink it. I just didn't want you to starve to death and be unable to explain it to Fire Emperor."

Dongshu: "..."

Why did that line sound oddly familiar?

Still, Dongshu didn't mind. Even if Raikou hadn't brought him food, he could have spent Shock Points to buy some from the store.

Right now, he had a total of 205 Shock Points saved up.

Compared to three months ago, that was practically a fortune.

Maybe it was the farming gene buried deep in his Chinese blood, but Dongshu always felt like planting something around here.

Since he'd decided to stay and live on Heavenly Green Mountain, he should start gradually improving the surroundings.

Setting aside building a home, just going out to find Berries every day took considerable effort.

If they hit a lean year and couldn't find food in the wild, they'd truly starve.

Rather than waiting for fruit to grow on trees and relying on nature, it was more reliable to plant things himself.

As Dongshu ate the Berries, he flipped through the System Store, searching for planting-related items.

Opening the store, the first thing he saw was a chibi-style farm field, like something out of QQ Farm.

[Farmland: A 9x9 plot of land with built-in high-quality soil. Any crop planted in it will thrive. Can be placed anywhere. Exchange cost: 5000 Shock Points.]

Too expensive... pass. Besides, Berries weren't picky about soil quality—as long as the land wasn't too barren or desolate, they could grow normally.

"Hmm, let me see what Berry seeds are in the store..."

Pomelo Fruit, Orange Fruit, Peach Fruit... all the way to rarer ones like Jaboca Fruit, Dragon Eye Fruit, and Sand Scale Fruit—everything was available.

Aside from Berries, there were also seeds for all kinds of fruit and vegetable crops for sale.

From wheat, corn, and soybeans to Hops, cabbage, strawberries, and pumpkins—the variety was very complete.

What caught Dongshu's attention most was that the store even sold different stages of these crop seeds!

[Pomelo Fruit Seed: Plant it in soil and nurture it carefully. After some time, it will grow into a Pomelo Fruit tree. Exchange cost: 100 Shock Points.]

[Pomelo Fruit Sapling: A tender young sprout that skips the time from seed germination to breaking through the soil. Can be planted directly into the ground. With careful nurturing, it will grow into a towering tree. Exchange cost: 400 Shock Points.]

[Pomelo Fruit Tree: A fully grown Pomelo Fruit tree. Once planted, you can harvest Pomelo Fruits the very next day. Exchange cost: 1000 Shock Points.]

If he bought a fully grown Pomelo Fruit tree outright, wouldn't that mean they'd instantly have a tree that could bear fruit?

Dongshu's heart raced with temptation, but when he looked at his balance, his desire far outstripped his means.

"Ah, forget it, I'll just grow the Berries myself for now," Dongshu thought.

He had saved up all the leftover Berry pits from these past days. He'd plant them later, and by autumn, they'd sprout.

That way, he could save some Shock Points for himself.

After all, there were plenty of places where Shock Points were needed.

From building a home, buying furniture, wallpaper, and flooring, to constructing an ecological park and setting up an artificial sun...

Dongshu even thought about using Rare Candy to feed Fire Emperor all the way to Lv100 before he turned ten and set out on his journey.

That way, they could sweep through anyone and anything without worrying about dangers they couldn't handle.

Staying on Heavenly Green Mountain for life was out of the question. As a Pokémon enthusiast, Dongshu had been deeply fascinated by the Pokémon world in his past life.

He definitely had to go out and see it—see Pallet Town and Ash, visit some famous story spots and check them off his list.

And coincidentally, Fire Emperor also needed to leave to fulfill his own mission. At that point, he'd travel with Fire Emperor and carry out that mission together.

As for the problem of getting home...

Dongshu's gaze lingered on the item at the very bottom of the shop.

[Teleportation Device: A miraculous device infused with the power of the space deity Palkia. Install it at a base, and you can use its accompanying Teleportation Bracelet to teleport back to the base anytime, anywhere. Safe and reliable. Exchange required: 100,000 Shock Points.]

When the time came, they could set up this Teleportation Device in the cave on Heavenly Green Mountain, and then come back whenever they wanted.

But then, Dongshu's eyes fell on the Shock Points needed to exchange for this Teleportation Device.

Dongshu: "..."

"Ah! How am I supposed to earn Shock Points faster?"

Dongshu couldn't help but let out a long sigh, then flopped weakly onto the Leaf Bed Fire Emperor had made for him.

Raikou: "?"

Dongshu's mind raced.

Right now, he was very young, and his appearance looked harmless and innocent—very deceptive. Plus, after all this time together, both Fire Emperor and Marshadow were completely defenseless against his cutesy antics.

If he used his looks to get on good terms with Ho-Oh, then shamelessly acted cute in front of him, would Ho-Oh be willing to take him for a low-altitude flight over a human city?

As long as people saw him riding on Ho-Oh, it would definitely net him a massive amount of Shock Points.

If one city wasn't enough, he'd fly over a few more. If that still wasn't enough, he'd cover a few regions.

That way, he'd have both the startup funds for his home and the Shock Points to level Fire Emperor straight to 100.