Thunderous Parenting

[Your active help greatly shocked Raikou, who was wary and prejudiced against humans.]

[Shock Points +50 from Raikou!]

A message appeared on the panel, but Dongshu paid it no mind. What intrigued him more was how Raikou had gotten injured.

Or, rather, what kind of being could hurt it?

A Pokémon? No, it had to be humans.

Dongshu immediately thought of the plot in the movie The Legend of Thunder, where Team Rocket tried to capture Raikou.

Team Rocket was probably the only one capable of threatening Raikou.

Raikou's eyes flickered, as if it still hadn't recovered from what had just happened.

But soon, a sudden clap of thunder seemed to sound in its mind.

What is this human up to?!

Raikou's gaze flashed like lightning as it fixed its eyes on the human child before it.

Yet after healing the wound on Raikou's arm, the child had obediently lain back down, snuggled against its fur, and closed his eyes to continue sleeping.

How audacious!

How dare this child behave so brazenly toward it!

Under normal circumstances, Raikou would have pulled away at once and reprimanded the child for his insolence.

But... the memory of the child helping heal its wound came to mind, and Raikou silently held its tongue.

Outside the cave, the moon shone bright, and Raikou gradually calmed down.

It lowered its head and looked at the human child curled up beside it, sleeping against its body. A feeling too complicated to describe welled up inside it.

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

The sleeping child looked harmless, nothing like the treacherous humans Raikou had encountered before.

"..."

The night passed in silence.

When Dongshu opened his eyes the next morning, Raikou was nowhere to be seen.

Dongshu rubbed his eyes. He was just about to go outside and look when Raikou walked in, carrying several Berries in its mouth.

Noticing him watching, Raikou spoke coldly through telepathy. "Don't read too much into it. I just didn't want you to starve to death and leave me unable to answer to the Fire Emperor."

Dongshu: "..."

Why did that sound so 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.

He had a full 205 Shock Points saved up now.

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

Perhaps it was the farming instinct in his Chinese blood, but Dongshu couldn't stop thinking about growing something here.

Since he had decided to stay here on Heavenly Green Mountain, he should gradually start improving the surrounding area.

Never mind building a home—just going out to look for Berries every day took quite a bit of effort.

If they ever hit a bad year and couldn't find food in the wild, they'd really starve.

Rather than wait for trees to bear fruit and rely on the weather, it would be more reassuring to grow things himself.

As he ate the Berries, Dongshu browsed the System Store, searching for items related to farming.

When he opened the store, the first thing he saw was a cute, chibi-style plot of farmland, just like in QQ Farm.

[Farmland: A 9x9 plot with exceptionally high-quality soil. Any crop planted in it will flourish. Can be placed anywhere. Cost: 5,000 Shock Points.]

Way too expensive... Pass. Besides, Berries weren't picky about soil quality. They could grow normally anywhere that wasn't too barren or infertile.

"Let's see what Berry seeds the store has..."

Pomelo Fruit, Oran Berry, Peach Fruit... There were even rarer Berries, such as Liechi Berries, Dragon Eye Fruit, and Sand Scale Fruit.

Besides Berries, the store also sold seeds for all kinds of fruit and crops.

From wheat, corn, and soybeans to Hops, cabbage, strawberries, and pumpkins—the selection was extensive.

What caught Dongshu's attention most was that the store sold these crops at different stages of growth!

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

[Pomelo Fruit Sapling: A young sapling that saves the time it takes for a seed to sprout and break through the soil. Plant it directly in the ground and care for it well, and it will grow into a towering tree. Cost: 400 Shock Points.]

[Pomelo Fruit Tree: A fully grown Pomelo Fruit tree. Plant it, and you can harvest Pomelo Fruit the very next day. Cost: 1,000 Shock Points.]

If he bought a Pomelo Fruit tree outright, wouldn't that mean they could have a fruit-bearing tree right away?

Dongshu was sorely tempted, but when he looked at his balance, he knew he couldn't afford it.

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

He had saved the Berry seeds from what they'd eaten these past few days. He could plant them later, and they'd grow by autumn.

That would save him some Shock Points, too.

After all, there were plenty of things to spend Shock Points on.

Building a home, buying furniture, wallpaper, and flooring, then building an Ecological Garden and installing an artificial sun...

Dongshu even wanted to feed Rare Candies to the Fire Emperor until he reached Lv. 100 before Dongshu turned ten and set off on his journey.

That way, they could defeat anyone in the world and wouldn't have to worry about running into any danger they couldn't handle.

There was no way he would stay on Heavenly Green Mountain for the rest of his life. As a Pokémon fan, Dongshu had always been incredibly fascinated by the Pokémon world in his previous life.

He definitely wanted to go out and see it—to visit Pallet Town and meet Ash, and to make appearances in some of the famous storylines.

The Fire Emperor also had a mission to fulfill out in the world, so Dongshu would travel with him and carry out his own mission alongside him.

As for getting home...

Dongshu's gaze settled on one of the items at the bottom of the store.

[Teleportation Device: A wondrous device infused with the power of Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon. Install it at a base, then use the accompanying Teleportation Bracelet to return to that base anytime, anywhere. Safe and reliable. Cost: 100,000 Shock Points.]

They could install this Teleportation Device in the cave on Heavenly Green Mountain, then come back whenever they wanted.

But Dongshu's eyes fell on the number of Shock Points required to redeem it.

Dongshu: "..."

"Ugh! How can I earn Shock Points faster?"

Dongshu let out a long sigh, then flopped back onto the Leaf Bed the Fire Emperor had made for him.

Raikou: "?"

Dongshu's mind raced.

He was very young, and his harmless-looking appearance was highly deceptive. And after spending time together, neither the Fire Emperor nor Marshadow could resist his Charm.

If he used his appearance to get on Ho-Oh's good side, then shamelessly begged Ho-Oh to take him on a low-altitude flight over a human city, would it agree?

If people saw him riding on Ho-Oh, they would surely earn him a huge number of Shock Points.

If one city wasn't enough, they could fly over several. If that still wasn't enough, they could visit several regions.

That way, he could raise enough Shock Points both to get started on his home and to boost the Fire Emperor straight to level 100.