Rotom Says Yan Really Doesn't Need Grooming

Yan ultimately sat down beside the counter.

He flipped through his training schedule three times and, for the first time, felt that having it packed too full was nothing to brag about.

Hu Liena had already begun sorting through Eevee's things.

Indeedee placed two food bowls on the low table. One had deep sides, while the other was shallow and wide. She did not choose for Eevee, instead letting the little one try them itself.

Eevee stuck its head into the deep bowl, and its long ears immediately bumped against the rim. It took a step back, turned to the shallow bowl, and pushed it with a paw. It clearly preferred the second one.

"It even has to choose its own food bowl?" Yan asked.

"It uses it every day," Xia Che said.

"But the deeper one is less likely to spill."

Hearing that, Eevee lowered its head, picked up a hollow little ball, and placed it in the shallow bowl. With a gentle nudge from its nose, the ball only rolled halfway around the bottom and did not roll out.

"Eevee."

Yan had nothing to say.

Xie Yue sat nearby and casually added a line to Yan's schedule: Ask the user first.

"This is my schedule."

"I know."

"You know, and you still wrote on it?"

"I was afraid you'd forget."

Indeedee then brought over two brushes. After Eevee tried the soft-bristled one, it willingly left its tail by Hu Liena's hand. Hu Liena did not brush straight down from the base of its tail. She first gently tested the tip. Only after Eevee did not dodge did she slowly work her way upward.

The whole process was not particularly complicated, yet Yan grew more and more irritated as he watched.

"What does any of this have to do with becoming stronger?"

Xia Che countered, "Can you train well on an empty stomach?"

"Of course not."

"It's the same for it."

"I mean real strength. Pokémon don't have soul rings, so how do you judge their growth?"

Xia Che took a palm-sized black terminal from a drawer and raised it toward Eevee.

Before the screen even lit up, an orange spark of electricity shot out from the outlet by the counter and entered the terminal. The next moment, a pair of huge eyes opened on the screen.

"Finally, it's my turn, Roto!"

Yan's hand twitched. "There's another one inside?"

"My name is Rotom. I'm a Pokémon, and also this shop's most important equipment manager, Roto!"

After saying that, the face on the screen deliberately enlarged the words "most important."

Indeedee glanced at it.

"Equally important," Rotom immediately corrected itself.

Yue Guan also became interested in the talking terminal. He released a thread of spiritual power, only to sense a living consciousness within the screen, completely unlike the formation patterns inside ordinary soul tools.

"Pokémon can enter tools as well?"

"Rotom can enter compatible electrical appliances, controlling and changing some of their functions," Xia Che said.

"What are electrical appliances?"

"Start by learning from this one."

Xia Che clearly had no interest in explaining from the beginning.

Rotom turned its camera toward Eevee. The screen quickly displayed its body temperature, feeding status, and activity level for the day. Several abilities it had already mastered appeared beside them. Anything involving deeper information was completely obscured, leaving only what was genuinely useful for its current care.

"Strength can't be judged by a single number, Roto. Stamina, moves, experience, terrain, and coordination with each other can all change the result."

After hearing that, Xie Yue quickly asked, "If the same Eevee is trained by different people, will the outcome be different?"

"Of course."

"And no soul power level?"

"There's no such algorithm."

"Then how far can it grow?" Hu Liena asked.

Xia Che looked at Eevee. "That depends on itself."

Hearing that, Hu Liena followed up, "The device says Eevee can evolve. What happens after it evolves?"

Rotom immediately pulled up a row of obscured silhouettes, more than any of them had expected. Flames, flowing water, leaves, and moonlight flashed behind the shadows, but their exact forms were not revealed.

"Eevee's genes are highly unstable. Under different conditions, it can develop into different forms, Roto."

Yan immediately became interested. "Can it choose Fire?"

"Why are you choosing someone else's partner again?" Xie Yue asked.

"I'm only asking whether it can."

Hu Liena also looked toward Xia Che. If Eevee could possess different abilities in the future, she naturally wanted to understand them in advance.

"Meeting the conditions only means it has a chance," Xia Che said. "Which path it wants to take is something to discuss when the time comes."

"What if it doesn't like the direction best suited for a mission?"

"Change the mission."

With one sentence, Xia Che cut the matter short.

Hu Liena lowered her head to look at Eevee. The little one was grooming its paw pads and had no idea that several people were already discussing what it might look like in the future. After thinking for a moment, she did not ask further.

It really was too early.

"It doesn't look suited for direct confrontation right now."

Eevee raised its head and glanced at him.

Xie Yue added, "That was only based on its appearance."

Rotom brought up the short footage from before. The rack had toppled, and Eevee used Quick Attack to knock the landing point aside. The image then froze at the instant it turned back to check on Zorua.

"Speed, timing, and target judgment—without any one of them, it couldn't have stopped it, Roto."

Yan stared at the footage. "If it trains a few more times, will it get faster?"

"Rest first," Xia Che said.

"It barely ran at all."

"That's why you still can't enter that door."

That hit Yan right where it hurt, and he immediately fell silent.

After Rotom completed Eevee's basic checkup, it prepared to hand the terminal to Hu Liena. Yan had watched for a long time and still could not resist reaching out.

"Let me try."

"Don't scan randomly, Roto."

"I want to see if it can identify martial souls."

The phantom of the Flame Lord rose behind Yan. The heat made Rotom's camera tilt backward, and several lines of text flashed across the screen.

[Target: Human.]

[Body temperature elevated.]

[No grooming required.]

The shop fell silent for a moment.

Xie Yue was the first to turn away, his shoulders already shaking. Hu Liena pressed her lips together, while Yue Guan laughed without restraint.

"At least the last one is accurate."

Yan withdrew his martial soul with a dark expression. "Who asked it about grooming?"

"It was an automatic recommendation from basic care mode, Roto."

Rotom swiftly hid behind Xia Che, revealing only half its screen over his shoulder.

Xia Che patted the terminal. "Don't tease the customers."

"He hasn't entered the door yet, so he isn't a customer."

This time, even Hu Liena laughed out loud.

Next came the Poké Balls.

Indeedee opened a small box containing ordinary Poké Balls and a plain white Premier Ball. Hu Liena could state her preferences, but Eevee would still make the final choice.

"This one would be easier to distinguish from academy equipment." Hu Liena pointed to the Premier Ball. "If you like it."

Yue Guan took another empty ball from the box and spun it half a turn on his finger. "Can these things only hold Pokémon?"

"Yes."

"What about soul beasts?"

"No."

"People?"

"Even less so."

After hearing that, Yue Guan directly aimed the ball at Yan.

Yan jumped back in fright. "Why are you using me as a test?"

"It won't take you in anyway."

"Then don't point it at me!"

Rotom rolled back and forth laughing on the screen until Indeedee reached out, prompting it to hurriedly display the test result.

[Poké Balls only accept Pokémon that meet the conditions and are willing to establish a connection. Please do not use companions for amusement. (￣▽￣)]

After reading it, Yue Guan put the empty ball back. "It can even tell who is willing?"

"If it can't tell for sure, it won't open," Xia Che said.

"What if someone steals another person's ball?" Xie Yue asked.

"They can't take away the relationship inside. The ball can be replaced, but a partner can't simply be reassigned."

At last, Xie Yue nodded.

What he had feared most was that these little balls would become a new kind of coercive soul tool. Now, it seemed they could hold far less than expected and came with plenty of restrictions.

Eevee sniffed both balls, then touched their buttons with a paw. In the end, it pushed the Premier Ball out of the box and placed it beside the wooden plaque with the side-by-side footprints.

"How do we use it?" Hu Liena asked.

"Set it down and let it touch it itself."

The Premier Ball was placed on the cushion.

Eevee circled the ball once, then gently pressed the center button with its nose. Red light spread out and drew it into the ball. The ball lit up only once. It did not shake violently, nor did anyone declare that it now had to obey forever.

A few breaths later, the ball opened on its own.

Eevee jumped back onto the cushion, picked up the Premier Ball, and walked over to Hu Liena. It placed the ball in her palm, then sat down against the side of her boot.

"It doesn't want to stay inside?" Hu Liena asked.

"It wants to walk right now," Xia Che said.

"Then what is this ball for?"

"Traveling, resting, and avoiding danger. It can choose when to go inside too."

Hu Liena held the Premier Ball and looked down at Eevee. "Please take care of me from now on."

Eevee lifted its head and gently touched the back of her hand.

A green footprint popped up on Rotom's screen.

[First traveling companion registered. (｀・ω・´)]

Just as the notification disappeared, the entire small building suddenly trembled lightly.

At the very back of the front hall, a wall that had previously held no door retreated to either side, revealing a metal staircase leading underground. Cold white lights lit up one by one along the steps, stretching into depths beyond sight.

Xia Che stared at the path that had suddenly appeared and fell silent for several breaths.

"You don't know what's down there?" Yue Guan asked.

"I don't."

Another heavy muffled thud came from underground.

This time, even the cups on the counter jumped with it.