Feebas Captured! (Please Keep Reading!)

Although he and Feebas had agreed to meet that afternoon, Xia Chen set out in the morning after preparing lunch.

There was still some distance from the scenic area's entrance to the depths of the Pokémon Reserve. Besides, arriving early was only polite when you were the one pursuing someone.

The same luxury sedan from yesterday picked him up and dropped him off, and Xia Chen arrived at Ethereal Mountain before noon.

The Pear-Picking Festival had just ended, and the scenic area was clearly much less lively than it had been yesterday. Xia Chen took Eevee back into the forest leading to the Wild Pokémon Reserve.

With a clear goal this time, Xia Chen and Eevee did not linger along the way.

However, because Xia Chen's legs were inconvenient, he could only summon Arcanine to carry him.

Given Arcanine's size, he could sit on him, but it was definitely not comfortable.

The bumpy ride nearly jolted his breakfast and lunch right back out of him.

But Xia Chen was uncomfortable, and Arcanine was even more uncomfortable. The laid-back Pokémon found the hundred-plus-pound weight on his back extremely unpleasant.

Xia Chen had gotten his revenge on Arcanine through a method that hurt the enemy for a thousand and himself for eight hundred.

After stopping and starting along the way, Xia Chen and the others finally arrived at the place where they had battled Mankey yesterday a little after two.

But it was obviously still far from yesterday's near-evening hour, so Xia Chen sat by the stream and waited in boredom.

Until he captured Feebas, he had no interest in wandering anywhere else.

And since Xia Chen stayed put, Eevee did not dare go Treasure Hunting there alone. Though she was confident she could roam freely through this beginner pond, Xia Chen did not think so.

If she took Arcanine with her, she would worry about Xia Chen's safety.

Thus, one man, one dog, and one Eevee waited beside the stream.

Arcanine had the sort of personality that got excited wherever there were people; he could make a game out of anything, let alone in vibrant nature.

One moment, he was scaring Caterpie in the bushes; the next, he was messing with a Beedrill hive, then enjoying the thrill of being chased by the swarm.

When he got tired, he jumped into the stream to Play Rough, showing none of the water-fearing behavior expected of a Fire-type Pokémon.

Afraid that he would scare Feebas away, Xia Chen quickly called him ashore to play. Then, holding a slender willow-like branch he had picked up as a fishing rod, he reenacted Jiang Taigong Fishing beside the stream.

Eevee lay beside Xia Chen, enjoying this rare moment of peace and quiet.

Who knew how much time had passed when the branch suddenly twitched. Xia Chen was overjoyed. The only fish that would bite a hookless, baitless fishing rod had to be the Feebas that had agreed to meet him, right?

Excitedly, he jerked up the rod and cast it aside, only for a Magikarp to fall from the sky and land on the ground.

Its lively dead-fish eyes stared at Xia Chen as its body flopped against the earth.

Xia Chen's mood instantly plummeted. Grabbing Magikarp by its long whiskers, he tossed it back into the water while warning, "Don't bite my rod again, got it?"

It was not that Xia Chen disliked Magikarp. Pokémon like Gyarados were quite strong, and their appearance possessed a kind of wild beauty.

But Xia Chen was a devoted man. His second Pokémon had to be Feebas!

After reaffirming his conviction, Xia Chen sat down and continued waiting for that fated fish to arrive.

Yet until the sun slowly set and their appointed time was about to arrive, the fishing rod in his hand did not move even once more.

Xia Chen's heart kept sinking, and his dejected mood even affected the Arcanine frolicking nearby.

Seeing the disappointment in Xia Chen's eyes, Arcanine ran over and nudged him.

"Arf—(Don't be sad. I'll have a pup and give it to you someday!)"

Eevee shot Arcanine a sidelong glance. "Vee—(If the little Growlithe inherits your personality, Xia Chen will probably be driven to death.)"

Arcanine barked indignantly, "Arf—(What's wrong with my personality? My personality can bring him so much joy!)"

Eevee sneered. "Vee—(Yeah, yeah, yeah. So much joy he'll die from it!)"

Xia Chen had no time to analyze the conversation between the two Pokémon. He merely stared stubbornly at the clear stream, waiting for what he hoped would happen.

But what he did not know was that Feebas had hidden among a thick patch of aquatic grass even earlier than Xia Chen's arrival, observing the outside world through the gaps.

Without question, he had seen Xia Chen arrive. But although he had wanted countless times to swim out and bite the fishing rod prepared for him, he had chosen to retreat just as many times.

Why was he retreating?

Feebas asked himself that question countless times.

Was Xia Chen not good enough?

Of course not. Whether it was his attitude toward his own Pokémon or wild Pokémon, Feebas could tell that Xia Chen was a Trainer who loved Pokémon and was worthy of any Pokémon following him.

So the answer was obvious. It was not that Feebas thought Xia Chen was not good enough; it was that he thought he was not good enough.

Compared to Eevee, he was neither as cute as her nor as strong as her. Even his potential was utterly ordinary. Better not drag him down.

Feebas looked at the branch swaying with the current and thought pessimistically.

The sky grew darker and darker, so dark that Feebas could barely make out Xia Chen's face on the shore anymore. Yet he could hear Xia Chen's soft sigh.

Suddenly, the branch moved. As if it had lost control, it drifted away with the current.

Is he leaving?

Feebas suddenly felt so sad that he wanted to cry. But when other Pokémon bullied him, he had never once felt this way.

Feebas understood himself less and less, but there was one thing he knew clearly: he regretted it.

Why couldn't I have been braver just now?

Feebas continuously blew bubbles from his mouth. It was a habit whenever his emotions were unsettled, whether he was happy or sad.

Though he was almost never happy.

But there was no medicine for regret in this world, right?

Feebas thought blankly.

"I don't know whether you're here or not, Feebas." The sudden voice from the shore made Feebas's heart tremble.

He had not left!

"I'm really leaving now, so if you—"

After only a moment of stunned silence, Feebas hesitated no longer. At the fastest speed of his life, he shot out from the aquatic grass and surfaced.

Then he saw Xia Chen staring at him with an astonished, delighted look in his eyes.

It was as though Xia Chen could not believe that Feebas had suddenly emerged without even saying a word or two.

Time seemed to freeze in that instant. Xia Chen's dazed, foolish expression looked exactly like that of his fellow unfortunate brother, Magikarp.

Feebas could not make a sound, so he could only spit a thin stream of water at Xia Chen to snap him out of it.

What are you waiting for? Hurry up and capture me, idiot!

Only then did Xia Chen snap out of it and take out the Dive Ball he had prepared long ago. He crouched down and solemnly held it out before Feebas.

"Come with me. Give me a chance to change your fate. Even without a Prism Scale, I will raise you into someone who amazes everyone!"

Feebas began blowing bubbles again, but this time, unusually, they were from happiness.

He gently leaped up and touched the button at the center of the Poké Ball. Just before his body entered it, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

[Ding~ Dear Host, hello. The Dragon-Raising System has been activated!]

(As usual, please keep reading. Today is really important, please!)