The Chill Behind Him!

"Bui—!!!"

Glaceon's fur instantly stood on end.

He tugged at Cynthia's pant leg with his mouth, then put on a pitiful expression and looked toward Roserade beside him. The meaning of his complaint could not have been clearer.

Faced with this situation, Cynthia could only sigh helplessly.

"Glaceon, sorry... there's only one of these candies for now."

"Bui?!"

Glaceon immediately let out another mournful cry.

Cynthia hurriedly added,

"But I'll go back there again... Next time, I'll take you with me. If I can get more of this candy, the next one will be yours."

Only then did Glaceon seem somewhat willing to accept it. He pouted in Roserade's direction before sitting back down on the sofa.

Honestly, Cynthia still felt as though she had not fully recovered from the shock.

Pokémon could indeed increase their strength by directly absorbing resources, but at the Champion level, that method could no longer achieve much.

Yet that candy had allowed Roserade to make an enormous breakthrough. No—more accurately, it had only been half a candy.

The aura Roserade was giving off now truly seemed to have reached the uppermost Champion tier...

What exactly was going on with that candy?

Sure enough... nothing in that internet café was normal, whether it was the drinks or the candy...

But then again, if she could continuously obtain this kind of candy through the game... wouldn't the strength of her entire team keep improving without end?

And if she had not sensed wrongly... she received different rewards every time she finished using a computer.

Could the quality of those rewards be determined by the final evaluation she received while playing?

Countless thoughts flashed through Cynthia's mind in an instant, and she shook her head.

I really want to go to that internet café again right now.

Unfortunately, she had already used up her time for today...

She rose from the sofa, patted Roserade on the shoulder, then turned and headed outside through the balcony to the backyard of her villa.

At the center of the garden was a huge pond, its water clear and expansive, home to many Water-type Pokémon.

Several Goldeen circled a clump of aquatic grass and blew bubbles. A Poliwag floated on its back at the surface, basking in the sun, while several Wooper rolled about happily in the mud beside the pond.

Some of these Pokémon were wild, while others had been taken in by her.

Besides feeding them whenever she had time, Cynthia had specifically hired two caretakers to help look after these aquatic Pokémon.

But she did not keep them to cultivate members for her team. She was simply interested in Water-type Pokémon...

As Cynthia pondered, the Water-type Pokémon noticed her arrival and happily gathered around to greet her.

After she responded to them one by one, the Pokémon dispersed again and returned to their own activities.

Then, a figure quietly swam out from the shadows in the depths of the pond.

It was a brownish fish Pokémon, its entire body covered in rough skin and irregular bumps, with a pair of large red lips.

It was that Feebas.

As he appeared, the other Pokémon in the pond unconsciously moved away from him. Some even openly showed looks of disgust.

But Feebas seemed long accustomed to it. He swam straight toward Cynthia and stared blankly at her as usual.

"Good afternoon, Feebas."

Cynthia crouched down and reached out to stroke his head. The familiar slimy fluid and rough texture met her hand.

Feebas did not react much. He merely blew a bubble and continued staring blankly at her.

Under the sunlight, Cynthia remained crouched by the pond and studied Feebas carefully for a while.

To be honest, even though the chat had said so during the livestream, she had not believed there was any connection between this Pokémon and Milotic.

But from another perspective, if there were a chance for this little fellow to evolve into a Milotic...

Perhaps Feebas himself would be happy about it?

She looked at Feebas and spoke softly.

"Feebas, if there were a way to make you beautiful and strong, a way for you to leave this pond and see a whole new world, would you want that?"

Feebas seemed not to understand what she meant. He simply tilted his head and blew a bubble.

Cynthia patiently repeated herself, but Feebas still showed little reaction.

She fell silent for a moment.

Perhaps with Feebas's mind... he simply could not understand what she was saying.

She took out a handful of fish food from her pocket, scattered it for Feebas, waved goodbye, and turned to leave.

What Cynthia did not know was that the instant she left, those Goldeen immediately rushed over and violently knocked Feebas aside, scrambling for the fish food scattered in the water.

Feebas spun through the water, barely managing to steady himself. Then he suddenly looked toward the direction Cynthia had left. The vacant expression on his face vanished completely, replaced by... loss and sorrow.

How could I not want that...?

He quietly floated to the surface of the pond. From here, he could see the living room through the villa's floor-to-ceiling windows.

On the sofa, Roserade and Glaceon seemed to still be arguing about something. Even from so far away, he could sense how completely different those two Pokémon were from himself.

They both had beautiful appearances.

More importantly, they were stronger than him by an unfathomable amount.

A trace of longing flashed through his eyes.

Cynthia had rescued him from that filthy, cramped pond.

How could he not want to enter that house and remain by her side?

But as he was now... what right did he have to do that?

Feebas turned around and swam alone toward the depths of the pond.

Along the way, the other aquatic Pokémon stayed far away from him. Occasionally, they glanced in his direction, their eyes full of rejection.

This Feebas was the ugliest and strangest Pokémon in the pond. No one wanted to get close to him.

Feebas sank all the way to the bottom and stopped before a rock.

Awkwardly, he slammed himself into the rock with all his strength.

Once, twice, three times...

He repeatedly practiced the most basic move, even though it seemed meaningless for him to do so.

But only by becoming stronger could he earn the right to stand at her side...

Amid the splashing water, even as blood began to seep from the scales on Feebas's body, he never stopped.

Mount Coronet.

After making up his mind, Luo Chen picked several Berries and set out through the back door. After feeding those Murkrow along the way, he headed in the same direction as yesterday.

If he remembered correctly, he had spotted several different Berry trees in the distance back then. It was the perfect chance to see what additional effects drinks made from those Berries might have.

It seemed to be summer now, but Mount Coronet was not particularly hot. Cool breezes even drifted through the mountain, while the thick leaves overhead blocked out the sunlight.

Luo Chen carefully made his way through the forest. Returning to yesterday's location and walking forward for a while, he indeed discovered several entirely new kinds of Berry trees.

At least he had recognized two kinds of Berries last time, but this time he recognized none of them. Still, that was fine. Once he brought them back and mixed the Berries, he would naturally learn what effects they had.

After casually picking more than a dozen, just as he had yesterday, Luo Chen turned around and quickly headed back toward the internet café.

The same problem remained: he did not have any Pokémon yet. If he encountered a bad-tempered wild Pokémon on the way... all he could really do was run.

He could not help but wonder whether he should ask Cynthia to bring him a Poké Ball next time she came.

He had not originally planned to become a Trainer. Running an internet café was good enough.

But having come to a world like this, and with the chance to live alongside Pokémon, who could possibly refuse?

As he pondered, Luo Chen suddenly stopped walking. Perched atop a tree stump ahead of him was a familiar figure.

It was the Litwick he had fed yesterday.

When Litwick saw Luo Chen arrive, the flame atop his head swayed happily as he nodded in greeting.

"Mou~"

"Seeing you again, huh? Here, this is for you."

Luo Chen smiled and crouched down. From the pile of Berries in his arms, he picked out the largest blue Berry and placed it before Litwick.

He remembered that the Pokédex had once mentioned that Litwick was a Pokémon that used the flame on its head to guide people... But though it appeared to guide them, it actually secretly absorbed their life force.

Honestly, that sounded rather frightening.

But this Litwick did not seem to have any such intention... At the very least, Luo Chen did not feel any discomfort in his body.

As Luo Chen thought, Litwick waved his tiny hands and struggled to lift the Berry, preparing to say goodbye as he had yesterday.

"Mou!"

But in the next moment, his body suddenly trembled. He dropped the Berry in his hands, his face filled with panic, and vanished into the bushes nearby.

Luo Chen froze.

Litwick's reaction looked like fear. That was why he had fled.

And whatever he feared was definitely not Luo Chen.

Then it could only be...

This was bad.

A chill ran down his back, and an ominous feeling suddenly surged into Luo Chen's heart. He spun around sharply.

—A black shadow radiating a terrifying aura had appeared behind him at some unknown moment!