At seven in the morning, in the Pokémon Center cafeteria, Lin Hao sat down with a tray. Before him were congee, steamed buns, and a cup of soy milk.
Pikachu crouched at the corner of the table, pawing through a small dish of Pokémon biscuits and crunching away.
Inside System Space, Ho-Oh began his morning petition right on time. "Master! The quarterfinals are today! Let me fight!"
"No."
"I promise I'll shrink down to the size of a pigeon!"
"Even if you shrink down to a sparrow, you'll still be a glowing phoenix."
"Then I'll wear a mask!"
Groudon rolled over. "Can you cover up that rainbow tail?"
Ho-Oh's crest bristled in anger. "Mind your own business!"
Mewtwo suddenly added, "Based on historical data, Ho-Oh's requests to battle have a rejection rate of one hundred percent. I recommend conserving System Space bandwidth."
Ho-Oh said, "...You're all ganging up on me."
Suicune's voice rang out. "Master, who's your opponent today?"
"Kijō Akito, the first-choice reserve for Johto's Elite Four."
The space fell quiet. Suicune spoke up. "Let me fight."
"No need. Charizard's going."
Suicune paused for two seconds. "Why?"
"He specializes in Dragon-types as well as Fighting types. Charizard has experience fighting dragons. Besides..." Lin Hao took a bite of his bun and replied mentally, "You just fought yesterday. Let Charizard get some exercise before he starts burning things in here."
Charizard protested, the heat of his tail flame reaching through the space. "I haven't burned anything."
Ho-Oh muttered, "You burned my nest yesterday."
"You were the one who got too close."
"Master! He admitted it!"
"Shut up. All of you." Lin Hao rubbed his temples. "I'm eating."
The space finally quieted down. Pikachu looked up at him, his cheek pouches puffing out, his expression practically saying, Arguing again?
"Every day."