Pokémon ecology and the natural ecosystem.
"This is our men's dorm, and next to it is the family dorm. Several elderly people in the camp live there with their grandchildren. Beyond that is the women's dorm," the chubby boy explained as he led the way.
Jun Shutong had cleared out six storefronts and temporarily converted them into three dormitories.
Seeing the questioning look on Lu Li's face, the chubby boy added, "Sister Jun brought everyone together because she was worried that stray magical beasts might attack us. If we stay together, it'll be easier to run when danger comes."
Yes, run-not fight back.
Jun Shutong had a gun, but having one didn't mean she could hit a Pokémon, much less injure it. Besides, humans were simply too fragile compared to Pokémon.
"What about food? How much do you have stockpiled here?" Lu Li asked the question that concerned him most.
The chubby boy discreetly glanced around. Only after making sure nobody was watching them did he whisper, "Sister Jun said things aren't looking good. Rat magical beasts have taken over the supermarket on the first basement level, so we can only gather supplies from the fourth floor and above."
"But the fourth floor mostly sells clothes. Luckily, the fifth floor has restaurants. The food we've gathered so far should at least feed a hundred people for half a month."
"But the water and power went out yesterday. Cooking is a huge problem now, and everyone's hoping the Federation will send a rescue team."
"But I don't think there's much hope. Magical beasts are everywhere in the city now, and most of the troops have been wiped out by ghost magical beasts."
The chubby boy sounded pessimistic. At the very least, he wasn't placing much hope in a rescue by the Federation government.
Lu Li fell into thought as well.
Hundreds of millions of Pokémon had suddenly descended upon this world. Caught completely off guard, humanity's armed forces had been overrun by Ghost-type Pokémon.
And with the satellites suddenly failing, Lu Li couldn't help wondering whether Rayquaza was behind it.
Even an ordinary Caterpie had absurd combat power. He didn't dare imagine how terrifying the Pokémon hailed as gods would be.
But life would find its own way forward.
Judging by the current situation, becoming a Trainer seemed to be the only way to survive this apocalypse.
Of course, people in this world might call them Beast Tamers, since they referred to Pokémon as magical beasts.
But if even a Caterpie was that ridiculously powerful, how was he supposed to get a starter Pokémon? This world had no Poké Balls-not even the apricorns used to make them.
Making the leap from zero to one was always the hardest part. For now, the only solution he could think of was to find an unhatched Pokémon Egg.
A newborn Pokémon might not have much fighting power, and it might also regard the first person it saw as its parent. Those two factors together might give him a slim chance of taming one.
But he hadn't seen a single Pokémon Egg, not even a Caterpie's.
"Food is handed out here from seven thirty to nine in the morning, eleven thirty to one in the afternoon, and six thirty to seven thirty in the evening. Remember those times. If you miss them, you'll have to wait for the next meal."
"And if you want to stay here, you need to tell Sister Jun in advance. She'll have someone get a bed ready for you." The chubby boy paused, then continued in a lighter tone, "Luckily, the floor below sells bedding. We're short on just about everything except beds."
Lu Li: "..."
Worried that the Pokémon outside might spot the people in the mall, Jun Shutong had specifically told everyone to close most of the curtains.
Just then, an elderly person and a child caught Lu Li's attention.
Both were staring fixedly outside, as though waiting for some miracle to occur.
The chubby boy followed Lu Li's gaze toward the elderly person and the child.
"What are they doing?" Lu Li asked curiously. "Keeping watch? Or watching something in particular?"
The chubby boy shook his head. There was some sympathy on his face, but a flicker of disdain flashed through his eyes.
"They're waiting for their enemy to die," Chubby Boy explained.
Intrigued, Lu Li listened closely, waiting for the rest of the story.
"That little brat lives in our neighborhood. A real little Demon Pill. His family hadn't stocked up on food, so his parents brought him and an elderly relative here to seek shelter with Sister Jun."
"But when they passed the landscaped strip, the brat spotted a few green caterpillar magical beasts in the trees. He just couldn't keep his hands to himself and sprayed one of them with his Water Squirter."
"You can probably guess what happened next. His parents tried to save him, and the green caterpillar magical beast wrapped them up like dumplings in the silk it spat out."
"You saw those white Bug Cocoons when you passed that landscaped strip, right? His parents are inside two of them."
After hearing the explanation, Lu Li's expression also took on a hint of disgust and contempt.
If the brat dared to spray even a Caterpie with a Water Squirter, he had surely spent plenty of time using passersby for target practice.
The parents had paid the price for their brat's troublemaking. They had brought it on themselves.
"Then what are they watching out there?" Lu Li asked curiously.
"They're waiting for those bird magical beasts to prey on the green caterpillar magical beasts. If that particular one gets killed, they'll at least have seen their enemy die with their own eyes."
"When you think about it, that's quite a way of consoling themselves with an imaginary victory. The brat and his family are pretty awful, but they certainly know how to stay positive," the chubby boy said reflectively.
Lu Li was speechless. Still, when it came to bird magical beasts that preyed on Caterpie, the first one that came to mind was Pidgey.
Having finished the story about the brat's family, the chubby boy asked again, "So, are you staying? We definitely can't give you ingredients to take away, and going back would be pretty dangerous anyway."
"I'll stay. There's no food left at home anyway." Lu Li nodded and decided to remain.
After hearing what had happened to the brat's family, Lu Li felt deeply relieved that he had been lucky enough to pass that row of Caterpie without any of them attacking him.
Now that he knew how dangerous those Caterpie were, Lu Li didn't dare go back. Before, ignorance had made him fearless. Now, he knew full well that he had just brushed past death's door.
Compared to those so-called zombie apocalypses, this world, where danger could strike at any moment, was actually far more terrifying.
"Pidge, pidge~"
A clear chirp came through the window.
At the sound, Lu Li rushed to the window in a few quick strides. Even after more than twenty years, he still remembered that familiar cry.
That was definitely a Pidgey's cry. It sounded exactly like the Pidgey in the anime.
He hurried right up to the window, pinched a corner of the curtain, and gently lifted it to open a narrow gap-just in time to see a Pidgey catch a Caterpie.
Pidgey jabbed its sharp beak forward, piercing straight through Caterpie's head. It picked up its prey and tossed it into the air, then opened its mouth wide and swallowed Caterpie in one precise gulp.
The nearby Caterpie trembled all over in terror. They writhed frantically and spat silk, trying to bind Pidgey to the branches and buy themselves time to escape.