Chapter 40
An invitation.
"Was it fear?" Jun Shutong pressed.
Lu Li shook his head. "It was probably some kind of positive emotion. If it fed on fear, it would have toyed with you instead of putting you up in a hotel and treating you so well."
"In that case, would the Magical Beast in the hotel be safer for us than the Ghost Magical Beast?" Jun Shutong looked thoughtful.
"Not necessarily. We don't really know much about either of them, after all." Lu Li left himself some room.
Games were games, anime was anime, and reality was reality. There were always differences between the three, especially between games and reality, which were practically different dimensions.
Although he knew a lot about Pokémon, his understanding of real Pokémon was still rather limited.
After all, Pokémon in anime or games would never casually slaughter an entire city, but Ghost-type Pokémon in the real world had actually done so.
Of course.
That wasn't an absolute rule. Even in the anime's background lore, there had been plenty of countries destroyed by Pokémon.
After reassuring Jun Shutong a little more, Lu Li returned to his room.
The moment he stepped inside, Lu Li heard a splash.
It was the sound of Feebas falling back into the water after using Splash.
Lu Li gazed fondly at Feebas in the tank.
He hadn't imagined it earlier. His Feebas really was getting prettier and prettier.
"Feebas, you seem livelier and prettier every day." Lu Li scooped Feebas out of the tank and praised it.
Feebas seemed to have gained some intelligence, becoming much livelier overall.
What made Lu Li happiest was that his efforts had finally paid off.
Thrilled, Lu Li put Feebas back into the tank, turned around, and decided to head to the Aquarium to bring back a few bags of fish food.
He simply decided to move all the remaining fish food over that day. There were only a few bags left anyway.
But then came the biggest headache.
Once that fish food ran out, how was he supposed to feed Feebas?
Feeling utterly overwhelmed, Lu Li carefully crept up to the Aquarium's entrance.
After listening outside for a long while and making sure there was no movement inside, Lu Li hurriedly moved the fish food out of the storeroom behind the counter.
Only after moving all the fish food outside the Aquarium did Lu Li begin carrying it home, one trip at a time.
Lu Li was actually quite curious about what was happening inside the Aquarium. It was far too quiet, as though Pokémon had never appeared there at all.
Normally, given how destructive Pokémon could be, the Aquarium should have been bustling with activity.
Meanwhile.
Inside the Aquarium.
A kind of fish Pokémon with a dark green body and three black spots beside its chest occupied the underwater portion of the Aquarium.
A kind of Pokémon with a navy-blue body, rose-red eyes, and a black tail occupied the bottom of the Aquarium.
Floating on the surface were red-bodied crab Pokémon.
Besides them, Pokémon such as Goldeen and Magikarp were scattered throughout the Aquarium.
They weren't fighting one another, or even hunting one another.
A peculiar Pokémon with a round, plump, pink body was quietly influencing the atmosphere inside the Aquarium with invisible psychic power.
Had Lu Li been there, he would certainly have recognized that plump pink Pokémon as Slowpoke, known as the god of dimwits.
After nearly half an hour of work, Lu Li finally finished moving all the fish food. He stared at the bags piled up in his room and fell into thought.
Given Feebas's appetite, this fish food would last another week at most, and that was an optimistic estimate.
What about a week from now?
What would Feebas eat then? What if it got so hungry that it attacked him?
As anyone who kept a large predator as a pet knew, the prerequisite for keeping a pet was being able to feed it. Otherwise, you were only nurturing a future threat.
Looking at Feebas in the tank, Lu Li suddenly felt a little guilty.
I'm such a bastard! How could I think that about Feebas? Lu Li felt so guilty he wanted to give himself a hard slap. After all, no matter how he looked at Feebas, it didn't seem like something that would eat people.
Filled with guilt, Lu Li started feeding his fish again.
Whatever happened, he might as well feed the fish first.
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
After preparing a gift for his visit, Lu Li stepped into the Berthing Hotel once more.
Building a good relationship with a Pokémon like Indeedee could only benefit him.
Indeedee sensed Lu Li as soon as he arrived at the hotel.
Indeedee used Teleport to appear in front of Lu Li, studying him curiously with round eyes.
"Hello, Indeedee. This is a gift I prepared for you." Lu Li handed Indeedee an exquisite gift box.
Indeedee raised a small hand to its mouth in surprise. It had been in this world for almost two weeks, but this was the first time anyone had given it a gift.
Indeedee happily put the gift away.
The gift box vanished after entering Indeedee's hands. Lu Li suspected that this Psychic-type Pokémon might carry its own personal storage space.
There was a move called Secret Power, a Normal-type move. In the Pokémon world, one characteristic of the Normal type was that many Pokémon of other types could learn its moves.
A Pokémon suited to everyday life, like Indeedee, was very likely to know that move.
Indeedee took out some drawing paper and began drawing with great care.
Once it finished, Indeedee held the drawing out to Lu Li.
It was a series of pictures showing how delighted it was to receive the gift, but also how apologetic it felt because it hadn't prepared a return gift for Lu Li beforehand.
Lu Li waved it off. He hadn't come to ask for a gift, after all, but to invite Indeedee to visit the Camp.
Indeedee fed on positive emotions, and Lu Li had plenty of confidence in Dawn Camp.
Under Jun Shutong's deeply compassionate leadership, Dawn Camp definitely had the highest level of happiness of all the nearby camps.
Lu Li believed Indeedee would be able to "feast" at the Camp.
Indeedee looked hesitant upon hearing this. It worried about the hotel's other guests, but then realized that the Camp wasn't far away. If any danger arose, a single Teleport would bring it right back.
In the end, Indeedee nodded and accepted Lu Li's invitation.
"But..."
Lu Li scratched the back of his head, looking a little embarrassed.
There was more.
At this turn, Indeedee tilted its head and looked adorably at Lu Li.
"Try not to appear in front of the other people in the Camp. They don't understand Pokémon, so they're very afraid of you," Lu Li explained somewhat sheepishly.
Indeedee wasn't offended in the slightest. It readily accepted Lu Li's suggestion, and its figure quietly faded from sight.
It wasn't the abrupt disappearance of Teleport. Instead, it slowly became invisible.
"Is that another use of psychic power?" Lu Li looked at the invisible Indeedee in surprise.
Lu Li now suspected that he had still underestimated Indeedee. This Indeedee might not merely be a master of everyday tasks; it was probably very strong in combat, too.