Chapter 5
The first step to becoming a Trainer.
It was a peculiar, hideously ugly Pokémon with ragged-looking blue fins. Its body was mostly tan and blue, its skin pitted and uneven, and its eyes vacant.
Feebas, a peculiar Pokémon with a base stat total of only 200, even lower than Magikarp's.
There was always something weaker out there. Since Feebas was relatively obscure, he had almost forgotten it existed. It had practically no fighting ability and ranked near the top of the weakest Pokémon list.
Its eyes were vacant, its mouth opening and closing. It had probably survived the past few days by drinking the filthy water in the trash can and nibbling on the garbage inside.
Even in the light, Feebas still looked utterly vacant. It paid no attention to Lu Li and did not even seem to care what would happen to it next.
After a moment's hesitation, Lu Li found a fishbowl about twenty centimeters in diameter at the front desk.
The Aquarium was short on everything except water. Although the water had gone stagnant, Lu Li did not care.
After filling the bowl with water, Lu Li fought back his disgust, slipped a garbage bag over each hand, and carefully scooped Feebas out of the trash can.
Feebas did not resist. It did not even struggle.
After transferring Feebas into the bowl, Lu Li set it on the front counter, then opened the storage cabinet underneath.
Aquariums generally kept plenty of fish food in stock. If ordinary fish could eat it, Water-type Pokémon surely could too.
The supermarket had attracted so many Raticate because it contained plenty of food. Humans could eat that food, and so could omnivorous Pokémon like Raticate.
Lu Li tentatively dropped a handful of fish food into the bowl.
Perhaps Feebas had "smelled" something delicious, because its vacant eyes brightened a little.
Opening and closing its mouth, Feebas quickly finished all the food Lu Li had dropped in.
Seeing this, Lu Li remembered that these Pokémon never seemed to get enough to eat. He simply poured the entire bag into the bowl.
Feebas continued ravenously devouring the fish food Lu Li had given it.
Cradling the bowl in his left arm and carrying a bag of fish food in his right hand, Lu Li turned and left the Aquarium.
Perhaps this was a gift from fate. Lu Li had never expected to find a Feebas in a trash can.
Feebas had never expected that, while waiting to die in a trash can, it would be taken in by a human.
"What a beautiful Pokémon. You're simply the prettiest Pokémon I've ever seen."
"How can a Pokémon this gorgeous even exist?"
"You're everything I could ever want in a Pokémon."
As he carried the bowl, Lu Li kept praising Feebas's beauty. He did not care whether it understood him. He just kept piling on the compliments.
In the anime, Feebas needed beauty, and raising beauty was actually fairly simple. Bearing also affected appearance, so Lu Li tried to help Feebas become more confident.
Lu Li knew he might be wasting his breath. Feebas might not understand human speech, much less know that he was praising it.
But what if Feebas could understand him? What if?
Besides, it cost him nothing. He was only saying a few things he did not really mean.
Lu Li brought Feebas back to the Camp and ran into Chubby Boy.
When Chubby Boy saw Feebas in the bowl, he asked in surprise, "Huh? Why did you bring that ugly fish Magical Beast back?"
"You've seen this Magical Beast before?" Lu Li asked curiously.
Chubby Boy nodded and explained, "Did you find it in a trash can at the Aquarium? Sister Jun and I saw it there when we went to inspect the Aquarium yesterday afternoon."
"Are you planning to keep this Magical Beast?" Chubby Boy asked nervously.
Lu Li nodded.
When Lu Li actually admitted it, Chubby Boy exclaimed, "Are you crazy? What if this Magical Beast suddenly attacks you?"
"I want to observe a Magical Beast up close. This one hasn't shown any aggression so far. This is our best chance to study them," Lu Li said, bluffing with a perfectly straight face.
"But..." Chubby Boy stared at Feebas in the bowl, still unwilling to let it go.
"What if this Magical Beast unleashes one of those wide-area destructive abilities inside the Camp?" Chubby Boy asked anxiously.
At that, Lu Li fell silent too.
The Survivor Camp probably would not accept him with a ticking time bomb at his side.
But he could not possibly give up Feebas. It was his only hope of turning things around. It might even be the entire Camp's hope-and humanity's as well.
"Could you arrange a separate room for me, then?" Lu Li asked, a hint of pleading in his voice.
Chubby Boy looked at Lu Li with mixed feelings.
"You'll have to talk to Sister Jun about this yourself." After saying that, Chubby Boy took out his radio and contacted Jun Shutong.
A little while later, Jun Shutong hurried over.
When she saw Feebas in Lu Li's bowl, her pupils constricted.
"Lu Li! Are you out of your mind?" Jun Shutong demanded.
"Sister Jun, I want to keep it with me," Lu Li said earnestly. "I want to learn about Magical Beasts through this little fellow."
"But..." Jun Shutong looked hesitantly at Feebas in the bowl.
As far as they knew, Magical Beasts were extremely dangerous creatures. Even those that looked like insects were no less destructive than a bomb.
In a normal food chain, fish were stronger than caterpillars. In other words, the Magical Beast in Lu Li's hands was an electromagnetic bomb, and no one knew when it would go off.
"I'm responsible for the Camp's safety." Jun Shutong was adamant. She would not allow Lu Li to bring such a ticking time bomb into the Camp.
Lu Li understood her position, so he had already thought of a solution.
"Sister Jun, you could give me a room of my own. I remember there's a small storefront near the Aquarium. I can stay there. I could also serve as a lookout and keep the Magical Beasts in the Aquarium from attacking our Camp."
"Honestly, I just don't understand you researchers." Jun Shutong sighed in frustration.
The corners of Lu Li's mouth lifted slightly. From her tone, he could tell she was willing to relent.
"I'll have someone move a bed over for you in a bit. You can come to the Camp for meals, but you absolutely cannot bring this Magical Beast with you."
Sure enough, Jun Shutong had given in.
Lu Li let out a sigh of relief.
The research was all a pretext. From beginning to end, he had only one goal: to make Feebas his Pokémon.
Naturally, the first step to winning over a Pokémon was to build a bond.
Lu Li nodded and thanked her. "Thank you for understanding, Sister Jun."
"You'd better not let the others in the Camp find out about this. They're very hostile toward Magical Beasts, even if you only want to study one," Jun Shutong warned.
Lu Li nodded.
If he had not transmigrated, he too would have rejected these Pokémon, or even hated them.