Arc 1Chapters 1–25
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Three days after Pokémon devastated Teran Star, Lu Li left his apartment to search for food after the power and water failed and the convenience store was emptied. He cautiously headed toward a distant mall, avoiding dangerous Oddish and Caterpie along the way.
Lu Li entered Zhongxing Mall to find food but was rescued from a pack of rat monsters by Jun Shutong, a former public security officer leading a survivor camp. He reached the camp on the sixth floor, learned its safety guidelines, and discovered it had thirty-seven members.
Lu Li learned how dangerous the Pokémon outside were while settling into Jun Shutong’s shelter in the mall. He decided to stay, then witnessed a Pidgey kill and eat a Caterpie.
Lu Li explored the Aquarium despite warnings about the Water-type Pokémon inside, hoping to find a weak Magikarp. He discovered a Pokémon hiding in a trash can and was surprised to find one even less capable of fighting.
Lu Li rescued a starving Feebas from a trash can and tried to feed and encourage it, hoping to make it his Pokémon. Jun Shutong allowed him to keep Feebas in a separate storefront near the Aquarium, but banned it from entering the Camp.
Lu Li cared for Feebas in the survivor camp and wondered whether Trainers could awaken Wild Pokémon’s emotions. The next morning, Fatty Lei told him that Jun Shutong had work for the camp’s young and able-bodied residents.
With the Federation still out of contact, Jun Shutong imposed food and water rationing and sent camp members to search for supplies. She and Lu Li headed to the mall’s second floor, where they cautiously began checking stores near the basement supermarket.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong explored the mall’s second floor, avoiding a Pokémon in a cosmetics shop before fleeing from a playful Mime Jr. They collected health supplements and prepared to leave by the emergency stairs, though their route would pass the Aquarium.
Lu Li treated Feebas with skincare products while the camp worried that Blondie’s team had not returned. When Lu Li and Jun Shutong searched the arcade, they found signs of an earlier Aggron attack but no trace of the missing team, and Lu Li spotted something that made him urgently want to leave.
Lu Li recognized a Mimikyu in the arcade and warned Jun Shutong, who concealed its identity while cautioning the Survivor Camp to avoid the area. The camp debated whether to relocate, while Lu Li returned to care for Feebas, hoping it would become his future source of strength.
Lu Li reassured Jun Shutong about the different kinds of Ghost-type Pokémon as she considered moving the camp away from the Arcade. Their discussion left the fate of Yellow Hair and his companion unexplained, and Lu Li wondered whether a Psychic-type Pokémon had made them disappear.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong watched a Houndour pack led by a Houndoom ambush residents fleeing a burning apartment building, which Lu Li recognized as his former home. Lu Li and Jun Shutong reassured the mall’s survivors that the pack was unlikely to target them, then Jun Shutong thanked Lu Li for calming the crowd.
After the Camp’s water supply failed, Jun Shutong and the survivors considered how to find more water, but the dangerous options left them with no easy solution. Jun Shutong broke down under the burden of protecting everyone, while Lu Li comforted her and returned to caring for Feebas.
Huang Jiafei and Old Xu returned to the Camp after being trapped by a magical beast in a strange space. Their account suggested the beast had watched Lu Li and Jun Shutong search for them, and Lu Li left the meeting with a theory he planned to discuss privately.
Lu Li proposed sending two Camp members to the Arcade each day to satisfy Mimikyu and reduce the risk of it attacking everyone, and Jun Shutong accepted the plan. She announced that she and Lu Li would go first, appointed him her deputy, and organized a lottery for the remaining members.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong entered the Arcade to negotiate with Mimikyu, and Lu Li proposed a daily arrangement to keep it occupied and prevent it from killing people. Mimikyu tacitly accepted, but then struck both Lu Li and Jun Shutong with a strange pink light.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong recovered after Mimikyu used Confuse Ray to make them leave, and Lu Li told the Camp that the Ghost-type Pokémon had accepted their terms. He returned to his quarters determined to keep communicating with Pokémon, while Jun Shutong made him her deputy.
Lu Li planned to secure a long-term water supply for the Survivor Camp by collecting rainwater from the mall's rooftop tank, and Jun Shutong agreed to lead a small team that night. As dinner ended, Lu Li prepared to explain why he wanted Yellow Hair and Old Xu on the team.
Lu Li explained a nighttime plan to reopen the water tank lid, and Jun Shutong led a group to the rooftop despite the danger from bat Magical Beasts. The group reached the water tank without seeing any bats, ready to proceed cautiously.
Lu Li’s group reached the water tower to open it, but the loud crash attracted a Zubat. They escaped into the emergency stairwell, and Zubat flew away, leaving them to hurry back before more Pokémon arrived.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong returned safely to the Camp after surviving the Bat Magical Beast, and Lu Li advised Jun Shutong on organizing the growing settlement. The next day, Fatty Lei reported that more newcomers had arrived.
Lu Li learned how An Kang and his family had crossed the mall by following gray humanoid Pokémon fighting Rattata over protein powder. An Kang also described the brutal gang controlling Anke Survivor Camp, explaining why his family had fled to Lu Li’s camp.
Lu Li and Fatty Lei kept Anke Camp’s abuses from Jun Shutong, fearing she would risk herself to rescue its survivors, while Lu Li arranged for An Kang to help develop the camp’s contribution points system. Lu Li continued caring for Feebas, then found Jun Shutong and An Kang discussing the system, leaving the camp preparing to test it.
Lu Li and Jun Shutong searched the third floor for supplies, but a crash and tremor raised fears that Rattata were damaging the mall’s load-bearing walls. They returned to find the camp in chaos, where Liu Li had calmed the survivors, and Lu Li warned Fatty Lei to take more responsibility.
At Cliff Second Base, a doctor’s experiments showed that Caterpie and Metapod resisted most modern weapons and other attacks, leading him to suspect they were high-dimensional life forms. Outside the base, Banette sensed the gathered resentment and life energy, then engulfed the facility in Will-O-Wisp and began feeding.