Graaah-
Another Pelipper landed in the courtyard, even bigger than the mother Pelipper from earlier.
"Whoa, isn't that beyond their maximum size?"
According to the textbook for his Pokédex course, an adult Pelipper stood at a standard height of 1.2 meters. The game gave roughly the same figure, but the Pelipper that had just landed was at least 1.5 meters tall.
Compared with the height range among humans, that put him on the level of a professional basketball player.
"I've got your wife and kids."
Since the wild Pelipper wouldn't understand him anyway, Shen Qi murmured the joke.
Still wearing her innocent, gentle expression, Chansey explained the situation to Pelipper.
[This is that Pelipper's husband.]
"Looks like it, too."
Pelipper entered the room and extended a wing to rub against his wife's, making sure they were both all right.
Then he spat a few small fish out of his mouth and fed them to the baby Wingull.
Click.
Shen Qi pressed the shutter button, taking a photo of this scene as well.
Unfortunately, many wild Pokémon wouldn't let their guard down completely around humans. He couldn't go inside and take his time finding a good angle, so he could only snap a photo from the doorway as a keepsake.
With the children needing care during the downpour, the Pelipper hadn't been able to go out fishing and had brought only a few small fish. Never mind the parents-even the Wingull hadn't had enough to eat.
After making sure his family was safe, the father Pelipper barely rested before beating his wings and flying back into the relentlessly rainy sky.
Chansey said he had gone to find more food.
"They've really got it tough."
The Pelipper family hadn't rested well for days. Even after finally finding somewhere to shelter from the rain, they still had to keep going out to find food for their children.
Returning to his desk, Shen Qi finished a round of coursework, then took out his phone to check his delivery status.
He had received a prize of 50,000 b. Whatever else he bought, a computer was a must-he needed one for studying, work, and entertainment.
He had ordered a standard model costing a little over four thousand b, but shipping was painfully slow.
Deliveries to the Sevii Islands weren't efficient. Islands 1, 2, and 3 were at least closer to the mainland, while Islands 6 and 7 were the farthest away. With the strong winds and torrential rain, deliveries had ground to a complete halt over the past two days.
Just as the sky had almost completely darkened, a shadow swept past the window. The father Pelipper had returned.
Chansey had a large wooden basin ready. With a great squawk, Pelipper emptied the contents of his throat pouch into it.
There were common fish of various sizes, along with seaweed and kelp-a fairly balanced diet.
Another small basin held a few sea fish in particularly good condition. Chansey carried it out of the storage room.
[Pelipper gave us some fish to thank us.]
"That's too kind. He could've given us something another day. There was no need in this downpour... Ah!!"
Shen Qi had been speaking normally when his eyes suddenly widened. In the middle of the basin lay a pink Pokémon that looked like a flattened peach.
Luvdisc!
A Water-type Pokémon shaped like a heart-shaped peach, half a meter long. It was very weak and couldn't evolve.
The Pokédex said: Luvdisc's heart-shaped body is a symbol of love. It is said that couples who encounter a Luvdisc promise to love each other forever.
Luvdisc was very rare in the games, usually requiring a fairly good fishing rod in a specific stretch of sea;
in reality, according to the Pokédex, Luvdisc appeared in great numbers during their breeding season, turning whole stretches of sea pink. This had even given rise to the custom of couples exchanging Luvdisc.
However, what humans considered romantic meant nothing to Pokémon. Bird Pokémon's diets often included these small, weak creatures-plenty of meat and little ability to resist.
Pelipper preyed on Luvdisc, and Wingull preyed on Finneon;
in turn, they were hunted by Talonflame.
Pokémon were part of the ecosystem too, participating in nature's great cycle alongside other living things.
At that moment, Luvdisc lay limply in the wooden basin, as though resigned to his fate. The other sea fish lacked that capacity for thought and were still flopping around on instinct.
"I really couldn't eat this."
No one could stop wild Pokémon from eating other wild Pokémon. But if Shen Qi was the one doing the eating, the most he could accept was something like a dish made from a Slowpoke's naturally shed tail. He simply couldn't bring himself to eat a living Pokémon.
Since Pelipper had given him the catch, Shen Qi could dispose of it however he pleased.
"Ask him what happened."
After Chansey spoke with him, Luvdisc realized there might be a way out and gradually perked up.
[He says he was playing hide-and-seek with his girlfriend when Pelipper suddenly scooped him up.]
The Pokédex had mentioned that lone Luvdisc were easier prey... Still.
Even Luvdisc had a girlfriend.
Shen Qi's expression changed. "Light the fire. Cook him!"
Chirp-
Luvdisc fainted.
"I was only joking. Was that really necessary?"
He really was a delicate Pokémon. Looking at Luvdisc, who had fainted from fright, Shen Qi felt a little guilty.
But... Chansey's expression was gradually turning strange.
A shadow fell over her innocent, gentle smile.
[It looks like he's hurt.]
[It's all right. I've made a major breakthrough in my massage techniques lately.]
Gently setting down the basin, Chansey picked up Luvdisc and carried him upstairs. Bloodcurdling screams soon followed, making even Shen Qi narrow his eyes.
The Wingull, who had been drifting off in the storage room, fluffed up in fright again. Standing outside the door, Shen Qi gave an apologetic smile.
"Sorry. We make quite a racket when we kill fish here."
As the night deepened, the Pelipper couple slept soundly in a corner of the storage room with their babies tucked close. They really had been worn out these past few days.
After sending a message to make sure Lilligant was safe, Shen Qi went upstairs to get ready for bed.
Luvdisc still hadn't woken up, despair written all over his face. He shared a room with Chansey.
The rain continued to roar, steadily leaching away the warmth. Although summer had already begun, the temperature outside was barely above ten degrees.
The warm light and quiet inside the house felt especially reassuring.
Chapter 40: Saving the Berry Field
In the haze of sleep, his phone's ringtone suddenly blared.
As Shen Qi sat up, he noticed it was still pitch-black outside. His first instinct was that something had happened to Lilligant.
A glance at the phone's screen showed that the caller was Dev.
Uncle Dev calling in the middle of the night wasn't a good sign either!
Shen Qi hurriedly answered. "What happened?"
"Shen Qi, come help at Aunt Chunhe's place. Her Berry field is about to be washed away."
"Oh no, I'll be right there!"
"Don't drive. The roads are in terrible shape."
Aunt Chunhe, who lived in a village near the market, owned a rare Berry field.
In the games, players could only grow Berries in a handful of specific places. Reality was much the same: the land needed a balanced flow of energy, and structures resembling the pathways of moves had to be carefully maintained.
It was rather like a patch of land blessed with good feng shui and reinforced by a formation.
There might have been other places in the wilds of Island 6 suitable for growing Berries, but the only one the islanders had developed and used was the modest plot belonging to Chunhe's family.
Without another word, Shen Qi went downstairs to find his raincoat.
In the original owner's memories, the boy living alone had received plenty of care from the nearby islanders. Shen Qi's current job had also come through their recommendations.
That was how the simple, honest community on Island 6 worked. When something happened to one household, a phone call for help would bring the others running, without asking for payment. They considered it their duty.
"Chansey!"
"Jili!"
Hearing the commotion, Chansey knew something urgent had happened and hurried out of the room.
Beside her was Luvdisc, half-floating just above the floor.
On land, Water-type Pokémon could use Water-type energy to swim along close to the ground. Those like Magikarp, which could only flop on their sides, were the exception.
"A neighbor's in trouble. I need to go help, and I'll need a hand from you."
"Jili!"
Chansey said a few words to Luvdisc, then left him to his own devices.
He could move on land, and it was pouring outside. If Luvdisc wanted to return to the sea, he could manage on his own.
Shen Qi started the Little Sheep, and Chansey settled into the passenger seat with practiced ease.
As the vehicle left the courtyard, they could hear the tires rolling over the ground and sending water splashing.
He used the game item [Adaptive Tire], adjusting the tires to something like a knobby tread for better off-road performance.
"The flooding's really bad."
After days of rain, muddy water covered the entire road, leaving almost no sign of its original surface.
Fortunately, there were guardrails on either side of the village road, allowing him to roughly make out its course.
Swish.
With every sweep, the windshield wipers cleared away a thick curtain of water.
Before you continue