His thoughts returned to the present.
"Could it be that gift he mentioned back then?" Xiaoyun recalled his conversation with his dad in the office a while ago, and his expression suddenly turned a little strange.
A gift Dad prepared, hmm... let me take a little guess. A fishing rod?
Or a figurine?
Surely he wouldn't give me Professor Oak's collection of senryu.
Eww, who would want something like that?
I can't understand those poems at all, okay? Though I could consider selling it. There should be plenty of people who'd like it.
"All right, stop guessing. The gift's already with your dad. He should be bringing it home soon."
After reminding Xiaoyun, Lina put on an apron and went to prepare dinner.
"Mom, why did you come home from the Pokémon Day Care so early today?"
After changing into slippers, Xiaoyun curiously asked Lina, who was getting ready to wash the vegetables.
"There weren't many trainers bringing Pokémon to the Day Care today. Most of the Pokémon there were left with us earlier."
"Xiao Ya and the others can handle their daily care. There are enough Pokéblocks and Pokémon food, so they just need to feed them at the scheduled times. That's why I came home early to make dinner for you."
Lina answered Xiaoyun while washing the vegetables.
"I see. Then I'll head upstairs!" Xiaoyun replied.
"Go ahead. Dinner won't be ready for a while. I'll call you when it's done," Lina replied with a smile.
"Tap, tap, tap. Skitty, you're here too? Why did you climb onto my bed again?"
Xiaoyun went to the side of the living room, where a wooden staircase led to the second floor.
The second floor's layout was somewhat different from the first floor's. There was no living room or kitchen, just a hallway in the middle. Everything on the left side of the hallway was his room. His bedroom and study were connected because Xiaoyun preferred to lie straight down in bed and sleep after reading.
The room's decor was no different from an ordinary Japanese-style room, except for the large bed in the middle.
Yes, that was right-a bed.
Mainly, he simply couldn't get used to sleeping on Japanese tatami mats. No matter how he slept, he felt uncomfortable, so he had Hanyu Qing'an put a large double bed in his room.
At that moment, a cute pink kitten, Skitty, was lying on the bed.
Skitty was his mother Lina's Pokémon. Since it didn't like battling, she simply hadn't evolved it into Delcatty and had kept it at home as a mascot ever since.
The little one liked lying on his bed whenever it had nothing to do. Sometimes, if he wasn't paying attention and happened to lie on it...
Well, guess what happened next?
Skitty would show him just how thrilling it was to have its claws rake across his face.
"Meow~"
When Skitty saw him return, it showed no intention of getting off his bed and merely gave a lazy meow.
"All right, all right. You can lie there, but don't mess up my bed."
"Meow."
Xiaoyun simply left it alone, though he still reminded it not to drag his quilt all over the place while playing.
"What should I read? Pokémon habits and habitats, Pokémon type matchup chart, A few dangerous places in the Sinnoh Region..."
Xiaoyun picked Pokémon habits off the bookshelf at random, lay on the bed, and began reading while stroking Skitty's chin.
"Meow~"
His petting felt so good that Skitty narrowed its eyes, its face full of enjoyment as its human servant stroked it.
"Lina, Xiaoyun, I'm home!"
An hour later.
The sound of the door opening told Xiaoyun that his shameless dad was back.
"Xiaoyun, come down for dinner."
Hearing Lina call him to dinner from the hallway, Xiaoyun set the book he was holding up on the bed and went downstairs with Skitty, which had already fallen asleep in his arms.
"Welcome home, Dad."
Arriving on the first floor, Xiaoyun saw Lina, who had already brought the food to the table, and greeted his dad, who was seated there.
"Xiaoyun, your mom should've told you already, right? Well? Are you curious?"
Hanyu Qing'an held up a gift box and asked his son.
"Honestly, I'm not that curious."
"No, you're curious."
"I'm not."
"You're curious!!!"
"Well, maybe a little." Seeing his dad's flushed, worked-up face, Xiaoyun decided to stop teasing him and replied with a smile.
"Open it. It's definitely what you've been looking forward to most."
"All right."
Xiaoyun set Skitty down on the floor, took his dad's gift box, and opened it.
"A Poké Ball?"
Inside the opened box lay a black-and-yellow Poké Ball.
"Oh, it's even a Great Ball. What Pokémon's inside?" Now even Xiaoyun couldn't help getting curious, and he turned his gaze toward his dad.
"Open it and see."
When Hanyu Qing'an saw his boy's expression beginning to change, he knew he had it in the bag. This was in the bag.
"Let me try."
"Come on out."
Xiaoyun was genuinely curious about what Pokémon needed a Great Ball. He pressed the Poké Ball's release mechanism, and the Pokémon inside flew out in a beam of white light.
Bang!!
"Treecko."
Then a lizard-like Pokémon appeared, its arms folded across its chest and a small twig held in its mouth. It looked at Xiaoyun with big, yellow, mascara-model eyes, its little face looking rather cocky.
"Holy crap, Treecko!"
Once Xiaoyun got a clear look at the Pokémon, he lost all control of his expression and exclaimed happily.
Back when he watched the anime, he had been envious ever since seeing Ash's Sceptile battle Darkrai. Yet that Pikachu trainer had actually left it at home gathering dust. It had only appeared once in the recent Pokémon Journeys arc. What a waste.
"I knew you'd love it. Your dad had to ask someone to contact Professor Birch to get this one," Hanyu Qing'an replied with a smile.
"When we asked you before which Pokémon you wanted most, didn't you say Treecko? Your dad remembered all this time," Lina added.
Although Hanyu Qing'an made it sound easy, Xiaoyun knew this was the Sinnoh Region. Getting a starter Pokémon from the Hoenn Region probably hadn't taken a small amount of effort.
After thinking for a long time, the thousand things he wanted to say could only become a single sentence: "Thanks, Dad..."
"Aw, no need to be so polite with your dad. But let me tell you, Xiaoyun, I've gotten you the Pokémon. Winning it over is still up to you."
Hanyu Qing'an seemed to notice the emotion in Xiaoyun's voice and spoke with some gratification.
"Of course. If I can't even earn a Pokémon's approval, how am I supposed to become a trainer and challenge the League tournament?" Xiaoyun answered seriously.
"Treecko, Treecko."
Treecko looked at the people in the room before finally turning its gaze to Xiaoyun. It knew that, barring any surprises, the boy before it would probably be its trainer.
"Hello, Treecko. Nice to meet you. My name's Hanyu Yun, but you can also call me Xiaoyun. I like watching Pokémon battles, and my dream is to stand at the center of the world and let everyone witness our strength."
"Would you be willing to become my Pokémon and lend me a hand?"
Xiaoyun also turned his gaze to Treecko and quietly waited for its answer.
"Treecko."
Treecko said nothing and simply gazed quietly into his eyes. People said the eyes were windows to the soul. Perhaps it hoped to judge the truth of his words through his eyes.
"Treecko, Treecko." (This human looks much more reliable than those rookie trainers who came to choose before. He should qualify to be my trainer. If he's too weak, I'll just ditch him.)
Hanyu Yun: "???"
The human and Pokémon looked at each other for a long time. Gazing into Xiaoyun's eyes, Treecko seemed to find its answer, then held out its little round hand to show that it accepted him for now.
"Then I'll be counting on you from now on, partner." Xiaoyun took the hand Treecko offered. It felt a little soft, and he answered with a serious expression.
"Treecko." (I'll be counting on you too, Xiaoyun.)
Sensing the sincerity in Xiaoyun's words, Treecko nodded affirmatively as it spoke.