Just as John Smith thought his lie had been exposed and was preparing to face Lumi's wrath, Lumi spoke.
"Mee?" (Is takeout delicious or is my cooking delicious?)
Lumi looked at John with a serious expression and asked solemnly.
After hearing Lumi's words, John finally let out a complete sigh of relief. Then he straightened his expression and replied righteously, "Of course your cooking is more delicious."
After speaking, perhaps feeling his answer wasn't perfect enough, John added a few more sentences: "My mom was right, food made by outsiders just isn't as good as what we make ourselves at home. I promise I won't eat outside food again."
"Mee ≧ ≦"
Upon hearing John's reply, Lumi finally completely let go of the matter and forgave him. After getting a satisfactory result, Lumi happily hugged the ingredients and went to busy herself in the kitchen.
Seeing this scene, John really wanted to tell Lumi that he was already full and didn't need her to bother. But reason told him that if he really said it, he wouldn't have a peaceful few days.
Feeling exhausted, John could only temporarily collapse on the sofa, enjoying the hard-won tranquility.
However, it seemed something didn't want John to stay quiet. Because John suddenly remembered something: "Just now, I seemed to have been able to understand what Lumi was saying all along. What's going on?"
As if in answer to this question, another memory flashed through John's mind:
Lumi was born three years ago and was with John when it was still an egg. Because John's mother wanted to cultivate John's sense of responsibility towards Pokémon, after getting the consent of Lumi's parents, she gave him the task of hatching the Pokémon egg.
After Lumi's Shell Smash, one person and one Pokémon spent three years together day and night, and coupled with John personally hatching Lumi, their relationship could be described as inseparable. If it were in a game, their affection level would have long since maxed out. Therefore, being able to roughly understand what the other was expressing could be considered a sign of their high level of tacit understanding.
Previously, John, who had been unable to think calmly due to a barrage of various events, finally settled down and could properly sort out the current situation.
"Judging from the situation just now, my memories are transmitted to me immediately, but to retrieve them, I have to encounter relevant events or people, or I have to actively think about them."
John temporarily summarized some information about his memories.
"Just now I was thinking of going to get my initial Pokémon after a short rest."
Looking at the time on his phone, 11:45, John finally gave up.
"Forget it, I won't go. Although Lumi has forgiven me, I should stay at home and accompany it, to make up for it."
After all, having inherited the memories of this life, in John's heart, Lumi was his family. Compared to the initial Pokémon that he hadn't even gotten yet, and whose identity was uncertain, Lumi was more important.
After lounging on the sofa for about thirty minutes, John heard the kitchen door open and a fragrant aroma waft out, knowing that Lumi must have finished cooking.
"I remember Lumi's cooking skills should be truly inherited. Judging by the smell, this meal must be very delicious. It shouldn't be a problem to eat more of something delicious."
Touching his already eighty percent full stomach, John thought helplessly.
"Mee ╭ ( ˙ ˙ ) ╯" (Time to eat!)
After setting the dishes on the dining table, Lumi called out to John, who was sprawled on the sofa.
"Coming, coming! What delicious food did Lumi make this time?"
John, quickly putting on a smiling face, immediately stood up and walked towards the dining table with light steps.
"Oh, braised prawns in oil, stir-fried pork with celery, garlic broccoli, and scrambled eggs with tomatoes. These are all my favorites, Lumi is truly amazing."
Looking at the four dishes on the table, which were noticeably less in quantity than usual, John knew that Lumi had deliberately reduced the amount of food so as not to make things difficult for him, who had already eaten. So he quickly showered it with compliments.
"Mee ( 〃 )"
Hearing John's praise, Lumi was clearly much happier and quickly urged him to come and eat.
Although John had indeed eaten something beforehand, he still finished all the dishes, almost licking the sauce clean. Don't ask, just know it was really delicious.
After eating and drinking his fill, John, who originally wanted to help clear the dishes, was held down on the sofa by Lumi, who indicated that he didn't need to lift a finger and should just stay there to digest.
"No wonder the 'me' in my memories was like a good-for-nothing. With these living conditions, who wouldn't be turned into a good-for-nothing?"
John thought this as he enjoyed a life like a young master.
A moment later, Lumi, who had finished clearing the dishes, came and sat on the sofa. It picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and started watching a TV series.
Watching the program playing on the TV, John's memory system activated, giving him information about this TV series.
"Liuyue's Adventure Journey" was considered the most popular TV series recently. As the name suggests, it tells the story of an Ampharos named Liuyue, adventuring through various regions of China, and at the same time, meticulously showing the beautiful landscapes of China to those who couldn't go out.
After all, due to the arrival of Pokémon, not only did the surface area of the blue planet expand, adding many previously unseen landscapes. Moreover, most of the wild areas belonged to wild Pokémon, and ordinary people simply didn't have the ability to go to such places, so they could only see the outside world through TV series.
The Trainer of this Ampharos, who was the main character, was Emily Snow, a big star from Metropolis, and also one of Metropolis's four Elite Four-level Trainers.
Looking at Lumi, who yearned for the Ampharos on TV, John suddenly made a decision.
"Lumi, when we go on adventures in the future, let's also go see these landscapes together, okay?"
"Mee ( ω ) !"
"Don't worry, I'll definitely keep my word."
Looking at the happy Lumi in front of him, John's mood also brightened.
As if he thought of something, John quickly took out his phone and opened his golden finger.
Seeing the game character still standing next to the backpack, watching Professor Birch being chased around by a Zigzagoon, he suddenly felt that Professor Birch was also quite unlucky.
Clicking on the backpack, the text in the dialogue box was finally different from before, but... "Detecting Pokémon... Starting to confirm Pokémon status..."
Pokémon: Ampharos ♦
Type: Electric
Level: 43
Ability: Static (When hit by a contact move, there's a chance the attacker will be paralyzed.)
Nature: Adamant (No change)
"Pokémon level too high, unable to start game. Please select a Pokémon below level 10 to start the game."
???
"So there's a level requirement? I was hoping to rely on Lumi to power through the early stages."
John certainly knew what level Lumi was. He had originally wanted to exploit a bug, but he didn't expect the golden finger to block it.
Unable to use the golden finger for now, John had to give up and accompanied Lumi to watch TV all afternoon. After dinner, he played with Lumi for a while, and feeling a bit tired, John went to bed first. After all, so many things had happened today, anyone would feel tired.
"Tomorrow at the Conservation Base, I must pick the best Pokémon..."
Muttering to himself, John gradually drifted off to sleep.
The night passed uneventfully.