Facing its Trainer's sudden attack, the still young Shinx was momentarily stunned.
The Shinx, so nervous it didn't know what to do, remained stiff in John Smith's arms, allowing him to do as he pleased.
Feeling the body in his hands gradually stiffen, John, snapping out of the pleasure of petting the Pokémon, quickly put the Shinx down.
"Ahem." Clearing his throat, John looked at the stiff Shinx in front of him, which looked like it was cosplaying a statue. He quickly steered the conversation back to its original track, hoping to ease the awkward atmosphere.
"Alright, it seems you've already learned Glare. Next, we'll test Quick Attack."
"Come on, Shinx, use Quick Attack."
Upon hearing its Trainer's command, the stiff Shinx quickly snapped out of its daze, adjusted itself slightly, and then instantly darted forward a certain distance.
"About half a meter. For Shinx in its current state, this is a very good result," John thought, evaluating the Shinx that quickly moved half a meter.
"What about Yawn? Try to see if you can use it."
Hearing John's command, Shinx first prepared for a moment, then opened its mouth and let out a big Yawn at John... After waiting for about a minute, John didn't feel any drowsiness.
It seemed Shinx hadn't mastered this skill yet, so John continued with the next skill test.
"Shinx, try to see if you can use Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, and Ice Fang."
Although he had already seen Shinx use Thunder Fang, it was still too young, and these three skills had certain usage level requirements. John was afraid Shinx would hurt itself by forcing the skill, so he added, "Don't push yourself. Use it if you can; if not, that's fine."
"Meow."
Hearing John's concern, Shinx indicated not to worry. It then opened its small mouth, and with a flash of electricity, a set of lightning-formed fangs appeared in its mouth, looking quite lethal... except they were a bit small.
About three seconds later, the lightning fangs disappeared. Shinx panted slightly, then formed a set of fiery fangs in its mouth.
This time, the duration was even shorter; Fire Fang almost vanished in an instant.
Seeing the situation, John thought Shinx was over-exhausted and quickly called for it to stop.
"Alright, you've done great. You don't need to continue; stop now."
After hearing John's words, the somewhat unyielding Shinx did not follow its Trainer's command, wanting to continue using Ice Fang.
However, reality wouldn't change because of its stubbornness. Perhaps it hadn't mastered it, or perhaps it had consumed too much energy. Ultimately, Shinx still couldn't use Ice Fang, only opening its mouth fruitlessly.
Seeing Shinx's expression gradually turn dejected, John quickly went over and picked it up, comforting it softly: "You've done great! You're still young, so it's normal not to be able to use these skills yet."
"Meow (T_T)" Despite the words, Shinx's face still showed a dejected expression.
"After all, it's still a child. It hasn't experienced much of reality's harshness. After a few more experiences during its growth, it will get used to it and won't be like this anymore."
Looking at the teary-eyed Shinx in his arms, John couldn't help but voice thoughts like a doting father.
"Alright, don't be sad. How about we continue playing the game?"
Seeing that comfort wasn't working, John resorted to the great distraction method.
"Meow~(ノへ￣,)"
Indeed, the best way to deal with children is to divert their attention to something they're interested in.
"Come on," John carried Shinx to the sofa, "close your eyes, let's begin."
...Knowing that the skills Shinx forgot in the game wouldn't disappear, John was completely relieved. After setting the in-game skills to Thunder Fang, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, and Electric Terrain, the game began.
Looking at the protagonist on Route 101, "First, I'll level up a bit, then go find May." John planned his subsequent game itinerary.
Then, the wild Pokémon on Route 101 were in for a rough time, falling one after another under Shinx's 'farmer's three fangs' bombardment, and John also used Electric Terrain a few times to get a feel for it.
"Alright, it's about time to go find May." Looking at the Shinx that had reached level 8, John began the next step of his progress.
Arriving in Oldale Town, he first spoke to the shop clerk to get a Potion. Even a small mosquito is still meat; it's free, so why not take it? John fully demonstrated the spirit of frugality.
Then he went to the Pokémon Center to recover from the damage taken from using Electric Terrain and failing to defeat opponents in one hit, and to restore PP values.
Entering the Pokémon Center, John controlled his character to walk directly to Nurse Joy and clicked to start a conversation:
"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center."
"We can restore the energy of tired Pokémon."
"Would you like your Pokémon to rest?"
Click "Yes."
"Alright, your Pokémon will be in my care temporarily."
Then Nurse Joy placed the Poké Ball on the machine next to her, and after a flash from the machine, the recovery was complete.
"Thank you for waiting, your Pokémon have fully recovered."
"Please come again."
After the recovery was complete, John immediately headed to Route 103 above. After dealing with two wild Pokémon that jumped out to block his way, he continued upwards and reached his destination.
Seeing the name 'Illusion Forest' appear in the upper left corner of the screen, John knew that at least in this place, the game's plot should not have changed.
Continuing forward, he saw a May with a noticeably different color at the top of the map.
John immediately went forward, and after a series of red-text dialogues, the real May ran over and exposed the fake May's true identity—a Zorua.
Then the battle began. Since Shinx's level was higher than Zorua's, it won effortlessly, successfully leveling up to 9 and learning the Charge skill.
"Hey, I didn't expect you to be quite strong. Then I'll go with you."
"Zorua joined the team."
Next, May recounted Zorua's origin, praised John, and stated that she would wait for John on Route 103 for a match before leaving.
John then walked downwards, saw May standing on the right side of the screen, and went to talk to her.
The battle began, and May released a Snivy from her Poké Ball.
Normally, May's Pokémon should counter the protagonist's Pokémon, but since John's Starter Pokémon was Shinx, she could only choose Snivy, which had resistance to Electric-types, from the Starter Pokémon.
Since Snivy was only level 5, it was instantly defeated by a single Fire Fang from the already level 9 Shinx.
After the battle, May praised John again, left half of a Heart Ball as a token, and told John that she would wait for him at the research institute before leaving once more.
John glanced at the time: 11:18.
"Brother Zach is almost off work. I'll continue when I get home." With that, after taking Shinx to the Pokémon Center to recover, John exited the game.
Because he had leveled up 4 times consecutively this time, after the energy transfer was complete, Shinx visibly grew larger and looked stronger.
"Meow~ ┗(￣︶￣)┛"
Looking at the refreshed Shinx in front of him, John couldn't help but exclaim, "The golden finger is indeed awesome."