"Whew..."
After coming out of the bathroom and returning to his room, Su Yuan flopped down on his bed and stretched. Then, he suddenly remembered his hair was still a little damp from his shower and quickly got up.
Grrr...
Su Yuan's stomach was rumbling. Since his popularity had grown, his lifestyle had become irregular. He had started his stream at 5:30 PM and didn't feel hungry while he was live, but as soon as he relaxed, he immediately felt famished.
"What should I eat today..."
Su Yuan opened his phone and clicked on an app called "Dragonite Delivery," which was similar to Uber Eats in his previous life, since Dragonites are also a golden-yellow color.
That's right, Dragonite are trained specifically for food delivery here. Though most of the time, the deliveries are actually made by Pidgeot.
"Slowpoke tail, huh..."
Staring at the restaurant for a while, Su Yuan gave up. "I've been eating a lot of that recently. Let's try another place."
There are no regular animals in this world; besides humans, there are only Pokémon. Su Yuan was initially very resistant to the idea of eating Pokémon until he tried a charcoal-grilled Farfetch'd.
It was delicious!
The crispy exterior and tender interior, combined with a crunchy wrap and a simple sauce, made every bite an ultimate delight. However, not all Pokémon are allowed to be eaten.
Only Pokémon purchased from special breeding farms approved by the Pokémon League are legally edible. Each edible Pokémon has its own unique code, like a barcode. Whether it's at a restaurant or a Pokémon grocery store, this code must be provided to the customer for online verification.
"Wooloo BBQ..."
Su Yuan was having an internal struggle. In the end, he couldn't resist and placed an order. He thought to himself that eating BBQ at this hour would surely turn him into a slob, but it smelled so good. On a side note, the complimentary wraps served with lettuce or tomatoes from this place were amazing!
After placing his order, Su Yuan sat at his computer, bored, searching for entertaining videos on Bilibili to pass the time while he waited for his food.
"If evil is a beautiful, cruel symphony, its finale, I'll write it myself."
Suddenly, his phone rang.
"What is it, Hikari?"
He picked up the phone, and his voice was the first to break the silence. He knew from his contact list who was calling. "It's so late."
"What do you mean, 'it's so late'?" The voice on the other end sounded displeased. "You didn't forget, did you? I'll be there tomorrow morning!"
"Pffft..."
Now that she mentioned it, Su Yuan remembered. Hikari had said something similar a week ago, but he hadn't paid attention. "I thought you were kidding. And your parents really let you come alone?"
"I knew it. It's a good thing I called." Hikari said with an "I knew it" tone. "I begged them for so long before they finally agreed."
"Besides, I don't think you're in a position to lecture me, are you?"
...
Su Yuan's mouth twitched slightly as he retorted, "My situation is clearly different from yours."
"What's so different about it?"
"It's not like I'm traveling alone. Uncle and Auntie just threw you out of the house to travel the world themselves."
When she mentioned Su Yuan's family, Hikari's tone softened. "But seriously, Uncle and Auntie really trust you, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm like an afterthought." What parents leave their child, who is just about to start high school, alone at home while they travel the world? Even though it had been almost three years, Su Yuan still didn't know how to feel about it. The only thing that made him feel like they hadn't forgotten him was that they sent him money every month.
As for Hikari, she was probably his childhood friend... right? Although Su Yuan now lived in Modu, before the summer break of his middle school graduation, he and his parents had always lived in a region called Sinnoh. They happened to be neighbors with Hikari's family.
"Oh, right! Su Yuan, do you have your own Pokémon yet?"
Hikari's tone shifted, filled with a hint of excitement. "I got my own Pokémon before I graduated from high school!"
"Guess what Pokémon it is?"
The next second, Su Yuan and Hikari said in unison:
"It's Piplup!"
"It's a Piplup!"
"Huh? How did you know it was a Piplup?"
Su Yuan sighed. "I wonder who used to follow me around every day, saying they wanted Piplup as their starter Pokémon."
"Who, who, who, who, who, who, who followed you around every day!"
Su Yuan could imagine what Hikari looked like right now. She must look so cute, he thought. While Hikari acted cheerful and generous around others, with him... heh heh!
"N-n-n-n-never mind that. What about your Pokémon, Su Yuan?"
Her ability to change the subject was just as clumsy as ever, but... Su Yuan looked up at the neat row of various Poké Balls on his bookshelf and sighed helplessly before answering, "Unfortunately, I don't have my own Pokémon yet."
"Huh...?"
Hikari hadn't expected that answer. She asked with a doubtful tone, "Why don't you have one? I remember you really liked Pokémon. And..."
In Hikari's memory, not only did Su Yuan love Pokémon, but he also had a Litten that followed him everywhere, even though that Pokémon belonged to his father. In reality, Litten had grown up alongside Su Yuan.
"That's impossible, right?" Hikari couldn't understand. High school graduation was an opportunity to receive a starter Pokémon. As long as a Pokémon acknowledged a person, that person could become its trainer. "Even if you weren't recognized by a Pokémon before you graduated, couldn't that Litten have become your starter?"
"I'm afraid Litten already evolved into an Incineroar..."
According to League regulations, you can't have your own Pokémon before the age of sixteen. A starter Pokémon received after sixteen must be in its basic form, which usually means a recently hatched Pokémon. This rule exists because novice trainers can't handle and command high-level Pokémon. There were cases decades ago where new trainers caused widespread disasters because they couldn't control their Pokémon.
A trainer's strength is judged by their starter Pokémon. By assessing the starter's strength, the trainer's skill is rated, and it's determined what level of Pokémon they can currently handle. Therefore, a starter Pokémon is extremely important. If Litten hadn't evolved, it could have been Su Yuan's starter. But the problem was that it had already evolved. In the eyes of the League, Su Yuan didn't meet the conditions or qualifications to become its trainer.
"Well, let's not talk about that. When will you get to the station tomorrow? Do you need me to pick you up?"
Hikari thought to herself, Why do you think I called you? "I'll probably arrive around nine in the morning." Pouting, Hikari said insincerely, "It's fine if you don't come. It's not like I absolutely need you to..."
"Got it. Just wait for me at the station tomorrow." As Su Yuan said this, Hikari's lips hadn't even had a chance to curve upward when she heard his next sentence:
"After all, I want to see Piplup quickly."
Beep, beep, beep... The call ended, and the sound came from Su Yuan's phone.