Aaron had just settled into bed when something suddenly occurred to him.
His eyes opened.
"Wait."
At the computer, Greninja glanced over with the flat, long-suffering expression of someone who had already decided this interruption had better be important.
"Grenin?"
Aaron sat up.
"System. I completed Steal the Spotlight! hours ago. Where are my rewards?"
The quest had been finished the moment he defeated the Shadow Pokémon and saved Flight 608. Yet nearly an entire day had passed without so much as a notification.
There was a short silence.
Then the System answered.
"Ding... Why are you complaining in the middle of the night? Do you seriously think I'd steal a reward this small?"
Aaron's eyebrow twitched.
"Here. Take it before you start calling me stingy again."
"Ding~"
[Quest Completed: Steal the Spotlight!]
[Rewards Obtained: Sceptilite ×1, Key Stone ×1]
"There. Happy now? I'm going back to sleep. I stayed up all night playing mahjong yesterday."
Aaron stared into empty space.
"You forgot my reward because you were playing mahjong?"
No answer came.
Apparently, the System had already gone back to sleep.
Aaron resisted the urge to argue with something living inside his head and opened the System Backpack instead.
There it was.
Sceptilite.
A smile slowly appeared on his face.
He was already curious about what would happen once Sceptile Mega Evolved. Considering how unusual most of his Pokémon had become, Aaron doubted it would be as simple as an ordinary Mega Sceptile.
Satisfied that his reward had finally arrived, he lay back down.
Unfortunately, sleep brought back a far less welcome visitor.
Once again, Aaron dreamed about his death on Earth.
Once again, lightning struck him while he was masturbating.
And once again, his family, relatives, and even his ex-girlfriend arrived just in time to discover his naked corpse still clutching the evidence.
Some deaths were tragic.
Aaron's had apparently been designed specifically to ruin his dignity for eternity.
...
"Holy shit!"
Aaron shot upright early the next morning, cold sweat running down his face.
He sat there for several seconds before covering his eyes with one hand.
"Not this damn dream again..."
For reasons he still did not understand, it kept returning.
Aaron sighed.
"Darkrai, buddy, wherever you are... if this somehow turns out to be your fault, we're going to have words."
Somewhere far beyond Aaron's reach, Darkrai suddenly sneezed.
"Achoo!"
Darkrai paused.
Then looked around.
"...What was that?"
...
Still annoyed by the dream, Aaron washed up and headed downstairs.
Before he reached the living room, he heard Lily talking excitedly.
"Growlithe, look. This is the Fire Stone Aaron brought back for you."
"Woof!"
Growlithe sat in front of her, tail wagging furiously as he stared at the evolutionary stone in her hands.
"With this, you can evolve into Arcanine."
"Woof! Woof!"
Aaron stepped into the room.
"Morning."
Lily looked up.
"You're awake already?"
"Unfortunately."
That earned him a confused look. Aaron usually needed considerable persuasion to get out of bed this early.
"I have somewhere to be this morning," he explained, then nodded toward the Fire Stone. "You're going to evolve Growlithe now?"
"Yeah. I wanted to do it before you left."
Aaron looked at Growlithe for a moment.
There was no real reason to stop her.
In this world, rookie Trainers were generally discouraged from raising Pokémon far beyond their ability to command. A sudden increase in strength could sometimes destabilize a poorly established Trainer-Pokémon relationship, and Hualis had regulations specifically intended to prevent inexperienced Trainers from obtaining Pokémon they could not safely handle.
There had been too many accidents in the past involving wealthy families simply buying overwhelmingly powerful Pokémon for their children.
Growlithe, however, was different.
He and Lily had grown up together, and their bond was already strong. Evolution was not going to suddenly erase that.
Aaron nodded.
"Go ahead. He'll be fine."
Lily immediately brightened.
"Really?"
"Really."
She crouched beside Growlithe and held the Fire Stone out to him.
"Ready?"
"Woof!"
Growlithe pressed his paw against the stone.
The reaction was immediate.
Brilliant white light erupted around his body as the Fire Stone released its energy. Lily took a step back, watching in fascination while Growlithe's silhouette expanded within the glow.
His legs lengthened. His body became larger and more powerful, while a thick mane formed around his head and chest.
Seconds later, the light faded.
A magnificent Arcanine now stood in the middle of the living room.
For a moment, Lily simply stared.
Then Arcanine immediately leaned down and enthusiastically licked her across the face.
"Arcanine!"
She burst out laughing and threw her arms around his neck.
"You look amazing!"
"Woooof!"
Despite his much larger body, his personality had apparently changed very little.
Aaron smiled and opened his status panel.
[Name: Arcanine]
[Gender: Male]
[Nature: Relaxed]
[Type: Fire]
[Ability: Intimidate — Lowers the opponent's Attack by one stage when Arcanine enters battle.]
[Base Stats Total: 555]
[Level: Beginner (Late Stage)]
[Potential: Champion]
[Known Moves: Ember (Proficient), Morning Sun (Proficient), Bite (Proficient), Flame Wheel (Beginner), Howl (Beginner), Fire Fang (Beginner), Leer (Beginner)...]
[Description: Arcanine, the Legendary Pokémon. The evolved form of Growlithe, celebrated in ancient Hualis legends for its majestic appearance and extraordinary speed.]
Aaron gave an approving nod.
Not bad at all.