“Glaaace—!!”
Glaceon’s fur immediately stood on end.
It jumped down, tugged insistently at Cynthia’s pant leg with its teeth, then looked up at her with the most pitiful expression it could manage before shooting Roserade an accusing look.
The complaint could not have been more obvious.
Cynthia could only smile helplessly.
“Sorry, Glaceon.
I only have one of those candies right now.”
“Glace?!”
Glaceon let out another anguished cry.
Cynthia hurriedly added, “But I’ll be going back there again.
Next time, I’ll take you with me.
If I manage to get another candy like that, the next one is yours.”
That seemed to make the situation marginally more acceptable.
Glaceon gave Roserade one last disgruntled look before hopping back onto the sofa.
Truthfully, Cynthia still had not entirely recovered from what she had just witnessed.
Pokémon could certainly improve their strength by absorbing certain rare resources directly, but once they reached Champion level, methods like that generally stopped having any meaningful effect.
Yet this candy had caused Roserade to make an enormous leap forward.
No—
Only half of it had.
Judging from the aura Roserade was giving off now, it had genuinely reached the upper reaches of Champion-level strength.
All from half a piece of candy.
‘What exactly was that thing?’
Once again, Cynthia was reminded that nothing from that internet café seemed normal.
Not the drinks.
Not the rewards.
Not even an innocent-looking piece of candy.
And if she could continue obtaining Rare Candies like this simply by playing the game…
Wouldn’t that mean her entire team could steadily grow stronger?
There was something else too.
Every time her session ended, the café seemed to award her something different.
Was the quality of those rewards determined by the final session rating?
Dozens of possibilities flashed through Cynthia’s mind before she shook her head.
She already wanted to return to the café.
Unfortunately, she had used up all of today’s playtime.
Cynthia rose from the sofa, gave Roserade a light pat on the shoulder, then headed through the balcony doors and into the villa’s back garden.
A huge pond occupied the center of the grounds, its water broad and crystal clear.
Many Water-type Pokémon lived there.
Several Goldeen circled lazily around a clump of aquatic plants, blowing streams of bubbles as they went.
A Poliwag floated belly-up on the surface, apparently sunbathing, while a few Wooper rolled happily through the mud along the edge of the pond.
Some were wild Pokémon.
Others were ones Cynthia had taken in over the years.
Whenever she had time, she fed them herself, though she had also hired two caretakers specifically to look after the aquatic Pokémon whenever she was away.
She had never kept them with the intention of turning them into members of her battle team.
Cynthia simply liked Water-type Pokémon.
The moment the Pokémon noticed her approaching, several of them swam or waddled over to greet her.
Cynthia greeted each of them in turn, and before long they dispersed again, returning to whatever they had been doing.
Then a lone figure quietly emerged from the shadows in the deeper part of the pond.
It was a brownish fish Pokémon with rough, uneven skin covered in irregular bumps and a pair of oversized red lips.
Feebas.
As soon as it appeared, several of the other Pokémon instinctively moved away.
A few did not even bother hiding the distaste on their faces.
Feebas seemed long accustomed to it.
It simply continued swimming toward Cynthia and stopped in front of her, staring up with the same vacant expression it always wore.
“Good afternoon, Feebas.”
Cynthia crouched beside the water and gently rubbed its head.
The familiar combination of slippery mucus and rough scales met her fingertips.
Feebas did not react much beyond blowing a small bubble and continuing to stare blankly at her.
Under the summer sunlight, Cynthia remained crouched at the edge of the pond and studied it for a while.
Even after everything the chat had told her earlier, she still found it difficult to imagine any connection between this awkward-looking little Pokémon and Milotic.
But looking at the matter another way…
If there truly was a way for the Feebas in front of her to evolve into Milotic…
Maybe Feebas itself would be happy about that.
Cynthia looked into its eyes and spoke softly.
“Feebas, if there were a way for you to become beautiful and strong—to leave this pond and see a much bigger world—would you want that?”
Feebas tilted its head and blew another bubble.
It did not seem to understand her.
Cynthia patiently repeated herself, but once again Feebas showed little reaction.
After a moment, she fell silent.
Perhaps Feebas simply did not have the intelligence necessary to understand what she was asking.
Cynthia took a handful of Pokémon food from her pocket and scattered it across the water.
Then she gave Feebas a small wave and turned to leave.
What Cynthia did not see was what happened the moment her back disappeared from view.
Several Goldeen immediately rushed over.
They rammed Feebas aside and began fighting over the food floating on the surface.
Feebas spun helplessly through the water before finally managing to steady itself.
Then it slowly raised its head and looked toward the direction Cynthia had gone.
The vacant expression on its face disappeared.
In its place was something deeply sad.
Something lonely.
‘Of course I want that.’
How could it not?
Cynthia had been the one who rescued it from that filthy, cramped pond where it had been abandoned.
How could Feebas not dream of entering that house and staying beside her?
It surfaced quietly.
From this part of the pond, the floor-to-ceiling windows of the villa offered a clear view into the living room.
Roserade and Glaceon still seemed to be arguing about something near the sofa.
Even from this distance, Feebas could sense how profoundly different those Pokémon were from itself.
They were beautiful.
More importantly, they were unimaginably strong.
Longing flickered in Feebas’s eyes.
Cynthia had saved it.
Of course it wanted to stand beside her.
But as it was now…
What right did it have?
Feebas turned away and swam alone toward the deepest part of the pond.
The other aquatic Pokémon kept their distance as it passed.
Some glanced over occasionally, but there was little friendliness in their eyes.
Feebas was the ugliest, strangest Pokémon in the entire pond.
None of them wanted to be close to it.
Feebas descended all the way to the bottom and stopped in front of a large rock.
Then, clumsily, it gathered all the strength in its body and rammed itself into the stone.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Again and again, it practiced the most basic attack it knew, even though such training seemed almost meaningless.
But if it wanted to earn a place beside her…
It had to become stronger!
Water churned around it.
Even when traces of blood began appearing between the rough scales along its body, Feebas did not stop.
…
Mount Coronet.
After deciding what to do with the afternoon, Felix collected a few Berries, headed out through the back door, and fed the Murkrow along the way before retracing yesterday’s route.
If he remembered correctly, he had spotted several different Berry trees farther in the distance.
It was the perfect opportunity to see what other drinks the dispenser could make.
Although it was apparently summer, Mount Coronet was not particularly hot.
Cool breezes occasionally passed through the forest, and the thick canopy overhead blocked most of the direct sunlight.
Felix carefully made his way through the trees.
He soon reached the area he had explored yesterday, continued a little farther, and sure enough found several unfamiliar varieties of Berry trees.
At least he had recognized two of yesterday’s Berries.
This time, he had no idea what any of them were.
Not that it mattered.
Once he took them back and put them into the drink dispenser, the system would tell him what they did.
As before, Felix gathered more than a dozen before turning around and heading back toward the café at a brisk pace.
There was still one rather significant problem with wandering around Mount Coronet alone.
He did not own a Pokémon.
If he ran into an aggressive wild Pokémon, his available battle strategy consisted almost entirely of running for his life.
Maybe the next time Cynthia visited, he should ask her to bring him a Poké Ball.
Felix had never particularly planned on becoming a Trainer.
Running the internet café sounded perfectly comfortable to him.
But now that he had actually ended up in a world filled with Pokémon…
Who would turn down the chance to have one as a companion?
He was still considering the idea when he suddenly stopped walking.
A familiar little figure was perched on a tree stump ahead.
It was the same Litwick he had fed yesterday.
When Litwick noticed him approaching, the flame on its head swayed happily.
It gave him a small greeting.
“Lii~”
“Hey, you again.
Here.”
Felix smiled and crouched down.
From the Berries he had collected, he picked out the largest blue one and placed it in front of Litwick.
He vaguely remembered reading Litwick’s Pokédex entry before.
Apparently, the species was known for using the flame on its head to guide travelers through dark places.
Which sounded helpful…
Until you reached the part where it was secretly absorbing the person’s life energy along the way.
Pretty terrifying when you thought about it.
But this particular Litwick did not seem to have any such intentions.
At least Felix did not feel weak, dizzy, or otherwise unusual.
While he was thinking, Litwick waved its tiny arms and struggled to lift the Berry.
Just like yesterday, it seemed ready to carry its gift away.
“Lii!”
Then its entire body suddenly stiffened.
The Berry slipped from its hands.
Litwick’s expression turned terrified.
Without another sound, it darted into the nearby undergrowth and vanished.
Felix froze.
That reaction…
Litwick had run because it was frightened.
And whatever had frightened it definitely was not him.
Which meant—
‘Oh, shit.’
A chill crept across Felix’s back.
An immediate sense of danger surged through him.
He spun around.
A pitch-black figure radiating an oppressive, terrifying presence was already standing behind him.
Felix had no idea when it had arrived.