After registering his Pokémon, the day’s events were finally coming to an end.
Holding the juvenile Palkia in his arms, Lucas hurried home in high spirits.
His parents had never placed particularly high expectations on him.
They hadn’t even expected him to successfully summon a Pokémon.
All they had ever hoped for was that he would grow up healthy and safe.
But now that their son had returned home carrying a Pokémon and a Trainer’s subsidy, they were overjoyed.
His mother immediately went to the market and bought a pound of Two-Star beast meat, while his father happily poured himself a little liquor and celebrated.
A while later, Lucas ‘s mother served the cooked beast meat onto the table and casually remarked, “It’s all thanks to Lucas’er summoning a Pokémon and receiving his subsidy.
Otherwise, our family wouldn’t dare buy Two-Star beast meat so casually.” From his mother’s explanation, Lucas learned that Two-Star beast meat cost around one hundred credits per pound.
For an ordinary family, it certainly wasn’t something they could afford to eat regularly.
Beast meat was packed with nutrients.
Wealthy families often purchased expensive high-star beast meat because it contained numerous substances that enhanced physical fitness.
Consuming it over a long period could even increase a person’s lifespan.
Of course, cheap One-Star and Two-Star beast meat had only limited effects, but for average households, it was still considered a luxury.
“Come on now, dear,” Lucas ‘s father laughed.
“Don’t spoil the mood.
Our Lucas’er is already a One-Star Trainer.
He’ll receive a monthly subsidy from now on.
Who knows?
Maybe one day he’ll even become a Two-Star Trainer.
When that happens, we’ll finally be able to enjoy life.” “Do you think becoming a Two-Star Trainer is that easy?
Don’t put so much pressure on Lucas’er,” his mother replied, shooting his father a playful glare.
His father simply chuckled, took another sip of his drink, and continued placing pieces of meat into Lucas ‘s bowl.
The family enjoyed a warm and cheerful dinner filled with laughter.
Lucas chose not to tell his parents about Palkia.
He didn’t want them to worry.
Besides, everyone understood the saying: A man carrying a priceless treasure invites disaster.
Keeping a low profile while quietly growing stronger was the wisest path.
Only after returning to his room that night did Lucas summon Palkia again.
In this world, Poké Balls didn’t exist.
Summoned Pokémon resided within a special space inside their Trainer’s mind.
Releasing them required nothing more than a single thought, making it even more convenient than using Poké Balls.
The moment Palkia appeared, it immediately demanded food.
Fortunately, Lucas had already prepared everything.
Besides the Pokémon feed the staff had given him earlier, he had also set aside some uncooked Two-Star beast meat from dinner.
If an ordinary person obtained an unknown Pokémon, they would probably have to test every type of feed one by one to discover its preferences.
But Lucas could skip that entire process.
He knew Palkia’s Types perfectly.
Water and Dragon.
He mixed Water-type feed made from Chilan Berries with Dragon-type feed made from Belue Berries, ground them into a powder, and sprinkled the mixture evenly over the Two-Star beast meat.
Palkia sniffed the food.
Its eyes immediately lit up.
Without hesitation, it pounced on the meat and devoured it enthusiastically.
Half a pound of meat disappeared in only a few bites.
Afterward, Lucas could only continue feeding it the mixed Water- and Dragon-type feed until the little fellow was finally full.
Berry trees existed in this world as well.
However, because they only grew in special environments out in the wilderness, they were extremely expensive.
Many Trainers couldn’t afford them and instead fed their Pokémon ordinary human food.
While that was enough to satisfy their hunger, the nutritional deficiencies could limit a Pokémon’s growth.
Even though Palkia possessed Legendary Aptitude, Lucas couldn’t afford to become careless.
Looking at the remaining Pokémon feed in his hands, he estimated that the supplies the registration staff had given him would last Palkia no more than two days.
“Gawu!
Gawu~” At that moment, Palkia let out two cries, seemingly trying to express an idea.
Pokémon Trainers naturally shared a certain level of mental understanding with the Pokémon they summoned.
Although they couldn’t directly understand Pokémon speech, they could usually guess what their partners meant from their expressions and body language.
“You’re saying…
you can take me somewhere to find food?” Before Lucas could react, the pearl-like gems on Palkia’s hands and neck suddenly emitted a dazzling light.
In the next instant, both Trainer and Pokémon vanished from the room.
When Lucas opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in the middle of the wilderness.
All around him stretched a dense forest alive with the chirping of summer insects.
“Where…
am I?” Lucas was completely stunned.
One second ago, he had been inside his bedroom.
The next…
He was standing in the wild.
No matter how he looked at it, this was anything but normal.
Instinctively, he glanced over his shoulder.
Palkia clung to his back with its eyes happily narrowed, wearing an expression that practically screamed: Surprised?
Didn’t see that coming, did you?
Well…
There was no doubt about it.
This little rascal was responsible.
Lucas let out a helpless laugh.
How had he forgotten?
Palkia possessed the ability to teleport through space.
Then again, it made perfect sense.
Although Spatial Teleportation wasn’t listed among its moves, Palkia was the Spatial Pokémon itself.
Being capable of traversing space was hardly surprising.
Since they were already here, Lucas decided to make the best of it.
He carefully surveyed the surroundings.
Eventually, he spotted the massive fortress-like walls of the base city about a hundred li to the east, its countless lights shining brightly in the distance.
Fortunately, they weren’t too far from the city.
If anything unexpected happened, escaping back to the safety of the base wouldn’t be too difficult.