Xia Chi’s sudden shutdown caused the several thousand viewers in the room to spam question marks in unison.
Even with the screen dark, the chat remained fiercely engaged in discussion: “‘The last game’ really meant the last game?!” “Plugging an ad and then insta-shutting off stream?
That’s giving zero face to Iono!” “Not even extending the stream for a Master Ball?
Old Man Shui, you’ve got nerve!” “I was thinking of watching two more actual battles to learn this strategy, and he just ran?” “Old Man Shui played too many demonic strategies and probably got tracked down for an offline duel.
Don’t worry too much, guys.” “…” Xia Chi had obviously not been doxed or tracked down.
He went offline purely because time was up.
Although the stream’s popularity was booming because of Iono, and staying on a bit longer would bring in plenty of extra cash, he had something more important to do right now.
Opening the window next to his computer desk, Xia Chi—as expected—saw a small, pale green cat sitting upright on the sill.
It was none other than one of the Paldea starters: Sprigatito.
“Hey there, kitty cat, you’re pretty punctual.” Xia Chi smiled and reached out to the little cat, but Sprigatito nimbly ducked to dodge his attempt to pet it.
“Spri-gat!” Sprigatito pulled a tiny cat face, its expressive crimson eyes looking at Xia Chi with a playful glare, as if expressing dissatisfaction.
“Alright, alright, I won’t call you that nickname anymore.
Good evening, Sprigatito.” Xia Chi sincerely apologized for his silly nickname, then brought over the Berry salad that Chen Zhenze had helped him bring.
“Today’s meal is a mix of Oran Berries and Leppa Berries, tossed with your favorite Moomoo Cream Cheese Sauce.” Seeing Xia Chi’s polite apology, Sprigatito finally hopped inside from the window and began eating its dinner in small, delicate bites.
Because it was a “stray cat,” Sprigatito’s body was somewhat thin.
Its soft, clean coat was scattered with dirty smudges, and near the deep green leaf emblem in the center of its face were several bloody scratches.
Xia Chi frowned as he gently touched Sprigatito’s wound.
The cat reflexively flinched to dodge, but relaxed its nerves once it recognized Xia Chi’s hand.
“Did you get into another fight with those Mankey?” Xia Chi, who knew Sprigatito quite well, asked.
The little cat, focused on devouring its food, didn’t look up, only offering a short reply: “Spri-gat!” Xia Chi pulled a bottle of Potion spray from his drawer and said, “Hold on.
Let me patch you up before you eat.” Sprigatito shook its head, acting tough: “Spri-gat!” *A mere flesh wound—why make a fuss?* Xia Chi pressed his hand directly on its stubborn head and insisted firmly, “No way.
You must be sprayed, or else I won’t give you food tomorrow.” Knowing this little cat as well as he did, threatening to starve *it* would only get a careless shrug.
But threatening *himself* would make it behave obediently.
He flashed a villainous smile.
“Sprigatito, you wouldn’t want to see me go hungry for a whole day tomorrow, would you?” Facing Xia Chi’s self-sacrificing scheme, Sprigatito visibly froze for a moment, then rolled its eyes and muttered softly, “Spri-gat…” Translated into human language, it roughly meant “childish.” Either way, it yielded.
After carefully and patiently treating Sprigatito’s wounds, Xia Chi finally released its fluffy little head.
Sprigatito dodged his gaze, let out a slightly unnatural meow to express its thanks, and returned to wolfing down its food.
Watching the little cat eat so earnestly, a smile touched the corner of Xia Chi’s mouth.
—————— Their first meeting had occurred more than two months ago, on the afternoon of freshman registration day.
Xia Chi had been wandering around campus to familiarize himself with the new environment.
As one of the top Pokémon universities in Donghuang, Hushi University was almost as large as a small town.
With such a vast campus, the number of wild Pokémon easily exceeded the human population.
Xia Chi, who had spent three years buried in high school studies, was visiting a place with so many safe, wild Pokémon for the first time.
And so, he got lost.
Well, in truth, that was just an excuse.
The main reason was that Xia Chi had lacked a sense of direction since childhood, possessing a true directional impairment.
In his previous life, a simple navigation map app would have solved it.
Unfortunately, the tech tree in this world hadn’t developed in that direction.
As a result, Xia Chi wandered around the mountain behind the university for a long time without finding a way back.
Worst of all, his phone had run out of battery and turned off at some unknown point.
Anyone who knew Hushi in early September understood what the sun was like.
How was it any different from G-Max Wildfire?
Hot, thirsty, and exhausted, Xia Chi had genuinely thought he was about to bid farewell to this world and return to Earth to go back to being a corporate drone.
Then, he met Sprigatito.
The little cat, who was now on great terms with Xia Chi, had been quite distant and aloof back then.
If he hadn’t looked so pitiable, Sprigatito might have turned around and walked away immediately.
In the end, the kindhearted cat led Xia Chi back to the main campus, after which human and cat parted ways.
What else could they do?
Sprigatito didn’t have a phone, so Xia Chi couldn’t leave contact info.
As for catching it—Sprigatito, having only met him once, wouldn’t necessarily agree.
Besides, Xia Chi’s stream hadn’t taken off back then; he could barely feed himself, let alone support another Pokémon.
However, Xia Chi and Sprigatito’s fate didn’t end there.
Just a few days later, they met again.
This time, Sprigatito was the one in trouble, and Xia Chi played the hero saving the day.
The situation hadn’t been complex— There were many wild Pokémon on campus.
Where there were Pokémon, there were factions and rivalries.
Sprigatito, however, was a lone cat hero.
It wasn’t like those Eevee that were fed by female college students’ affection until they turned into heavy trucks.
Nor did it huddle in groups for warmth and territory like Meowth or Aipom.
Sprigatito lingered at the edge of the campus and the mountain behind it.
When there were Berries, it picked them; when there weren’t, it relied on photosynthesis to absorb energy.
Grass-type Pokémon rarely starved to death.
Even with such a laid-back lifestyle, Sprigatito still ended up feuding with a few aggressive Mankey.
That day, while strolling around, Xia Chi stumbled upon their battle.
To be precise, a one-sided bullying by the Mankey.
Seeing his savior being bullied, Xia Chi naturally couldn’t stand by.
With a slight move…
He called over the campus security team to put a stop to the Mankey’s bullying.
Afterward, Xia Chi took Sprigatito to the campus Pokémon Center for treatment and brought it back to his dorm to recover for a few days.
From then on, human and cat officially became close friends.
Later, through some subtle inquiries, Xia Chi learned that Sprigatito actually used to have a Trainer—a student at Hushi University’s Pokémon Academy.
However, after a loss in a campus tournament, it had been abandoned under the excuse of being “useless.” Its experience was similar to Chimchar’s in the anime—abandoned by Paul, only to later join Ash and march into the top four of the Lily of the Valley Conference.
Except Sprigatito was even unluckier; it hadn’t met a savior like Ash.
No one wanted to catch a Pokémon abandoned for being “useless.” Even if someone did, Sprigatito wouldn’t necessarily accept them.
Thus began its stray life that lasted for over half a year.
Until today.