Farfetch'd looked at Lu Ze, gave a small nod, and then broke into a genuine smile.
It was like ice melting, spring returning — nothing like the smile Charizard had seen earlier.
After nodding to Lu Ze, Farfetch'd cradled its leek and flicked it toward the desk drawer. The drawer popped open.
Then Farfetch'd hopped up onto the desk and, right in front of Lu Ze's startled eyes, tapped the Luxury Ball sitting there with its leek.
Just like that, Farfetch'd caught itself. (Crossed out.)
Just like that, Lu Ze had captured Farfetch'd. (Not crossed out.)
Then, to Lu Ze's further amazement, Farfetch'd let itself back out of the Luxury Ball on its own.
The thing was — Pokémon weren't supposed to be able to let themselves out of Poké Balls. Not unless the trainer had manually unlocked the release mechanism on the ball.
Lu Ze had, in fact, already unlocked the release on all his active Pokémon Balls. But he definitely hadn't unlocked any unused balls sitting around.
The last time Lu Ze had seen a Pokémon let itself out of a Luxury Ball on its own, it had been Deoxys.
"Farfetch'd… you?"
Lu Ze turned to look at Deoxys, who had just returned via Teleport. Was it possible Farfetch'd was a legendary too?
Deoxys had used Teleport the moment Farfetch'd had attacked and Lu Ze's Aura erupted on pure reflex — because it was terrified of waking Mini Dragon, who was still sleeping. Deoxys had warped Mini Dragon and Huhu out of there immediately.
Only when Lu Ze's Aura signal had faded below perception did Deoxys bring the two Pokémon back.
Of course, with a disturbance that large, the other Pokémon had all been jolted awake too — everyone except Mini Dragon and Huhu, who had been tucked away safely.
Crawdinator was still in the same position, leaning against the edge of the pool, eyes half-closed. No way to tell if it was awake or asleep.
Charizard had opened its eyes, looked down at itself lying on the floor, and scrambled to its feet. Its little eyes darted back and forth between Lu Ze and Farfetch'd.
Elekid, by contrast, was far more curious. After Farfetch'd had jumped up onto the desk, Elekid had been trying its best to climb up after it.
Lu Ze glanced at Deoxys. Deoxys tilted its head slightly.
Right. Even Deoxys had no idea what was going on.
No choice, then — time to scan with the system. Surely Farfetch'd wasn't a Mew in disguise or something.
Pokémon: Farfetch'd (Galarian Form)
Gender: Male
Type: Fighting
Ability: Scrappy (allows this Pokémon to hit Ghost-types and be unaffected by Intimidate)
Quality: Gold (Virus)
Base Moves: Peck, Detect
Egg Moves: Night Slash, Brave Bird, Simple Beam, Quick Attack, Counter
Lu Ze's eyes caught on the word "Virus" sitting in the quality column after "Gold." Only then did the pieces start falling into place.
Farfetch'd had contracted the Pokémon Virus?
Lu Ze turned to look at Deoxys with an odd expression.
Deoxys was the original carrier. It had to be.
Lu Ze then pulled up the information panels for all his eggs and stroked his chin thoughtfully. Could the virus only be transmissible to Pokémon eggs? And with the effect of enhancing the constitution of newborns?
His speculation wasn't baseless.
First — if the virus wasn't strengthening constitution, then there'd have been no need for the second vial of nutrient solution. Generally, one vial contained enough nutrients for two newborn Pokémon. Pokémon varied in size, so their nutritional needs differed — the rule was always to err on the side of more rather than less.
But seeing that the second vial of nutrient solution on the desk had also gone clear confirmed his suspicion.
Second — the attack Farfetch'd had launched at him earlier. Lu Ze's Aura could perceive it clearly: there had been no hostile intent behind it.
But the power behind it? That was definitely not the kind of strength a newborn Pokémon should possess. At minimum, Grobat and Snorlax when they were first born — their strength wasn't anything close to what Farfetch'd had shown. Lu Ze could perceive that much from the fluctuations in the Aura barrier.
"Farfetch'd!"
"Yan?"
Lu Ze's face lit up with excitement as he shouted at Farfetch'd: "Let's have a battle!"
"Yan!"
Farfetch'd gripped its leek tight and nodded with absolute certainty.
"Alright, let's go!"
Lu Ze bounced to his feet, ready to charge outside.
But psychokinesis wrapped around him and gently set him back down on the bed.
Lu Ze shot Deoxys a confused look — why had it pulled him back?
It was only when he followed Deoxys's gaze down to his own naked body that it clicked.
"Right — forgot to get dressed."
Lu Ze scratched his head, face flushing. The only thing he had on was a pair of shorts. Nothing else.
There was absolutely no way he was going outside like that. Good thing Deoxys had stopped him.
Once he'd gotten dressed and gathered himself, Lu Ze pulled out his phone and posted in the group chat.
Lu Ze: Farfetch'd has hatched. Anyone want a battle?
No one had replied yet. But after Deoxys had pulled him back, Lu Ze wasn't in any rush anyway.
"Farfetch'd, do you want some breakfast?"
Lu Ze had already spotted the empty Moomoo Milk bottles and Energy Cube boxes in the trash while getting dressed. He didn't know which Pokémon had taken care of it, but he knew the newborn had already received its nutritional supplement.
"Yan!"
Farfetch'd nodded.
"Good. Give me a moment."
Lu Ze shot Farfetch'd a smile, then ducked back into the kitchen to start preparing breakfast for everyone.
A slight smirk tugged at the corner of Farfetch'd's beak before its expression settled back into its usual composure. It crossed its legs, resting the leek across its knees, straightened its spine, and closed its eyes.
Elekid and Crawdinator had both come down to join Farfetch'd at the table. The two of them sat quietly on the sofa, waiting for breakfast.
Elekid didn't have the energy to go staring at Farfetch'd anymore — its early-morning laughing fit had emptied its stomach entirely. It was starving.
As for Crawdinator, it kept its eyes half-closed, motionless. Who knew what it was thinking.
Charizard, the moment Lu Ze was up, had flown out for a lap around the area, plus a visit to find Crobat.
Deoxys was upstairs, watching Mini Dragon and Huhu sleep. It planned to wake them once breakfast was ready and Teleport them down.
The breakfast came together quickly. Two steamer trays of soup dumplings, some hand-torn flatbreads, a pot of wonton soup, and several berries blended into berry juice.
"Breakfast's ready~"
Just as Lu Ze finished cooking, Crobat and Charizard arrived right on time.
Deoxys heard the call and came down with Mini Dragon and Huhu.
The rest of the Pokémon were already assembled. Charizard handed out the bowls; Snorlax did the portioning.
One bowl of wonton, two soup dumplings, one flatbread, one cup of berry juice per Pokémon.
If it wasn't enough, get more from Snorlax. If there was too much, put the leftovers where Snorlax could eat them.
Either way, because Snorlax existed, Lu Ze always cooked far more than needed.
Snorlax, for its part, always ate one of Lu Ze's specially formulated high-density nutrient Energy Cubes before any meal. That stuff was incredibly filling.
The regular food, then, was just a post-meal snack for it.
In other words, Energy Cubes had always been Snorlax's real staple. Everything Lu Ze cooked was just dessert.
During breakfast, Lu Ze glanced at his phone — someone had already replied.
Lu Ze smiled and typed his response into the chat.
Lu Ze: Pokémon Battle Center it is!
(End of chapter)