"Munch!" Munchlax let out an excited cheer.
With a crisp riiip, its stubby claws tore the tough, vacuum-sealed bag clean in two. For a little guy, it had monstrous strength.
Without missing a beat, the Pokémon started double-fisting its food. Its claws moved like excavator buckets, frantically shoveling the rich milk-scented energy kibble into its bottomless pit of a mouth. It was a total feeding frenzy.
However, to Miles's relief, Munchlax didn't just swallow it whole like it used to.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
Crisp, rhythmic chewing echoed through the room. The little guy was actually chewing! Its pink tongue rolled nimbly, savoring every bit of the delicious flavor.
Watching this, Miles felt a lump in his throat. In the unforgiving wild, the Snorlax line often faced brutal food shortages. Because of their massive appetites, they would eat absolutely anything, even rotting garbage. Their instinct was to forcefully swallow food without chewing—rapidly stuffing their bellies to survive in a harsh environment where a meal could be snatched away at any second.
Now, Munchlax clearly knew it was safe. It no longer had to scavenge for cold scraps. Its biological instincts finally realized that in this home, slowing down to savor a premium meal was a luxury it could afford.
After Munchlax finally let out a thunderous, satisfied burp to cap off its feast, a faint blue light flashed in Miles's vision. The system data had updated.
"Huh?! It leveled up?!"
On the transparent interface projected onto his retina, Munchlax's stats had changed from Level 4 to 5.
Looking closely, the physical changes were obvious. Munchlax's previously bony frame—a result of long-term malnutrition—had fleshed out after just a few days of an unlimited, high-calorie diet. Its fat layer was thicker, and its deep blue fur looked sleek and glossy. The Pokémon was round and full; its defense had definitely skyrocketed.
But when Miles glanced at the pile of Pokémon food in the corner, his smile froze.
"What... what the hell?!" His eyes widened in shock.
The total amount Munchlax had eaten for this single meal had jumped by nearly twenty percent compared to just two days ago!
'Right, a Snorlax's appetite scales directly with its weight and level, he realized. The faster this little guy grows, the faster its monstrous appetite will snowball...'
Miles grimaced, his lips twitching. At this rate, the 150 pounds of premium rations he'd just blown a fortune on wouldn't even last a week!
Right after calculating Munchlax's massive future grocery bills, Miles's own stomach let out a fierce growl.
"Forget it," he sighed. "I'll just order some fried chicken on the app."
To save money for his bottomless pit of a stomach, Miles gave up on expensive brand-name fast food. He opened a delivery app and ordered a cheap fried chicken combo.
While waiting for his food, he booted up his computer and started his evening stream early.
Because the "Water Ghost Feebas" incident from that afternoon was still trending, tens of thousands of viewers flooded the stream the moment he went live. The chat instantly became a blur of scrolling text.
Leaning back in his chair, Miles told them about the bizarre female buyer who was now actively trying to extort the courier station owner.
Just as he expected, the crazy story sparked instant outrage in the chat!
[Viewer "Outlaw John Doe": She's legally blind and a giant baby! Strictly speaking from a legal perspective, ownership of that Meowth transferred the moment she actively abandoned it! Her current actions constitute attempted extortion!]
[Viewer "Late Night No Hair Loss Big-Faced Cat": Bruh, how can there be such a shameless woman in this world? She threw away a diamond thinking it was glass, and now that she saw Streamer's appraisal and knows it's worth money, she has the audacity to ask for it back? The station owner needs to call the cops!]
[Viewer "Canyon's Most Affectionate Jungler": LMAO! Pure karma! I can just imagine that crazy woman going mad when she saw the stream clips! She hated the Pokémon, and this is the price of greed!]
[Viewer "Just Want to Be a Rich Sugar Mamma": I'm really worried about that poor Meowth. Thank goodness the station owner sent it off to the countryside. If it fell back into her hands, who knows what would happen to it!]
[Viewer "Veteran Wild Pokémon Breeder": A Meowth with the Technician Ability fetches an astronomical price on the black market. No wonder she lost her mind after missing out on that bag. Still nauseating behavior though.]
[Viewer "Elden Ring Gold Medal Lecturer": Karma never misses! Her arrogance is going to catch up to her sooner or later!]
[Viewer "Bottom-Tier Worker Who Can't Afford Tea Eggs": Support the station owner fighting her to the end! Don't give this scum an inch! Miles, you should check in on the station owner's safety later!]
Miles watched the chat's united front and nodded in agreement.
However, just as he was about to dive deeper into the social issue of Pokémon abandonment, a rhythmic knocking echoed through his rental apartment.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"That's probably my delivery. Give me a second, chat. Let me grab my fried chicken and we can eat while we talk."
Miles grabbed his portable streaming camera and stood up. He walked over to the door, twisted the handle, and pulled it open.
"Thanks for the hard work, bro—"
The greeting died in his throat. Miles froze in place. The one standing outside with his meal wasn't a familiar delivery driver from some app.
It was an athletic bird Pokémon!
The hallway lights illuminated the creature, broadcasting its image perfectly through the camera lens to tens of thousands of shocked viewers. Deep, night-sky-blue feathers covered its back and slender wingtips. Fiery-red plumage swept across its face and neck, contrasting sharply with a pure, unblemished white belly.
Its forehead feathers formed a sharp widow's peak, inexplicably reminding Miles of an old juice brand mascot from his past life. It had sharp, triangular eyes, and its gray-black pupils shone with a sense of unyielding resolve.
Right now, its flat yellow beak was firmly gripping the bag of fried chicken Miles had just ordered. Its small yellow talons were clamped tightly onto the edge of the doorframe.
[Viewer "Wild Pokémon Observer": Holy crap! That's a Taillow! A Flying-type!]
[Viewer "Strongest King of the Delivery World": GG. Has the delivery industry already started employing Flying-types?! How are human riders supposed to survive?!]
[Viewer "Frontline Melon Eater": W bird! This Taillow looks so handsome! But Miles, you'd better check your bag. What if the little guy sneaked a fry on the way?]
[Viewer "Midnight Heartbreak Club": Dashing! With that classic red, blue, and white color scheme and that sharp gaze, this Taillow has insane drip!]
[Viewer "Keyboard Holmes": No way! Training a naturally arrogant Taillow to do delivery work requires serious skill! The owner of this shop is definitely a hidden expert!]
[Viewer "Just Want to Play With Squirtle": Bro flew all this way to bring you food, shouldn't you tip it some high-grade bird seed?]
[Viewer "Rational Analyst": Has the social division of labor between humans and Pokémon already reached this level? This is straight out of cyberpunk!]
Just as Miles and his chat stared in awe at the delivery Taillow, his phone suddenly buzzed. He answered, and a bright, youthful voice came through the speaker.
"Hello? Mr. Miles? I hope he didn't scare you! That's my assistant, Taillow. He has an official health certificate and quarantine pass, so don't worry, your food is perfectly safe. He's a very smart worker!"
"I wasn't scared, it's all good," Miles replied. His hands were practically itching to pet the dashing bird. "This little guy is really handsome. Can I touch him?"
"Well... Mr. Miles, he might be smart, but his nature is quite reckless," the voice warned. "For your own safety, it's best not to try. We wouldn't want to trigger his defensive instincts."
"A reckless nature?" Miles raised an eyebrow.
Without hesitation, he discreetly channeled a faint blue light into his eyes, activating the Eye of Pokémon Insight. Instantly, a detailed stat panel materialized above the Taillow's head:
[Target: Taillow (Tiny Swallow Pokémon)]
[Level: (Excellent growth and development)]
[Type: Normal / Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Base Stat Rating: Rank C (270, boasts strong Speed and Guts)]
[IV Potential: Rank B+ (135, outstanding talent among peers)]
[Ability: Guts (Attack increases when afflicted with a status condition)]
[Nature: Sassy (Special Defense ↑, Speed ↓; possesses an unyielding pride)]
[Mastered Moves: Peck, Growl, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Wing Attack]
[Current Status: Executing a delivery mission / Hungry / Maintaining an arrogant posture]
When Miles's gaze shifted downward, landing on the Fate Entry shimmering with a faint white light, the corners of his mouth curled into an amused smile.
[Fate Entry: Tsundere Pride (White) - This Pokémon thoroughly upholds the motto: 'I can bleed, my head can roll, but my hairstyle must never be ruined.' Though outwardly arrogant and dismissive of strangers, he secretly longs for the acknowledgment of the strong. When praised or pet by a human he respects, he will pretend to be aloof, but the extreme joy in his heart triggers an adrenaline spike, granting a short-term boost to his physical strength and flight speed! He will absolutely never admit he likes being pet!]
'So he's just a massive tsundere', Miles mused.
The Taillow held its head high and puffed out its chest, stubbornly refusing to even look at him. Miles wasn't offended in the slightest. Honestly, he found the little bird's strong personality endearing. He reached out and took the fried chicken from the Taillow's beak.
"Thank you, you smart and capable little delivery boy," Miles said.
Instead of stepping back like the owner had instructed, Miles reached out with his free hand. With gentle, practiced ease, his fingers found the pure white feathers on the Taillow's chest, stroking smoothly along the grain twice.
"Chirp?!"
The Taillow froze. It clearly hadn't expected this human to lay his grubby paws on its noble feathers! Its sharp eyes went wide in shock as it instinctively reared back, ready to fiercely peck him.
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