Most importantly, his resistance to Confuse Ray seemed to have improved again. Previously, he only regained consciousness after they had returned to the camp and someone woke him up.
But now, he had already recovered before even reaching the camp. Of course, it was also possible that Mimikyu’s Confuse Ray had simply become weaker.
Still, Lu Li was more inclined to believe the former.
After all, people were always more willing to believe in possibilities that benefited them.
After returning to his room, the moment Lu Li stepped through the door, he saw Feebas wagging its tail at him.
At the sight, Lu Li, who had still been somewhat tired, immediately brightened up.
After being fed and cared for over the past few days, Feebas had truly become much livelier, and the bumpy areas on its skin had faded considerably as well.
Lu Li jogged over to the fish tank and moved it onto the table.
Feebas wagged its tail even faster inside the tank.
Lu Li didn’t know whether Feebas was welcoming him home or urging him to hurry up and prepare its food.
Either way, Lu Li quickly took out an assortment of health supplements and began feeding Feebas.
After spending these past few days together, Lu Li realized that he had grown quite fond of Feebas. It wasn’t because it would become his powerful backer in the future. He simply liked it.
Even though Feebas wasn’t good-looking.
And of all the things he did each day, he spent the most time and energy on Feebas. Feeding alone took more than two hours, not to mention the daily beauty care and maintenance.
Lu Li couldn’t help joking that, in the middle of the apocalypse, he had somehow ended up “working for” Feebas, spending five hours every day revolving entirely around it.
“Little guy, you better not forget me once you become beautiful.” Lu Li gently tapped Feebas on the head with his finger.
Feebas, on the contrary, nudged its head firmly against his hand, as if thoroughly enjoying Lu Li’s gentle tapping.
“Maybe this is a form of intimacy in the world of Feebas?” Lu Li couldn’t help thinking.
The fact that Feebas was willing to interact with him, and in such an affectionate manner at that, was not only good news for Lu Li, but also an enormous source of encouragement.
“Even though I’m not a Pokémon person, bonds are something that can transcend species.” Lu Li thought with immense anticipation.
What he needed to do next was continue deepening their bond while helping Feebas become prettier and more confident.
“Feebas, from now on, your name is Little Beauty,” Lu Li said with a serious expression.
Feebas showed no reaction and even splashed twice.
Seeing this, Lu Li continued, “Since you’re not objecting, I’ll take that as a yes.”
Feebas jumped again.
Lu Li: “Little Beauty!”
Feebas jumped once, as though it knew this was Lu Li’s new name for it.
“Little Beauty!” Lu Li called again.
Looking somewhat speechless, Feebas still cooperated and jumped once more.
Now Lu Li could be sure that Feebas should be able to understand the meaning of his words. For example, when he gave Feebas a name, Feebas had understood it.
At the very least, it knew that “Little Beauty” referred to it.
Lu Li felt too embarrassed to keep teasing Little Beauty. After all, teasing an idiot was an immoral thing to do.
Next, Lu Li thought of something else.
Pokémon level system.
In the games, Feebas needed to reach Level 15 before it could learn Tackle. This was also one of the reasons Feebas was called the most useless Pokémon.
Caterpie, on the other hand, knew Tackle in the games without any level requirement at all.
In other words, even after Feebas reached Level 15, it still wouldn’t be as strong as a newly born Caterpie.
But at least Feebas would still have one attacking move.
Lu Li had always been an optimist, and what he was best at was finding joy amid hardship.
Lu Li began looking around nearby for training equipment, preparing to have Feebas practice Tackle.
Don’t underestimate the move Tackle. After all, even Caterpie could smash a small car apart with Tackle.
Lu Li wasn’t expecting Feebas’s Tackle to be as powerful as Caterpie’s. His requirements weren’t high. As long as one Tackle from Feebas could take out a grown adult, that would be enough.
Lu Li didn’t know the exact principle behind how the move Tackle worked, but he did know what the word “tackle” meant.
So Lu Li chose the most basic method—have Feebas break through a wooden board.
Lu Li held a piece of cardboard upright in front of himself, then had Feebas look at him.
After making sure the angle was right, Lu Li demonstrated it once.
He directly smashed through the cardboard with his head. After doing that, Lu Li scooped Feebas out of the water, then pointed at the cardboard in front of it.
Feebas stared at Lu Li with lifeless eyes, looking every bit like a salted fish.
Seeing that Feebas still seemed not to understand, Lu Li patiently demonstrated it again.
But Feebas still looked at him with those dull eyes.
That familiar gaze reminded Lu Li of his classmates back in college.
Lu Li helplessly held Feebas in both hands and began explaining what he wanted it to do.
But Feebas still couldn’t understand what Lu Li meant.
An hour passed.
“F**king idiot!”
Deeply disheartened, Lu Li put Feebas back into the fish tank. Not daring to show his negative emotions in front of Feebas, he could only curse fiercely in his heart.
Feeling extremely irritated, Lu Li left the room. He planned to go take a look at the suffering of ordinary people to calm the frustration and gloom in his heart.
Training Pokémon was much harder than he had imagined, especially when the Pokémon in question was Feebas.
In the camp’s common area, Lu Li once again saw the grandmother and grandson pair who had previously been “waiting for their enemy to die.”
The elderly grandmother was wiping down a table, while the young grandson was wiping a chair that was almost as tall as he was.
The old woman showed not the slightest trace of impatience, and even the child obediently refrained from crying or making a fuss.
Seeing this, Lu Li felt rather moved.
The apocalypse really was the best thing for tempering people. Children being unruly really was just because the adults hadn’t taught them properly.
See?
Wasn’t this little brat behaving quite well now? Though the lesson had admittedly been far too tragic.
“Grandson, if one day Grandma is gone and no one’s around to look after you, you need to be sensible too. When it’s something you’re capable of doing, remember to volunteer to do it.
And usually, make sure to stay on Sister Jun’s good side. Don’t lose your temper all the time anymore. And also…”
The old woman kept rambling on and on, without caring whether the grandson beside her could understand.
As Lu Li passed by, the old woman hurriedly pulled her grandson aside and respectfully greeted him, “Hello, Second Leader.”
Lu Li gave a slight nod and walked past the old woman toward Jun Shutong’s office.
There were quite a few children in the camp. There were seven or eight under the age of ten, and another four between ten and sixteen.
There was a reason Fatty Lei was always complaining that the camp lacked manpower. There were too many elderly people and children, and there simply wasn’t that much work in the camp for them to do.
As for jobs involving areas outside the camp, Fatty Lei didn’t dare assign those people either, because Jun Shutong was always watching.
Not forcing the elderly to go to their deaths and not making children risk their lives had always been among Jun Shutong’s bottom lines.
Lu Li went to the leader’s office but didn’t find Jun Shutong. He then found Fatty Lei and asked around, only to learn that Jun Shutong had taken people out early that morning to gather supplies.
“Where did Sister Jun go today? It’s been almost four hours, and she still hasn’t come back.” Lu Li asked in puzzlement.
Fatty Lei explained, “She should’ve gone to the Harbor Hotel on the outer perimeter of the mall. The hotel happens to be connected to the mall, and I heard the hotel provides its own breakfast, so Sister Jun suspected there should still be quite a lot of supplies there.”
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