Comfortable. It was far too comfortable.
Lu Li had the illusion that he was in a dream, but unfortunately, the feeling came quickly and left even faster.
When the white light faded, Lu Li slowly opened his eyes.
“This is—I’ve been strengthened too?” Lu Li exclaimed in disbelief as he stared at his hands.
At this moment, compared to Weedle evolving into Kakuna, Lu Li was even more shocked by the changes in himself.
When a Trainer’s Pokémon evolved, could it strengthen the Trainer’s physique as well?
Lu Li thought of that invisible yet undeniably real thread.
The thread was too thin, the light of evolution had faded too quickly, and the energy transmitted through the thread had been too little. Lu Li found that extremely regrettable.
If that thread had been a little thicker, maybe he would have already evolved into a Pokémon-human by now.
“Is it because of our bond?” Lu Li thought thoughtfully.
The bond between him and Weedle wasn’t particularly deep. At the very least, it couldn’t compare to the bond between Feebas and him. After all, Weedle had only joined this family less than a week ago.
“Then when Feebas evolves in the future, will I be able to receive this kind of strengthening again?” Lu Li came up with another bold guess.
If that was true, then becoming a Trainer and so on was already a small target.
When the time came, pursuing the level of the Elite Four wouldn’t be impossible either, right?
Lu Li quietly assessed the condition of his body and discovered that his current physique was at least twice what it had been before.
Before the strengthening, his physique had basically been that of an ordinary person. Now, after being strengthened, his physique was twice that of an ordinary person.
The evolved Kakuna also looked at Lu Li curiously. It felt as though Lu Li had become much more real.
Feebas, beside them, understood Lu Li’s changes most clearly. Lu Li really had changed. He had become more real.
Although there was still a certain gap between him and a real human, he had indeed become much more real.
“That’s great. Trainers really can evolve too,” Feebas thought happily. It was sincerely happy for Lu Li.
As a Pokémon, it knew all too well just how fragile fake humans were. If Trainer remained bound by his identity as a fake human, then he would never be able to become a true Trainer in his entire life.
Because a true Trainer fought side by side with Pokémon instead of releasing a Pokémon and then running away.
Lu Li could also clearly sense the emotions of both Pokémon, but what puzzled him was why Feebas seemed even happier than Kakuna, who had just evolved.
Lu Li glanced at Feebas in confusion. At this moment, there wasn’t any envy or longing in Feebas’s eyes, only pure happiness.
Thinking that Feebas was happy for Kakuna, Lu Li silently gave the little fellow a thumbs-up in his heart.
Afterward, Lu Li shifted his attention to Kakuna.
It had the appearance of a pale-yellow pupa, a rounded top of the head, and black triangular eyes. The only unfortunate thing was that after Weedle evolved into Kakuna, it lost its ability to move.
Kakuna was actually at a stage where it is most likely to die.
Because in the Pokémon world, being unable to move meant being unable to evade predators. Kakuna knew almost nothing other than the move “Harden”. When faced with predators from the sky, most of them could only hide beneath leaves and struggle to survive.
Kakuna at this stage couldn’t move, which also meant they couldn’t search for food on their own.
Under normal circumstances, Kakuna at this stage weren’t supposed to battle, because Kakuna still needed energy for evolution. If they overused moves to avoid predators, their energy would be consumed prematurely.
Without any way to replenish the energy they used up, Kakuna would eventually grow old and die in loneliness and helplessness.
It was worth mentioning that dead Kakuna were considered a relatively valuable medicinal ingredient in the Pokémon world. Some criminals would deliberately attack wild Kakuna, forcing them to use Harden to defend themselves, thereby preventing them from evolving and ultimately turning them into medicinal ingredients.
The caretaker book also contained quite a few methods for raising Kakuna.
Unlike wild Kakuna, which tried their best to avoid movement and energy expenditure, domesticated Kakuna needed to use Harden to consume energy and then continuously replenish that energy.
During the Kakuna stage, the more times Kakuna used Harden, the harder it became for them to evolve. Correspondingly, however, the more times they used Harden during the Kakuna stage, the stronger they would be after evolving.
Normally, Kakuna’s evolution cycle lasts seven days. That is the standard amount of time it takes for a wild Kakuna to evolve.
Some Trainers with average means will have Kakuna continuously use Harden to strengthen itself during those seven days, then complete its breakthrough and evolve on the seventh day.
Meanwhile, some wealthy Trainers will use an Everstone to forcibly extend that period. Kakuna’s normal lifespan is one month, which means Trainers with the means to do so will usually have Kakuna evolve during the final few days of its life cycle.
Kakuna doesn’t have an aging period. At least, not during the Kakuna stage. Until the moment before death, Kakuna won’t show signs of aging.
Lu Li obviously didn’t have those kinds of conditions. Forget comparing himself with the rich Trainers of the Pokémon world; his current circumstances were even worse than those of ordinary Trainers.
So Lu Li chose to play it safe.
For the first four days, he could have Kakuna continuously use Harden to strengthen its shell. Then, for the final three days, it would focus solely on repeatedly attempting to break through and evolve.
If Kakuna still failed in the end under this arrangement, then he would accept it.
With that thought, Lu Li walked up to Kakuna and told it his plan.
Because of the strengthening brought about by their evolution bond, Lu Li discovered that communication between him and Kakuna had become even smoother.
At the very least, Kakuna could now completely understand the meaning of every sentence Lu Li said. The same was true for Feebas beside them.
After listening to Lu Li’s explanation, Kakuna nodded firmly.
It had tasted the bitterness of weakness, so it longed to become stronger more than any Weedle.
More importantly, it didn’t want to disappoint Lu Li.
After all, Lu Li was a fake human, while it had been a weakling even among Weedle. Now that Lu Li, its Trainer, was evolving step by step toward becoming a real human, what right did it have to stop at the Kakuna stage?
Lu Li instantly understood Kakuna’s feelings as well, and he looked at Kakuna with a complicated expression.
He had deliberately given Feebas a name, yet he hadn’t given Weedle one. In truth, that was a form of favoritism.
Lu Li knew that too. In fact, he had always been avoiding the issue.
That was because Beedrill’s lifespan was too short, only four years. Before today, Lu Li had no confidence that he could help Beedrill break through to Gym level.
Because Lu Li also knew that the gap in resources between the two worlds was on a completely different level, and the gap between humans and Pokémon-humans was likewise on a completely different level.
But now—
Lu Li had confidence. On one hand, it was because of the bond strengthening. On the other hand, it was because Kakuna deserved it.
“Let’s set a small goal first. We’ll become Gym-level powerhouse together.” Lu Li gently stroked Kakuna’s shell as he whispered.
After hearing that whisper, Feebas beside them also hopped over to Lu Li’s feet and rubbed against his calf.
Lu Li laughed and picked Feebas up, putting it back into the fish tank: “Of course you’re included too. We’ll climb toward even greater heights together!”
“Kakuna, I’ll give you a name too,” Lu Li said to Kakuna.
Kakuna stared at Lu Li with its pitch-black triangular eyes. It had always been rather envious that Feebas had a name that belonged to it alone.
But since it had only recently joined them, it had been too embarrassed to actively ask Lu Li to give it a unique name.
“You’re yellow right now, and after you evolve, your tail will still be striped yellow and black. Milotic, which Feebas will evolve into, is very beautiful, so I named it Little Beauty.”
“As for you—you’ll be called Little Yellow. It matches the color of your body right now, and even after you evolve into Beedrill, yellow will still represent you.”
Kakuna naturally couldn’t tell whether Little Yellow was a good name or not, but both Little Beauty and Little Yellow had the word “Little” in them. That meant Trainer now regarded it as being just as important as Little Beauty.
So it happily accepted the name Lu Li had given it.
“Kakuna”
Kakuna nodded, indicating that it was very willing to accept the name.
Lu Li admitted that he was terrible at naming things, but simple and straightforward names like these both suited a Pokémon’s way of thinking and made everyday communication more convenient.
“Are you hungry after evolving?” Lu Li asked again.
Kakuna nodded, indicating that it was indeed a little hungry.
Seeing this, Lu Li hurriedly prepared nutrient solution for Kakuna.
The ratio of the nutrient solution was still the same as before. After all, Kakuna’s nutritional requirements weren’t much different from Weedle stage, and besides, he wasn’t capable of preparing any other nutrient solution that was better or more suitable.
Lu Li discovered that after evolving, Kakuna’s appetite had grown even larger, to the point where it had already caught up with Feebas.
Now the pressure was back on him again.
“Feels like I might not even be able to last another week like this. Looks like I’ll have to go take another risk.” Lu Li felt both helpless and fortunate at the same time.
Fortunately, there were enough health supplement stores and pharmacies on the second floor, the area was large enough, and there weren’t any dangerous Pokémon there.
After Kakuna finished drinking the nutrient solution, Lu Li asked, “Little Yellow, do you know what to do next?”
Kakuna nodded solemnly.
“Then start training. Keep using Harden, but try not to overdraw your stamina. Just keep your energy and stamina consumption to around thirty percent,” Lu Li said.
Lu Li didn’t dare push Kakuna too hard either, afraid that doing so might prevent it from evolving.
In fact, if he only intended to use Little Yellow as a Pokémon to help him get through the early stages, then there was no need to take such a risk at all. He could simply wait for Kakuna to evolve naturally.
But he wasn’t willing to give up on Little Yellow, and he had greater ambitions as well. He wanted Little Yellow to become stronger.
In the Pokémon world, when a wild Kakuna evolved into Beedrill, its strength would reach the Adult Stage.
But if a Kakuna raised by a Trainer evolved into Beedrill, its strength would directly skip the Adult Stage and enter Ordinary level. Some well-raised Kakuna could even skip both the Adult Stage and Ordinary level after evolving and directly enter Professional level.
Lu Li didn’t dare hope for a triple leap, but he wanted to try for a double leap.
Ordinary level meant being stronger than the vast majority of wild Pokémon. In the Pokémon world, Ordinary-level strength basically surpassed eighty percent of wild Pokémon.
Kakuna was very obedient and trusted Lu Li greatly. After hearing Lu Li’s training plan, Kakuna carried it out without hesitation.
Seeing this, Lu Li took Feebas to train nearby.
Lu Li had also considered having Feebas use Kakuna to train Tackle. After all, a Kakuna that was constantly using Harden could easily withstand Feebas’s attacks.
But Lu Li was still somewhat worried that Feebas’s Tackle might damage Kakuna’s fragile interior, so he chose a safer form of training instead.
Anke Residential Complex, Demon Camp.
One of the underlings hurriedly pushed open the door and ran to Wang Dazhuang’s side, leaning close to report, “Boss, the entire First Team is dead.”
Wang Dazhuang’s expression changed the moment he heard that. He kicked away the woman crouching at his feet and shouted angrily, “Get out.”
The woman who had been kicked to the floor didn’t dare get angry. She hurriedly lowered her head and left the room trembling.
“What happened? Didn’t I tell them to go cause trouble for those sanctimonious b*tches of Dawn Camp? How did they all suddenly die? Did they end up fighting Dawn Camp head-on?” Wang Dazhuang demanded harshly.
The underling hurriedly explained, “No. They’ve been using the plan of luring beasts with fresh blood the whole time, but for some reason, this time they attracted a pack of gray dog demon beasts.”
“And those gray dog demon beasts actually ignored the people from Dawn Camp and attacked our people instead.”
After hearing that, Wang Dazhuang’s face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
“Damn Dawn Camp! That was more than a dozen capable men, and they were fed to the demon beasts for nothing.” Wang Dazhuang gritted his teeth. He didn’t dare hold a grudge against the demon beasts, so he could only put the blame on Dawn Camp.
Although Wang Dazhuang hated Dawn Camp to the core, he had no intention of taking his men to fight Dawn Camp to the death. He still chose to cover the matter up.
“Suppress this as much as possible. Don’t let the others in the camp find out, or there’ll be unrest again.”
The underling had just been about to leave when Wang Dazhuang called him back.
“Oh, right. Remember to refill the First Team. The benefits are the same as before. Join the scavenging team, and you’ll be given women and food.”
“Yes.”
The underling nodded and left without looking back.
After no one else was left in the room, Wang Dazhuang took out a cigarette from the pack and put it in his mouth.
Once it was lit, Wang Dazhuang took a deep drag. The smoke sank straight into his lungs before he slowly exhaled it through his nose.
At this point, Wang Dazhuang no longer thought about the future. He only wanted to enjoy himself while he still could, so he didn’t care whether inhaling smoke into his lungs harmed his health.
After all, humanity no longer had a future. He had already realized that when that bat demon beast broke into the camp.
That was also why he looked down on Jun Shutong of Dawn Camp. It was already the apocalypse, yet those sanctimonious b*tches were still maintaining their so-called basic moral order. It was simply laughable and infuriating.
25th day since Pokémon descended.
Lu Li was called to the meeting room early in the morning.
The moment he stepped through the door, Lu Li saw Zhao Zhu being firmly pinned to a chair by two burly men. His hair was as messy as a bird’s nest, his eyes were bloodshot, and with his neck crooked to one side, he was laughing and shouting crazily.
“What happened?” Lu Li asked, grabbing someone nearby.
The person he grabbed quickly answered, “Apparently, only this guy came back today. The other one seems to have died in the arcade.”
After hearing the explanation, Lu Li hurried over to Zhao Zhu.
Jun Shutong was currently trying to calm him down and get him to stop being so agitated, but unfortunately, her attempts didn’t seem to be doing much.
Lu Li stopped Jun Shutong and volunteered, “Sister Jun, let me handle it.”
Jun Shutong, who had been patiently trying to soothe Zhao Zhu, visibly relaxed when she saw Lu Li.
“Good, you’re here. What we can confirm right now is that the person teamed up with Zhao Zhu has already died inside the arcade. Zhao Zhu was already somewhat mentally unstable when he ran out,” Jun Shutong explained.
Lu Li nodded, then walked over to Zhao Zhu.
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