Chapter 35: Another Day Full of Hope

Night arrived quietly. The Pangoro in the pit suddenly opened its eyes wide, staring at the darkening landscape around it, momentarily dazed.

It sensed the injuries on its body. Strangely, most of them had already improved, leaving only some internal trauma that had not fully healed. However, it no longer affected its movement; in fact, it felt as though even those internal wounds were mending.

This recovery speed was far faster than normal.

It sat up from the ground and looked around in a daze, until a moment later, when it spotted the two Oran Berries lying by its side.

The Pangoro stared at the Oran Berries in silence.

...

At the campsite, Qian Lin, who had just returned from taking Zhou Fuqing back to the city, stepped out of his vehicle. He glanced at the Ursaring sitting next to the tent and smiled. "Thanks for guarding the camp for me, Ursaring."

*Roar.*

Ursaring: (*ΦωΦ*)

It didn't really care about the effort; it was all about the berries.

Although Pokémon were slowly arriving in this world, items unique to the Pokémon world, like berries, had not yet fully appeared. During this time, the Ursaring had been eating regular fruit, which had left it feeling quite thin.

Qian Lin smiled, sensing what the Ursaring was thinking. Without further ado, he opened the trunk of his car and pulled out a massive cardboard box.

The Ursaring’s eyes lit up.

Qian Lin chuckled, "It’s a bit heavy."

*Roar!*

Ursaring: It’s fine, it’s fine, leave it to me!

With that, it rushed over impatiently and took the large box from Qian Lin's hands. Smelling the mixed fragrance of berries wafting from the box, a rather intimidating grin appeared on the Ursaring’s face.

The box was indeed large enough to occupy almost the entire trunk. When Qian Lin held it, he couldn't even see the road ahead, and even now, held by the Ursaring, the box still blocked most of its body. One could only imagine how many berries were inside.

Qian Lin watched this scene with a smile. "When you finish these, come back to me for more. I’ll be staying here for about half a month, so your supply of berries won't run dry."

Hearing this, the Ursaring, whose face was already full of joy, saw its eyes practically glow—a sight that was slightly unsettling.

Watching the Ursaring’s joyful, almost bouncy demeanor, Qian Lin couldn't help but laugh.

Oh right, he wasn't streaming at the moment.

...

Swablu and Growlithe hopped out of the passenger seat. Swablu landed on Qian Lin’s head as usual, chirping incessantly, while Growlithe stood straight, looking like a competent bodyguard, only revealing a cute, happy expression when it looked at Qian Lin.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll make sure you have enough berries," Qian Lin said, stroking Swablu’s head with a smile.

"Chu~" ٩(๑＞◡＜๑)۶

Swablu flapped its wings happily.

Looking into the distance, the sun was already sinking below the horizon. Qian Lin took a deep breath, his gaze drifting toward the distance. "The Pangoro should be fine now. It’s a shame I still haven't figured out why this guy hates humans so much."

Neither the official statement nor the secondary interrogation had yielded any valuable information, and Qian Lin couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

It seemed likely that the issue lay with the Pangoro itself. Perhaps before it arrived in this world, it had experienced something in the Pokémon world that caused it to harbor such intense hatred toward humans and the Pokémon they had tamed.

"I'll ask the Pangoro again if I get the chance," Qian Lin said, stretching his back. "Driving all day is exhausting. Growlithe, start a fire. We’re having roasted chicken tonight!"

There were abandoned rural houses nearby, and there was sure to be a stove inside. Borrowing one to roast a chicken shouldn't be a problem.

Oh, and if he wasn't streaming tonight, he would try to craft a Hisuian-style Poké Ball. Qian Lin possessed the knowledge for crafting them, and the Apricorn system could be used for exchanges. He wasn't sure if the remaining materials were unique to the Pokémon world, but the vehicle manager had provided him with many sets of similar substitutes.

He would start trying now and hope to succeed sooner rather than later.

...

Early the next morning, Qian Lin emerged from his tent with dark circles under his eyes.

The good news: he had made some progress on the Poké Ball. The bad news: not quite enough.

He had tried various methods, failing thirteen times throughout the night. The closest attempt had been nearly successful—and that wasn't just empty talk; it was genuinely close—but it ultimately failed for some reason.

As for the cause, Qian Lin suspected it was the jade. Special stones in the Pokémon world almost all possessed peculiar powers—Evolution Stones, Mega Stones, Key Stones, and the like. The jade used for crafting Poké Balls likely possessed similar special properties.

However, the jade in this world was just ordinary jade. It was completely impossible to craft a functional Poké Ball with it. That was the takeaway from his sleepless night.

Thinking about it, to successfully craft a Poké Ball, he would either have to use the technology of the current Pokémon world or go hunting for Pokémon-world jade, gambling on the chance that the jade had arrived along with the Pokémon.

But even berries were hard to find, let alone jade buried deep underground. Qian Lin felt he should give up.

"Forget it, that's that," Qian Lin sighed. "Time to eat."

The sound of his voice woke the Growlithe sleeping nearby. It perked up its ears, stood up, and looked at Qian Lin, its tail wagging gently.

Seeing Growlithe like this made Qian Lin smile. He patted the dog’s head and whispered, "Good morning, Growlithe. Swablu is still sleeping; would you mind waking her up? It’s time for breakfast."

"Woof!" Growlithe stuck out its tongue and nodded obediently.

Qian Lin happily started his livestream. Watching the scene of a dazed Swablu being carried out of the tent by Growlithe, a warm, doting smile spread across his face.

Even without a Poké Ball, Swablu and Growlithe were his good partners.

Come to think of it, why did he take it for granted that Growlithe was his partner?

Qian Lin pondered for a moment. His eyes fell on the grumpy, sleepy Swablu and the earnest Growlithe, and his heart melted. "Whatever. The professors at the Pokémon Research Institute won't say anything anyway. Growlithe is just too cute."

He snapped a photo of the two Pokémon playing together. Looking at the "Good morning" comments in the chat, his smile widened, and the disappointment from failing to craft a Poké Ball the night before faded significantly.

Turning the camera toward himself, Qian Lin waved and said with a smile, "Good morning, friends. It’s another day full of hope."

[Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, another day full of eighty thousand.]

[Who are you?]

[Hey, friend, could you turn the camera toward the host, please?]

[Big Brother Qian Lin, Big Brother Qian Lin! I’m Xiao Xiao from the Journalism Department at Sichuan University. I have a small question I’d like you to ask Swablu for me. Could you ask... what color sack does Swablu like? I have no other intentions, I just want to ask.]

[Good heavens, I heard the sound of that abacus all the way in Shanghai.]

[Sacks won't do... we can custom-make fishing nets in Qingdao. Absolutely professional.]

[Fishing nets are useless. I can make a slingshot.]

[A slingshot? A Dragon Pulse warning?]

These rebellious netizens left Qian Lin speechless.

Seeing these guys already preparing to write a thesis on "The Feasibility of Abducting Swablu Without Triggering a Dragon Pulse Warning," Qian Lin chose to ignore them, deployed his drone, set up the fire, and started cooking.

As soon as the two Pokémon began their "mukbang," those rebellious fans instantly transformed into doting "mom-fans."

Qian Lin shoveled food into his mouth, watching the two Pokémon feast, then glanced at the comments like "So cute," "Eat slowly," and "The baby is so precious." For a moment, his own meal didn't taste as good anymore.