Chapter 37: Another One Arrives?

"Don't underestimate Spearow," Qian Lin shook his head helplessly. "A single one isn't scary, but Spearow have a temperament where they'll charge even at large Pokémon to protect their territory. And this flock of Spearow is not small; I refuse to believe that a flock of this size doesn't have a Fearow. With this many, plus the evolved Fearow, let alone Swablu and Growlithe, even Ursaring and Pangoro would call it a stroke of bad luck if they ran into them."

"Chirp?"

Swablu landed on Growlithe’s head, tilting it to look at Qian Lin.

Qian Lin patted her head: "It's nothing, I was just complimenting you."

"Chirp!"

As soon as she heard she was being praised, Swablu became instantly excited.

Growlithe stuck out its tongue and let out a laugh.

Qian Lin looked at the two of them with amusement, then stood up and looked in the direction where the Spearow had vanished. "We have to head back to camp for today. Even though we didn't find the necklace, we at least learned about a new type of Pokémon, so it wasn't a total loss."

[You have the nerve to say that after running around with a drone all afternoon?]
[Low emotional intelligence: It wasn't a total loss. High emotional intelligence: I learned about a new type of Pokémon.]
[I was so dizzy from all the shaking.]

He ignored the complaints from those guys. He was exhausted from being chased by Spearow all afternoon and only wanted to go back and eat now; nothing could stop him from getting a meal.

As he walked, Qian Lin analyzed: "The photo was hanging at the head of the bed at first. That means the Pokémon that took it must have entered the room, seen the necklace, and taken it."

"There are two possibilities. First, the Pokémon entered the room to find food or something else, and the necklace accidentally fell onto it and was carried away."

"Second, the Pokémon thought the necklace looked nice or liked that it was shiny, and for that reason, took it."

"If it's the first scenario, forget it; the chances of finding it are slim to none because you have no idea where it fell off." Qian Lin shook his head, then held up two fingers. "If it's the second, then we just need to find a Pokémon with a collecting habit, like a Pokémon with the Pickup ability."

"Pokémon like Munchlax or Aipom will 'pick up' some valuable items because of the Pickup ability, though it's completely random." Qian Lin spread his hands. "I was originally planning to go find a troop of Aipom today, but who knew I'd run into Spearow instead."

The Pickup ability works differently in everyday life than in battle. If you have a Pokémon with the Pickup ability, it will occasionally run off to various places and pick up strange things.

Sometimes it can be something very valuable, like a fallen berry, a discarded Poké Ball, or a lost coin, but most of the time, they pick up odd things—half-eaten berries, broken branches, or rotten leeks.

Reality isn't a game, so Pokémon don't stop picking things up just because they're holding an item; you could even walk into a battle with a pocket full of berries if your opponent didn't mind.

In short, Qian Lin’s target was a Pokémon with the Pickup ability. In the Twelve Villages area, besides Aipom and Ambipom, there was also Teddiursa... though he wasn't sure if the Ursaring leader had any cubs.

He'd go ask tomorrow.

***

"Another one???" The director of the First People's Hospital of De City looked at the doctor who had run into the conference room, completely stunned, not knowing what to say.

Last night, they had admitted a strange patient. With no external injuries, no internal injuries, and no other symptoms, the patient had a low body temperature, pale complexion, and eyes rolled back, looking as if they were about to pass on. They had spent the whole day discussing it with various major hospitals and hadn't reached any conclusions, and now here was another one.

The director rubbed his forehead: "Have the test results for Zhao Zhugang come back?"

The doctor who had run into the conference room looked at the various bigwigs present, swallowed hard, and braced himself to answer: "They have. All tests show no abnormalities."

"No abnormalities? No abnormalities!!!" An elderly doctor repeated it twice, his face filled with disbelief. "No, then why did he lose consciousness? Why did his body temperature drop?"

With normal vital signs and no abnormalities in any of the tests, what could be causing the drop in body temperature?

For a moment, the large conference room fell silent. Everyone stared blankly at the files in their hands.

They couldn't figure it out; they truly couldn't figure it out...

The doctor sitting next to the director opened his mouth slightly: "I'm just saying this off the cuff, but I hope this disease doesn't end up being called Zhao Zhugang Syndrome..."

Of course, it was a joke.

But at that moment, no one could bring themselves to laugh.

***

"Achoo!"

Qian Lin, warming himself by the fire in front of the camp, sneezed. "What's going on? Did I catch a cold?"

"Chirp?"

Swablu was curled up on Qian Lin's head, chirping with concern, and Growlithe also turned its head to look at him.

"It's fine, it's fine. It must be those unfilial brats slandering me." Qian Lin patted the two little ones and turned his gaze to the fire. "With a Fire-type Pokémon around, starting a fire in the wild is no longer a problem, and roasting sweet potatoes is much easier."

"Awoo~"

Growlithe barked happily, wagging its tail incessantly.

Qian Lin rubbed the dog's head and smiled: "We have to wait a little longer, no rush."

The sweet potatoes from the local villagers were so sweet, and both he and the Pokémon ate happily. After a dessert of berries, Swablu and Growlithe were jumping with excitement.

After the late-night snack, Qian Lin lay back in the tent, plugged in his phone, and rested his head on his arms, looking at the night sky through the clear plastic window at the top of the tent. The night sky in the countryside was beautiful; without the light pollution of the city, it felt as if he could reach out and touch the stars.

Though, having said that, even in the countryside back in his previous life, he wouldn't have seen such a bright night sky.

Growlithe was curled up sleeping beside him, pressed close to his body, sending waves of warmth in the chilly night. Swablu was curled into a ball sleeping by his pillow, her small, rhythmic breathing sounding even more moving than the croaking of frogs.

For some reason, Qian Lin smiled. He reached out and touched Growlithe. Growlithe looked up at him, and after confirming he was okay, it nudged up slightly to lick Qian Lin's cheek before laying back down.

Wiping the saliva off his face, Qian Lin reached out to touch Swablu as well, but as his hand moved over, he let out a soft exclamation: "Huh? Has Swablu grown a bit?"

He remembered that when he first took Swablu out of his backpack, she wasn't even the size of his palm.

Now, as he reached over to touch her, he realized she had grown to be slightly larger than his hand.

Gently stroking her, Qian Lin whispered with a smile: "You aren't going to keep growing and growing until you finally turn into an Altaria, are you?"

In her sleep, Swablu chirped softly, nuzzling against his palm before sinking back into a deep sleep.

She had spent all afternoon drawing the Spearow away, so she was very tired.

"Goodnight, Swablu."

"Goodnight, Growlithe."