"Ma'am, your Vivillon caused an air traffic jam! It couldn't control its skill and ended up injuring a few other flying-type Pokémon too! We'll have to revoke your flying license until you take another test."
"Nonsense! What do you mean by that? That Pidgey was also at fault for flying so close to my Vivi! And that Fletchling… It was flying without a license! You said so yourself!"
"And yet, flying better than your Pokémon," the officer replied in a deadpan tone, handing the trainer a stack of paperwork. The woman sulked but eventually grabbed a pen and started filling it out.
Cold sweat trickled down Lucas's back as he rushed toward another booth handling flying Pokémon violations.
Soon, a managing officer approached him, wearing a stern expression. After checking his ID, the man's face grew even fiercer.
"I swear, newbie Pokémon Trainers like you are really something. How old is your Fletchling? How intelligent is it?"
Intelligent enough to operate a tablet without a trainer's help, Lucas thought bitterly.
"What were you thinking?!"
"Ah… I…"
"To think you let it deliver food! Don't you know how dangerous it can be for a young Fletchling to fly in the city if it's not properly trained? It doesn't even know all the rules!"
'Then maybe you should shut down those shady websites that don't require Pokémon to have licenses,' Lucas mused silently, keeping the thought to himself.
"You should raise your Pokémon properly! It doesn't even have a license yet it isn't even a year old and you already want it to help you earn money? Even capitalists aren't that oppressive!"
The officer sighed. "Just reflect on this. You have a talented Fletchling it managed to escape multiple capture drones and still deliver the so-called 'food.' Don't risk its life. Here, just sign these papers and you're good to go."
"Don't I have to pay some kind of fine?"
The man looked at Lucas as if he were a clown.
"You've already been reduced to making your Fletchling deliver food. What kind of Pokédollar credits could you possibly have? Decimals? Anyway, Professor Lumberga researcher here decided to pay the fine for you."
"Then please relay my thanks to Professor Lumberg," Lucas said with visible relief as he signed the paperwork. Moments later, Fletchling came flying at full speed, landing gracefully on his shoulder. A miniature bag made of cloth was tied around its leg.
At that second, Lucas was overcome with emotion.
Maybe it was because this was his first time touching a Pokémon or maybe it was the subconscious reaction of a body seeing its only trusted companion again.
He plucked a small marble-like ball from his belt, which suddenly expanded to the size of a tennis ball. But after hesitating for a second, he reattached it, shrinking it back to marble size.
---
"Haa… I still can't get enough of this city," Lucas muttered in awe, his eyes feasting on the view. He rubbed the Fletchling's head on his shoulder and asked, "Why did you go deliver food? Didn't I forbid you from doing that?"
The bird simply stuck its beak into the little bag and spat out a thumb-sized object wrapped in paper. Lucas caught it mid-air.
"This is… an energy pill?"
Lucas blinked, and the memories of the original Lucas rippled through his mind.
Lucas Brightstar had been too poor, so poor that he sometimes ate the Pokémon food meant for Fletchling. Real meals were a luxury he couldn't afford, and he had been surviving on energy pills for quite some time.
Energy Pills were makeshift food substitutes, providing 340 calories along with 12 grams of fiber and essential vitamins. Five pills a day could replace an entire day's meals, and they were absorbed by the body in seconds.
But Lucas had been surviving on just one pill a day. He was *that* poor. So poor that even though each pill only cost one Pokédollar Credit, he hadn't been able to afford any for the past five days and was on the verge of collapsing.
"No wonder I felt so fatigued…"
He grimaced, remembering last night—when the boy had been writhing in hunger before fainting. The panicked Fletchling, who usually refused to stay in its Pokéball, had flown out to find something for its trainer to eat.
But the truly surprising thing was just how intelligent this little bird was.
It knew 'freaking Morse code!' Even Lucas didn't know that!
It could skillfully use devices, learned multiple sign languages, and from the boy's memories, even had better negotiation skills, bargaining with shopkeepers!
A Pokémon smarter than its trainer…
Lucas could only laugh inwardly.
"Fletchling! Fletch, Fletch!" The fiery little bird pecked his palm, urging him to eat the pill.
"How can you be so courageous?" Lucas smiled wryly, then popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
As expected, just seconds later, a surge of energy shot through his body. But before he could relish the sensation, it abruptly faded. In fact, it felt as though the remaining calories in his body were burning away, leaving him weaker than before.
Lucas almost collapsed on the spot.
Huh?
His eyelids fluttered, his vision blurring.
"Fletch?" The bird pecked his cheek in worry as Lucas teetered on the edge of fainting.
"Hehehehe…!"
"Fletch?!"
Fletchling flapped its wings and hovered anxiously as its trainer began laughing like a madman.
Nearby trainers and Pokémon backed away in alarm—some even calling city management to report a creep in the area.
Even wild Pokémon grew wary, their eyes full of confusion and fear.
Fletchling tilted its head. Had its owner finally lost it?
Finally, after calming down, Lucas wiped his eyes and stared at the glowing blue screen hovering in front of him.
A grin tugged at his lips.
[Pokémon Simulator]