Inside the luxury villa.
"Come on, Squirtle! Look here!"
The girl with a high ponytail held up an empty bottle and called out energetically to the Pokémon in front of her.
"If you hit it, there'll be a reward."
"Squirtle! Squirtle!"
Squirtle patted his chest confidently and planted his hands on his hips, clearly signaling that this was no problem at all.
"Haha~ He's actually showing off, Emma. That's way too cute."
The girl laughed happily and spoke to Emma, who was filming from a short distance away.
"Hmph~ Of course. My little turtle is super smart."
Emma huffed playfully, the smile on her face never fading. She looked incredibly proud.
"Alright~ Squirtle, let's start."
The girl—Lily—curled her lips, though the hint of jealousy in her tone was impossible to hide.
Still, she quickly raised her hand and gestured toward Squirtle.
Squirtle's expression turned serious. His eyes narrowed as he locked onto the bottle in Lily's hand.
Lily gave her arm a quick shake, then suddenly tossed the empty bottle into the air.
Whoosh!
A thin column of water shot out instantly.
Bang!
Squirtle's Water Gun struck the bottle dead-on, sending it flying away.
"Nice!"
Emma clenched her fist in excitement. So cool!
"Wow~ That was incredibly accurate."
Lily picked up the fallen bottle in surprise, staring at the dent where the Water Gun had hit.
"And that power wasn't light at all."
She glanced at Squirtle, who was being praised nonstop by Emma. The little guy's face was full of unmistakable pride—eyes half-closed as he enjoyed Emma gently stroking his head.
He could totally work as a bodyguard someday…
What Lily didn't know was that Squirtle had already carefully controlled the force of his Water Gun.
If he had fired at full strength, a soft plastic bottle like this would have been pierced straight through.
After all, this was still just a one-year-old Squirtle—a very young Pokémon.
"Hehe~ When you grow up, you'll protect me, right, Squirtle?"
"Squirtle~!"
Watching the interaction between Emma and Squirtle, Lily rolled her eyes despite herself. Still, the envy was obvious.
"Hey, Emma—did you really buy Squirtle from the pet shop I recommended?"
Lily walked over, unable to resist pinching Squirtle's soft little cheeks as she spoke.
"Yeah. It's completely different from what you described. I seriously feel like I bought the whole shop and reopened it."
"Do they still have Squirtle there?"
As if she'd already expected the question, Emma shook her head.
"I don't know. That shop seems… special. When they sell pets, buyers have to draw lots themselves. What you get depends entirely on luck."
Emma tapped her chin thoughtfully as she recalled the experience.
"But there were really a lot of them. I don't even know if that little boss really has so many different Pokémon in his shop."
She handed an Energy Cube to Squirtle, her curiosity resurfacing.
Even though many of the cages had been hidden in shadows, she'd still caught glimpses of vague silhouettes. Among them, she'd even seen the outline of something that looked like a flying dragon—almost like a creature from Western fantasy.
Was there really a dragon?
Emma looked at Squirtle happily chewing on the Energy Cube and shook her head slightly.
…That couldn't be possible, right?
"Random draws? Emma, let's go check it out together."
Lily's large, bright eyes sparkled with excitement. Her interest was clearly growing by the second.
"Alright."
Emma nodded.
...
Pokémon Home Pet Shop
"Boss, can't you sell it a bit cheaper?"
Jason hugged the Vulpix in his arms and refused to let go, his face twisted with indecision.
He really, really liked this little six-tailed fox—but…
"180,000 is just too much," Jason said bitterly. "I'm still a student."
"I'm sorry, sir," Ren replied helplessly. "This is a one-of-a-kind Vulpix. Go ahead and look around—where else are you going to find a Pokémon like this?"
Ren had known it wouldn't be easy.
"Otherwise… how about this?" Ren thought for a moment, then continued. "If you buy the Vulpix, I'll throw in an extra box of Energy Cubes."
"They'll help it grow faster—and shorten the time it takes to evolve into Ninetales."
There was absolutely no way he was lowering the price.
He still needed to reach a total turnover of one hundred million to upgrade the system as soon as possible.
"Then… please give me a moment."
Jason felt even more conflicted when he saw how firm Ren was.
But when he lowered his head and saw Vulpix licking its tiny paw, he clenched his teeth.
Damn it!
This was fate. He and Vulpix were meant to meet.
He had to take this little fox home today.
"Trust me, sir," Ren said with a smile. "Your Vulpix is absolutely worth the price."
Jason didn't argue. He knew it himself—this was a Vulpix with six tails, one that could eventually evolve into Ninetales. Objectively speaking, 180,000 wasn't expensive at all.
What he regretted now was blowing fifty thousand earlier on games…
He came from a good family, had always done well in school, and his parents gave him plenty of allowance—but most of it had gone straight into gaming.
"There's still forty thousand left… I'll ask my cousin."
Sitting down on a stool, Jason placed Vulpix on the counter and pulled out his phone, debating which relative to call.
As for his parents…
If they found out he'd spent over a hundred thousand on a Pokémon…
Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.
"Hey? Bro, have you eaten yet? How did you know I needed something…?"
"…Yeah, it's not for a game. It's just that I'm here…"
Jason spoke awkwardly into the phone.
After handing Jason a glass of juice, Ren was about to step outside for a smoke.
He'd been incredibly lucky today—a young lady in the morning, a young man in the afternoon.
Yeah. Today really was a lucky day.
But before he could reach the door, the wind chime rang again.
"Welcome—oh? Miss Emma, you're back."
Ren quickly slipped the cigarette back into his pocket and greeted the new arrivals with his usual smile.
Still, he was genuinely surprised to see her again.
"Hi~ Boss. You're still as handsome as ever."
"Squirtle~ Squirtle!"
Emma greeted Ren gracefully, while Squirtle at her feet also waved enthusiastically.
Clearly, the Water-type Pokémon still remembered him.
"Haha~ Miss Emma, you flatter me. Squirtle looks like he's in great spirits."
Ren bent down with a smile and gently rubbed Squirtle's smooth little head.
"Boss, this is my good friend," Emma said slowly. "She also wants to buy a Pokémon from you—eh?"
She paused mid-sentence, realizing Lily was nowhere to be seen.
Emma's eyelid twitched as she looked deeper into the shop.
Sure enough, Lily had somehow already wandered inside, her attention completely captured by the displays.
"Your friend seems very… outgoing."
"Hehe…"