As for what was going on in Joji's heart, Himeko neither knew nor cared.
In her view, she and him were like two parallel lines that would never cross in this lifetime.
Himeko's gaze returned to Shiko.
Just now, two more people had tried to approach.
The moment they put their hands on the Pokémon Egg, the searing heat scorched their skin so badly it almost split open, forcing them to yank their hands back right away.
They did not manage any meaningful communication at all, much less get anywhere close to trying to capture Shiko.
The miserable state of those two thoroughly frightened the other eager would-be challengers.
For a while, the atmosphere sank into heaviness again.
Everyone stood frozen in place.
They wanted to step up and try, but did not quite dare.
Inside the Pokémon Egg at that moment, Shiko let out a muffled grunt.
Seeing that no one dared to come forward anymore, he curled his body up again in satisfaction, closed his eyes, and prepared to go back to sleep.
[Ding! Special Quest triggered!]
[Special Quest: In order to become an outstanding and powerful Pokémon, the Host must find a highly gifted Trainer as a partner, so you can better fulfill the creed of lying flat!]
The mechanical electronic voice suddenly rang in his mind, instantly driving away Shiko's drowsiness.
So this meant he was being forced to become a Trainer's Pokémon?
He was a bit displeased.
However, since this was labeled as a Special Quest, Shiko guessed that the reward for completing it would definitely be generous.
After weighing it for a moment, he still chose to accept this quest.
In any case, lying flat inside the egg and lying flat outside did not seem all that different.
If anything, the environment outside would be better than this cramped egg.
As long as he laid down some ground rules with his future Trainer, making everything clear in advance, then continuing to enjoy a comfortable salted-fish life outside did not sound bad at all.
Once he figured this out, Shiko's gaze began to sweep quickly over the crowd.
A dense sea of people.
He scanned them one by one.
In the end, his line of sight stopped on Himeko.
You it is.
After looking through everyone, she was the only one he found pleasant to look at.
Her talent was excellent, and she was pretty as well.
Just as Shiko made his decision, Himeko seemed to sense something.
She once again parted the crowd and walked toward him.
Looking at the Pokémon Egg sitting on the rack, Himeko actually felt a bit nervous.
Even though she had once been a peak Champion-level Trainer, right now she was not sure at all whether she could actually succeed in capturing Shiko.
But she did not want to give up on such an outstanding Pokémon.
So this time, she was prepared to go all in.
She slowly walked up to the Pokémon Egg and squatted down.
She took a deep breath.
"Can you hear my voice, Charmander?"
"Can you hear me?"
Himeko silently called out in her heart, waiting for Shiko's response.
"I can."
A short, simple reply echoed in her mind.
That was Shiko using Telepathy to talk to her.
Hearing his answer, Himeko could not stop her heart from beating faster.
"I have a secret I want to tell you. Actually, I was once a peak Champion-level Trainer."
"Twenty years from now, in a great war, I died. Then Celebi used its Time-travel ability to bring me back here."
"Everything I'm saying is true. I'm not lying to you about anything."
"I'm telling you this, first, to show that I'm being honest with you, and second, to say that I have rich experience and possess a lot of information and intel unknown to most people."
"If you become my Pokémon, I can absolutely maximize your potential."
Himeko had truly gone all out this time.
She revealed this entire secret to Shiko.
Inside the shell, Shiko had originally been thinking about what kind of conditions he should bring up with her.
He had never expected her to open with something this shocking.
It completely stunned him.
Looking into Himeko's clear, bright eyes, Shiko could be sure that she was telling the truth and not lying.
If that was really the case…
So he was holding the script of a transmigrator, but the other party was holding the script of a reborn powerhouse?
However, thinking about it from another angle, if things were really like that, wouldn't lying flat outside become even more comfortable?
All sorts of rare treasures could be used on him.
With the system's assistance on top of that, his leveling and evolution would be even faster.
It probably would not be long before he could become the WarGreymon he wanted to be.
Thinking of this, he was genuinely moved.
"Having me as your starter Pokémon isn't impossible," Shiko said.
"But we have to set three rules first."
His voice rang out, but Himeko's expression suddenly turned dazed.
"You… you actually believe what I just said?"
Himeko could not help asking.
To be honest, if she and Shiko had swapped places, she would never have believed her own story.
It just sounded far too outrageous.
"I believe you," Shiko replied with a nod.
His answer caused a faint warmth to rise in Himeko's heart.
From Shiko, she felt a strong sense of trust.
"Thank you, Charmander," Himeko said sincerely.
"I have a name. I'm Hirata Shiko," he corrected her.
Then he continued, stating his conditions.
"I have three conditions. If you can accept them, I'll agree to your request."
"First, you can't force me to fight. If a battle does happen, I'll command my own battles. Your opinion is only for reference."
"Second, I have my own training methods. You're not allowed to interfere or stop me."
"Third, our relationship is an equal partnership. You're not my owner, and I'm not your pet."
"Oh, and one more thing to add," he said. "Food and resources have to be guaranteed. I want to get stronger quickly."
(End of Chapter)
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