A single night passed quickly, and Max woke up almost exactly at sunrise.
Rubbing his eyes, the first thing he did was look over at the Rockruff he had carefully settled down the night before.
He opened the system panel again, completely ignoring the repeated information and focusing straight on the Physical Condition section.
[Physical Condition: Recovering (Free to move)]
Max couldn't help but feel surprised. In just one night, an injury that would have taken a human several months to recover from had already healed to the point where Rockruff could move freely.
As the sunlight shifted through the window and landed on Rockruff's face, its ears twitched slightly, as if it were waking up.
Max immediately held his breath, staring without moving.
"Wuu…"
Rockruff let out a soft whine, as though last night's exhaustion hadn't fully faded. It rolled over on the floor, unintentionally exposing its white belly.
The sight made Max's heart skip a beat. Seeing that fluffy belly, his hand moved almost on instinct—he wanted to rub it.
But in the very next moment, Rockruff remembered its situation and sensed a dangerous claw reaching toward it. Without thinking, its bright blue eyes snapped open, and it flipped over, snapping its jaws at Max's hand with a Bite, baring its teeth ferociously!
"Wu—!"
Max yanked his hand back in pain, staring at the clear row of bite marks now imprinted on it. He tugged at the corner of his mouth, unable to force a smile.
Yeah… I definitely got ahead of myself…
He wasn't angry. Trying to rub someone's belly right after meeting them and getting bitten for it was entirely deserved.
Rockruff retreated to the corner of the room after the Bite. Max tried to show what he thought was a friendly smile, then exchanged an Oran Berry from the shop and placed it on the ground.
"Um… do you remember last night?" he said softly. "You ran to my door on your own."
As he spoke, he gently pushed the Oran Berry forward. "You must be hungry. Why don't you eat something first?"
Rockruff watched him warily, unmoving, but fragments of last night slowly resurfaced in its mind.
It seemed it really had escaped those dangerous humans. And this place…
Its gaze swept over the familiar red-and-white décor, and realization dawned. The human in front of it must have been the one who saved it.
Once that thought settled in, Rockruff's hostile posture visibly weakened. It glanced guiltily at the bite marks on Max's hand, where a bit of blood was still seeping out, and guilt nearly overwhelmed it.
I… I've become an ungrateful bad dog…
"Eat a little," Max said gently, unaware of Rockruff's inner turmoil. Seeing its guard drop slightly made him happy. He rolled the Oran Berry closer. "You'll need your strength if you're living in the wild. Your injury's healing really fast—another day of rest should be enough."
Rockruff stared at the Oran Berry. The sweet scent teased its empty stomach relentlessly.
But—
No reward without merit!
It was a Rockruff with principles! Hardening its heart, it twisted its head away with all its might and refused to look at the Oran Berry again. It even shut its eyes, as if not looking would make the hunger disappear.
The stubborn display stunned Max—and then made him laugh.
Grrr~
Unfortunately, its stomach wasn't nearly as principled. At that critical moment, it let out a loud, betraying growl.
Max could almost picture Rockruff's light-brown-furred face turning red, steam puffing up over its head as all its dignity evaporated.
I… I'll just eat first…
Lowering its head in shame, Rockruff began nibbling on the Oran Berry, never daring to look at Max even once.
Seeing this, Max finally smiled in satisfaction. He carefully shifted closer. Rockruff's ears twitched—clearly aware of his approach—but it didn't move, burying its head and eating voraciously.
It really was starving.
Max thought so, then seized the opportunity. "Um… can I touch you? Just once?"
Truthfully, he had been wanting to for a long time. The smooth light-brown fur, the black fur on its limbs and ear tips—all of it looked great. But the most tempting part was the white fur around its neck. If not for the embedded stones, the texture must feel amazing.
"…Wuwu."
Rockruff felt too embarrassed to refuse, but even more embarrassed to agree. It could only let out a few vague whines.
Max heard no outright rejection, and his eyes lit up instantly. He slowly extended his hand and gently rested it on Rockruff's head.
For a split second, he felt Rockruff's body tremble and freeze—but the next moment, it kept eating as if nothing had happened.
Success! No rejection!
The sensation was different from what he'd imagined. He'd expected Rockruff's fur to be somewhat rough because of its Rock typing, but instead it was smooth and soft. All the hardness seemed concentrated in the stones around its neck.
The top of its head felt silky to the touch.
Stroking with the grain, against the grain, in small circles—no matter how he did it, it felt unbelievably good.
Max fought down the urge to go wild and vigorously rub its head, settling for repeated gentle strokes instead.
This feels way too good…
He felt like he was melting.
[Contact detected: Rockruff. Live broadcast function enabled.
Required tools and starter pack have been sent to storage space. Please check.]
The system's voice suddenly rang out, snapping Max out of his bliss.
"Live broadcast?"
He stared blankly at the notification. He was supposed to get a Pokémon Center—did the system also come with a livestream feature?
Opening the storage panel, he found a small livestream drone inside. Its design was unusual: the four-propeller frame resembled the wheel-like structure around Arceus's waist, and its gleaming golden exterior looked incredibly high-end.
[Live Broadcast Drone (Infinite Battery Life)]
Reading the description, Max learned that the drone would automatically follow him, select optimal filming angles, and upon activation, open a livestream room on the major platforms of this world. It was windproof, waterproof, and had infinite battery life—a true survival artifact.
Alongside it were ten Oran Berries, presumably the contents of the starter pack.
Not a single Poké Ball.
Then, suddenly, a countdown appeared next to the system panel.
[Pokémon Affinity Slightly Increased (3 Days)]
Max's face darkened instantly. He had the overwhelming urge to curse the system for being utterly heartless.
Ten Oran Berries. No Poké Balls. Fine.
But even the buff it gave him was time-limited?!
How stingy could it get? This was clearly forcing him to head out as soon as possible!
Complaining aside, reality left him no choice. His system didn't seem particularly intelligent—more like a preset response program. Most of its functions had to be figured out on his own.
After a brief cleanup, Max stood at the entrance of the Pokémon Center, watching as Rockruff disappeared into the bushes, a hint of sadness in his eyes.
His first Pokémon… gone just like that.
The poachers' actions had clearly left deep psychological scars. Even Rockruff, a Pokémon known for being friendly toward humans, hesitated when Max invited it to stay—and ultimately refused.
Forget it. Maybe we'll meet again someday.
With a long sigh, Max put away the Pokémon Center and began figuring out how to use the drone.
"The name of the livestream room will be…"
"Real Adventure: Unveiling the Veil of Mythical Beasts!"