"Coo."
A sound came from outside the window.
Ye Chuan, who was fast asleep, slowly opened his eyes. He noticed on the railing of the balcony beside him, a gray bird about half a meter tall was spreading its wings, with a dark green mailbox hanging around its neck.
"Is there mail for me?" Perhaps because the Pidgey responsible for delivering the mail wasn't coming for the first time, there wasn't much surprise on Ye Chuan's face.
"Coo!"
After receiving a definite answer, he sat up and reached out to take a palm-sized paper bag from the bird's mailbox.
After opening it, inside was an exquisite postcard, printed with the scenery of a famous overseas attraction, and on the back was written—
[(ω) Happy birthday, darling! Congratulations on becoming a trainee trainer!] a line of text.
"Looks like she still remembers my sixteenth birthday." This postcard was naturally sent by Ye Chuan's mother. If he wasn't mistaken, she was currently traveling abroad with his father. If it weren't for this postcard, he would have suspected that his parents had drunk too much forgetful-child milk and were never home all year round.
At this moment, the Pidgey outside the window cooed again, with something like a form in its beak.
"Evaluation form, huh? Here... good review." Looking at its expectant gaze, Ye Chuan used a pen to tick the "good review" box on the form. The Pidgey chirped happily, politely lowered its head, and then flapped its wings to the next house.
"Pokémon working early in the morning must be quite tiring too."
After the Pidgey left, Ye Chuan sighed.
In this world, Pokémon and humans have lived in harmony for hundreds of years. From initially calling them demonic beasts and being hostile to them, to now calling them Pokémon partners, it's all thanks to the epoch-making invention of the Poké Ball, which allowed humans to understand the existence of Pokémon more deeply.
"Get up."
Getting out of bed and going to the bathroom to wash up, the person in the mirror had black hair and black eyes, and was around 1.78 meters tall. Although it wasn't narcissism, Ye Chuan had indeed been called handsome since he was a child.
Too bad he didn't have a girlfriend.
Just as Ye Chuan finished washing up and changing his clothes, he heard the sound of the door opening downstairs and a lively voice saying, "Good morning, A-Ye, wake up!"
Walking to the top of the stairs, Ye Chuan saw a girl entering with a bag of ingredients.
She had long black hair with straight bangs, a pair of bright and clear big eyes. Her skin was snow-white with a faint pink tinge. She wore a T-shirt and denim shorts, and a pair of straight and shapely long legs made the whole girl look full of vitality.
"Oh my, you're already awake." Seeing that Ye Chuan had already washed up and changed his clothes, the girl's eyes curved into adorable crescent moons: "Could it be that you stayed up all night last night because today is the day you receive your initial Pokémon?"
Today was Ye Chuan's sixteenth birthday, which meant he could go to the Pokémon Center to receive his initial Pokémon and register as a trainee trainer. For those who wanted to become Pokémon trainers, today was naturally a very important day.
Ye Chuan poured a glass of water and handed it to the girl, pointing to her faint dark circles: "I think you're the one who couldn't sleep."
"Hehe, I was just dying of thirst." The girl didn't deny it, took the glass and drank the water in one gulp.
An Shiyu and Ye Chuan's families were not only neighbors, but they were also born on the same day in the same hospital, so the two families had a very good relationship. She and Ye Chuan were naturally no exception; they had not only been together since childhood, but they also planned to go to the Pokémon Center together today to receive their initial Pokémon.
"I'll make breakfast today, you go take a shower." Looking at An Shiyu's long hair, Ye Chuan said, after all, it wasn't good to always trouble her to make breakfast.
An Shiyu blinked curiously: "How did you know I went for a run today?"
"After all, the smell of sweat on you..." Ye Chuan leaned forward and smelled her hair.
Before Ye Chuan could finish speaking, An Shiyu's face flushed red and she covered her head, running upstairs with quick, light steps.
After Ye Chuan finished making breakfast, An Shiyu also came downstairs after showering. She had changed into a white T-shirt, but because it was too big, her denim shorts were covered by the shirt, revealing only her snow-white long legs, so it looked somewhat like a dress, but it was inexplicably very suitable.
"Isn't this mine?" Looking at the Pikachu-printed T-shirt, Ye Chuan said: "Pikachu is quite big."
"I ran out of clothes." What he got in return was a matter-of-fact reply.
However, Ye Chuan didn't mind this, after all, it wasn't the first time.
After breakfast, the two went out to the Pokémon Center.
Because the nearest Pokémon Center was quite far, the two had to take an electric train. After getting on the train, they sat side by side. At this time, Ye Chuan smelled a pleasant floral fragrance coming to his nose, so he turned his head.
"W-what are you doing? I washed off all the sweat." An Shiyu noticed Ye Chuan's gaze and immediately covered her head with both hands.
Ye Chuan smiled: "What's there to be nervous about? I didn't say anything."
An Shiyu looked away, her cheeks slightly puffed out.
After riding the electric train for about ten minutes, Ye Chuan and the others arrived at their destination—one of the Pokémon Centers in the city.
It was a very large red and white building, an official facility integrating multiple functions such as medical treatment, shopping, and information registration. At this time, it could be seen that there were many people going in and out.
"A-Ye, A-Ye, look, that Pokémon is so cute."
"Wow, what Pokémon is that?"
Beside him, An Shiyu's face was filled with excitement, constantly pulling on the corner of Ye Chuan's clothes, which couldn't help but make him show a speechless expression.
A child, huh?
"Speaking of which, A-Ye, what initial Pokémon did you reserve?" An Shiyu seemed to remember something and turned her head.
Ye Chuan glanced at her: "A Fire-type Pokémon."
"A Fire-type Pokémon..." An Shiyu thought for a moment and realized that there were too many Fire-type initial Pokémon in the Pokémon Center, so she chose to give up thinking.
Anyway, she would know in a moment.
Walking into the Pokémon Center, after getting the reserved number, they waited for about ten minutes before a staff member came over and led them to a room. The pure white room had tables, and on them were two Poké Balls.
The first step to becoming a trainee trainer was to have an initial Pokémon of your own. Although you could buy a Poké Ball and go to the wild to catch one yourself, catching wild Pokémon was inherently a dangerous thing, and if it wasn't caught by yourself, the Pokémon might not listen to the trainer, among other factors.
Therefore, if the finances allowed, reserving a newly hatched, docile, and obedient initial Pokémon at the Pokémon Center was the best choice.
"Come out, Rowlet." An Shiyu picked up her Poké Ball, pressed the button, and a round, owl-like Pokémon appeared on the table, spreading its short wings: "Hoo!"
Ye Chuan glanced at this little southern bird: "So it's a Rowlet."
Rowlet, also known as the Grass Quill Pokémon, is a round bird-like Pokémon with a white face and brown feathers all over its body. It has a dual Flying and Grass typing.
It has the special ability to fly silently in the air, and because it is an owl, it has the same vision during the day as it does at night, making it skilled in nighttime battles.
An Shiyu liked it very much and was already tightly hugging Rowlet, her face showing joy: "Let's get along well in the future, Rowlet."
"Hoo." Rowlet seemed to be in a good mood too.
Watching this scene, Ye Chuan picked up his Poké Ball from the table.