Is There a Pokémon Center in This Territory?

The first time I escaped Thrillzhak's hideout, what startled me more than the greatsword that appeared before my eyes was the human ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠swinging it.

The knight's status window, which had flashed for only a moment, was soon plastered over with black squares just like Thrillzhak's had been, and even his traits vanished from view.

That was when I realized it.

The attack he'd just swung was a kind of greeting.

I'm this strong. What about you?

This insane knight hadn't even bothered to strike first against a monster. He'd issued a declaration of war.

From this moment on, I'm going to cut you down.

Let's play.

Naturally, crushed under that overwhelming presence, I froze solid without a word.

Excuse me, Rabbit Princess? I'm a total newbie here?

No way. Why is the final boss showing up already?!

But who was I, in this body?

In that moment, I wasn't a genius tiger — I was the most harmless cotton ball to ever walk the earth.

Thankfully, this body's sheer insignificance was powerful enough to fool even an absolute powerhouse like Albert! That's what I'm saying.

I mean, I genuinely was a baby.

Uh, well. The level's a little high, but that's a misunderstanding. Baby tigers are just like that!

Fortunately, Albert was a man who knew propriety. He couldn't bring himself to cut down a helpless little creature in front of his soldiers, so he sheathed his blade.

And that was when I met her.

That young lady.

A suspicious human girl in possession of an absurdly long name.

With her striking looks and her somewhat childish demeanor, I recognized her as a noble young lady at a glance.

But that noble young lady's status window was anything but ordinary.

The epithet Fated before Cordelia's name. Traits that held two opposing possibilities. And most critically of all — [Hero's Party Member] and [Animal Lover].

Those two traits really caught my eye.

A hero's party? Seriously?

I thought this was just a regular fantasy world, but it's a light novel setting?

My head was spinning.

So that means there's a Demon King too, right?

If the Demon King shows up and the hero's party loses, what happens then?

Do I… just die?

Gah!!

"Grrrng!"

Having thought that far, I clenched my front paw with a grim expression.

Looks like I'd have to give up on a pampered life this time around too. The world was about to end — who had time for headpats?

This tiger was no ordinary tiger…!

So is she the good kind or the bad kind?

I was the type who couldn't stand not knowing.

I decided to figure out what kind of human Cordelia really was.

…

…But how was I supposed to figure that out?

I drew up all sorts of plans, but in the end I had to revise them yet again. The world never flowed the way you predicted, and all you could do was choose the best option available.

In other words, an unexpected incident had occurred.

"Grrong… grrong…"

Before I could use the young lady to help humanity, I first needed to figure out what kind of person she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was!

So with Eryllion's help, I was getting some quality sleep.

I'd used earth-digging magic to carve out a burrow, punched air holes through it, and set up a cozy little bedroom. So this was what a dirt bed felt like?

With Eryllion — a living lightbulb — taking turns on night watch with me, it was the sweetest sleep I'd had in ages.

"Per…!"

"Grrong, grrong…"

Ugh, five more minutes…

"Per!"

No, just one more minute… I was about to mumble, when a voice that somehow sounded urgent made me rub my eyes and wake up.

What's his problem?

Nothing was registering on my senses. Looking around, I couldn't find anything wrong either.

Then I turned my head in the direction Eryllion was pointing, and I startled so hard I slammed my skull into the ceiling with a thunk.

Because Brother Beak, still in his egg form… was wasting away!!

"Grrng!"

"Per, per!"

What's wrong with him?!

Emergency! Emergency!

What?!! A cold?!

What kind of phoenix catches a cold!!

…Is it because he's a baby?

Apparently hauling the egg around constantly instead of leaving it in one place had done this. Well, even I wouldn't sleep well on a moving bed.

Hmm. But a cold, huh.

How bad could it be?

And with that, I planted a flag.

Plop plop plop.

I tore open the emergency bear-hide egg bag, soaked a strip in clear lake water, and laid it on the egg.

Sizzle.

Good lord! Was it because he was a phoenix?!

The wet bear hide dried out in seconds and became a desiccated scrap of leather.

"Per!"

"Grrrng!"

Is this really the time to be impressed?!

What do I do? The fever's worse than I thought. Fight fire with fire — should I just stuff the egg into the bear hide?

What if he croaks on me?

I stared down at the egg with a solemn expression.

Above Brother Beak's name was something that looked unmistakably like an HP bar, and right now it had dropped by one segment.

One, two, three, four…

Ten segments total. If those all ran out, Brother Beak would…

D-die?

I imagined Brother Beak's tombstone.

Phoenix. Caught a cold and rests here.

No, Big Bro. You made a cool entrance — at least go out with some style.

Damn it. What am I supposed to do?

"Per!"

And in the middle of all that, wrapping the egg in the bear hide made the HP bar drop another segment.

Per and I hastily stripped the hide off and buried the egg in a sunny, well-lit patch of ground—

No, we absolutely should not do that!

"Grrng!"

"Per!!"

That's an Ellafae thing!

Damn it. Between Eryllion and me, our knowledge of the world was pitifully thin. And I was a lifelong bachelor who'd never raised a kid in either life. My past-life knowledge was completely useless right now.

Damn it, what do you do when a phoenix egg catches a cold?! Why don't fantasy novels ever include contingency plans for moments like this?

Authors, hang your heads in shame!

"Grrng!"

No matter how long I fretted, the answer wouldn't come. Brother Beak's HP kept dwindling, so sitting around watching wasn't the answer either.

"Per!"

Just then, Eryllion circled through the air and pointed firmly in one direction, his face set.

Beyond the mountain range lay a city — the land of the humans we'd run into yesterday.

"Grrng."

Ask the humans for help?

I hesitated.

What would the humans do if they saw this egg? Would they really fail to notice its true nature and actually help us?

"Grrng!!"

Of course not!

This egg was practically screaming, Yep, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'm a legendary Pokémon! with pure raw presence!

But…

Brother Beak's condition was deteriorating in real time.

Fine. No choice.

At this point, I've got to roll the dice on an adventure!

I thought of the one human I had even a shred of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rapport with.

The young lady.

She definitely had the trait [Animal Lover].

I steeled my resolve and carefully transferred Brother Beak into my subspace.

Hang in there just a little longer, Brother Beak.

I'll find a way to save you.

"Grrng!"

Eryllion and I took off at a dead run.

Come to think of it, there was a certain cartoon that told you exactly what to do in a situation like this.

All right! Destination: the Pokémon Center!

Hey, could you take a look at this egg for me?

Lia had been buried in her magical research when she finally let out a long, heavy sigh.

"Ugh, I can't focus."

Once she entered the Academy next year, she'd be busy beyond belief. So she needed to finish her magical theory on communication before enrollment!

Mrow?

A little cotton ball floated up in her mind — that kitten with the ruby-red eyes.

The moment she'd laid eyes on that baby cat, Lia had fallen head over heels in love.

Good heavens! To think such an adorable creature existed in this world!

A kitten so plump and round it looked more like a puppy than a cat. When she'd scooped that little life into her arms under the noble pretext of a rescue, her heart overflowing with selfish affection—

So soft…!

Lia had melted completely under that squishy, doughy texture.

Those clear eyes looking up at her. Yes — those eyes had definitely been saying:

Raise me! From this day forward, you are my butler! They had absolutely, positively been saying that…!

Grrng!

That baby cat had played with Lia for a little while, then lost interest and gone on its merry way. And the way it left — so decisive! The little thing hadn't looked back even once, cold as ice.

How! How could it?!

"Sigh…"

Lia exhaled a sigh deep enough to sink the earth.

Well, if it was hanging around with fairies, it probably wasn't an ordinary mountain cat. Still, she couldn't help worrying.

What if some huge monster eats it?

"Th-that can't happen!!"

With fire blazing in both eyes, Lia gathered her things and set out on a "little outing."

She packed feed that could lure monsters, and just in case, a taming scroll as well.

Truthfully, Lia was the type who hated taming scrolls. Animals clearly had thoughts and feelings of their own — what was the difference between a magic that ignored all of that and forced them into submission, and mind-control magic classified as dark magic for brainwashing humans?

S-so this taming scroll was just…

In case it ran away again — no, because an emergency might come up!

That was why she was bringing it.

"Urgh."

In the end, Lia flung the scroll away and bolted outside.

No matter how she thought about it, she simply couldn't use such a wicked magic.

I don't need a scroll! I'll charm you with my own power!!

The ultimate churu paste that cats went crazy for, delicious treats, and a special ability of hers that nobody else knew about! If she used all of those, there was no animal in existence that Cordelia couldn't tame!

With that solemn resolve burning in her chest—

"Ah, Young Lady? Are you going out?"

"Haha, yes. Sir Albert is working so hard — I should go help too."

Lia strode confidently toward the Verdant Grove.

…

"Um, Young Lady? It's gotten dark — perhaps we should head back now…"

"R-right! Haha!"

But Lia's plan failed spectacularly.

She'd scoured every inch of the area where she'd met the cat yesterday, and still never found that baby kitten.

Well, the forest was enormous… Finding that little cat again in woods this vast was practically impossible.

But still — not even a trace?

Surely it hadn't actually been eaten… right?!

Ahh…

I should have just followed it yesterday without worrying about appearances.

And just as Lia was drowning in regret—

"Grrng."

A tiny sound reached her ears.

"Hah?!"

"Y-Young Lady?"

Ignoring her escort's shout entirely, Lia took off at a sprint.

"Grrrng."

She could hear it. The little cry was drawing closer and closer.

"Y-Young Lady!"

A knight grabbed her by the wrist. The moment he appeared, she felt the cry grow distant.

"Raymond! J-just once! Please, just let me go this once!"

"But Young Lady…!"

"Grrrng."

Once more, the tiny sound carried to her.

Lia watched Raymond's brow twitch. As a knight, Raymond had clearly heard the beast's cry as well. And he was someone who knew about Lia's special gift of communion.

"It's calling for me. You know that!"

"…"

Raymond gazed steadily into Lia's eyes, then finally released her wrist. He already knew he couldn't break that stubborn will of hers.

"Don't leave my line of sight."

"Thank you!"

Lia shot forward like an arrow. At a distance just far enough that Knight Raymond was barely still visible, she finally found the creature again.

"Mrow."

"You…!"

There it was — the young cat with ruby-clear eyes that she had searched so desperately for.