Chapter 2: Entei
Night finally fell.
Darkness blanketed the land, and the entire Viridian Forest became pitch-black. As the cold wind blew through, Holt could not help but shiver.
From outside came occasional rustling sounds, probably wild Pokémon moving through the grass and bushes.
Curled up inside the tree hollow, Holt did not dare move at all.
Wild Pokémon were extremely dangerous. If he ran into something like a Pikachu, that might be fine, but if it was a Beedrill or an Arbok, he would probably die on the spot and have to start over.
Right now, Holt only felt hungry, tired, and cold.
With a slight thought, a pale blue panel slowly appeared before his eyes.
This was the code he had personally written in his previous life, based on that web novel adaptation, and now it was fully displayed in front of him.
Shock Value System: By making others feel shocked, the host can obtain currency, which can be used in the shop to exchange for all kinds of items, tools, and miraculous cheats.
This was the protagonist's cheat in Reincarnated Into Another World, I Grow Stronger by Shocking Others. In that story, the protagonist could use this system to exchange for all kinds of abilities and techniques in the system shop, allowing him to become stronger.
But for some reason, perhaps because of the world fusion, all of those techniques and abilities had disappeared.
In their place were all kinds of items that matched the Pokémon world.
For example: MooMoo Milk, Casteliacones, all kinds of Berries, Pokéblocks, Poké Balls, Potions, X Attack, Evolution Stones, and more.
Besides that, there were also many strange items in the shop.
Things like premium fabric sofas, all kinds of wallpaper, luxury double beds, and other furniture.
Or even some black technology unique to the Pokémon world.
Secret Power: A mysterious power that can be used to carve into mountains or tree trunks, turning them into a Secret Base.
Spatial Technology: A technology developed through Palkia's spatial power that can compress space and increase storage capacity.
At this moment, all Holt wanted was to exchange for a warm bottle of MooMoo Milk to fill his stomach.
But exchanging for one bottle of MooMoo Milk required 5 Shock Points. He had only been in this world for less than a year, and he had spent all that time as a clueless infant, so he had never had any chance to earn points.
In a dangerous forest, with no food, and in this freezing environment...
Maybe he was really going to die here.
Holt could clearly feel his strength slowly slipping away.
Cold... so cold...
His consciousness gradually became blurry.
He did not know how much time had passed. Maybe only a few minutes, or maybe several hours.
In his haze, Holt suddenly felt his body gradually warming up, as if a warm, fluffy embrace had wrapped itself around him.
Mom...
Holt murmured softly out of instinct.
Beneath the ancient Viridian tree, Entei lowered its head and looked at the human infant burrowing deeper into its fluffy belly fur. Its feelings instantly became complicated.
Had this human child mistaken it for his mother?
In Entei's mind, the image of that lifeless figure in the car suddenly surfaced.
Your mother is already dead, Entei thought.
She lost her life protecting Pokémon from those hateful Pokémon hunters.
Thinking of this, Entei's gaze toward the human infant filled with sympathy, pity, and an even more complicated emotion.
It let out a silent sigh, then sheltered the child beneath its body, using its warmth as much as possible to keep him warm.
The night passed in silence.
The next morning, when Holt opened his eyes from sleep, he saw a huge furry face right in front of him.
Wah!
Holt was startled badly.
And the next second, the tightly shut eyes on that large face suddenly opened, revealing a pair of majestic golden-red eyes staring straight at him.
That was... Entei?!
Entei had come back? And it had used its own body heat to help him survive the freezing night?!
Holt froze on the spot.
Just then, his stomach suddenly let out a loud growl.
Entei's gaze slowly moved downward and stopped at his stomach.
This human child was hungry.
It said nothing. It simply stood up from the ground, shook the dew from its fur, placed the infant back into the tree hollow, and then ran off into the distance.
Hungry... so hungry!
Having gone more than ten hours without food or water, Holt felt like he was starving to death.
But he had no time to care about that. He quickly crawled to the edge of the tree hollow and poked his head out to look.
Where had Entei gone now?
Although he did not know why Entei was treating him this way, Holt knew one thing very clearly: the only one he could rely on now was Entei.
If Entei abandoned him, he would definitely die here today.
Entei had not gone far. It quickly found a wild Berry tree, picked several Berries from it, and then returned to the tree hollow.
Before it even got close, it saw the human infant peeking his head out of the hollow, looking around as if searching for something, waiting for something.
The moment their eyes met in midair, Entei clearly saw the human child's eyes light up.
Was he looking for me?
A hint of surprise rose in Entei's heart.
Carrying the Berries in its mouth, it returned to the tree hollow and placed them in front of the child.
Berries were an extremely miraculous kind of fruit in the Pokémon world, rich with nutrients, and many Pokémon treated them as food.
Entei had gone to find food for him!
Pokémon really were intelligent creatures!
Holt looked at Entei gratefully, then, like a man dying of thirst finding water, he grabbed a Berry with both tiny hands, bit through the skin with his not-yet-fully-grown teeth, and desperately sucked out the juice inside.
Like a great cat, Entei lay on the ground, its massive head resting casually on its front paws, watching the human infant eat the Berries without blinking.
After swallowing one Berry, Holt immediately felt much more energized.
He let out a satisfied burp, then looked at Entei, suddenly thinking of something.
Entei had worked so hard to find him food. It probably had not eaten anything itself, right?
Holt picked up one of the Berries in front of him and held it out to Entei as thanks for saving his life.
Even though Entei had found the Berries, Holt could not just keep eating by himself. That would be far too rude.
Seeing this, Entei froze in place.
It stared blankly into the human child's bright, sparkling eyes.
This child... was sharing his food with it?