Chapter 11: Rules for Survival
After that, Arthur first took Froakie for a run in the neighborhood, then left the neighborhood and ran all the way to the nearest small park.
He used the park's horizontal bar to train Froakie's upper body strength and the park's fountain to train Froakie's water-inhaling and spitting, exercising his mouth muscles.
With limited resources, Arthur devised a comprehensive training plan for Froakie using the available equipment and environment.
After finishing, he picked up Froakie, who was too exhausted to move, wiped the little guy's sweat, and asked, "What do you want to eat for dinner?"
Froakie, still resentful, stared at him and replied telepathically, "I want caviar!"
This wasn't Froakie's favorite food, but the most expensive food he knew.
He felt like he had been tricked by this owner and was determined to make him pay.
However, Arthur replied without hesitation, "Okay."
He went to a nearby supermarket, and after seeing the price of caviar, Arthur paused, but his hand still didn't retract.
Instead, he silently changed the dinner ingredients he bought for himself to discounted canned food.
After shopping at the supermarket, Arthur went home and worked in the kitchen for a while. He didn't buy pre-made Pokémon food from the supermarket because he didn't trust it. Instead, he bought tree fruit ingredients he recognized and prepared a portion of Pokémon food himself.
He trusted his own skills more. This was a technique that had been recognized by many Pokémon in the past.
After preparing, he brought out the feeding bowl and dishes, and placed Froakie on the table.
"Eat up. The bowl is your dinner, I made it. I don't know your preferences yet, so it's a bit bland. You can tell me if you have any favorite flavors later, and I'll adjust it.
The small dish next to it is the caviar you like. Eat it sparingly, it's expensive."
After speaking, he sat down, in front of a bowl of white rice and a 9.9-discounted canned food.
At that moment, Froakie was stunned.
Pokémon are very intelligent. After living in the sanctuary for several years, he had learned a lot about the human world from the staff, such as basic prices.
He looked down at the expensive caviar in his dish, worth at least a thousand, and then looked at the cheap, discounted canned food in front of Arthur. He was momentarily moved and didn't know what to say.
The resentment he had after training in the afternoon was dispelled by Arthur's casual actions.
"Eat up. Appetite is also part of training. You can only get stronger if you eat a lot," Arthur encouraged.
Froakie immediately lowered his head and scooped up a spoonful of tree fruit paste from the feeding bowl.
"Ooh, delicious!"
He happily conveyed telepathically.
Arthur smiled and gently patted his head.
"After you finish eating, I'll give you a massage to relieve muscle fatigue from this afternoon's training. You can have free time tonight. You can tell me anything you want to do or any toys you want during non-training hours. You can ask for anything."
Although his tone was calm, his feelings were genuine.
His nearly thirty-year-old mentality no longer supported him doing childish things like hugging a Pokémon or lifting it high, but that sincere care and affection were naturally conveyed to Froakie.
Once captured, he was willing to give the Pokémon everything he could.
Because in the era he fought in, Pokémon willing to join humans were very rare.
When Pokémon were willing to entrust their lives to fight alongside you, then as trainers, they should naturally repay them with everything they have. This was the simple value shared by trainers of that era.
Arthur was no exception.
"Can I really ask for anything?"
Froakie looked at him with glowing eyes.
"Yes, except for not training."
"Ribbit..."
At that moment, Froakie's eyes, which had just lit up, lost their sparkle again.
Why was it like this...
That night, after helping Froakie with his massage, Arthur let Froakie use the computer to watch anime.
In the past, at the sanctuary, the staff often played cartoons for the Pokémon during feeding time, mainly types without dialogue like Tom and Jerry.
Froakie had become fascinated with anime at that time.
But the staff at the sanctuary only played videos sporadically, and they often played episode one one day, episode ten the next, and then switched to another show the day after.
Froakie was often very annoyed.
Now that he had a new home and owner, he naturally wanted to catch up on all the episodes he had missed!
Until nearly 1 AM, Froakie was still watching intently in front of the computer.
Arthur, having finished his shower, came over and held down his head.
"Alright, stop watching for now, go to bed early."
Froakie struggled and waved his little hands, telepathically saying, "No, I'm almost at the finale! Just a little bit more!"
Arthur looked at the episode list.
This series had a total of 50 episodes, and Froakie was only on episode 17...
This was far more than "a little bit"...
Arthur reached out and picked him up from in front of the computer.
"Stop messing around. You can watch more tomorrow, the computer is yours from now on. Go to bed early, you have training tomorrow morning."
Hearing about training, Froakie's body stiffened.
He blinked his innocent big eyes and looked back at his owner, trying to get away with cuteness.
"Can I... rest for one day tomorrow?"
He asked telepathically.
But he only saw a smiling face in the darkness of the night.
The room had no lights on, and the light from the screen only illuminated half of this face, the other half hidden in the dim shadows. In Froakie's eyes, the blurry corners of his eyes and brows seemed to emanate a quiet murderous intent...
Froakie couldn't help but shiver.
Although they had only known each other for a short time, the intelligent Froakie had already summed up the rules for survival with Arthur—
Everything is negotiable, except for training.
"Ribbit..."
Resigning himself to his fate, he could only obediently be carried off to sleep...
The next morning, Arthur once again took Froakie out for training.
Arthur accompanied Froakie throughout the entire training session, and his own training volume was much larger than Froakie's.
On the way back, they passed a fitness equipment store, and Arthur went in to buy some small home fitness equipment, such as a grip strengthener, an ab roller, and a small dumbbell.
His body, having experienced the passage of time, had returned to the state of his fifteen-year-old self. While youth had returned, the effects of his years of past training had also been erased.
Now he needed to exercise as well.
After returning home, Froakie, who had been exhausted all morning, once again eagerly jumped into the kitchen sink for a bath. At this time, Arthur, who had also been exercising all morning, was still doing one-armed push-ups in the living room.
Occasionally, Froakie would peek out of the sink and sadly spit out a couple of bubbles.
He felt like he would have to abide by these survival rules for a long time.
He seriously doubted that even if he evolved, he could still beat his abnormally strong owner.
In fact, if Arthur heard his thoughts, he would calmly reply: Yes, don't doubt it.
When he was at his peak at twenty-seven years old, he even had a record of fighting wild Feraligatr alone with only a combat knife...
For Froakie to challenge his current rules of survival, he would probably have to evolve at least twice to have a chance...