Charizard looked at Auron with some confusion, scratching its head, but still walked over to him.
The Shuckle peeping out of its shell on the table also secretly poked its head out to watch the approaching Charizard, then quickly retracted it.
"Huh?"
Auron patted Charizard's shoulder and said, "What happened between you two? It might have been a misunderstanding."
Then, under Charizard's somewhat bewildered gaze, Auron fully explained the entire incident.
Meanwhile, as Auron spoke, Shuckle somehow stuck its head out and nodded vigorously at Charizard, its expression clearly saying "That's right, that's right."
After hearing everything, Charizard slowly turned its stiff neck to look at Shuckle, then gave Auron a skeptical expression.
Auron shrugged and nodded. No doubt about it, that's exactly what happened.
Shuckle: That's right, that's right.
Seeing Shuckle piling on, Charizard finally couldn't take it anymore. In an embarrassed rage, it grabbed Shuckle and marched upstairs.
"Kukiyi! Kukiyi? Kukiyi!!"
Watching Shuckle cower back into its shell, Auron just smiled.
He knew that given Charizard's personality, it had already realized it was wrong.
This action was simply because its pride couldn't let it admit fault.
Grabbing Shuckle upstairs meant: I acknowledge you, but since I've brought you back, you'll just have to stay.
"Haha, maybe Charizard will have a roommate tonight."
Auron smiled, watching Charizard and Shuckle in its claws climbing the stairs.
"Let's go, time for bed."
As Auron said this, he scooped up Electabuzz and held it in his arms as he started walking upstairs.
"Cheep..."
"Pika~"
Minidraco let out a slightly disgruntled cry as it watched Auron's back.
But due to its gluttony, it was honestly too full to move.
So Snorlax took over for Auron, hoisting Minidraco onto its shoulder and following behind Auron.
"Haha, Minidraco, who told you to be such a glutton."
"Cheep!"
Minidraco responded unhappily to Auron's teasing look.
"Hmph~"
Auron arrogantly flicked his head, then looked at the Electabuzz in his arms. "Speaking of which, aren't you due for evolution? Why no signs of it?"
"Leh~"
Electabuzz helplessly lay in Auron's arms, sticking its tongue out.
It didn't know either. Logically, it should've evolved by now—nutrition, experience, energy, all seemed to meet the requirements, but nothing happened.
"Could it be a battle's missing? Come to think of it, you haven't had a proper battle yet, have you?"
"Leh?"
Electabuzz was startled. That was true, it hadn't really battled seriously.
Training was never lacking, but its sparring partners were mostly Snorlax and itself.
But the power difference was too great, so it really didn't count as a serious battle.
Auron saw Electabuzz's expression and understood.
"Alright, after this holiday, I'll take you to find an opponent. Make sure to perform well."
"Leh!"
Electabuzz's face turned serious as it nodded firmly.
(I won't let you down!)
After a few words, Auron returned to his room with Electabuzz in his arms.
Immediately upon entering, he saw Shuckle on Charizard's bed, glaring angrily at Charizard.
Charizard's bed was specially custom-made for it by Auron.
After all, once Charmander evolved into Charizard, its size increased significantly.
Plus there was Minidraco, which now had to sleep clinging to Auron every night, so Charizard no longer slept together with Auron—otherwise the bed wouldn't be big enough, especially with Snorlax taking up space too.
So Auron prepared a separate bed for Charizard, placed against the opposite wall of the room.
Fortunately, the apartments at Skyspire University were spacious, and Auron, due to Snorlax, had chosen the largest available in an already large apartment—otherwise, they really wouldn't have fit.
Shuckle's anger posed no threat to Charizard, as Charizard simply used one claw to pin Shuckle down.
"Kukiyi!"
Shuckle roared again, but Charizard didn't care at all, keeping its eyes closed while just shifting its head to face away from Shuckle.
"Alright, Charizard, let Shuckle go. Shuckle isn't going to run away, right? Right, Shuckle?"
"Kukiyi!"
(Right, right, I wouldn't... Wait?)
After yelling, Shuckle suddenly realized, then looked at Auron in disbelief.
The point was, Charizard had also released its claw, no longer pinning Shuckle.
This left Shuckle in a dilemma—should it run? It had just promised not to run away.
Watching Shuckle lie on Charizard's bed, looking utterly bewildered, Auron couldn't help sneaking a laugh.
"Haha, so this is what 'forcing the unwilling'... I mean, this 'that thing' feels like. Not bad~"
"Alright, time for bed~"
Auron stood by the light switch, clapped his hands to get the Pokémon's attention.
Snorlax was already lying on the bed with Minidraco, and Electabuzz had settled into its special cradle.
Beside Electabuzz's cradle was Clawitzer's small pool. Every time Clawitzer entered the water, it would deliberately splash some water.
And the splashed water would happen to land on Electabuzz's face.
Then Electabuzz would zap Clawitzer with [Thunder Shock].
After getting zapped, Clawitzer would lie contentedly in the pool and quickly fall asleep.
After everyone was "in bed," Auron finally turned off the lights and lay down beside Snorlax.
He absentmindedly rubbed Minidraco's belly to help with digestion while slowly drifting toward sleep.
After a while, semi-dreaming, Auron suddenly thought of something.
"Golbat's shiny form is green, but after evolving into Crobat, it seems to turn pink. Hmm... just like Minidraco."
"Wonder if Crobat can accept this color. Hehe."
Half asleep, Auron couldn't help but chuckle softly.
Meanwhile, Crobat, hanging upside-down above Auron's bed, felt a sudden chill down its back.
Then, with practiced ease, it adjusted the air conditioning to a slightly higher temperature.
(The coolness from the AC feels particularly strong today.)
It was only around ten PM, but Wanshi Lake's food street in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province was still bustling with activity.
On the food street, a little girl was hopping along happily.
She'd occasionally stop in her tracks at delicious-looking food.
But seeing people using their phones to pay before receiving tasty treats,
she instinctively touched her pockets, then sucked in her saliva before hopping on.
Anyone who had been on the boat at Wanshi Lake during the day would recognize—wasn't this little girl one of their fellow passengers?