Although a double bed is called a bed for two, in reality, it's more suitable for just one person to sleep. After all, no one can really say how a body would move around while asleep.
When two people—or one person and one cat—share the bed, some strange things are bound to happen.
Rowan actually sleeps pretty deeply. If he had woken up a bit earlier, he would've found Nekomi sprawled across his stomach, seemingly using him as a body pillow.
That invisible flower stem ended up being pinned under Rowan for exactly this reason.
Nekomi thought that pulling it out by force might wake Rowan up, so she had just been watching him like that.
"Sorry, did I hurt you?"
"Meow. (Nope, I'm tough.)"
The anatomy of a Pokémon is quite special. Although Meowscarada is a Grass-type Pokémon, whether it's struck by lightning, burned by fire, caught in an explosion, or gets frozen, it mostly just results in severe stamina loss.
This is mainly because Pokémon have a special kind of energy inside them, which varies depending on their species, type, and level.
Normally, when attacked, this energy automatically protects their bodies. This greatly reduces the chance of physical damage and significantly improves their ability to survive in the wild.
Because of this, Nekomi's flower stem is far tougher than any ordinary plant—it might as well be a steel cable.
"There's only raw meat slices left in the fridge. All the Berries were made into Pokéblocks yesterday. Want some?"
"Meow~ (No thanks, I'm not hungry. Just gonna bask in sunlight~)"
This is one of the reasons why Grass-type Pokémon are cheaper to raise. While they still need food like other Pokémon, they can sometimes meet part of their daily needs just by basking in the sun. It's super convenient.
There was still a box of He Niu left in the fridge. [TN: Pinyin of He Niu can also mean Wagyu.]
It doesn't mean synthetic, but rather a type of cattle unique to this world. [TN: "He Cheng" means synthetic.]
As the policies around the world improved, hunting Pokémon for food became officially illegal.
Although Pokémon-based ingredients still exist, they're only gathered in ways that don't harm the Pokémon—like a Slowpoke's tail, Corphish's naturally shed claws, or Tsareena's bathwater.
Directly eating a Farfetch'd is no longer allowed, and that actually saved their species from extinction.
In the past, Pokémon that came with their own "ingredients" were considered delicacies for a long time.
But as the policies gradually improved, Farfetch'd numbers slowly began to recover.
"He Niu" refers to the hybrid offspring born from crossbreeding bovine Pokémon like Tauros and Miltank with regular cows.
These hybrids no longer possess the near-human intelligence of Pokémon, nor do they retain any special abilities. They've effectively become ordinary livestock products.
Among similar products, they're on the pricier side. But that's just Rowan's lifestyle—he only keeps two sets of clothes to rotate for washing, and if they tear, he just stitches them up.
All the money goes into improving the quality of his food. Now, he has to prepare an extra portion for Nekomi too—he can't just have her using photosynthesis every day.
"Time to head out. Let's see where this Gym is..."
The subway sped along the city's underground tracks. Before long, Rowan arrived at... a construction site.
The weather was fairly cool at the moment, so the workers on site were rushing to complete their work. You could even spot members of the Machoke family hauling heavy materials.
This kind of Pokémon needs to build their strength through heavy lifting, so they're commonly seen on construction sites, at moving companies, or in gyms.
"Excuse me, sir, is there a Gym around here?"
The map in the game hadn't lit up, and Dodo Map showed the Gym was supposed to be right here. So Rowan had no choice but to ask the people around.
"Yeah, you just go around that way—behind the construction site. See that tall tower? It's right under that."
"Is the Gym under construction or something? Why's it so noisy?"
"More or less. The old Gym Leader's kid just came back recently and started setting up some novel things. That tall tower's something he put up for bungee jumping. Said it's to 'experience the feeling of soaring through the sky.'"
Rowan had a feeling this older man seemed quite familiar with the Gym Leader. A few more questions later, he learned the construction team was actually owned by the Gym itself.
To be precise, these days everyone—from Champions down to Gym Leaders—loves having some kind of side business.
Celebrity, influencer, underground miner, flower shop owner—you name it, they do it.
Sometimes it's even hard to tell what their main profession is anymore.
Judging by the look of things, the Gym Leader here might be a foreman.
"This Gym... really lives up to the name," Rowan couldn't help but mutter as he looked at the excavators working on the site.
Meanwhile, inside the Gym, a father and son appeared to be in the middle of a deep, philosophical debate.
"You little brat! Are you really going to keep going down this path of the Flying Type no matter what?"
A middle-aged man in his forties, dressed in full construction site safety gear and wearing a safety helmet, was the Gym Leader of this Gym—Rong Lei.
Standing in front of him was someone who looked about 80% like him—his son, Rong Fei, or, in Rong Lei's eyes, his "rebellious son".
A Trainer who refused to raise Ground Type Pokemon and chose to raise Flying-type instead.
"Dad, everyone has their own choices. You can't force me to raise Pokémon I don't like!
I don't enjoy getting covered in dust on a construction site. Soaring through the skies—that's my dream!"
"I'm not saying you must study civil engineering, but our family has been Ground Type for four generations, laying down roots step-by-step and establishing a solid foundation before we got to where we are today."
"How can I possibly hand over this Gym to you with peace of mind?"
"I was originally planning to tell you this when you officially inherited the Gym, but looks like it can't wait. Let me ask you:
Do you even know why our Gym is called Lanxiang Gym!?"
"Because Great-Grandpa believed his descendants would one day soar through the blue sky like birds! That's also why I love Flying-type Pokemon!"
"Wrong! Your great-grandfather wasn't even a Trainer at first. One day, by chance, he unearthed a Trapinch with an excavator. That's how he became a Trainer.
If he hadn't learned that trade, he would never have operated that excavator.
To honor the excavator school that later went bankrupt, we named our Gym after it!" [TN: Direct translation of Lanxiang means blue flying, while Lanxiang is a vocational school in Shandong where students learn to operate excavators, bulldozers and other series of construction machinery.]
Hearing his father's explanation, Rong Fei felt like his entire worldview was crumbling.
Sure, a Gym's name doesn't have to be meaningful—many Gyms are just named after their city—but the meaning behind their Gym's name... was a bit much for him to accept.
"That's why our family motto is: The earth holds infinite possibilities! That's exactly what your grandpa told me, and you should live by it too."
"I refuse! I'm going to challenge the Elite Four someday, become a Champion, and be a powerful Trainer like Mr. Lance...!"
"Isn't he the Dragon-type Elite?"
"That's not the point! The point is, I absolutely don't want people to know that, back when I was a Gym Leader, my Gym was named after an excavator school!"