The Rotom Pokédex floated up and began its announcement.

"Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokémon. It's the juvenile form of the pseudo-legendary Tyranitar.

It has an extremely voracious appetite and will keep eating until it consumes an entire mountain, Rotom!"

Lu Ye held his forehead: "Little Luo, mute mode."

"Command not understood, Rotom... (⊙x⊙;

)"

Crunch, crunch—

"Yogi~" The Larvitar continued chewing its eggshell, occasionally blinking its eyes.

After swallowing everything, it shyly glanced at the group, lowered its head, and placed its hands on its belly.

Gurgle—

The black markings beneath Larvitar's eyes turned slightly red as its gaze wandered before letting out a soft cry:

"Yogi~"

It resembled a small dinosaur with rock-like grayish-green skin and a long blunt horn on its head.

Its red eyes constantly scanned around as if searching for something to eat, its tiny hands resting on the red scales of its belly.

"It seems like quite a shy little fellow," the girl said with a smile.

"Strange, did it inherit Teacher Lu's personality instead?" A-Jin rubbed his chin, looking utterly puzzled.

Lu Ye felt complicated.

If anything, it would have taken after Sirfetch'd.

This way, the timid nature of the newly hatched Larvitar made sense.

Though its appetite certainly didn't hold back...

"We'll chat later," Lu Ye said, turning off the group livestream. "I need to find some food first."

Otherwise, he had no doubt the hungry Larvitar would start gnawing on the building's foundation.

"If you need minerals, you can buy them from me!" The girl covered her mouth while laughing.

"Speaking of minerals," Wallace said with a smile, "Steven might have some suitable specimens in his collection."

The girl froze, looking like she wanted to cry.

Oh no, how can I compete with Mr. Steven?

Teacher Lu also looked like he wanted to cry.

Oh no, how can I afford Steven's collections?

The newly hatched Larvitar was observing its new companions.

"Quack! (´థ౪థ)σ" Sirfetch'd looked at Larvitar with tears in its eyes.

This child, I raised it with my own hands!

"Yogi~" Larvitar scratched the blunt horn on its head, squinting its eyes with a shy smile.

"Gengarrr!" Haunter grinned and patted Larvitar's head. The little dinosaur dopily looked up.

Haunter handed it a golden, sparkling Pokéblock.

Larvitar froze at first, then slowly opened its mouth, its expression gradually changing as its eyes sparkled.

"Yogi~! (✪ω✪)"

It swallowed the Pokéblock whole, then took the glass jar and ate that too.

Haunter: Σ(っ°Д°;

)っ

"Yogi~(￣～￣)"

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of Larvitar chewing glass shards resounded.

Instantly, the little ones were in an uproar.

Togepi handed Larvitar a bag of chips, which it stuffed into its mouth unopened, making Togepi widen its tiny eyes in surprise.

"Doo-ee~"

Larvitar: "Yogi~~ ptooey!"

After chewing the chips, it spat out the tattered packaging.

Blastoise adjusted its sunglasses and offered a Revival Root.

Larvitar gobbled it down without reacting to the bitterness.

"Blas..." Blastoise nodded slowly, immediately approving of Larvitar.

Lu Ye's eyelid twitched violently.

Are you all testing what Larvitar can eat?

"Don't feed it random weird things!" Lu Ye shouted. "Sylveon, put down the Roomba!"

"Fuu-ee~" Sylveon sheepishly lowered its ribbon, sparing the cleaning robot.

Sirfetch'd was about to hide its leek when it noticed Larvitar's gaze landing on the snow-white, delicious-looking stalk:

"Yogi~|･ω･`)"

"Quack! (´థ౪థ)σ" Just as Sirfetch'd was torn—

"Arf! ᕦ(･ㅂ･)ᕤ"

Arcanine shook its wise-looking big head, trying to feed Larvitar the Rainbow Wing...

Lu Ye hurriedly intervened before facepalming hard.

With a newly hatched Larvitar, things were going to get chaotic...

As for Larvitar potentially eating an entire mine—

"It's not like I can't afford it... just need to live more frugally... probably."

Lu Ye sighed inwardly.

I wanted to be a capitalist... yet keep straying further down the trainer path.

But since I've formed a bond with Pokémon, I must take responsibility.

Even if it has poor potential, isn't good at battles, is a slacker... (Teacher Lu's mouth twitched upward) I'll still raise it!

Otherwise how am I any different from Paul!

"Yogi~"

Larvitar remained well-behaved, not actively chewing on walls, just placing its tiny hands together and quietly waiting to be fed.

The diamond-shaped red scales on its chest somewhat resembled a baby's bib.

Is it a quiet girl?

Lu Ye wondered while opening the long-unused system function.

"I forgot about this feature," Lu Ye muttered.

[Larvitar, Rock + Ground

Gender: ♂

Ability: Guts

Moves: Tackle, Leer, Curse]

Lu Ye: "Oh... it's an adorable boy."

Nothing special about the stats, though inheriting "Curse" fits Teacher Lu quite well.

Right now, the more pressing matter was solving Larvitar's dietary needs.

Lu Ye crouched down and placed a hand on Larvitar's green blunt horn.

"Yogi?" Larvitar clasped its hands together, blinking.

"I can't promise you'll always eat your fill... but as long as I have food, you won't starve."

After saying this, Teacher Lu found it somewhat tragic and coughed dryly:

"Of course... if you prefer the wild, I'm willing to return you to the preserve."

Lu Ye gazed at the somewhat shy Larvitar, whose scar-like black markings framed red pupils filled with innocence and helplessness.

Now, the newborn would face its first life choice.

Was this too cruel?

Shaking his head with a smile, Lu Ye said: "We'll discuss this later—let's eat first!"

Instantly, the previously restrained little ones erupted in cheerful cries.

They didn't reject this new member—if anything, an "eats anything" Larvitar would make an adorable junior.

"Togepriii~(⁎˃ᴗ˂⁎)" Togepi was happy about becoming an older sister.

"Quack!" Sirfetch'd looked serious.

Ducklett wanted Larvitar to choose its own path... not end up like me, forced to train daily...

"Quack! (´థ౪థ)σ" Sirfetch'd had its daily mental breakdown.

"Yogi~|･ω･`)" Larvitar looked around at this big family.

It didn't have grand ambitions—"being well-fed" was its instinctive desire.

Battling didn't matter;

it simply felt an instinctive fondness for this young man.

For him, if winning meant food... trying to grow stronger would be acceptable!

"Yogi~" Larvitar opened its mouth wide in a long yawn, then sheepishly scratched its blunt horn.

Lu Ye smiled faintly.

A juvenile Tyranitar's appetite shouldn't be too big... right?

Soon, Lu Ye would pay for this foolish thought.

"Yogi~(￣～￣)" Larvitar swallowed a mountain of rice in one bite, cheeks bulging as it chewed.

Lu Ye's eyelid twitched.

Are you Konata-chan? Why so skilled at this!

"Should I cook another pot of rice?" asked Rotom in rice cooker form.

Lu Ye nodded: "Do we have any left?"

"It won't last until tomorrow, Rotom!"

Lu Ye's expression darkened.

Teacher Lu's household has no food reserves!

Tomorrow I'll ask Steven—eating minerals should fill Larvitar faster!

As Lu Ye sighed, Larvitar looked up and blinked.

Lu Ye hesitated, then tentatively took out a Poké Ball—the black-green Dark Ball.

"Yogi!" Larvitar looked delighted, nodding its tiny head vigorously.

The little ones all turned to Teacher Lu with curious, expectant gazes.

Lu Ye pondered briefly.

Personality like Ducklett's, not suited for weather wars... might not even evolve into Tyranitar.

But I never cared much for battles—a mere Larvitar is affordable, though I can already see mountains of money flying away...

Feeling a chill down his spine, Lu Ye comforted himself:

"At least... Larvitar is adorable!"

Then he extended the Dark Ball toward Larvitar.

Larvitar blinked before tapping the ball's button with its horn.

A red beam absorbed Larvitar into the ball, which shook slightly before emitting a soft 'ping.'

Instantly, the little ones erupted in celebratory cries.

Lu Ye felt a new connection form with Larvitar as he picked up the Dark Ball, gazing at it thoughtfully.

Then he extended his palm with a grin.

"Larvitar, Get☆Daze!"

……

……