“How does this make any sense?” I almost yelled out.

“Ruururoo!” The little fire fox coos cutely at me. Before it turns back to the fire and lets out a stream of flames from its tiny mouth. The flame bends upwards the moment they touch the bonfire, there is a metal floating skillet moving around by itself.

“I get that you’re helping, but how is the pain doing that?!” I point and yell at the busy fire breathing fox. It just rolls its eyes before taking a deep breath and letting out a stronger stream of fire for a brief moment. “Oh shi-” I jump back from the intense heat as the pan starts to flip and flambe the berries within it, before they vanish and a new jam drops sizzling onto the pan.

“Kaw!” Trouble caws with a loud splash from the nearby pond that happened to be right behind the base.

“I don’t care if this is common knowledge, since none of this is common knowledge!” I yelled back at him while motioning all around with my hands.

“Bawurak! Bawu kaw.” Trouble shouted back before turning to the side and mumbled something.

“Don’t make me change your name to Dinner.” I gave him a playful angry glare, I turned around before I broke out laughing. “You missed a spot!” I pointed at the back of my head as I heard him struggle to wash some more.

“Roo.” The cute little chef tapped my leg before using their head to point at the fire.

“You’re done? But where is it all?” I look around the clearing for any dishes filled with cooked berries.

“Ru.” The fox swishes its tail at the fire before walking towards the shady area by some trees.

“Where did the pan go?” I scratch my head while crouching down by the fire. I tried to wave my hand over the flames, in a stupid attempt to trigger one of those tech screens. “Ah! Hot!...” I blew on my reddened hand as nothing but a painful burn was the outcome. “Maybe they put it in one of those boxes?”

I walked over to the side of the Pal Box, a few wooden crates were resting on the ground. “How did I make these…” I run my hand over the smooth wooden surfaces, looking for some kind of opening or latch. “How do I open this?” I tried to lift the box, only to give up the moment I felt it was not going to budge at all. “Hey, pal-tech-thingy, what gives?” I tap onto the dormant device sleeping on my wrist.

“Kaw!” Trouble screeched right behind me, causing me to yelp and dive for cover behind the boxes. “Kakakaw!” He rolls on the ground laughing his eyes out.

“Oh yeah, at least I’m not the idiot who took a bath before rolling in the mud.” I stand up, dusting off my dirty body. “Maybe I should take a bath too.” I felt disgusted at my state.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Ku… Bakaw!” Trouble jumped up, only to yell out while his backside was covered in mud.

“Yeah, yeah.” I wave off his antics. “How’s the water?” I head towards the pond with a dirty chicken in tow.

“Kaw.” Trouble replied nonchalantly, before wading into the water to wash off the mud.

“Sounds ni- AH!” I shout as I pull my foot out of the freezing cold water. “How is that nice?!” I yell at the giggling giant chicken before he dives underwater. “Why is it so damn cold?” I try to touch the water with my hands, but a biting frosty chill threatens to freezer-burn my fingers.

“Coo…” A soft tingling cooing noise followed by deep breathing noise echoed from the other side of a nearby rock. It sounded like something was sleeping over there.

“Is that ice?” I noticed some floating small floats as a thin cool misty fog flowed around the rock. I walked around, cautiously staying away from the area where I could physically feel the cold damaging my body. “Oh… I hope you’re friendly…” My breath began to condensate in the cool air as I witnessed a large curled up blue and white furry mass besides the rock.

[Rebooting…] My Paldex blared out in a loud voice.

“Shit…” I slammed my other hand over it, in hopes of muffling it.

“Cooo.” The massive Pal sleeping while giving off a literally chilling aura that can kill me, stirred slightly before softly snoring some more.

“You have such shitty timing.” I quietly berate my device, while tip-toeing back towards the warmth of the magical fire. “What’s with this box and no- oh course…” I started to question the device, only to sit on the box and have the Paldex show a screen with a decently filled inventory.

[All storage units are connected to all workstations within the base limits, to make crafting easier for the trainers.] The Paldex chimes out as a few tables by the boxes lit up.

“Huh, I was wondering about those.” I stand up and walk over to the nearest workstation. “Now what?” I just stand in front of the table, waiting for something to happen.

[Please place your Paldex on the table top.] My Paldex beeps aloud.

“What if it breaks it?” I pull my left hand back before touching the table. “Last time I touched something, you broke.” I eyed the glowing band on my wrist.

[Please place your hand on the table.] The Paldex blinked before turning green.

“Don’t break, don’t break, don’t br- safe…” I mumbled while slowly lowering my hand onto the table top. “Nothing happ-” A force pulled my hand against the table, not allowing me to pull away. “Wha-” A blinding onset of bright multitude of screens started to flood my vision, before everything settled down and I was released.

[Connection established. Crafting stations unlocked.] The Paldex chimed up, I could have sworn I heard it giggle.

“Give me one good reason not to try and break you right now…” I angrily glared at the piece of unknown tech attached to my wrist.

[Cloth Armor is available for crafting. Would you like to start crafting?] A yes or no screen hovered over the Paldex.

“You win this round, only because I miss wearing pants.” I give in and hit yes.