"Just waking up, Gengar?"
"Gengar..."
Gengar, its eyes still heavy with sleep, took the groceries from Victor's hands.
Gently pulling at the corners of Gengar's mouth, Victor realized that Gengar naturally had what looked like smiling lips.
"Come on, let's go inside. I have a recipe book. You can take a look later, and whatever you want to eat, I'll make it for you. How does that sound?"
"Gengar!" Gengar cried out happily.
Victor sat down on one of the chairs in front of the counter. Gengar fetched him a glass of water.
It then carried the groceries into the kitchen to put them away before floating back to Victor, looking at him with bright, expectant eyes.
Seeing Gengar's expression, Victor found himself thinking it was incredibly cute.
He couldn't resist using both hands to squish Gengar's cheeks. "How can a Pokémon like Gengar be so freaking cute?!"
"Gengar—ớ₃ờ"
After playing with Gengar for a bit, Victor took out the gifts his great-aunt had left him.
A very large recipe book and an item list.
Gengar was a bit shocked to see the two books suddenly appear in Victor's hands.
"Gen... Gengar?"
How can he do that too?
Gengar then reached a hand into its own mouth and pulled out a Gengar-themed watering can.
"?!"
Victor stared, dumbfounded, at the watering can Gengar had just produced from its mouth.
The human and the Pokémon just stared at each other, stunned.
(Note: Gengar can connect to other dimensions.)
"Well, I'll be. You've got one too, huh?" Victor shook his head and turned his attention back to the two books in his hands.
He handed the recipe book to Gengar. Gengar took it and flipped it open, its eyes immediately drawn to the multitude of beautiful food pictures. The book was so large that it was a struggle for Gengar to hold, so it simply laid the book open on the floor. It then lay down on its stomach, its short legs kicking idly in the air and its small tail swaying back and forth. Staring at the pictures, its long, crimson tongue lolled out.
Watching Gengar so engrossed in the recipe book, Victor found it even more adorable. He glanced at the swaying tail behind it and reached out to give it a tug.
No reaction. He tugged it again.
"Gengar?" Gengar turned its head to look at him, as if to say it was in no mood to play.
"You little rascal. Alright, go on and read. I won't bother you," Victor said with a sigh. This guy changes completely once there's a recipe book involved.
Victor looked down and opened the item list in his own hands. The moment he did, he heard a pssssshhhh~ sound.
He looked up. Gengar was deflating again.
Victor didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, I get it. Come on, get back to picking what you want to eat."
"Gengar~"
Gengar returned to its normal shape, floated over to give Victor a quick lick, and then went back to the recipe book.
Victor wiped the saliva off his face and focused on the item list.
After a few pages, he understood. The items his great-aunt made were different from the standard items in the Pokémon world. This list only recorded simpler, smaller items, like little wooden carvings and such.
Victor calmed down and read carefully. The text in the book was all handwritten in a beautiful, elegant script—the script of the Eastern Alliance.
Most of the items were handicrafts, primarily carvings.
As Victor read on, he could faintly feel the emotions his great-aunt poured into each small item she made, and he could understand the techniques she used.
In doing so, he learned the crafts described on the pages.
Feeling the new knowledge settle into his mind, Victor murmured, "So this is the gift you left for me? Thank you..."
"Gengar~"
Hearing Gengar's happy cry, Victor came back to his senses and looked over.
Gengar was still flipping through the recipe book, letting out a happy sound with every page it turned.
Victor got up, walked over to Gengar, and sat down beside it. "So? Decided what you want for dinner tonight?"
Hearing this, Gengar flipped back to the first page and pointed at a few items. It then flipped to the second page and pointed at a few more. It continued like this until near the end of the book, pointing out several dishes on every single page.
"Gengar~"
"I want to eat all of them~"
"Gengar, listen to me," Victor said, patting Gengar's small head. "We can't eat all of these delicious meals at once. Besides, a lot of them aren't suitable for now, and we don't have the ingredients for most of them. First, pick a few that we do have the ingredients for, and I'll make those for you. For the rest, whenever you feel like eating one, just tell me. We'll go buy the ingredients and I'll make it for you then. Okay?"
Gengar's crimson eyes darted back and forth for a moment. Then it stood up and nodded.
"Gengar~"
"That makes sense~ You can't eat all the good stuff at once."
"So, have you chosen?"
"Gengar! ٩(º﹃º٩)"
Victor looked at the three dishes Gengar pointed to, smiled, and stood up. "Roger that, Commander Gengar," he said, giving a mock salute.
"Gengar?" Gengar looked curiously at Victor's gesture.
Victor walked towards the kitchen. "Remember to put the book away safely," he said without turning back. "We can't let it get stolen."
Hearing this, Gengar's eyes widened.
"Gengar?! ψ(*｀ー´)ψ"
It looked around warily, then hugged the recipe book. Seeing the item list Victor had been reading on the chair, it picked that up too and floated to a relatively safe spot to continue looking at the recipes.
This time, it sat upright, tightly hugging the item list Victor had entrusted to it.
After prepping the ingredients, Victor called out, "Gengar, come help me move the table outside. We're eating in the backyard tonight."
"Gengar—"
"Coming!"
After hiding the two books, Gengar phased through the wall into the kitchen and moved the table and chairs outside.
Meanwhile, Victor continued to busy himself in the kitchen.
...
Twinleaf Town Pokémon Center.
"Has its trainer still not come?" Joy asked Blissey.
"Blissey," the Pokémon replied, shaking its head.
Joy looked at the Pokémon sitting quietly in the corner, feeling troubled.
This Pokémon had been brought in by a trainer from another region. At first, they thought the trainer had simply forgotten to come back for it, but now five days had passed. It had probably been abandoned.
Joy sighed and walked over to the Pokémon.
The Pokémon's brown, vertically oval eyes were fixed on the entrance.
Every time it heard footsteps outside the door, its eyes would light up, only to dim again when it realized it wasn't its trainer.
After several days of this, it had a faint idea of what had happened.
Its trainer didn't want it anymore because it lost every battle.
"Budew..."
"He didn't come today either. Maybe he's just been very busy," Joy said, crouching down to comfort it.
The Pokémon shook its head. It already knew.
Looking at the little Pokémon, Joy's heart ached. On the first day, the leaves on its head were a deep green and neatly arranged, making it look like a little onion doll. Now, the green had almost completely faded from its leaves, and they looked messy and wilted.
Just as she was wondering what to do, Blissey tapped her and made a few gestures.
"Blissey—"
Joy suddenly thought of Victor. He had just passed his Breeder's exam and had a Breeding House. Maybe that would be a suitable place for it.
Joy and Blissey looked at each other and nodded. She turned back to the Pokémon and said:
"It's okay. Tomorrow, I'll take you to a fun place. You might really like it there."
"Budew..."
It still sounded listless, its whole body like a wilting plant.
Joy sighed internally. She could only wait until tomorrow and see if Victor had any ideas.
At the same time, she felt a surge of indignation. If you were just going to abandon your Pokémon in the end, why did you even form a bond in the first place?