Here at the Breeding House, after prepping the ingredients, Victor had a sudden idea. He went out into the backyard, where Gengar had already set up the table.
He looked around and found the pile of rocks that he'd had Gengar clear away that morning, tucked into an inconspicuous corner. He walked over and picked out a few of the larger stones.
Then, he found a relatively open space, used some leftover materials from the renovation company, and roughly stacked the stones into a makeshift stove.
"It's a shame I'm missing a large pot."
Victor glanced at the slightly strange-looking stove, then said to Gengar, "Gengar, could you do me a favor and go buy a large pot? About this big should be fine."
Victor gestured at the stove to indicate the size.
Gengar floated over, mimicked the gesture, and then nodded. Victor then tied his phone with a string around Gengar's... neck?
"Be back soon, and be safe."
"Gengar~"
Gengar waved a hand without looking back and zipped off.
Victor then returned to the kitchen, found a dessert recipe in the book, studied it for a bit, and then started to work.
Not long after, a Gengar cake with a wide grin was complete. Just as Victor was placing it in the refrigerator, he heard Gengar's voice from outside.
"Gengar~"
Victor went out to see Gengar carrying a large pot on its back.
"Whoa... Ninja Turtle Gengar?!"
Gengar took the large pot off its back, placed it on the stove, and handed the phone back to Victor. Victor glanced at the purchase history.
"I need to open for business soon, or I'm going to be eating dirt."
Victor sighed. He hadn't even opened yet, and his money was nearly gone.
He put his phone away and asked Gengar to bring the ingredients out from the kitchen. He then gathered a pile of old wooden fence posts and broken furniture and placed them inside the stove.
"Gengar, if you would," Victor said, holding up a piece of firewood.
"Gengar—"
Gengar held its small hand out towards the wood. A sinister blue flame appeared, igniting the wood, which was then placed into the stove.
"It's a good thing I have Gengar. So many things are much easier," Victor commented, watching Gengar light the fire with Will-O-Wisp.
"Gengar~"
The next second, Gengar was pressed up against him, licking him affectionately.
"Agh, stop licking, stop licking! I have to cook! Don't you want to eat dinner?"
After finally pushing Gengar away, Victor wiped the saliva from his face, poured oil into the pot to heat, and then added the various ingredients. In an instant, the entire backyard was filled with a tantalizing aroma.
"Gengar—٩(º﹃º٩)"
"Just a little longer, it's almost ready. Go get the rice and the soup, and by the time you're back, this should be done," Victor said, his spatula flying in the pot.
Gengar drooled as it floated into the kitchen. On the kitchen stove, it saw a clay pot simmering over a low flame, the soup inside giving off an irresistible scent.
"Gengar~٩(º﹃º٩)"
Gengar peeked outside at Victor, then took out its special small bowl, ladled itself some soup, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Gengar—((ᵒꈊᵒ᷅ू‖))՞"
So good!!!
It then ladled itself another bowl, and another, and another...
"Gengar, are you done yet?"
Victor's voice drifted in. Gengar quickly put the lid back on the clay pot, carefully turned off the fire, and carried both the rice cooker and the soup pot outside.
Using its psychic powers, of course.
"Put them here. Let me get you a bowl of... the soup?! Gengar, you'd better tell me where the soup went."
Victor lifted the lid of the clay pot Gengar had placed on the table, then slammed it back down. He glared at the Gengar that was sneakily trying to slip away.
"Gen... Gengar?"
Gengar raised its small hand to scratch the back of its head, realized it couldn't reach, and could only offer a sheepish grin.
"Acting cute won't work this time."
"Gengar—"
Gengar was shocked that its usual tactic failed. It then launched itself at Victor.
"Agh, your mouth reeks of soup! Stop licking me! Fine, I forgive you!" Victor said in resignation. Only then did Gengar release him, opening its small mouth and smiling, revealing a full set of white teeth.
"Just sit down and eat."
Gengar took Victor's bowl, filled it to the brim with rice, and presented it to him. Victor rolled his eyes in exasperation and took it.
Seeing Victor accept the bowl, Gengar finally filled its own special large bowl with rice. And so, the human and the Pokémon ate their dinner leisurely in the evening breeze.
"Gengar—(✧∇✧)"
This is delicious! And this is yummy, too!
Gengar's eyes sparkled as it began to feast. Victor took a bite of one of the dishes.
"Hmm... not bad at all."
[The "Old Duck Soup" you cooked has triggered a Culinary Crit. Gengar's mood has reached an unprecedented high, increasing its efficiency in handling tasks by fifty percent.]
[I've always believed that the dinner table is the best way to communicate. —Great-Aunt]
"A Culinary Crit already?" Victor glanced at the feasting Gengar but couldn't see any obvious change.
Well, as long as Gengar's happy, that's all that matters, he thought.
"Machoke—"
A Machoke stared at the Breeding House from a distance, the words that human had said a few days ago echoing in its mind.
"If you need help, come find me."
It looked back at its two companions, then continued leading them towards the Breeding House.
As they neared, it caught an extremely enticing aroma, which seemed to be coming from the backyard.
It took a detour and stood outside the fence, looking at Victor and Gengar inside, then at the food on the table.
"Machoke—" it drooled, unable to help itself.
Victor heard a noise behind him and turned to see the three Machoke staring intently at the food on the table.
He recognized them at once as the Machoke that Laura had brought over.
He glanced at the status window:
[Machoke]
...
[Mood: Dejected, Worried]
[Status: So hungry]
[Friendship: 60 (I remember that kind person)]
[Introduction: The leader of the three Machoke. She believed the human's words and has come to seek his help. However, they are currently in a state of starvation.]
Seeing the introduction, Victor quickly stood up and waved at them. "Come on in, I'll go open the... gate..."
Before he could finish, the three Machoke leaped high into the air, clearing the fence with ease.
Is there even a point to having this fence...
Victor suppressed the urge to complain and said, "You must be hungry. Let me get you something to eat."
Hearing this, Gengar looked at the pot of food in its arms, then nudged Victor. It used its tongue to flick a grain of rice from the corner of its mouth back in and offered the pot to Victor.
"It's okay, you eat. I'll make something else for them."
Victor pushed the rice cooker back to Gengar, then turned to the three Machoke. "How about I make you some noodles?"
"Machoke—"
The three Machoke nodded frantically.
"Alright then. Have a seat. Gengar, go get a few more chairs."
With that, he walked into the kitchen, grabbed a large bag of noodles, some meat, vegetables, and berries, and went to the outdoor stove.
Gengar poured all the rice from the cooker into its mouth and then phased through the wall into the house.
Victor directed one of the Machoke to fetch some water from the kitchen, and just like that, he started cooking noodles in the backyard.
Soon, a large pot of steaming hot noodles was ready, filled with plenty of meat.
Victor served each of them a large bowl. He glanced at the drooling Gengar beside him, sighed, and served it a bowl as well.
"Gengar~"
Gengar happily held its bowl and started eating.
"Machoke...(┳◇┳)"
The Machoke shoveled the noodles into their mouths, not even minding the heat, tears of emotion streaming down their faces.
So... so delicious...
"When you're finished, I'll get you more. If there's not enough, I'll make another batch," Victor said, sitting beside them and watching them eat ravenously. The friendship level in their status windows was continuously rising, reaching 100 in the blink of an eye.
In no time, they finished the noodles, patting their stomachs to show they were full.
Seeing this, Gengar picked up the large pot, poured the remaining noodles and broth into its stomach, and after setting it down, gave it a lick with its large tongue.
"Machoke..." The lead female Machoke kept thanking Victor.
Seeing them like this, it was clear they had been hungry for a long time. Victor thought about the fact that his Breeding House was currently short-staffed, and an idea came to him.
"Machoke, since you're always taking on jobs to get by, and my Breeding House needs help right now, why don't you stay and work for me? Room and board included. What do you say?"
The female Machoke looked at Victor's gentle, smiling face, then looked back at her two companions. She turned back to Victor and nodded her head firmly.
"Machoke!!"
"Welcome to the team!"
Victor held out his fist. The female Machoke saw this and held out her own fist to bump his. A small, purple, chubby hand joined in.
"Gengar~"
Watching the Machoke join his Breeding House, Victor suddenly remembered something. He went back to his room, retrieved the hard hats he had received as a reward, and returned to the backyard to give them to the Machoke.
Seeing them put on the hard hats, Victor nodded.
Perfect.
"For now, your job is to patrol the Breeding House grounds and prevent any thieves from stealing things."
Even though there was nothing outside the house to steal, Victor continued, "And I might need your help with some manual labor as well."
The female Machoke confidently pounded her chest.
"Machoke!"
Patrolling and manual labor were their specialties.
"Alright then. From now on, you have officially joined the glorious security team!" Victor nodded and pointed at each of them in turn. "From this day forward, you'll be Dali, you'll be Erli, and you'll be Sanli."
Victor gave them a mock salute out of a sense of mischief. They didn't know what was going on but tried to salute back, and... their four arms started fighting with each other.
Oh, right, and there was a little chubby guy nearby whose hand couldn't quite reach his forehead.
"Gen... Gengar?! Σ(ﾟ∀ﾟﾉ)ﾉ"