Early morning.
Kashiwagi woke up to Deino licking his face.
Blinking sleepily, he wiped the drool from his cheek and asked, "How come you didn't bite my hand today... Oh right, this is the 'alarm clock' mode."
"Deinoo!"
Deino barked, bouncing back and forth on the bed with boundless energy.
"Alright, alright, stop you little alarm clock."
He pressed down on Deino's head, and the little dragon finally quieted down.
As their trainer yawned and climbed out of bed, Deino suddenly sensed a gaze of pure resentment directed at its back. He didn't even have to guess who it was.
"Deino~?"
He let out a soft cry.
Galarian Corsola had released all its tentacles like a blooming flower, entering a state of high alert. It glared at Deino for two solid seconds before dejectedly retracting them.
As a professional "slacker" coral, Corsola calculated the cost. Attacking Deino would take too much effort, and would it even stop the daily bed-bouncing habit?
No.
So, she decided to just lie flat and pretend none of it ever happened.
On the other side, Deino was even more confused by the lack of response. Of all the Pokémon in the house, Galarian Corsola was the only one he didn't know how to handle.
"Deinoo...?"
Silence.
That was the problem—never getting a response. If it weren't for his sense of smell picking up Corsola's scent, Deino might actually believe the other Pokémon didn't exist.
Losing interest, Deino hopped off the bed and followed the scent trail to the bathroom. "Deino! Dein!"
Kashiwagi, currently brushing his teeth, looked curiously at the energetic little guy. "What? You want to brush your teeth too?"
Brush teeth!
Deino's body went rigid.
If the Pokémon he couldn't handle was Galarian Corsola, then the task he couldn't handle was brushing teeth. He absolutely loathed the taste of Pokémon-grade toothpaste. He couldn't swallow it, and it was hard to spit out while the brush was swirling around. To Deino, it was basically torture.
"Dei... no..."
Deino started backing away slowly.
Then he bumped right into Chansey, who was just walking in.
"Lucky?"
"Deino!" Deino flinched, immediately trying to ram his way past to escape, but Kashiwagi spoke up.
"Catch him! Today is Tooth-Brushing Day!"
Chansey let out a sympathetic smile and grabbed Deino by its long, slender neck like a chicken. The latter struggled wildly, screaming as if it were about to be slaughtered.
But all that awaited it was a round-headed toothbrush and Kashiwagi's wicked grin. "You bite my hands and lick my face every day. We can't have you slacking on oral hygiene."
"DEINOO—!"
"Screaming won't help! Keep it up and we'll brush for five minutes!"
"DEINOOOOO!!"
"Ten minutes!!"
"..."
Deino went silent, allowing itself to be dragged into the bathroom by Chansey.
-----
A short while later, Kashiwagi, having finally finished the Pokémon hygiene routine, let out a long sigh and poked Deino's head. "When are you going to stop making me and Chansey work so hard?"
"Deino~"
Deino kept licking its own teeth with its tongue. They felt strangely smooth after the brushing, and he wasn't used to the sensation.
Kashiwagi looked at it, but his mind inevitably drifted to its evolution. One head was already this much trouble... what was he going to do when there were two? He'd probably need four people to hold it down just to get its teeth clean.
"Whew..."
He exhaled a cloud of tired air and pulled back the curtains, letting golden sunlight flood the bedroom. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Galarian Corsola quietly float up and drift toward a shadow where the sun couldn't reach.
Today's goal: reach Dewford Town.
Different from the games, you could actually take a ferry across in the Rustboro City like that of the anime.
And since the two locations were quite close, the trip wouldn't take long at all. He could afford to take it slow.
-----
Shortly after, Kashiwagi settled his bill at the front desk, offering praise and thanks for the hotel's excellent service.
Protecting a guest's privacy might be a basic professional standard in this world, but for someone like him, who was used to personal info being bought and sold in his previous life, this level of discretion was worth a tip.
Not being mobbed by reporters at the door and having a private car arranged to the docks was just the icing on the cake.
"It's your turn today. Stay sharp."
Sitting in the car, he patted the Galarian Corsola perched on his shoulder. The latter gave zero reaction.
Keeping a Pokémon outside its ball helps build friendship, and since his relationship with Corsola felt more like a "business contract," Kashiwagi was determined to take it out for air more often.
Unfortunately, Corsola had zero interest in the outside world. It didn't even bother to open its eyes; the moment it hit Kashiwagi's shoulder, it entered "isolation mode." If Kashiwagi weren't wearing a black T-shirt, people might honestly think he had grown a head-sized tumor on his shoulder.
-----
The Docks.
Kashiwagi arrived just in time. A ferry was scheduled for Dewford Town in half an hour, and there were plenty of empty seats.
The Pokémon world is vast but sparsely populated; most people cluster in metropolises like Rustboro. Because the "traveling" culture is so ingrained in the people of this world, many transport routes felt quite empty.
Take this ferry, for example. There were over a hundred seats, but the total number of people and Pokémon didn't even reach ten.
"Peace and quiet is good."
Kashiwagi was happy for the seclusion. It gave him a chance to "converse" with Galarian Corsola. Talking didn't cost energy, and he was fine with it being a one-sided lecture.
Having lived with Corsola for a while, he had discovered its weakness.
Light.
As a Ghost-type, Corsola's true body was a wisp of smoke-like energy; the stone shell was more like its "coffin." Therefore, whenever light was shone through the holes, Corsola felt a sense of humiliation, as if someone were prying open its coffin lid.
It would inevitably wake up.
Occasionally, Kashiwagi used this method to tell it to "clock in for work," but that wasn't the case today.
Blinking awake under the light, Corsola looked at him. "Sola?"
"Nothing, just wanted to chat." He flashed a smile.
Thinking it was about to be forced into a battle, Corsola naturally displayed an expression that said, "Are you mentally ill?"
Kashiwagi ignored the look entirely and began rambling about random nonsense. Every time Corsola tried to "mute" him by closing its eyes, he would give a quick flash with a small flashlight—swiftly, like a mosquito buzzing by an ear and then vanishing.
After being startled awake three or four times, Corsola looked miserable, its tentacles flared out in annoyance. "SOLA!"
(What is your problem? You want to fight?!)
Kashiwagi maintained his smile, chatting about what they might have for lunch in Dewford Town as if he hadn't seen its bristling form.
Corsola realized it was powerless. It had no choice but to stay in "Level 2 Energy-Saving Mode"—eyes open, ears on—and listen to the man blabbering.
What else could she do? Give him a "soul-sucking" kiss?
Sucking his energy was easy, but once she laid a hand on him, he'd never let her hear the end of it. She knew all too well that some "solutions" to problems actually brought more trouble.
That's "Slacker Theory 101" for you.