In the living room, Garchomp was audibly crunching the Dragon Scale with a "ka-cha" sound.
Blonde beauty Cynthia raised her gray eyes and observed Luke silently.
Luke sighed helplessly, saying, "Alright, I'll get started on cooking now."
Cynthia gave a slight smile and brushed her blonde hair aside, saying, "I could help too."
"No, you can't compete with Haunter for household chores," Luke responded with a serious expression, "It might turn into chaos!"
"Jie jie~!" Haunter pouted, nodding solemnly in agreement.
Cynthia covered her mouth, chuckling, and then inquired, "Then what should I do?"
"Little buddy, I've got a task for you," Luke said with a pained expression, "Just remember not to stick your head inside Haunter's stomach"
"vui~?! (*｀д´*)ﾉ"
Eevee jumped into Luke's arms, but he swiftly caught the back of its neck and held its short legs in the air.
"vui~ vui~! (〃＞目＜)"
Luke grinned triumphantly.
Even though you're small, you can avoid Haunter's Lick. Are you worried about your Tackle?
While feeling proud, Eevee playfully nipped at Luke's hand.
Luke:?
Expecting pain, Luke was surprised when he felt more of an affectionate nibble than anything else.
"vui~!"
Eevee was taken aback, thinking it had exerted more effort than intended.
Seeing Luke's unharmed hand, the little creature blushed immediately.
"I'll take care of the two Pokémon," Cynthia offered with a gentle smile, "You can head out without any worries."
"Hmm?"
"Aren't you going grocery shopping?" Cynthia blinked, "Or... would you like me to come along?"
Luke coughed, "No need, I can manage on my own."
Cynthia's presence would surely make for sensational headlines, had it not been for the strict media ban imposed by the Magic City Association.
With Cynthia tending to the two Pokémon, shopping alone would be more convenient.
"In that case, I'll leave it to you," Luke nodded.
"What do you want to eat?"
The fateful question was posed once again. Cynthia propped her cheek on her hand, lost in thought.
Luke glanced at his watch and, after five minutes of contemplation, Cynthia finally hesitated to answer, "Whatever... is fine?"
Responding with a question wasn't much help!
Blushing with embarrassment, Luke said, "Then I'll make the decision."
"Um..." Cynthia nodded gently.
As Luke was about to leave, a sense of apprehension crept over him.
Having learned his lesson, Luke rarely left his Pokémon alone at home to avoid any potential house destruction. But today, Cynthia was here...
Could she be trusted not to wreck the place?
"It should be alright!"
Luke assured himself, nodded, and muttered, "There's hardly any food at home, so I'll have to choose the ingredients carefully..."
...
Cynthia was left alone at home.
Although she had spent the night, this was Cynthia's first time thoroughly observing the living quarters of the opposite sex.
The interior was clean and orderly. Even the sofa blanket was neatly arranged.
Thinking back to that morning when she had answered the door in her pajamas, Cynthia's cheeks flushed.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a verdant hue, accompanied by the chirping of cicadas, creating a serene ambiance in the room.
Cynthia smiled slightly, her deep gray eyes softening.
"Help him as much as I can."
"Jie jie~!"
Haunter, the diligent little housekeeping expert, was tidying up the space, and the light gleamed on its form.
Dropping the broom hastily, wiping its paw on the apron, Haunter handed a pamphlet to Cynthia with a grin.
"What's this?"
Cynthia took the document and glanced at the text written in ink-black characters, a touch of surprise on her face.
"Toxic Experience?"
"Jie jie~!" Haunter nodded, a bashful laugh escaping its lips.
"This is Teacher Luke's training guide," Cynthia acknowledged with a gentle nod, murmuring, "Such insightful perspectives..."
It's no wonder Teacher Luke chose to breed Haunter. At least in the field of Poison Type, this Toxic training method possesses the caliber of an Elite technique.
"I'm not particularly skilled in Toxic training, so I can't provide much guidance," Cynthia expressed apologetically, looking at the frustrated Haunter while brushing her blonde hair behind her ear, a faint smile on her lips.
"But, I can teach you other moves."
Haunter blinked in surprise, its eyes gleaming with excitement. "Jie jie~!"
"It's also a way to show my gratitude," Cynthia added.
Tying her golden locks into a gentle ponytail and donning sunglasses, Cynthia said with a smile, "Let's go, Haunter. I'll take you for some training."
"vui~!"
Eevee dashed out and yipped anxiously.
Cynthia's smile remained as she said, "Eevee can join us too."
"Vui~! (✪ω✪)"
...
Meanwhile, Teacher Luke browsed through ingredients at the supermarket.
Placing plastic-wrapped green peppers into his shopping cart, Luke's eyelids twitched as he sighed, "What's with this heightened sense of unease?"
Muttering to himself, he thought, "It's not like... something fortunate will happen in these next couple of days."
"I must be overthinking things."
Shaking his head, Luke brushed aside the nagging feeling in his mind and began to evaluate the gains from his participation in the Masters League Tournament.
Apart from battling to a draw and improving Garchomp's favor using dragon scales, Luke also received 'Return' and 'Quick Claw'.
Being honest with himself, these were items that couldn't be sold for money, which left Teacher Luke feeling a bit disappointed.
Both items were rewards from the system.
One legendary and the other epic quality, Luke accepted them directly.
The epic quality item was a light green berry with small, sharp protrusions.
[Salac Berry: Contains hidden power from the skies and enhances the speed of Pokémon. (Prototype: snake skin fruit, also known as sarat.)]
This new type of berry was unlocked in the system store, priced at 500BP, same as the Petaya Berry.
According to the system's description, Salac Berry had a sweet and sour taste that even humans could enjoy.
With a wry smile, Luke mused, "I can't shake the feeling... I've got new snacks to try."
Of course, he was referring to snacks for Eevee and Haunter.
Oh, the plight of being poor.
However, Teacher Luke wasn't about to snatch berries from his Pokémon.
The legendary item did manage to stir up some excitement in Luke.
With a hand trembling slightly, he tapped on the golden, luminous card on the system interface, causing the screen to vibrate.
[Wow! Legendary!]
[Black Glasses: A peculiar-looking pair of glasses that slightly enhance Dark Type moves when worn. (Appearance is no different from regular sunglasses.)]
Luke's eyebrows twitched.
Externally, they bore a striking resemblance to the sunglasses Ash's Squirtle wore in the anime...
Are you sure? Didn't I just receive a pair of sunglasses as a reward?!
Unable to sell it and hesitant to tell others that it could strengthen Dark Type Pokémon, Luke feared he'd be perceived as a fool.
"Never mind, Haunter might like these," Luke commented, somewhat dejected, while toying with the slightly punk sunglasses.
"I suppose if things aren't looking good, I can always wear these trendy shades and save a few bucks..."
His shopping cart was brimming with items. Luke had settled on his recipe and Cynthia should enjoy a serving of Japanese curry.
After over two hours of shopping, Luke, laden with bags of various sizes, finally returned home.
"I'm back!"
However, what Luke encountered was an empty house. A pink post-it note rested on the table, bearing a series of small Japanese characters and Cynthia's fragrance.
"I took Haunter and Eevee for training. Will be back."
How long would it take for her to return?
Dinner should be ready soon...
Perhaps she'd snuck off for secret training, maybe even when Luke wasn't home...
He felt like an elderly person living alone.
Seating himself wearily on the sofa, Luke glanced at the bags of ingredients spread across the table, and let out a long sigh.