Chapter 245: Cynthia's Dark Cuisine
The day's teaching duties had come to an end. After school, Lu Ye received 20 copies of the type matchup chart from Giselle. "Not bad, your handwriting is very neat," he nodded in appreciation.
"Teacher Lu!" Summoning her courage, Giselle called out. "C-Can I participate in the end-of-year interschool exchange competition?"
Lu Ye stopped, raised a hand, and said, "Depends on your performance." As the evening glow cast its warm light, Giselle stared for a moment before bowing deeply. "Thank you so much!"
On the way home, Gengar still looked guilty. "It's fine," Lu Ye patted its head. "You were just looking out for me."
Gengar shrank back, and suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over it. I need to find a new job! There should be coaching gigs in Saffron City, right?
As night fell, Erika sent a message. "How was your first official day of teaching?"
"Spent the whole day playing cards with the students. Exhausting."
"Huh?" Erika blinked in confusion.
Kidding, Lu Ye thought. In reality, they had spent the day playing Pokémon: Battle.
Cynthia wouldn't be back until the weekend. Even though Lu Ye didn't say it, he definitely missed her. On the bus ride back, he leaned against the window, watching the streetlights flicker past. Beside him, Gengar had already fallen asleep. With his headphones on, he let his mind drift.
Suddenly, he felt a tap. Sylveon stood on his lap, extending its feelers. "Handshake?"
"Bui! (｀皿´)ﾉ"
"Haha, alright, I get it—you want a hug."
"Bui! o(´^｀)o"
Sylveon rested its small head on Lu Ye's shoulder. It felt just like holding a kitten. Eventually, the little one nestled in and drifted off. Moving carefully, Lu Ye recalled Gengar into its Poké Ball. Holding Sylveon, he unlocked his door. "Did I forget to turn off the lights?" he froze. Suddenly, two imposing figures emerged, staring him down.
"Luca!" "Garchomp!"
Sht, what are you two doing here?!*
Inside the living room, a blonde woman stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing heat-resistant mittens shaped like Bewear's paws. She was holding a plate of ominous-looking, pitch-black solid matter. "You're early." A faint blush appeared on Cynthia's face. "Otherwise… I probably would've finished it properly."
"What… is this?"
"Cake…"
"You're calling this a cake?"
"I worked really hard on it," Cynthia leaned back, staring up at the ceiling helplessly. "I even went to a Kalos dessert shop with Diantha…"
Beside her, Lucario and Garchomp shot him murderous glares. Are you gonna eat it?
Lu Ye's expression stiffened. This isn't a question of whether to eat it. One more step, and I'm walking straight into hell! Taking a deep breath, he reached for the spoon, his hand trembling. In the end, he put it down and said seriously, "When we get to Kalos, let's open a café together. I'll teach you how to bake properly so we can drive those shady dessert shops out of business."
Cynthia lazily rested her head on the table, her golden hair cascading down as she lifted her gaze. Her bright gray eyes carried a deep, mysterious glow. "Will it take a long time?"
"No. Every day you're here feels too short."
"That sounds like quantum mechanics."
"To be precise, it's relativity."
Cynthia tilted her head. Then, she straightened up and scooped a spoonful of the pitch-black "cake." Carefully, she brought it to her lips. "This is awful," she sighed and silently put the spoon down.
They leaned back, facing each other in silence. The warm orange glow of the chandelier flickered. Suddenly, Cynthia couldn't help but chuckle. Lu Ye covered his face and coughed dryly.
"If it's that bad, don't eat it!" he exclaimed.
"No way! I worked so hard on this!" Cynthia slammed the table.
"Don't feed it to Gengar! He's still just a kid!"
"Gengaaaar! (*⊙~⊙)" Relax, man, I'm a Poison-type—I can handle this.
While cleaning up, Lu Ye found out Cynthia's flight had been delayed, so she decided to come back for the night. "So, you have to leave again tomorrow?"
"Yeah, morning flight." Cynthia lounged on the couch, petting Glaceon and Sylveon. "The Champion's duties… they really are tiring." She brushed a strand of golden hair behind her ear, her eyes curling into crescents. "So when are you going to take over as the Sinnoh Champion?"
"Champion, huh… Hard to say. But there are other ways," Lu Ye pondered. Maybe something like Chairman Rose in Galar? Set a small goal first—just buy out the Sinnoh League. Shouldn't be that hard.
Cynthia smiled. Stretching lazily, she yawned. "I have to get up early tomorrow… Goodnight."
"No games tonight?"
Cynthia froze mid-step. "Battle," her eyes gleamed. "Or cards?"
"I'm good with either. You decide."
"Gengar, get me a coffee. Thanks~~"
"Gengaaaar! *" Revived with full energy, Gengar eagerly nodded.
November 14th, Wednesday.
Cynthia left early. Meanwhile, Teacher Lu stayed home, preparing his lesson plans. "There's a year-end event… I really need to train these kids." He pondered. "…Maybe I should let Gengar be their coach?"
As for the Pokémon TCG scene—the Johto expansion pack had successfully launched. The power creep was real—Johto's cards were undeniably stronger. But hey, that's the natural progression of every card game. Once we're done with Galar, we can do a Kanto Let's Go set. The cycle will never end! Lu Ye stroked his chin.
Today, it was Wartortle's turn to babysit. Terrified that Togepi might get kidnapped, it was sweating buckets. In the end, it carefully placed Togepi inside an empty fish tank and let out a long sigh of relief. "This… this is the safest place I could think of!"
Lu Ye got up to prepare lunch but noticed Gengar was missing. "Out working again to help with household expenses?" He pulled out his phone and checked Gengar's location on the Pokédex tracker. Instantly, his expression turned… strange. The Pokédex showed Gengar's current location was—Saffron Gym. The very place where Sabrina reigned.
[Inorin Note:
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