After the flamboyant man walked to the opposite command area, he somehow produced a plastic rose from nowhere. Crossing his arms above his head to expose his armpits, he then clamped the rose between his teeth and struck a flamboyant pose, growling in a low voice, "Heh heh, boy~"
The real kicker was that Hayashi even saw a few girls nearby squealing "Eeeek—" in excitement, as if they were fans seeing their idol!?
Hayashi: I don't get it, but I'm thoroughly impressed.
"My Diggersby is the baby I've painstakingly raised—" At least the flamboyant man finally lowered his arms, but his ability to keep talking clearly with a plastic rose in his mouth made Hayashi give him a sidelong glance—he was starting to understand why those girls were going wild. "Are you ready to accept defeat?"
"Huh? What?" Though he'd heard the other man clearly, Hayashi deliberately looked up with a blank expression and asked, "What did you just say?"
"..."
Hard, the ○ head is hard—I mean the fist, what were you thinking?
"Diggersby, go!" The flashy guy decided to let his strength do the talking as he shouted, "Use Mud Shot!"
Although it was his first battle, thanks to the low level of combat, Hayashi was only slightly nervous, not to the point of being speechless.
"Gengar, dodge it, then use Energy Ball!"
"Ghehe!"
Gengar covered her mouth with both hands and giggled, her plump body twisting lightly in midair to effortlessly evade Diggersby's Mud Shot! Then, Gengar pressed her hands together in front of her, and a green, spinning Energy Ball quickly formed between her palms.
"Oh no..."
The flashy guy's expression immediately changed as he exclaimed, "Energy Ball is a Grass-type move, and Grass-type moves deal super-effective damage to my Diggersby! You're too baby, man!"
"?"
A question mark popped up over Hayashi's head, followed by a visibly throbbing vein.
What the hell!
Oh, so when you use a type advantage against my Gengar with Diggersby, it's just "bad compatibility"?
Oh, when you attack with a Ground-type Mud Shot, it's "carefully trained"?
But when I counter with a Grass-type Energy Ball, suddenly it's "cheap"?
Damn it!
Although Hayashi was ready to change tactics and show off Gengar's Hypnosis-Dream Eater combo, before he could even shout the command, Diggersby—who had taken the Energy Ball straight to the face—let out a long "Aaaah—" before collapsing on the spot.
"Diggersby!"
The flashy guy wore an expression as if he'd been brushed by a rich woman's happy ball, falling to his knees in agony as he stretched out his right hand toward Diggersby, lamenting, "To think... our 100-win streak plan would end here..."
"Mind if I ask—how many wins did you have before facing me?"
"Haven't started yet."
"Huh?"
"I mean the 100-win streak plan."
So before facing me, you hadn't even started... meaning you had zero wins?!
Hard—Hayashi's fist was hard!
...
...
"Sorry about that, Gengar."
Hayashi reached out to rub the purple chubby ghost's belly, saying, "Making you participate in such a noob battle—I didn't expect that guy to be this bad!"
Sure, Diggersby was weak to Grass-type Energy Ball, but getting one-shot by Gengar's non-STAB move? That's just being underleveled, bro!
"Ghehe ghehe!"
Gengar patted Hayashi's shoulder with a laugh, acting like a big sister—Don't worry! I've lived long enough to see it all!
However, her comfort didn't get a response from Hayashi.
"Ghehe?"
Gengar looked up in confusion, only to find Hayashi and the Eevee in his arms staring at the side deck with the same expression as a mischievous Impidimp spotting a Gardevoir's thick root. Their pupils were practically vibrating.
"Ghehe??"
Baffled, Gengar followed Hayashi's gaze—and the next second, she clawed at her own eyes, collapsing to the ground with blood gushing from all seven orifices as she writhed in agony.
A shiny female Machamp and a male Gardevoir in a relationship?! That's just too ahead of its time!!
This is one scene I truly haven't seen before!!
...
...
After a brief rest (SAN value restored), Hayashi, Gengar, and Eevee sat on the deck bench, sipping chilled freshly squeezed juice, enjoying the salty sea breeze, and basking in the tranquility of the moment.
"This world is just too wild."
Hayashi took a sip of his juice and spoke with a world-weary expression: "Dangers lurking everywhere almost made me question my existence."
"Gee-hee."
"Eevee."
Gengar and Eevee nodded in lingering fear as they recalled the earlier scene—while love is free, the sheer impact of that sight was overwhelming!
Could you imagine a green-skinned Machamp bashfully leaning into the arms of a much slimmer Gardevoir, pouring out heartfelt confessions of love?
"Subjectively, I wish them happiness in love—" Hayashi murmured, his gaze distant as he stared at the sea. "But visually, I just can't accept it."
Too eye-searing.
"Gee-hee-hee!" Gengar nodded in agreement, shuddering at the thought. If I saw that duo in a double battle, I might lose the will to fight!
"Yikes!"
Hearing Gengar's remark, Hayashi sharply inhaled, then exclaimed in shock, "W-wait, could it be that this pair was deliberately trained for double battles?!"
Imagine this: You send out Plusle and Minun for a double battle, only for the opponent to field a shiny female Machamp and a male Gardevoir—who then proceed to cling to each other, whispering sweet nothings...
"Ah—brain-meltingly horrifying—"
Hayashi, Eevee, and Gengar shuddered in unison at the mental image.
"Eevee—"
Thank goodness I don't have to fight. T-too terrifying!
"Alright! Break's over—time for a swim!" Hayashi stood up enthusiastically. "Heh, maybe I'll even run into some hot bikini-clad ladies! Woo-hoo!"
The current Hayashi was no longer the scrawny guy from half a year ago. Now, he was lean but toned—his four-pack abs quite the sight in just swim trunks.
"Gee-hee!?"
"Eevee!?"
Hearing Hayashi's plans to flirt, Gengar and Eevee exchanged startled looks before huddling to discuss.
"What's up, little sis? Doesn't the boss already have the big sis?"
"Beats me! Is he sneaking around?"
"No way! If boss and big sis fight, what happens to our meals...?"
"Please no, not that!"
Gengar and Eevee shared a horrified glance, then scrambled toward the top-floor suite in a panic.
Big sis! Emergency! Aaaaaaah—!
...
...
"Huh?"
When Hayashi reached the pool, ready to use adorable little Eevee as a conversation starter with pretty ladies, he suddenly realized... his Eevee wasn't with him?
Weird! That little guy's usually glued to me, right?
Hayashi scratched his head, crouched down again, and tapped his shadow as he said, "Gengar, have you seen where Eevee went?"
Yet, Gengar remained silent as well.
Realizing something was amiss, Hayashi's expression turned serious. He stood up, no longer concerned with charming pretty girls, and began retracing his steps to search for the missing Gengar and Eevee.
Then he was called back to the room by Hisako.
"..."
Sitting in his seat, Hayashi looked utterly bewildered at Hisako standing before him, along with Erina and Sabrina sipping tea behind her. Unable to hold back, he asked, "Uh, what's going on here?"
"Suspect!" Hisako crossed her arms and demanded righteously, "Do you admit your guilt?"
Hayashi stared at her blankly. "Wait, why does it suddenly feel like I'm being interrogated? What exactly happened?"
"Eevee and Gengar have already confessed!" Hisako declared proudly. "They said you were planning to hit on women at the pool!"
Of course, these weren't Eevee and Gengar's exact words—they had been refined by Hisako! After all, what Gengar and Eevee had actually told them was, "Master is going to the pool to use his abs to pick up big-chested, round-bottomed ladies."
How could a refined girl like Hisako possibly repeat such vulgar words out loud? Big-chested and round-bottomed—Erina's figure was like that too, wasn't it? What more could he possibly want?!
"Ahem, 'hitting on' might be a bit of an exaggeration," Hayashi replied with an awkward yet polite smile. Having been single his entire life, he wasn't even capable of hitting on girls—just talking to unfamiliar women made him nervous. "At most, it's just... chatting and, uh, enjoying the view?"
That was also why he had planned to hold Eevee—if he was too nervous to approach girls, he could just let them come to him instead!
Hearing Hayashi's utterly cowardly excuse, Hisako was left speechless. For a moment, she couldn't even find a reason to continue scolding him—it wasn't like she could forbid him from looking, right?
"So why are you all mad at me?" Hayashi was also puzzled. He scratched his cheek and said, "First of all, I'm single, right? And second, there's nothing wrong with talking to women normally, is there? Why are you getting so worked up?"
"B-because..." Hisako's face turned red as she stammered, "Because... even though Erina is right here, you'd rather go flirt with other women than see her in a swimsuit...!"
"?"
This time, not just Hayashi, but even Erina herself was left utterly baffled. Her face flushed crimson as she cried out in embarrassment, "Hisako! Wh-what are you saying?!"
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