One of the Machoke approached Laura, signaling that the work was finished.
Victor followed Laura back into the main hall and saw that everything had been cleared out and the floor was spotlessly mopped.
He had to admit, for this kind of heavy labor that didn't require a delicate touch, the Machoke were incredibly effective.
"Thank you for your hard work, Machoke," Victor said to them, then continued, "It's getting late. To thank you for helping me, let me treat you all to dinner."
"Machoke~!"
Hearing Victor's offer, the Machoke began to dance with joy.
Victor took the opportunity to observe them.
[Machoke]
[Gender: Female]
[Type: Fighting]
[Ability: No Guard]
[Known Moves: Low Kick, Leer, Focus Energy, Low Sweep, Knock Off, Brick Break, Mega Punch.]
[Mood: Happy, Excited]
[Status: A little tired, Expectant]
[Friendship: 50 (You're treating us to dinner, you're a good person!)]
[Introduction: The leader of the three Machoke. She leads the other two in selling their strength to earn a living. She is currently looking forward to Victor's dinner treat.]
The other two Machoke had a similar friendship level. Seeing them so happy just because of an offer for dinner, Victor couldn't help but smile.
The world of Pokémon was truly simple. Back in his old world, people wouldn't necessarily even accept an invitation to dinner.
"Laura, do you know any good places to eat?" Victor asked, turning to her.
Laura nodded. "Let's go, I'll take you."
She headed for the main door, and the Machoke followed happily behind, waving their four arms.
After Victor locked the door and they left in the car, Gengar finally reappeared, watching them drive away.
It floated up to the bedroom, saw Victor's luggage, and began to rummage through it.
"Gengar?"
...
As the sun began to set, Victor paid the bill after ensuring the three Machoke were well-fed.
Watching the Machoke wave goodbye, Victor was suddenly reminded of his dilapidated Breeding House. "Machoke," he called out, "if you need help in the future, come find me."
Seeing Victor's sincere smile under the setting sun, tears welled up in the Machokes' eyes.
"Machoke!!!"
Victor watched as the Machokes' shadows grew longer and longer in the twilight, then turned his gaze away and picked up the takeout dinner the restaurant had packed for him.
"You're a very kind person, Victor," Laura remarked from beside him.
"I just think they're not bad Pokémon," Victor replied before turning and walking towards the car.
Laura shrugged and followed him.
After returning to the house and saying goodbye to Laura, Victor closed the door and placed the dinner on the only remaining piece of furniture in the hall: the counter.
"Gengar, I brought you some dinner. Do you want it?"
There was no response for a long time. Victor shook his head with a sigh.
"Such a timid little fatty. Kinda cute."
With that, he went upstairs to his room.
He was confident that Gengar wouldn't be able to resist the aroma. After all, food was the best way to build a bond.
Once Victor was back in his room, Gengar poked its body out from the ceiling, its attention immediately captured by the fragrant dinner on the counter.
"Gengar~"
It floated down beside the meal. Its large, crimson eyes glanced upstairs, and seeing no sign of Victor, it opened the container. Inside was a large bowl of noodles and a whole roasted Psyduck.
Gengar reached out its short, stubby hands, tore off a drumstick, and stuffed it into its mouth.
"Gengar~(˵¯͒¯͒˵)"
Victor opened his bedroom door to find the room in a complete mess. All the clothes from the wardrobe were thrown onto the bed, and his toiletries were scattered all over the floor.
"GENGAR!!!!"
Victor stomped furiously to the top of the stairs and glared down at the Gengar, who was happily eating dinner.
"Gengar?! Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ"
Caught with a drumstick in one hand and slurping noodles from its mouth, the Gengar stared back at the suddenly appeared Victor, its face a mask of shock.
Like a child caught doing something wrong, it placed the drumstick back on the counter.
"Gengar...(.•́︿•̀.)"
It hung its head in shame.
Watching the Gengar lower its head, pretending to be sorry while still not forgetting to slurp up another noodle, Victor found himself unable to scold it.
"You... Forget it. Just eat," Victor sighed, then went back to his room to clean up.
"Gengar~"
Seeing Victor leave, Gengar covered its mouth and snickered before continuing to eat its dinner.
"Remember to clean up the trash when you're done!" Victor's voice called down from upstairs.
"Gengar!!!"
After tidying everything up, Victor took out two bottles of the Moomoo Milk he'd won and placed them on the dressing table. He then grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom to take a shower.
When he came out, he found Gengar drinking the Moomoo Milk he had left on the table.
"Gengar?! (ﾟ◇ﾟﾉ)ﾉ"
"I left that for you. Go ahead and drink it," Victor said, his frustration bubbling up again.
Hearing this, Gengar's mouth split into a wide grin. It then poured the rest of the Moomoo Milk into its mouth.
"Gengar(￣▽￣)~~"
Seeing Gengar's blissful expression, Victor walked over and playfully tugged the small tail on its backside.
Psssssshhhh~~
Like a deflating balloon, Gengar's body went limp and started careening around the room.
"No flying around wildly in the room!" Victor shouted.
Poof.
Gengar's body instantly became round again. It floated upside down on the ceiling, grinning at Victor.
Looking at the playful Pokémon, Victor focused his gaze. He saw in the status window that Gengar's friendship level had already reached 80. The "Lonely" tag was temporarily gone, replaced by "Happy."
Heh, as if I couldn't win you over, Victor thought with a private smile. He stopped paying attention to Gengar and lay down on his bed to play on his phone.
Seeing Victor ignore it, a flash of sadness crossed Gengar's eyes, but it quickly recovered and flew over to him.
When Victor didn't push it away, Gengar grew bolder and flew onto the bed, bending its short legs to sit beside him.
It pressed its large face against Victor's, curious about what he was looking at so intently.
Feeling cramped, it even nudged Victor with its bottom, trying to get him to move over a bit.
"Alright, alright, here's some space," Victor shifted to the side. Just like that, the human and Pokémon happily scrolled through the phone together.
Sometimes, when Victor swiped past a video that Gengar hadn't finished watching, Gengar would swipe it back.
After this happened a few times, Victor's patience wore thin. "This is my phone."
Gengar looked at Victor, its eyes drooping sadly.
"Gengar..."
Looking at the deceptively clever Pokémon, Victor sighed in resignation. "Fine, fine. You can watch."
The moment Gengar's face switched back to a wide grin, Victor rolled his eyes.
"Such a drama queen."
Ignoring Gengar, he focused back on his phone and came across a news video.
It reported that several more trainers had gone missing, and after a police search, their bodies had been discovered in the XXX area.
"Looks like being a trainer is still a very dangerous profession," Victor sighed. He was glad he no longer planned on becoming one.
"Gengar," it nodded in agreement.
The next video was a battle. Victor was all too familiar with the two stars of the show.
"Sinnoh Champion Cynthia VS Elite Four Lucian."
That's what the title read. Victor stared at the people in the video, lost in thought.
A real-life... Cynthia?
He shook himself out of it. He had already transmigrated to this world; seeing her for real seemed almost normal by comparison.
After watching the video, he had to admit, Cynthia was incredibly cool.
Gengar's reaction was the perfect proof of this, as this was the fifth time it had rewatched the video.
Unable to take it anymore, Victor handed the phone to Gengar.
"Here, you watch it. I'm going to sleep. Don't bother me, I have a ton of work to do tomorrow."
Victor looked at Gengar and added, "Let me get a good night's sleep, okay, Gengar?"
Gengar looked at Victor and nodded, then took the phone and turned its back to him, leaving its rear end facing Victor.
Victor looked at the small tail swaying in front of him and mischievously gave it another tug.
Psssssshhhh~~
"Hey! Don't break the phone!"
Poof!
"Fine, you win. I won't mess with you."
Victor glanced at Gengar's back and slowly closed his eyes, the sound of the battle referee's shouts from the video echoing in his ears.