"Cele~"
"Gengar—"
Shh!
Gengar placed a finger to its lips, signaling for the just-woken Celebi to be quiet.
Celebi glanced at the still-sleeping Victor, nodded its small head, and then placed a finger to its own lips.
"Cele~" (super quietly)
It then watched the Gengar, who was following the calisthenics video on the tablet, its small face full of curiosity.
"Gengar—"
Want to join?
Celebi tilted its head, then finally nodded.
Gengar grinned and began to teach Celebi the exercises.
After finishing, Gengar glanced at the time. It was just after six. It looked at the soundly sleeping Victor, and its crimson eyes darted around. It looked towards the forest and suddenly smiled.
"Gengar—"
Want to come with me to dig for yummy things?
"Cele?"
Celebi flapped its wings, curious.
Gengar gestured with its hands, describing the delicious things in its own Gengar-language.
Celebi's eyes lit up with understanding, and it nodded eagerly.
Gengar placed its things on the balcony table, then led Celebi back to the first floor.
But not via the stairs.
Watching Gengar phase directly through the ceiling, Celebi flapped its small wings and tilted its head.
"Cele?"
Gengar's head phased back through the ceiling onto the balcony, followed by the rest of its body.
It gave an embarrassed smile, then led Celebi down by floating off the balcony.
They saw Dali, Erli, and Sanli already up and working, greeted them, and then floated straight to the warehouse.
Gengar found a wicker basket, put it on its back, and then grabbed two small hoes.
"Gengar—"
Let's go~
Gengar floated ahead, with Celebi chasing behind.
"Cele~"
Back in the room, Victor, after sleeping for an unknown amount of time, was woken by a sound from the backyard. He scratched his bedhead and sat up.
"Gengar."
Not seeing Gengar anywhere, Victor was a little curious.
"Where'd it run off to?"
He stood up and went out onto the balcony, stretching.
The sun wasn't up yet, and the weather was cool.
Near the swing set, Shana was playing under the big tree with her Chingling and the Petilil. The pleasant sound of her laughter drifted over with the wind from time to time.
I should find some time to make them a set of building blocks, Victor thought, watching them.
The Staravia was perched in the tree, quietly watching them, occasionally preening its feathers.
In the distance, Dali and the others were weeding and watering.
Even further away, a few yellow figures would occasionally take flight, while others would land and disappear from view.
"Haa~"
Victor let out a deep yawn, then quietly looked out over the backyard, and then into the distance.
The stone path in the backyard led straight to the tea party garden. Further back was the swing area, and opposite that was the planting area. A bit further was the grass area—although more than seventy percent of the yard could be considered grass, Victor had still designated only that one section as the official "grass area." Behind that was the forest area. Nestled between the grass and forest areas was a large lake, which he had designated as the lake area. Beside the lake were some hills with many strangely shaped rocks that he hadn't cleared yet, which took up a considerable amount of space. He decided to find some time to clear it out and turn it into the Breeding House's rock area.
A good distance behind the forest area was the great forest. The fence between his forest and the main entrance was gone now, destroyed by the Pokémon hunters that night. Victor hadn't bothered to repair it. With the blessing from the forest Pokémon, there was no need for a fence anymore.
Oh, and there was also the area behind the kitchen with the makeshift stove and crock pot. That was the dining area.
From the Breeding House, looking towards the forest, everything was layered and distinct.
Victor was very satisfied with the current development of the Breeding House.
His daily routine had also improved.
Everything was heading in a good direction!
Victor took a deep breath and smiled.
But where on earth did that Gengar run off to? Celebi is gone too.
The thought of Celebi reminded him of last night's snack time. Celebi had held a treat in each hand, feasting while floating in the air. When it got tired, it just plopped down on Victor's head and continued to eat.
It had forced him to wash his hair twice during his shower.
"You can play for a little while longer, but then it's time for breakfast!" Victor smiled, shook his head, and called out to Shana and the others.
Shana looked back and saw Victor waving at her.
"Okay!" she called back with a clear voice.
Hearing her reply, Victor went to the bathroom to get ready.
Downstairs, after helping Mime Jr. set the table for breakfast, Victor went to the backyard to call Shana and the others. Just then, two figures flew over from the distance.
One purple, one green.
The purple one had a full wicker basket on its back. It stopped in front of Victor.
"Gengar—" Gengar grinned.
"..."
Victor sighed. "I was wondering why I didn't see you when I woke up. So you went to dig for bamboo shoots on your own."
Gengar handed a bamboo shoot to Victor, its white teeth flashing.
Victor took it and gave it a look. Not bad.
"You, really. That place just recovered last night, and you're already going back to dig. You greedy ghost."
He handed the bamboo shoot back, then pulled at the corners of Gengar's mouth, pretending to scold it.
He then looked at Celebi.
It was holding a bamboo shoot with both hands, its face completely hidden.
"Cele~" It smiled at Victor.
He took the bamboo shoot from it and sighed. "Go on, go wash your hands and eat. I'll deal with these later."
"Gengar—"
"Cele~"
They flew off towards the tap.
"φ」(￣￢￣*)"
Gengar chewed its food with its eyes closed, slowly savoring it.
The thought of eating bamboo shoots soon made it even happier. What an appetite-whetting thought for a ghost!
With that, Gengar stuffed two more mouthfuls of breakfast in, its cheeks puffed out.
After breakfast, Victor waited at the front for customers. Shana took the other Pokémon and ran to the backyard. Victor went to take a look and saw that she was selecting usable stones and arranging them in a border in the area he had marked out for her.
Shana's little flower garden was officially under construction.
Seeing Gengar and the Machoke helping her move and cut the stones, Victor felt at ease and returned to the lounge area to lie down.
"Thank you for your hard work, Petilil."
Ever since Victor had praised it and Mime Jr. for taking down the customers' phone numbers, the Petilil now sat on the counter every day, facing the door with a smile.
Presumably, when customers come in and see such a cute Petilil, they'll definitely be inclined to spend some money!
"Lili~" The Petilil swayed its body and replied sweetly.
At the front, Victor lay reading a book. In the back, Shana was discussing with Celebi, Mime Jr., and the others how to arrange the stones to make the flower garden look pretty.
Victor wasn't sure if Shana could even understand them, but they were having a lively back-and-forth conversation.
At her feet was a Vulpix, who was just nodding at everything anyone said.
Gengar, meanwhile, was holding a bag of Cat's Ear crisps, eating nonstop while watching Shana and the others.
"Arf~"
The sound of an Arcanine's bark came from outside. Victor sat up and looked out. Officer Jenny was getting off her Arcanine and walking into the Breeding House.
"Good morning, Jenny. And you too, Arcanine."
"Good morning."
Jenny nodded and walked straight to the backyard, scooping up the Petilil from the counter on her way.
"Lili?"
Seeing her disappear through the door behind the counter, Victor seized the opportunity and grabbed the Arcanine's head, ruffling it vigorously.
"Arf..."
A little while later, Jenny returned to the front and saw Victor mauling her dog's head. "The Pokémon Eggs have been delivered," she said. "Thirty-eight in total. I can give you twenty. Is that acceptable?"
"Thanks, Jenny!" Victor called out happily.
Jenny looked at Victor and made a drinking gesture.
Victor hurried to the kitchen and made her a cup of honey water.
Twenty Pokémon Eggs. At Victor's prices of eighty to one hundred and fifty thousand Alliance Dollars, selling all twenty would bring in a considerable income.
By the time Victor returned with the honey water, Jenny had already lined up all the Pokémon Eggs on the floor.
He handed her the cup, then called Gengar over from the backyard.
Taking the stethoscope from Gengar, Victor began to check the eggs one by one.
Arcanine: "Arf?!"
Where's my water?!
[Oddish Egg]
[Magby Egg]
[Rhyhorn Egg]
[Scyther Egg]
[Eevee Egg]
[Gligar Egg]...
There were some from other regions, and some from Sinnoh.
But one thing was undeniable. As expected of Pokémon hunters...
Victor was blooming with joy on the inside.
...
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