"Be careful, Shana. Stay safe."
"Okay~"
Victor stood on the balcony and called out to Shana, who had already woken up sometime earlier and was busy arranging her flower garden with Celebi and the others.
After getting Shana's crisp reply, Victor stretched and twisted his waist. His butt bumped the Gengar doing calisthenics on the balcony, sending it flying.
"Gengar?!" it cried indignantly (△).
Gengar couldn't stand this. It also twisted its non-waist waist, intending to use its big butt to send Victor flying in retaliation.
But Victor happened to turn and walk away just then, causing Gengar to send itself flying off balance.
"Gengar—————." (°.) it wailed.
Victor caught it out of the corner of his eye and smirked inwardly.
"Heh, amateur."
After washing up and going downstairs, Mime Jr. and Gothita had already prepared breakfast. Victor praised them and then happily began to eat his breakfast.
Having Mime Jr. and Gothita around the house was truly wonderful.
Gengar phased down through the ceiling and sat beside Victor, still trying relentlessly to bump him off his seat with its butt.
Victor kept pretending to casually dodge its attempts.
As a result, Victor spent the entire day being followed by a Gengar constantly watching for the slightest lapse in his attention.
Gengar: I'm watching you!
Today happened to be the final day of the League Conference. Victor lay back in a lounge chair, chewing on a Golden Fruit Stick and watching TV with his feet up.
The championship title went to someone he didn't recognize. Looking at their team composition, they were quite strong, with a Tyranitar as their ace. In the end, they lost to the Psychic Elite Four member, Lucian.
After the tournament rankings were announced, Victor saw Ethan, the man with glasses who had boarded his Pokémon here. He had made it to the Top 8.
He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by the eventual champion. It was a shame Victor had been too busy these past few days to watch the conference properly.
Sensing his phone vibrate, Victor took it out.
Cynthia: The conference is over.
Victor smiled, then his hands tapped rapidly on the keyboard.
Victor: You can rest for a while now.
Cynthia: Not yet. There's still so much to do. I have to go to the Kalos region for an exhibition match next.
Victor: Good luck!
Victor: By the way, Celebi is leaving tonight. We're planning a farewell party for it.
Cynthia: A farewell party? Will there be ice cream?
Victor: Of course.
Cynthia: Hmm...
Victor: Don't worry. Next time you come, I'll let you try the Breeding House's special, extremely rare, custom-made ice cream. The Vespiquen probably still has a little left.
Cynthia: Then I'll look forward to it.
Vespiquen: ???
Just as he put his phone away, Officer Jenny arrived at the Breeding House on her Arcanine, accompanied by Nurse Joy. At the same time, Laura, who hadn't been seen for a long time, also showed up.
"Laura's taking a break too?" Victor was surprised. Shouldn't a lawyer with active cases be very busy? Or were lawyers optional in the Pokémon world?
"I haven't gotten a single case since I went back last time—" Laura sighed.
Ah. So it's a matter of skill.
Victor teased her a bit and ended up being chased around. Gengar, seeing this, quickly blocked his path.
"Traitor!"
"Gengar~" (Nyah nyah.)
"What's for dinner tonight?" Jenny was already thinking about Victor's cooking. Food was the most important thing.
"Celebi is leaving tonight, so let's have a big food party tonight, as a farewell for it," Victor said with a smile.
"Celebi?" Seeing Laura's confused expression, Jenny and Joy explained the recent events to her.
Laura nodded, then looked at Victor. "Be careful with everything."
"Don't worry, Laura."
"Alright then. Hurry up and cook. I'm going to the back to play with Shana and the others."
"Remember to stew some pork trotters."
"Good luck, Victor!"
The three women walked past him, each patting his shoulder on their way.
The fate of a cook is truly tragic.
Victor looked at Mime Jr. and Gothita.
"It's a good thing I have you two!" he said, nodding gratefully.
"Mime~"
"Goth~"
"Gengar?!"
What about me?!
"And Gengar too!"
"Gengar~ (^▽^)"
Rolling his eyes, Victor led them back to the kitchen, which soon filled with the sounds of cooking.
"Everyone, get ready! We're heading out!" Victor called out to the group playing in the backyard.
"Cele~" Celebi was the first to fly over, hovering in front of Victor.
He smiled and offered it a Poffin. Celebi closed its eyes and ate it contentedly.
"Do we need to move the table?" Laura asked.
"No need. Today, we're eating in the forest. We met Celebi in the forest, so we should see it off in the forest too," Victor said, gently stroking Celebi's small head. The texture felt strange yet comfortable.
"We can eat dinner together with the forest Pokémon," he added.
"Sounds good," the others agreed.
And so, Victor, having finished cooking dinner around three or four in the afternoon, put up the "Temporarily Closed" sign, gathered the group and a huge amount of food, and headed grandly towards the forest.
They arrived at the forest lake. Victor stopped, looking at the sparkling water and the lush green trees reflected on its surface. A few Magikarp were using Splash, momentarily disturbing the reflections before the surface calmed again.
This was also the place where the emergence had happened.
Victor took a deep breath, the fragrance of nature filling his lungs. He nodded in satisfaction and had Gengar spread out the picnic blankets.
Finally, he took out a mountain of food and Poffins, and they sat down by the lake to enjoy their dinner.
Before long, word that Victor and the others were in the forest seemed to spread. One by one, Pokémon began to gather around them.
In the lake, in the trees, in the sky.
With their friendship level at 100, they weren't afraid of Victor's group, nor would they harm them.
Victor shared his Poffins with them, and they chirped happily.
Many of them simply came and sat down beside them, whispering secrets with the Breeding House's Pokémon, eating the Poffins Victor offered, and letting out pleasant laughter from time to time.
Every time Victor shared some Poffins, more berries, mushrooms, and other small toys would appear beside him, Laura, and the others. No one spoke; they just quietly enjoyed the happy dinner with their friends, their Pokémon, and the Pokémon of the forest.
After dinner, a breeze blew past, and Shana's Tinkerbell let out a melodious chime.
Then, more beautiful music began to fill the air.
The surrounding Kricketune were spontaneously playing beautiful melodies with their scythe-like forearms.
Victor and the others closed their eyes, quietly savoring the soothing tunes.
Then, some Oddish, Aipom, Ambipom, Pachirisu, and other Pokémon joined hands and began to sway to the rhythm. Even the Pokémon who had been emotionally scarred joined in.
Just two days after arriving, they had already fallen deeply in love with this place.
As Victor gently tapped his fingers on his knee, enjoying the beautiful scene, a Buneary ran over shyly, held out its hand, and invited him to join them.
Victor laughed, offered it his hand, and pulled Celebi up with the other.
Celebi pulled Shana, who pulled the next Pokémon, and soon they had all joined the dance.
Until night fell and the moon climbed high into the sky.
Celebi stopped its joyful movements and looked into the distance.
Seeing Celebi stop, Victor also paused.
Laura and the others exchanged glances, reluctance showing in their eyes.
They had known Celebi for less than a day, or maybe just a day, but they had already grown deeply fond of the cute, innocent Pokémon.
Victor chuckled softly. The surrounding sounds died down. Then he spoke gently.
"Is it time to say goodbye?"
Celebi nodded reluctantly.
"Go on, then," Victor said softly.
"Cele?"
Celebi turned and saw Victor holding out his open palm. A small wooden tag, tied with a red string, dangled before it.
On it was written:
To Our Friend 1:
Celebi.
...
Get 10 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"