"Hmm, do you have any good breakfast options here?" Jenny Kim hesitated but eventually asked.
"Breakfast crepes and braised beef noodles. We didn't make any buns today," Heath quickly responded. As a chef, he was always aware of his menu.
"Nothing I like. I'll pass on the food. Do you have anything to drink?" Jenny Kim asked with a mischievous smile.
Heath was taken aback. Drinks? Can ghosts drink water? Wouldn't it just leak out somewhere strange?
Heath thought he might start a ghost studies course in the future, explaining how ghosts live, their characteristics, and how they eat. It could be quite interesting.
"Of course, I have some barley tea from yesterday that helps with humidity. Enjoy," Heath said. He couldn't bear to let a customer leave empty-handed and was curious to see what serving Jenny Kim might result in.
Jenny Kim looked stunned for a moment as she accepted the hot tea. "I forgot to bring—" she began.
"It's fine, Sister Kim. You work hard; consider it on the house," Heath smiled. Jenny Kim looked even more distressed but nodded reluctantly, then quickly left, moving too fast for Heath to stop her.
"Wow, she's quick," Heath muttered. He had wanted to see how she drank the tea and whether it would end up on the ground, which would have answered one of his ghost study questions.
After a while, Heath's system notified him.
[You have served Jenny Kim (Ghost), and received a memory fragment.]
Heath was puzzled. A memory fragment? If it were something like a vitality fragment, he would understand, as it was a common item in the Pokémon world. But a memory fragment was new to him.
Reaching into his pocket, Heath found a small red shard. Curious, he held it in his hand. How was he supposed to use it?
The next moment, Heath accidentally crushed the fragment. His vision went black, and when it returned, he found himself in a dimly lit room.
"Where am I?" Heath wondered, looking around at the unfamiliar place.
Suddenly, his body began moving on its own, and a shout echoed in the room.
"Hands up! Drop the Poké Balls and stop resisting!" The voice sounded familiar; it was Jenny Kim's, but it was strange now.
Realizing people often hear their own voice differently than others do, Heath calmed down. He understood now that the memory fragment was Jenny Kim's memory, but he didn't know how to exit it.
"You think you can catch me? Dream on! Join my fallen comrades in this place!" A crazed figure appeared, followed by a massive explosion and a rush of intense heat. Heath felt the pain sharply.
The last thing he saw were hands futilely reaching out to resist, a flash of orange from the explosion, and then intense pain before he found himself back in the food truck.
"What just happened?" Heath looked around, bewildered. Everything was as it was before: Zorua was reading a novel on the sofa, Charmander was training, sweating profusely, and Farfetch'd was working on its arm strength. Nothing seemed to have changed.
"Trainer, are you okay?" Zorua asked, puzzled.
"I'm fine," Heath waved it off. Recovering from the pain, he understood that what he saw was Jenny Kim's memory, her final moments. He hadn't expected the memory fragment to include the pain as well.
If his system had a review feature, Heath would definitely give this experience a bad rating.
Thinking of the orange explosion, Heath felt heavy-hearted. He had known Jenny Kim was a ghost, implying she had died, but hadn't anticipated such a tragic end.
"Jenny Kim… I should ask Sister Maple if there was a Jenny by that name in the Kanto League," Heath sighed, surprised by the hidden past of the carefree Jenny Kim.
As Heath was pondering this, another squad of Jenny officers sped past on motorcycles, causing him to frown.
Viridian City's security was usually good. Even if an inspector were secretly visiting, it wouldn't warrant such a large deployment of Jenny officers. Something urgent must have happened.
Heath checked outside the truck; there were no flames or smoke, so it wasn't an explosion.
"Today sure is lively, Heath. Give me a breakfast set. That salad yesterday was great, more of that, please," Mr. William said, wiping sweat from his forehead as he approached with his Machamp.
"Sure, Mr. William. Just a moment," Heath nodded. Curious as he was, now wasn't the time to ask.
Mr. William looked particularly muscular today, but what caught Heath's eye were the Snorlax-themed moisture absorbers he wore, all filled with water. It made Heath gulp. Mr. William truly lived up to his nickname as Viridian City's Machamp.
Anyone who could bond with Machamp through muscle clashes had to be extraordinary.
Thinking of Ash, Heath figured he might be a hidden superhuman too, given the ridiculous feats he accomplished in the anime.
"Mr. William, do you know why there are so many Jenny officers speeding by today?" Heath asked, handing over the breakfast crepe.
(End of Chapter)