Viridian Forest. Even in broad daylight, the forest floor was as dim as twilight.
Enormous canopies blotted out the sky. Thick trunks and endless underbrush, combined with the perpetual gloom, made this place a paradise for Bug-type Pokemon.
Here, Caterpie and Weedle were as common as stray dogs on a city street.
After leaving Viridian City, Fuyuki and Entei officially entered this famous habitat teeming with wild Pokemon.
However...
Fuyuki eyed the fork in the road ahead and couldn't help asking, "Father, why can't we take this path?"
According to the map, this route to Pewter City was clearly shorter.
Entei: "..."
It obviously couldn't take this path. Raikou was waiting up ahead.
If they ran into each other, Raikou would take over as Fuyuki's companion.
And so, Entei told the first lie of its entire life.
"I sense danger down that path." it said.
"Huh?" Fuyuki blinked. Danger? What kind of danger?
Could Zapdos be blocking the road? But Zapdos should be nesting at the abandoned Power Plant right now...
Entei offered nothing more and simply kept walking. "This way is safer."
"Okay." Fuyuki quickly shifted his attention to the Bug-type Pokemon everywhere around them.
Caterpie. So many Caterpie! Come to think of it, Ash caught his Butterfree in Viridian Forest, didn't he? Fuyuki wondered where Ash was by now.
Seeing Fuyuki's attention wander, Entei breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
The members of Ho-Oh's guard shared a subtle connection. They could sense each other's locations.
Right now, Entei could clearly feel Raikou waiting on the other path, lying in ambush for them to pass by.
Suicune's presence flickered faintly somewhere to the west. Even Ho-Oh's aura circled the sky a few dozen kilometers away.
As for Marshadow... it was right beneath Fuyuki's feet, hiding in his shadow.
Entei's position really was precarious. It sighed at the thought.
Still, there was one silver lining. If Fuyuki ever faced real danger, Raikou, Suicune, or Ho-Oh itself were all close enough to reach him in an instant.
Grrrrumble...
After walking for a while, Fuyuki's stomach let out a growl.
It was almost noon. He found a clearing in the forest.
"All right! Lunch break right here! Everyone, come on out!"
Two flashes of white light, and Squirtle and Gastly appeared in the clearing.
"Squir, Squirtle~"
"Gas, gas~!"
Both Pokemon let out happy cries.
"Squirtle, Gastly, go play for a bit. I'll get lunch ready!"
Fuyuki actually knew how to cook. Ever since he'd become self-sufficient, he had stopped buying prepared food from the system shop. Instead, he exchanged for raw ingredients and cooked for his Pokemon by hand.
With his Spatial Backpack, Fuyuki pulled out a table, chairs, and all sorts of camping gear.
Entei handled fire duty while Fuyuki got to work on the meal.
Squirtle and Gastly gathered around to watch, curiosity written all over them. Camping out with a Trainer, with a human... this was a completely new experience for both of them.
"Squirtle, do you like these?" Fuyuki held out a bowl of small shrimp, tiny crabs, and shellfish.
Squirtle gave them a sniff, then nodded eagerly. "Squir, Squir!"
"Perfect." Fuyuki was going to make Squirtle a seafood rice dish, enhanced with Sacred Ash. That would fatten Squirtle up in no time.
He finished prepping the ingredients and put them on to steam with the rice.
Gastly seemed endlessly fascinated by everything it had never seen before.
It drifted here and there, inspecting this and that. When it spotted the flames of Entei's Sacred Fire, Gastly couldn't resist floating closer... only to nearly get singed by a sudden flare-up. It jerked backward in a panic.
When the flames didn't chase it, Gastly let out a very human-like sigh of relief.
"Gaaas..."
Fuyuki couldn't help laughing. Seeing him laugh, Squirtle started laughing too.
Gastly had no idea what was funny but joined in anyway, giggling along.
Watching the scene, Fuyuki found himself thinking. If this Gastly really was the reborn soul of the Meowth that once belonged to his family... then maybe this counted as a happy ending.
The Meowth that had waited in that empty house for its owner to come home had finally found him.
No, stop. That was all in the past now.
Fuyuki shook his head. Over the past few days, he'd gotten to know his two Pokemon pretty well, and both had their quirks.
Squirtle's stunted development meant poor energy control, and the fact that no Trainer had wanted it had left it with a deep streak of insecurity.
Gastly, on the other hand, was simply too young. Having lived alone for so long, it was curious about absolutely everything and playful as a small child.
He'd figured that last part out at the hotel, when Gastly broke out of its Poke Ball in the middle of the night to pester him into playing.
Fuyuki bought a Substitute plush doll from the system shop and handed it over. "Here, go play with this!"
At first, the doll startled Gastly. But once it realized the thing was just a toy, it happily started playing and fell in love with it almost instantly.
Meanwhile, Squirtle's Sacred Ash seafood rice was finally done.
Fuyuki scooped it onto a special tray and set it in front of Squirtle.
"There you go. Eat up!"
Squirtle hugged the tray and dug in blissfully. The moment the flavor hit, its eyes welled up with happy tears.
"Squir... Squirtle..."
Fuyuki was so good to it. He hadn't rejected it for being weak like the other Trainers had. He even made food like this, just for it.
Squirtle had nothing to offer in return. But for its Trainer, it would train harder than ever. If it was weak, then it would put in ten times, a hundred times the effort of any other Pokemon.
Squirtle wasn't afraid of pain or exhaustion. The only thing it feared was Fuyuki giving up on it.
As the food settled, Squirtle suddenly felt its body growing hot.
"Squir..."
No... this wasn't in its head!
Its entire body was heating up, like a fire blazing inside it!
Squirtle panicked. It tried to hold it in, but its cheeks flushed bright red and its breathing turned ragged.
Fuyuki noticed something was wrong. "Squirtle?"
"Squir..."
No... it couldn't hold it anymore!
"SQUIRTLE!"
With a deafening cry, a ferocious jet of water erupted from Squirtle's mouth and blasted clean through a small tree.
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You can read up to chapter 114 on patreon.com/NiaXD.