September 7th, the two-week vacation had come to an end, and Lorze was about to return to Hoenn with his Psychic-type Pokémon.
Accompanied by his beloved Pokémon, he stepped back into the bustling Lumiose City against the glow of the setting sun.
Before leaving the Kalos region, he figured he should go say hi to Professor Sycamore—getting more familiar with him might prove useful as a connection in the future, right?
To give his exhausted wives a day of rest, the flight was booked for two days later, so there was no rush right now.
Thus, flanked left and right by Mewtwo, Latias, Braixen, and Gardevoir, the young man arrived at the reception hall of the grand laboratory, looking enviable beyond belief.
A boy wearing an ill-fitting lab coat happened to pass by and greeted the young man a bit awkwardly, "Mr. Lorze!? Hello..."
"Good afternoon, Alain. Where is Professor Sycamore?"
"In the backyard."
"Thanks~"
The boy Alain cast a rather eccentric look at Lorze.
Why were all the Pokémon following him female? Is this okay? This is not okay! A man should be more masculine, like raising a Charizard or something!
And that Braixen, it's not that there's any other issue with her, it's just that...
—What kind of Pokémon wears magical girl clothes!!
If Lorze heard that, he would definitely sneer at the boy's ignorance: None of your business, kid, go play somewhere else.
Navigating familiar territory, he arrived at Sycamore's backyard. It was still a scene of extraordinary liveliness, and the group of Pokémon didn't deliberately avoid Braixen anymore.
Because when she wasn't speaking, she looked like an absolute beautiful girl, plus that gorgeous pink outfit made it so even her old acquaintances couldn't recognize her right away.
However, Braixen herself had no desire to provoke anyone else either, because flirting with her favorite Trash Master was much more fun!
"Mm-hmm, no problem... it's just... alright, see you."
At the entrance of the backyard, the tall man in the white lab coat was holding his phone, muttering to himself like this.
Professor Sycamore seemed to be on a call? It was just that his face showed a mix of happiness and worry, which inevitably made people curious.
After quietly waiting for the Professor to finish his call, Lorze stepped forward with great familiarity.
"Professor Sycamore, long time no see!"
"Ah... it's Lord Lorze, long time no see. How have you been lately?"
"I've had a very wonderful time in the Kalos region, and I also encountered some important partners."
Lorze patted Braixen's head and large ears. The latter was infatuatedly reaching out her fluffy arms and little paw pads to hug his waist.
[Purr, purr~ Trash Master, I love you...]
"Since we are leaving in a few days, I came to say goodbye today! Especially regarding Braixen, this girl has grown up very healthy, so please don't worry."
Sycamore's gaze was also drawn to the Braixen beside the young man: the creature was clinging to Lord Lorze with a bewitching look on her face, swaying her large tail, looking exactly like a charming little succubus.
Although he couldn't understand the meaning of her cries, based on Sycamore's years of research experience, the rise and fall of that tone and her behavior were characteristics this type of Pokémon only exhibited when facing a mate, right?
She clearly wasn't like this the last time he saw Braixen, right? Just what exactly did Lord Lorze do...
Lorze: That's right, I fucked her.
Never mind, at least physically she has really grown quite well, so he would just trust Lord Lorze for now.
"Although it's a bit presumptuous, I saw you were both happy and worried while on the phone just now? I'm a bit curious."
"Ah, it's like this. I received a call from an acquaintance who said they encountered very supernatural phenomena when purchasing a vacant house... so they wanted to ask me to investigate. I thought there might be new clues regarding Mega Evolution research there, but the laboratory really can't spare any manpower right now. It's a happy kind of trouble, isn't it?"
So it's the classic staple program of the Pokémon world—a haunted house.
Lorze rubbed his chin with great interest: Supernatural phenomena, huh...
In the Pokémon world, "atheism" didn't really work. When supernatural phenomena appeared in a small-scale area, there were generally two possibilities: either Ghost-type Pokémon or Psychic-type Pokémon.
Psychic-type Pokémon!
He got excited as if he had searched up a keyword. Isn't that exactly the field we specialize in?
Even if it wasn't, it didn't matter. He could just treat it as experiencing a free haunted house, and using it to level up his wives wouldn't be bad either.
"Ah, I have an idea! Professor Sycamore, how about letting me go investigate it?"
"Ah, ah... but I don't have anything here to reward Lord Lorze with."
"That's perfectly fine. Just consider it a thank-you gift for letting me catch Braixen from you. This girl is a true priceless treasure to me."
Of course, all four Pokémon were the same to him. It was just that Braixen was obtained from Professor Sycamore, so he mentioned it in passing.
Unintentionally teased by the young man, Braixen shyly twisted her body, even causing the two branches stuck in her tail to creak.
Oh my~ The Trash Master's words are making my heart and "down there" itch so much Hehehe~
The highly enthusiastic young man in front of him gave Sycamore a jump. Although he didn't understand why he suddenly got so excited, but...
Lord Lorze's strength was trustworthy. Leaving it to him to try seemed like a good idea, right?
"Then I'll leave it in your hands, Lord Lorze!"
"No problem!"
...
"Whoosh!"
Under the moonlight, the red jet-like airplane came to a sudden halt in the outskirts of Lumiose City, where a quaint mansion sat quietly in the woods.
Originally, one would think Lorze would rest and wait until the next day to investigate, but that very night, taking advantage of the darkness, he rode Latias and brought everyone to the commissioned residence. You could truly say speed is of the essence.
Unfortunately, Gardevoir was too big and could no longer sit on Latias like she did when she was a Kirlia, so she had to be unhappily recalled into her Poké Ball by Lorze to rest.
Lorze was also quite regretful about this. He was still thinking about recreating the famous scene from Titanic, it's just that...
Perhaps Latias would have a problem with that.
Mewtwo, escorting by their side, shrewdly rolled her eyes: Something's wrong! Very wrong! This kid is probably...
Perhaps there's going to be a new member added to the family again. Tsk, tsk, tsk~
The bright moonlight quietly illuminated a tranquil corner of the mansion, the mottling of age looking even more weathered in the dim view.
"Sou~"
Gardevoir could finally come out of her ball. She couldn't wait to press her twin peaks against Lorze's back and hug him tightly—they hadn't seen each other for a few minutes, and she missed him very much!
"Hehehe~ Gardevoir-chan"
Reaching out to touch the stone brick wall, this mansion looked quite old, very suitable for being haunted.
However, before pushing open the front doors, Lorze threw on a cloak and put on a ridiculously hilarious mask—"Persona!"
[Why did you suddenly change into this outfit?]
"Ahem, isn't this place haunted? So I was thinking... as long as we are scarier than the ghosts, the problem will be solved~"
Raising an eyebrow, Mewtwo shrugged: This kid has never acted normal since day one, just get used to it.
"Creaaak—"
As the heavy doors of the ancient mansion were pushed open, a pair of snow-white cat ears hiding in the shadows twitched...