Chapter 85: Empty-Nest Father, Mr. Lu
In the living room, Garchomp was chewing on a Dragon Fang with a loud crunch.
A blonde beauty raised her gray eyes and quietly gazed at Lu Ye.
Lu Ye sighed helplessly. "Alright, alright, I'll go make dinner now!"
Cynthia smiled faintly, brushing her golden bangs aside. "I can help too."
"No way, you can't take housework away from Haunter." Lu Ye's face was serious. "It'll get upset!"
"Hauunter!" Haunter nodded solemnly, its face rigid with seriousness.
Cynthia covered her mouth and chuckled. "Then what should I do?"
"You can play with the little one." Lu Ye's expression was pained. "And remember, you can't bury your face in its tummy. I haven't gotten a chance to do that yet!"
"Eevee?! (｀皿´)ﾉ"
Eevee dived toward Lu Ye's chest, but he easily picked it up by the scruff of its neck. Its tiny legs flailed in the air.
"Eevee Eevee! (〃＞皿＜)"
Lu Ye grinned smugly. Heh, if I can dodge Haunter's Lick, why would I be afraid of your tackle?
Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, Eevee bit his hand.
Lu Ye: ?
He braced himself for the pain, but instead, it felt more like a playful nibble.
"Eevee!" Startled, Eevee thought it had bitten too hard. Seeing Lu Ye unharmed, its little face turned red.
"I'll take care of both Pokémon." Cynthia smiled. "Don't worry about us."
"Huh?"
"Aren't you going out to buy groceries?" Cynthia blinked. "Or… should I come with you?"
Lu Ye coughed. "That won't be necessary; I can handle it myself." Cynthia's attention-grabbing presence was too high. If the media weren't strictly banned from bothering them, news of them living together would be on the front page by tonight.
With Cynthia watching over the two Pokémon, grocery shopping would be easier alone.
"Thanks for helping out." Lu Ye nodded. "What do you want to eat?"
The deadly question struck again. Cynthia rested her chin on her hand, frowning as she pondered. 5 minutes later, she finally hesitated and said, "A-anything?"
Don't answer a question with a question!
Lu Ye chuckled awkwardly. "I'll decide then."
"Okay…" Cynthia nodded lightly.
Just as he was about to leave, a sense of unease crossed Lu Ye's mind. Considering past experiences, he rarely left his Pokémon home alone anymore—too afraid they'd wreck the place. But with Cynthia here... they wouldn't destroy the house, right?
"Should be fine!" Lu Ye nodded to himself and muttered, "We're out of groceries, so I need to pick the ingredients carefully..."
Cynthia was alone in the house. Although she had stayed overnight, this was the first time she carefully observed the home of a man. The decor was clean and tidy, even the blanket on the couch was neatly folded.
Remembering the morning, when she had sleepily opened the door in her pajamas, Cynthia's cheeks flushed slightly.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting a glow over the green foliage outside. The cicadas buzzed noisily, contrasting the quiet within the room. Cynthia smiled softly, her deep gray eyes turning gentle.
"I should help him as much as I can."
"Hauunter!" The diligent housework assistant, Haunter, had made the place sparkle. Tossing aside the broom, it dusted its claws on its apron and took out a set of notes, grinning at Cynthia.
"What's this?" Cynthia took the document, reading the bold black title with mild surprise. "'Toxic Insights'?"
"Hauunter!" Haunter nodded, smiling shyly.
"These must be Teacher Lu's training notes." Cynthia nodded thoughtfully. "Impressive insights... No wonder Teacher Lu chose to train Haunter. At least in the realm of Poison-types, these Toxic techniques were at an Elite-level standard."
"I'm not great with Toxic strategies, so I can't help you with this."
Seeing Haunter's disappointed face, Cynthia tucked her golden hair behind her ear and smiled gently. "But, I can teach you other moves."
Haunter blinked, its eyes lighting up with excitement. "Hauunter!"
"Consider it part of my thanks." Cynthia tied her golden hair into a sleek ponytail, donned her sunglasses, and smiled. "Let's go, Haunter. Time for some training."
"Eevee!" Eevee dashed out anxiously, calling out in a panic.
Cynthia smiled. "Eevee can come too."
"Eevee! (✪ω✪)"
At the supermarket, Lu Ye picked up a plastic-wrapped green pepper and placed it in his cart. His eyelid twitched, and he sighed deeply. "Why do I have such a strong sense of unease? That shouldn't be... these days, luck's been on my side. I'm probably overthinking."
He shook his head, pushing aside the worry and tallying his gains from the Master Tournament. Aside from the hard-fought tie with Lance and gaining favor with Garchomp by using the Dragon Fang, he'd also earned Return and a Quick Claw. Honestly, they weren't worth much, which pained Lu Ye.
The system had rewarded him with two items: one of Legendary quality and the other of Epic quality. He claimed them immediately.
The Epic item was a pale green berry covered in small spikes.
[Scaleseed Berry: Contains the power of the sky, enhances a Pokémon's speed. (Based on the Salak fruit.)]
It also unlocked in the system store for 500 BP, the same price as the other special berries. According to the description, Scaleseed Berries were sweet and sour, edible by humans.
Lu Ye's face turned strange. "Feels like... another snack option." Naturally, this snack was for Eevee and Haunter. He wasn't so poor that he'd steal food from his Pokémon.
The Legendary item, however, excited him. His hands trembled as he tapped the golden card in the system interface. The screen shook.
[Wow! A legend!]
[Black Glasses: Strange-looking glasses that boost the power of Dark-type moves. (Visually identical to regular sunglasses.)]
Lu Ye's eyelid twitched. They looked suspiciously like the sunglasses Squirtle wore in the anime... Was the system just handing him random shades? He couldn't sell them. Telling people they powered up Dark-types would make him look foolish.
"Fine, Haunter will like these." He turned the punk-style shades over in his hands, sighing. "If not, I'll wear them as sunglasses and save a few hundred bucks..."
His cart was now full. Lu Ye had decided on Japanese curry—something Cynthia should enjoy. After 2 hours, he finally returned home, bags in hand.
"I'm back!"
But the house was empty. On the table lay a pink sticky note, scented and written in elegant handwriting: "I took Haunter and Eevee for training. Be back soon."
How soon is 'soon'?!
Dinner time was approaching... They'd gone off to train, of all things, while he was out.
Like an empty-nest father, Lu Ye sank onto the sofa, glancing at the bags of groceries with a long sigh.