Uncle Sam and Aunt Anna

"My precious daughter!"

A middle-aged man, even darker than Lulina's naturally wheat-colored skin—practically heading toward soy sauce black—jumped off the boat and charged toward her. The burly man stood around six foot one, his muscles knotted all over his body. It was hard to imagine someone like him shouting something so sappy. That was right—he was Lulina's father, the captain of Hulbury Third Fishing Fleet: Uncle Sam.

"Dad, could you not be so mushy?"

Lulina rubbed her forehead helplessly, but she did not embarrass her father and silently endured his hug.

"Uncle Sam, welcome back."

After Sam finally finished hugging her, Blake stepped forward to greet him as well.

"Good lad, you've gotten taller again! You're almost catching up to me. At this rate, you might end up taller than your dad! Hahahahahaha!"

Uncle Sam laughed as he spoke to Blake. At six foot one, he looked at Blake, who was not much shorter than him now, and grinned as he slapped Blake on the shoulder. The heavy blow nearly knocked Blake to the ground.

"Haha, maybe."

Blake discreetly rubbed his shoulder. He was indeed tall; at fourteen, he was already nearly five foot eleven. Reaching six foot three as an adult was not impossible. Still, unlike Uncle Sam, who had forged his body into a weapon, Blake was more the lanky type. He worked out a little, but perhaps because of his physique, he could build some muscle yet could never bulk up. All he could say was that the genes from his father's side were truly strong. His mother's genes had done their best just turning his extremely fair skin into something closer to bronze.

"Good lad, come over for dinner tonight. I caught a real big one this time! Hahahahahaha!"

Uncle Sam said excitedly.

"Sure, sure. Definitely."

Blake nodded. He only hoped Uncle Sam would still be in such a good mood when he found out that Lulina would be staying at Blake's house tomorrow.

"Alright, you two go have fun. I still need to unload the catch. If the fish and shrimp stay on the boat too long, they won't be fresh anymore."

Sam smiled, greeted the two of them once more, then turned and jumped back aboard the ship. Using every censored swear word imaginable, he directed everyone to work. It could not be helped; fishermen were like that. They were not used to listening to anything too refined.

"Honestly, Dad always pulls this routine whenever he comes back. Forget it. Considering how hard he works at sea, I won't hold it against him."

Lulina said, shaking out the hair her father had tousled.

"True. Uncle Sam is busy and exhausted, after all."

Blake said with a smile as he watched catches of every size being unloaded from the boat.

When Blake had first arrived in this world, he had worried that he would not be able to eat meat. After all, he could not really accept eating Pokémon. Later, though, he learned that ordinary animals still existed in this world. The varieties and numbers of Pokémon were not enough to keep the entire ecosystem running normally, so regular flora and fauna remained. In fact, because Pokémon were such powerful predators, ordinary animals in this world had extremely high reproduction rates. It was precisely through that powerful fertility that ordinary animals had secured a place in this world.

However, in recent years, the number of wild animals had been declining year by year. Most meat in ordinary diets now came from livestock raised on various farms. As for wild animals, special protected reserves for ordinary wildlife had been established, keeping them away from human society and Pokémon so they could live their own lives.

"Yeah. Come on, stop standing around here. Let's head back to the shop first and clean up. I think the TV's still on."

Lulina grabbed Blake and ran toward the tourist area.

That evening, Blake arrived at Lulina's home carrying a bundle of charms. They were for Uncle Sam and his crew. In truth, their family's charms were mostly sold to sailors. Many crewmen going out to sea wished they could wear charms all over their bodies, and they would pile them up on their ships and by their beds as well. Although the charms his family made really did have special effects, even Blake felt that this was a little excessive.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Coming! Oh! Blake, you silly boy. You came over, and you still brought gifts?"

It was Lulina's mother, Anna, who opened the door. She was wearing an apron and holding a spatula, clearly in the middle of cooking.

"It's nothing, just some charms. Uncle Sam should be able to use them. Besides, who comes over to mooch a meal empty-handed?"

Blake scratched his head and smiled.

"Gastly, Gastly. (ﾉ∀｀)"

Gastly floated beside him, closing his eyes and nodding solemnly, as though it had taught Blake everything.

"Hahahaha, Gastly is as amusing as ever. Come on in. Your Uncle Sam caught a huge fish this time. If you didn't come, you wouldn't get to eat it."

Aunt Anna laughed at the pair's joking around. Since she knew them so well, she did not have the usual person's fear of Ghost-type Pokémon. She had long since become immune to it.

Blake changed into indoor shoes and entered the house. He saw Lulina lying on the sofa with headphones on, playing on her phone, while Uncle Sam watched TV.

"Yo! You're here! Sit, sit! Hahahahaha! Tonight, us men are having a drink!"

The moment Uncle Sam saw Blake enter, he stood up and said that.

"Um, Uncle Sam, I'm not old enough to drink yet."

Blake scratched his head helplessly. This uncle always wanted him to drink, but while most things in the Galar Region were negotiable, alcohol was tightly regulated. Drinking before the age of eighteen was strictly forbidden, and getting caught meant severe punishment.

"Seriously, why do you care so much? Fine, have a seat first."

Uncle Sam curled his lip in disappointment. Fishermen like them drank from childhood to adulthood, so who cared about laws? But since Blake had put it that way, Sam could not insist on forcing alcohol down his throat. Otherwise, his daughter would probably stop speaking to him, and his wife definitely would not let him into their bed. That would be far too much of a loss.

"What are you watching?"

Blake laughed awkwardly, sat beside Lulina, and asked.

"A friend online. She said she joined the Gym Challenge this year with her childhood friend, though she's only accompanying him."

As she spoke, Lulina showed Blake her phone. The two were chatting enthusiastically; during those few seconds, two or three new messages popped up.

"That online friend called Little Yamper?"

Blake had not caught a clear look at the phone before it flashed away, but he knew Lulina had an online best friend—Little Yamper.

"That's her. But apparently, her childhood friend has no sense of direction. They've gotten lost without realizing it several times already. They barely made it to Motostoke before the tournament began."

As Lulina spoke, she could not help laughing when she imagined the two of them running around the Wild Area like headless flies.

But Blake felt a jolt run through his mind. Yamper, childhood friend, getting lost, and Lulina's best friend—wasn't that person's identity obvious?

Wasn't she Sophia, Professor Magnolia's granddaughter and the future Pokémon Professor? That fit perfectly. With Leon's terrible sense of direction, if he had set off alone, a whole year probably would not have been enough for him to clear all eight Gyms.

"Alright! Stop chatting! Dinner's ready!"

Just as the two were about to talk more, Aunt Anna's shout came along with the fragrance of food.

"Coming!"

The three answered and headed toward the dining room. The table was covered with all kinds of seafood specialties—pan-fried, deep-fried, stir-fried, braised, and stewed. Beside it was a smaller table piled with food as well, prepared for the Pokémon.

"Dinner time, dinner time! Go wash your hands properly!"

Aunt Anna, the head of the household, stood at the bathroom door with her hands on her hips and gave the order.