Gengar, the School's Most Popular Student

The next morning, the streets outside had already quieted down, and the bustling Kabukicho had once again fallen into a brief rest.

The street sanitation department's Alolan Muk and Garbodor were organizing the Grimer and Trubbish to clean the streets.

They should have been natural enemies, yet they got along surprisingly well here. And because their living conditions were good, they were unexpectedly clean, leaving behind no smell while working.

Xingye got up early, tidied himself up, opened the front door for some ventilation, then went to make breakfast for Gengar and Cyclizar, who still had not woken up. Those two really knew how to cause trouble.

One had learned Levitate and kept flying around the room without getting tired at all, while the other played along and kept chasing it around the room...

Breakfast would be the same as yesterday. He would go to the commercial district after school in the afternoon to buy some groceries. He had made money yesterday, so naturally, he had to improve his quality of life.

There was nowhere that required him to spend a huge amount of money. Xingye had never really liked saving money, a habit he had developed long ago. He did not need to think about getting married or buying a house, so he had never held down a stable job and just traveled everywhere.

But now that he had Pokémon, he knew he needed to make some changes.

Still, it had only been two months. Changing habits formed over more than twenty years was difficult, but at least he was trying.

While waiting for the water to boil, he returned to the living room and glanced at the Sparkling Stone on his desk. He had left it there after studying it last night.

Unfortunately, he had learned nothing. He had even asked Boss Slowking about it yesterday, but the other party said he had seen one before and that it was just a strange stone...

"I wonder how this thing is supposed to become a Z-Ring. I have no clue... Should I find someone to help research it? I remember the island king should have that technology..."

The thought appeared in Xingye's mind, but he quickly set it aside. He did not like working with others. That was simply part of his personality, and he did not have a single human friend.

"Forget it. Taking things slowly is fine. Developing Odd Jobs is what matters most right now!"

After a while, once he had finished breakfast, he rode Cyclizar to Smile Restaurant. Nae-chan was back, so it would be good to say hello.

Gardevoir was dressed as usual in a high-slit cheongsam. When she saw him arrive, she thought he had come to help again.

After all, breakfast only had so many possibilities, and there was no way to make anything fancy out of it. This was a Chinese restaurant, and its breakfast menu was fixed.

Xingye had learned everything long ago. After that, he had mainly been getting to know the ingredients of this world, but he had basically mastered those by now as well.

After that, he came every day under the pretense of helping out, freeloading breakfast. In truth, he was not needed for any of it. Gardevoir knew, but she never refused him.

"Nae?"

Gardevoir looked at Little Gengar floating in midair. For the first time, her lazy expression became alert, and her eyes watched it with delight. She had fallen for it at first sight.

"This is Nae-chan. Say hello."

"Gengar~"

"Nae~"

Gardevoir reached out and caught the drifting Gengar. Although she had long passed the age of liking dolls, she still could not resist cute things, especially when it was such a cute little girl.

Xingye and Cyclizar exchanged a glance at the sight. Their little one seemed unexpectedly popular...

After saying goodbye to Nae-chan, he took Little Gengar, who was holding a pile of candy, and rode Cyclizar to school. Winter break would begin this weekend, and he would have plenty of free time then, but he still had to attend school.

What was unusual was that they did not run into Meowth and the others when leaving the Drifter District. Whenever that bunch disappeared for several days, they were usually holding back some big move. He only needed to keep an eye out over the next few days.

It was almost nine by the time they arrived at school without any hurry. After Xingye got off, Cyclizar ran off to play by itself, while he carried Gengar upstairs. He was usually the last one to arrive...

Everyone else in the class had already arrived. Since class had not started yet, the room was noisy with people chatting about all sorts of random things.

Selene had long grown used to it and did not bother with them. She turned around, rested her hands on the desk, and asked Lillie, who was reading in front of her, "Winter break is almost here. Do you have any plans for the end of the year?"

"Hmm..."

Lillie looked up and fell into thought. After a long while, she replied with a smile, "Nothing's decided yet. I'll probably do the same as every other year and go to Malie City Library to read and study. It's not like I can go out into the wilderness."

Selene sighed softly upon hearing that, seeming to understand the reason, but she did not say it outright. Then she smiled and asked, "Do you want to come to my house for New Year's? My mom really likes you. She'll definitely be very happy if you come over!"

At her words and invitation, an expression of wanting to agree flashed across Lillie's face. There even seemed to be a trace of envy in her eyes, but in the end, she gently shook her head. "No, I still have to go home..."

"..."

Selene knew Lillie was hiding something, but even as her friend, she could not directly ask if Lillie did not want to bring it up. All she could do was comfort her from time to time, so she was about to change the subject.

But at that moment, surprised voices suddenly rang out in the class, especially from Mallow and several of the other girls.

Selene and Lillie instinctively looked over and saw Xingye, still covered in injuries, slowly walk in through the classroom door while holding a pink Gengar doll wearing a dress.

The unpleasantness from over a month ago had long passed for them. Normally, they treated Xingye like a passerby they happened to cross paths with and paid him no attention. But now, it was impossible not to notice him.

"This guy finally..."

Selene simply could not understand it. A guy who looked intimidating at first glance was carrying a pink doll when he entered. The contrast was so strong that she did not even know where to begin criticizing him.

But Lillie's expression was different. Her attention was completely fixed on Gengar as she murmured, "What a cute doll..."

Xingye was the same as always, continuing to ignore them. Under everyone's gaze, he returned to his seat, but he did not immediately go to sleep.

He intended to use his free time at school to train Gengar through reading. The textbooks contained material about moves. This world did not have convenient things like TMs, so everything had to be learned bit by bit.

His first targets were the farmer's trio of Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch. Then Focus Punch, Drain Punch, and Mega Punch could not be left out either. After a full combo of punches, who could withstand that?

"This feels a little like random training, but not making it punch with such good talent would be a waste. Still, I'll take it slowly... Hm?"

Xingye came back to his senses and noticed that Lillie in the seat ahead was staring at Little Gengar, who was curiously observing its surroundings on the desk. She looked like she wanted to touch it but did not dare.

"What are you doing?"

Hearing his voice, Lillie came back to herself. Looking somewhat nervous, she asked quietly, "Um... Can I borrow this doll and hold it for a bit?"

"..."

Xingye silently glanced at her. His first instinct was to refuse, but then he suddenly remembered what had happened at the claw machine shop before. After hesitating for a moment, he agreed.

"You can, but don't bully it."

"Thank you!"

It was unclear whether Lillie understood what he meant, but under the envious gazes of the other students, she picked up Little Gengar.

However, the moment she picked it up, she noticed something strange and asked curiously, "This doll's dress doesn't look factory-made. Was it sewn by hand?"

"I spent half the night making it myself."

"Your craftsmanship is so good!"

"It's nothing special. Don't flatter me. I know my own limits..."

Xingye answered casually, but to Selene and the others, it was as though they had witnessed something unbelievably rare.

Being able to hold a normal conversation was one thing, but sewing a doll dress by hand? Did this old man actually have that skill too?

Lillie's attention remained on the doll, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. It was obvious that she truly liked it.

But when she saw Gengar curiously blink after being touched, she froze. Then she quickly blinked as well.

"Huh?"

"Gengar~"

Seeing that, Xingye suddenly grinned smugly. "My Gengar is cute, right? It looks like a doll, but it's a real Pokémon. So don't squeeze it too hard. It'll hit you."

"!!!"

Upon hearing that the doll was a real Gengar, Lillie's expression changed drastically. Her hair practically stood on end, and an utterly absurd expression appeared on her face. Then her body suddenly stiffened as though she had turned to stone.

"???"

Xingye was startled by the sudden situation. Selene and the other students hurriedly shouted, "Lillie can't touch Pokémon!"

"Huh?"