Their First Night in the Wild

"Hey, haven't you two had enough yet?" Chen Yan finally couldn't stand it anymore. He looked at Gengar and asked.

Gengar glanced back at Chen Yan, then swung the thin bamboo stick forward hard, flinging the Weedle hanging from it into the air before pulling the Pokémon back with the springy String Shot.

Over and over, Gengar played with Weedle like a yo-yo, having the time of his life.

Weedle was having just as much fun. Being flung back and forth felt like riding a swing. What a blast!

"Gengar?"

What's wrong? Want a turn?

Gengar even generously offered Chen Yan the thin bamboo stick with Weedle hanging from it.

"I... you..." Chen Yan stared at the stick being offered to him, momentarily speechless.

"You two really are a match made in trouble." Chen Yan rolled his eyes at the two Pokémon, who had become best buddies in less than half a day.

As they continued down the road, Chen Yan kept his camera hanging around his neck and searched for Pokémon to photograph. With his level 5 photography skill and his enhanced camera, he always managed to seize the moment and capture some little detail.

There was a dopey-looking Bibarel gazing sadly at their group, a Burmy hanging from a tree and studying him curiously, and a Starly perched in a tree, lazily preening its feathers...

"Damn it! Why are these Pokémon all so cute? Is that a Pachirisu? The white devil! I want to pet it so badly! It's so fluffy. I bet it'd feel amazing to cuddle."

"Huh? Buneary? This is my first time seeing one. So cute! I want to catch them all..."

"Seviper? After you, after you."

Seviper turned to look at Chen Yan, then focused on Gengar beside him, seemingly sizing up whether it could win a fight.

After a while, Seviper looked away. It bared its fangs to scare Chen Yan, then slithered past him and disappeared into the roadside bushes.

Watching Seviper vanish, Chen Yan frowned. "That's strange. Seviper shouldn't normally show up on a busy road, should they?"

At the sound of flapping wings, Chen Yan looked up and spotted several Staraptor searching for something overhead.

He blinked, then called out, "Hey!"

The Staraptor stopped in midair and looked at Chen Yan. Without a word, he pointed at the bushes beside him.

The Staraptor looked that way for a moment. Their keen eyes picked out Seviper, and they immediately beat their wings and gave chase.

Chen Yan deliberately stayed behind. Only when a scream rang out from the forest a short while later did he nod in satisfaction.

That's what you get for scaring me!

Having gotten what he wanted, Chen Yan set off down the road again.

Sometimes, he took Gengar and Weedle to the roadside and parted the bushes, scaring off two Pachirisu enjoying a secret rendezvous.

Sometimes, he and Gengar belted out a song to the accompaniment of several Kricketot, only to be chased all over the place by a few Pidgey.

Sometimes, he played rock-paper-scissors with Aipom while Gengar sneaked around behind them and stole half their Berries, then they bolted.

Perhaps it was because he now had Poké Balls, or perhaps it was because he had officially begun his journey, but every Pokémon Chen Yan saw made him want to throw a Poké Ball and catch it.

Yet even as they approached Twinleaf Town, Chen Yan hadn't thrown a single Poké Ball aside from the one he had used to catch Weedle.

He felt that catching a Pokémon meant taking responsibility for it. In the games, he liked powerful Pokémon, but after coming to this world and spending several months with Gengar, Growlithe, and the others, Chen Yan had come to truly understand that Pokémon had feelings of their own.

He shouldn't confine them to Poké Balls forever just because of a passing fancy. Pokémon ought to be free.

That was why, after catching Gengar and Weedle, he had first asked whether they wanted to travel the world with him.

Chen Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at the buildings faintly visible in the distance. Twinleaf Town was right there.

He stood at the roadside with Gengar floating beside him and Weedle sprawled on his head, its considerable weight forcing him to lower his head.

He had been to Twinleaf Town many times. While Grandmother was in the hospital, he had cycled between the house and Twinleaf Town every day. By all rights, he should have been completely used to the place.

Yet now, something felt different. Twinleaf Town, just ahead, would be the first town he passed through after officially setting out on his journey.

"Gengar."

"Gengar?"

What's up?

"Let's not go into Twinleaf Town today. How about we camp nearby for the night?" Chen Yan turned toward Gengar and continued:

"This is our first trip, and our first time camping in the wild. I've never spent a night outdoors before, so I want to give it a try and get a taste of what life in the wild will be like."

Gengar nodded casually.

"Gengar-"

Whatever you say.

"What about you, Weedle?"

"Weedle."

Fine by me, too.

Weedle was already thoroughly accustomed to the wild.

That was where its kind lived, after all.

"All right, we'll spend tonight here and head into Twinleaf Town tomorrow. We'll stay there for a day, rest up, take a hot shower, and replenish our supplies. The day after tomorrow, we'll leave Twinleaf Town and continue our trip."

After laying out the plan, Chen Yan found a spot beside the road with clear traces of an old campfire nearby. He asked Gengar to take out the tent, and they pitched it together.

Someone had probably camped at the spot Chen Yan chose not long ago. Trainers in this world were like that. Not just trainers, either-traveling trainers, breeders, and others would pitch tents wherever suited their needs to get through the long nights.

Of course, some hardy souls didn't bother with tents and simply slept under the open sky.

This was quite common in this world. As long as you didn't obstruct traffic or disrupt other people's lives, you were even allowed to pitch a tent in a city.

Everyone knew that nine out of ten trainers were poor. It was perfectly normal for them to be unable to afford hotels or inns.

Under those circumstances, you could find people pitching tents in all sorts of unexpected places.

On mountains, deep in forests, beside lakes, in caves...

After pitching the tent, Chen Yan sent Gengar into the forest behind them to collect firewood and put together a simple cooking setup. He borrowed some String Shot from Weedle, wrapped it around the pot taken from Grandmother's house, and suspended it over the wood.

The hanging cooking setup, one Chen Yan was very familiar with, was complete.

No! Wait!

"Gengar, where did this pot come from?"

"Gengar-"

I took it from Grandmother's house.

"I know you took it from Grandmother's house, but if you've brought her pot along, what is she supposed to cook with?"

Gengar: "..."

ε(ﾟ◇ﾟﾉ)ﾉ

"And where's your straw hat?"

"Gengar-"

It was too hot, so I put it away.

"Tell me honestly. How much other stuff did you take from Grandmother's house?"

Gengar blinked, then took out everything he had swiped from Grandmother and laid it in front of Chen Yan.

A palm-leaf fan, a Gengar water bottle, a pillow, a quilt, a power strip, a little stool...

Chen Yan: "..."

Great. Gengar practically cleaned out Grandmother's house.

"Can you tell me why you brought the power strip? Where are we supposed to find electricity out here? And why did you bring this juicer?"

"Gengar..."

For juice... It's tasty.

"...We're in the wild! There's no electricity! Why didn't you bring the fridge while you were at it?"

"Gengar-"

That was too big. It wouldn't fit. But I brought this.

Gengar reached behind himself and pulled out a microwave.

Chen Yan was utterly speechless.

Noticing Chen Yan's expression, Gengar realized he might have done something wrong. He sat on the ground and lowered his head.

"I'll call Grandmother later and explain. It's fine. It's getting late, so let's cook something and eat first."

Seeing how pitiful Gengar looked, Chen Yan couldn't bring himself to scold him, so he changed the subject.

"Take out the ingredients Grandmother prepared for us and wash them. Once you're back, I'll make you something good."

"Gengar-"

Gengar happily got to his feet, ready to take the ingredients to the nearby stream and wash them.

When Chen Yan noticed Gengar still standing beside him, he looked up curiously. Assuming Gengar was afraid to go alone, he was about to offer to come along.

Instead, Gengar grinned at him, scratched his big backside, blinked, and gave a guilty little cry:

"Gengar-"

I... think... I forgot to bring them...

Chen Yan: ...

Chen Yan clapped a hand to his forehead in anguish. "You even brought the microwave, but you forgot the ingredients Grandmother prepared for us?"

"Gengar-"

But I brought other food.

Gengar took out all the snacks Grandmother had prepared for him.

Chen Yan felt even worse.

"Are you saying you brought a bunch of appliances we can't use and all the snacks Grandmother bought you, but left behind the ingredients?"

"Gengar-"

We can... share these.

Gengar held two fingers in front of his chest and twiddled them, letting out a quiet cry.

"Ah, forget it. We'll eat these. At least there's some travel rations in there. We'll restock tomorrow. Hopefully, we have enough money."

Chen Yan sighed and said, ultimately unable to bring himself to scold Gengar.

"Gengar-"

Hehe.

A motorcycle roared, then stopped nearby.

"Chen Yan?"