After Officer Jenny rode away on her motorcycle, Chen Yan and Gengar sat on the blanket and ate the provisions Gengar had brought out.
Chen Yan took a bite of his bread, glanced at Weedle beside him, then broke off a piece and offered it to Weedle in his palm.
Weedle glanced at the bread in Chen Yan's hand, sniffed it, and turned away.
"Weee-"
Not tasty.
"You don't eat this? Then what do you want?"
Weedle lifted its head and pointed at the leaves on the tree.
"Weee-"
Leaves.
Leaves?
Right, bugs ate leaves in the first place.
Chen Yan looked up at the leaves overhead. What a tall tree...
"Geng?"
Want me to pick some?
Chen Yan suddenly remembered that his ten-pull that afternoon seemed to have included some kind of leaves.
He summoned the text window and looked at the Miracle Leaf in his inventory.
[Miracle Leaf: The favorite leaves of larval Bug-type Pokémon. They have an incredible taste and can improve the toughness, sharpness, and stickiness of String Shot. If the silk is already poisonous, they can also increase its toxicity.]
Reading the description, he figured Weedle would probably like them.
He tried withdrawing the leaves, only to find both his hands empty.
"The leaves? Where are my leaves? Did you swallow them?!"
After searching everywhere without finding them, Chen Yan seriously suspected that his cheat had swallowed his leaves.
[In your bag.]
"Oh."
Chen Yan got up, returned to the tent, and picked up his backpack. When he opened it, he discovered that the bag, which had been empty after he took out his filming equipment, was now packed with leaves.
Each leaf was as big as his palm, with striking purple veins.
"Can I put some back into storage and leave some out?"
With a flash of white light, the backpack became much lighter.
[900 retrieved.]
"Thank you."
After thanking it, Chen Yan carried his backpack out of the tent and sat on the blanket beneath the tree. Looking up at Gengar, who was picking tender young leaves, he called out:
"No need to pick any more. I've got some here."
Floating in midair, Gengar looked down at Chen Yan and scratched its big backside in confusion.
Hadn't he just gone to pick leaves?
Although Gengar didn't understand, it still obeyed Chen Yan, floated down, and sat beside Weedle. Weedle gazed at Chen Yan expectantly.
Chen Yan took a leaf out of his backpack, placed it in front of Weedle, and asked:
"Give it a try and see if you like it. If not, Gengar and I can pick some others."
Gengar: Were there leaves in the backpack before?
Gengar kept staring at the backpack. While Chen Yan's attention was on Weedle, it darted over and stuck its head inside.
There was a whole pile of leaves in there.
(ﾟ⊿ﾟ)ﾂ
There really were leaves?
Did I really remember wrong?
"Stop looking. Grandmother packed these for us ahead of time, just in case."
"Geng-"
Oh.
Watching Weedle happily nibble the leaf, Chen Yan nodded and set the backpack in front of it.
"It's full of them. Go ahead and eat. Tell me when you've finished."
"Weee-"
Okay.
I knew coming along with Chen Yan was the right decision!
I've never eaten leaves this delicious in my whole life!
While Weedle focused on stuffing itself, Chen Yan and Gengar went back to eating their provisions.
As he ate, Chen Yan suddenly remembered that he seemed to have enough View Count to exchange for items, so he opened the View Count shop.
He found that its stock wasn't much different from the items in the original games: evolution stones of various types, Pokémon items, and all sorts of Potions and daily necessities.
There were also some Technical Machines, along with a few locked items.
Chen Yan gave the shop a quick browse, then checked the prices.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Chen Yan suddenly choked on his sandwich and started coughing violently. Panicking, Gengar grabbed a bottle of water, pried his mouth open, shoved the bottle's opening inside, and poured the water down his throat.
"Glug-glug-"
Chen Yan kept slapping Gengar's hand, but Gengar paid him no mind. Only after emptying the entire bottle did it let him go.
"Are you trying to murder me?" Having narrowly survived, Chen Yan glared at Gengar.
"If I didn't choke to death, you'd have drowned me."
"Geng-"
You were choking! Besides, isn't this what you used to do to me? You even used a bucket this big back then...
Looking at Gengar's apparently sincere, apologetic expression, Chen Yan sneered.
Did this fatso really think he couldn't see the sly glint in its eyes?
The fatso sure knew how to hold a grudge!
"You got the blanket dirty. Remember to wash it later."
"Geng-"
Okay.
Weedle was eating its twelfth leaf.
Chen Yan continued browsing the View Count shop, inwardly cursing the price-gouging merchant.
"Why don't you just rob me?! You're charging me 1,800 View Count for one Fire Stone? 1,800! Do you know what it takes for me to earn that back?"
"That's 180,000 video views! Right now I only have... let me see, 4,511 View Count!"
"And what is this? You're charging 800 for one Big Root? And 18,000 for a Toxic Technical Machine?"
"Were you so poor in your last life that you went crazy? Is that why you've come to rob me in this one?"
After ranting for a while without getting a response, Chen Yan simply closed the text window.
Out of sight, out of mind.
After dinner, Gengar took the blanket off to wash it, while Chen Yan sat in the tent with Weedle and called Grandmother.
"Why didn't you take the ingredients with you?"
Grandmother sat on a wooden board with an adorable Growlithe lying in her lap. It was curiously watching Chen Yan on the screen.
"Gengar forgot."
Chen Yan shook his head. After he explained what had happened, Grandmother laughed.
"Then you'll go buy some in Twinleaf Town tomorrow?"
Chen Yan nodded, then lifted Weedle, which was still eating leaves, in front of the camera.
Weedle: ???
"Grandmother, look. Gengar and I have a new friend."
"Oh, a Weedle? How cute. It looks quite sturdy, too."
Grandmother smiled and greeted Weedle.
After Chen Yan introduced Grandmother to Weedle, it greeted her as well.
Later, Gengar returned from washing the blanket and chatted with Grandmother for a while before Chen Yan got ready to end the call.
"Awoo?"
When are you coming back?
Chen Yan paused, then smiled and said:
"Soon. Gengar and I will come back to play with you. Be good and listen to Grandmother, Growlithe."
"Awoo."
I will.
Growlithe wagged its tail happily.
After hanging up, Chen Yan opened PokéVideo and found that the video he had posted yesterday already had 68,000 views. No wonder he'd gained another 680 View Count.
Chen Yan skimmed the comments and found that many people were asking him to film more videos of himself interacting with Pokémon.
His videos all featured interactions with Pokémon and had a warm, cozy feel, which had attracted a large audience.
Some people were also asking him to start livestreaming soon.
Chen Yan grinned. You're kidding. Me, livestream? No way.
After scrolling past, he thought for a moment, scrolled back to that comment, and started typing:
"I've set off on a journey to gather footage. Upcoming videos will introduce you to more wild Pokémon, so stay tuned. As for livestreaming, unfortunately, I'm broke and can't afford the equipment. I'll think about it when I have money. Or if some kind soul wants to sponsor me, that could work, too."
After posting the comment, Chen Yan closed PokéVideo.
He was just about to go to sleep when a notification sounded. He opened it and found a private message from a fan.
Gholdengo Is Number One: You'll stream if you have the equipment?
Gengar Stop Stealing My Drumstick: Conditions out in the wild are rough. Let me save up a bit more first.
Gholdengo Is Number One: Location and phone number. It'll arrive tomorrow.
Chen Yan: ???
Huh? There really was a kind soul out there?
Chen Yan tentatively entered his location in Twinleaf Town and his phone number, then sent another message:
Equipment suitable for streaming outdoors will be really expensive, you know.
Gholdengo Is Number One: The Sinnoh Region, huh? Don't worry about that. Just wait for it tomorrow. I'll be waiting for your livestream.
With that, the other person went offline.
Chen Yan scratched his head. Were they just messing with me?
Still, Chen Yan didn't dwell on it. He'd find out tomorrow whether it was real.
"Geng-"
I've got the campfire going.
"Okay. Are you sleeping outside, or coming into the tent with me?"
"Geng-"
Outside.
Chen Yan looked into Gengar's eyes, smiled, and reached out to tug its cheeks.
"Thanks, Gengar."
"Geng-"
Hehe.
After turning off the lamp for Chen Yan, Gengar scooped up Weedle, which was still eating leaves, along with the backpack full of leaves.
Worn out from the day's events, Chen Yan fell into a deep sleep.
Outside the tent, Gengar sat up in the tree with Weedle beside it. Although its eyes were closed, it hadn't fallen fully asleep.
In the middle of the night.
A passing Trainer strolled down the road, listening to a horror story through his earphones.
"There's no way ghosts exist. Even if they did, Lopunny and I could send them flying."
The moment he finished speaking, he spotted an eerie blue-purple flame burning beside the road ahead.
His scalp prickled.
Then a pair of scarlet eyes lit up in the tree.
Along with that stare came faint gnawing sounds, like claws scraping across a blackboard. In the still night, they sounded utterly terrifying.
The sounds grew faster and faster, seemingly drawing closer.
The Trainer shuddered, then took off running.
"Aah! A ghost! Twinleaf Town is haunted!"
Up in the tree, Gengar and Weedle exchanged bewildered looks.
A ghost? Did he mean me?
Weedle: I don't know. (Munch, munch, munch.)
Before you continue