Why forge a bond?

"Just woke up, Gengar?"

"Geng..."

Still bleary-eyed, Gengar took the ingredients from Fang Yan.

Only after gently tugging at the corners of Gengar's mouth did Fang Yan realize that Gengar's lips naturally curved into a smile.

"Come on, let's go inside. I have a cookbook. Take a look in a bit, and I'll make whatever you want to eat. How does that sound?"

"Gengar!"

Gengar cried out happily.

Fang Yan sat on the chair by the counter, and Gengar filled a glass of water and brought it to him.

Then Gengar carried the ingredients into the kitchen and put them away before floating back to Fang Yan's side, gazing at him with bright, glistening eyes.

Seeing that expression on Gengar's face, Fang Yan actually found Gengar adorable.

He couldn't help tugging at Gengar's cheeks with both hands. "How can there be a Pokémon as adorable as Gengar?!"

"Geng-ớ₃ờ"

After playing around with Gengar for a while, Fang Yan took out the gifts his great-aunt had given him.

A very large cookbook and an item catalog.

Gengar looked a little stunned at the two books that had suddenly appeared in Fang Yan's hands.

"Gen... Gengar?"

How could he do that too?

Immediately afterward, Gengar reached into its own mouth and pulled out a Gengar watering can.

Fang Yan stared, dumbfounded, at the Gengar watering can Gengar had pulled out of its mouth.

The human and Pokémon simply stared blankly at each other.

(Note: Gengar can connect to another dimension.)

"Well, look at you. You've got cheats on too, huh?"

Fang Yan shook his head, then turned his attention to the two books in his hands.

He handed the cookbook to Gengar. Gengar opened it, and a whole array of attractive food photos came into view. Since the cookbook was so large, it struggled to hold it, so it simply spread it open on the floor and lay down, its stubby legs swinging nonstop and its little tail swaying as it gazed at the food in the pictures, its scarlet tongue stretching far out.

Glancing at Gengar lying on the floor engrossed in the cookbook, Fang Yan found it more adorable than ever. Then he glanced at its swaying tail and reached out to give it a tug.

There was no reaction, so he tugged it again.

"Geng?"

Gengar turned to look at him, indicating that it wasn't in the mood to play with him.

"You little rascal. Go on, keep reading. I won't bother you."

Fang Yan spoke helplessly. This little rascal had changed the moment it got a cookbook.

Fang Yan lowered his head and opened the item catalog in his hands. The moment he did, he heard a "whoosh~."

He looked up to see Gengar leaking air again.

Fang Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "All right, I get it. Hurry back and pick out what you want to eat."

"Geng~"

Gengar returned to normal, floated over and gave Fang Yan a lick, then went back to reading the cookbook.

Fang Yan wiped away the saliva Gengar had left behind, then lowered his head and focused on the item catalog in his hands.

After reading a few pages, he realized that the items his great-aunt made were different from the items in the Pokémon world. All that was recorded here were some relatively simple little items, such as small wooden carvings.

Fang Yan settled down and leafed through it carefully. All the writing in the book was handwritten, in elegant Donghuang script.

Most were handicrafts, and most were carvings.

As Fang Yan read slowly, he could vaguely sense his great-aunt's mood as she made each little item, as well as the techniques she had used.

This also allowed him to learn the crafts in the book.

Sensing the additional knowledge in his mind, Fang Yan murmured to himself, "Is this the gift you gave me? Thank you..."

"Geng~"

Hearing Gengar's voice, Fang Yan snapped out of his thoughts and looked over.

Gengar was still flipping through the cookbook, letting out a happy cry with every page it turned.

Fang Yan got up, walked over to Gengar, and sat down beside it. "Well? Have you decided what to eat tonight?"

At those words, Gengar flipped back to the first page and pointed at several dishes, then turned to the second page and pointed at several more. It kept going until it was far into the book, picking several on every page.

"Geng~"

I want to eat all of them~

"Gengar, listen to me. We can't eat this much food all at once, and a lot of these aren't suitable to eat right now. Besides, we don't have the ingredients for many of them yet. Pick a few that we have the ingredients for first, and I'll make them for you. As for the rest, whenever you want one, just tell me. We'll go buy the ingredients, and I'll make it for you. How about that?"

Fang Yan patted Gengar's little head as he spoke.

Gengar's scarlet eyes rolled, then it got up and nodded.

"Geng~"

That's true~ I can't eat all the good food in one go.

"So, have you decided?"

"Gengar! ٩(º﹃º٩)"

Looking at the three dishes Gengar pointed to, Fang Yan smiled, stood up, and said, "Understood, Commander Gengar."

He even gave a salute after saying that.

"Geng?"

Gengar watched Fang Yan's gesture curiously.

Fang Yan headed toward the kitchen, speaking without looking back. "Remember to put the books away. We can't let them get stolen."

At those words, Gengar's eyes widened.

"Gengar?! ψ(*｀ー´)ψ"

After crying out, it looked around, then picked up the cookbook. Seeing the book Fang Yan had just been reading on the chair, it went over and picked that up too, then went somewhere relatively safe to continue reading the cookbook.

This time, it read sitting up, tightly clutching the item catalog Fang Yan had given it against its chest.

After preparing the ingredients, Fang Yan called outside, "Gengar, come help move the table out. We're eating in the clearing out back today."

"Geng-"

I'm coming.

After hiding the two books, Gengar passed through the wall into the kitchen, then carried the table and chairs outside.

Meanwhile, Fang Yan continued working in the kitchen.

Twinleaf Town, Pokémon Center.

"Has its Trainer still not come?"

Nurse Joy asked Blissey.

"Bliss."

Blissey shook her head.

Nurse Joy looked at the Pokémon sitting quietly a short distance away, feeling a little troubled.

A Trainer from another region had brought this Pokémon here. At first, she had thought they had forgotten to come pick it up, but five days had now passed. It had probably been abandoned.

Nurse Joy sighed and walked over to the Pokémon.

At that moment, the Pokémon's brown, vertically oval eyes were fixed intently on the doorway.

Every time it heard footsteps outside, its eyes would light up, only to dim again when it discovered that it wasn't its Trainer.

After several days of this, it had also begun to guess.

Its Trainer didn't want it anymore, because it lost every battle.

"La-ji..."

"He didn't come today either. Maybe he's too busy."

Nurse Joy crouched down and comforted it.

The Pokémon shook its head. It already knew.

Looking at the Pokémon before her, Nurse Joy felt a pang of heartache. On the first day, the leaves on its head had been a deep color and very neat, making it look like a little onion doll. Now, there was barely any green left in the leaves on its head, and they looked much more disheveled.

Just as she was at a loss over what to do, Blissey tapped her, then made a few gestures.

"Bliss-"

Nurse Joy suddenly thought of Fang Yan. He had just passed the breeder assessment today, and he also had a Pokémon Day Care. Perhaps it would be a suitable place for this Pokémon.

Nurse Joy and Blissey exchanged a glance, then nodded, and she said to the Pokémon before her:

"It's all right. Tomorrow, I'll take you somewhere to play. You might end up liking it there."

"La-ji..."

Its voice still sounded listless, and its whole body was like a plant on the verge of withering.

Nurse Joy sighed inwardly. All she could do was wait until tomorrow and see whether Fang Yan had any ideas.

At the same time, she felt indignant. If they were going to choose to abandon their Pokémon in the end, why had they forged a bond in the first place?