To Hayashi's disappointment, his twisted and unreasonable suggestion was not approved by Erina and Hisako.
What a shame—he couldn't witness the look of regret on the precious Dratini's face. Sigh.
As for Dratini?
Oh, she had already been completely won over by Erina.
At first, Dratini had chosen Erina as her Trainer largely out of a rebellious mindset—"You all keep insisting I should become a Champion? Well, I won't! I'll just slack off instead!"
This led to a situation where, even though she became Erina's Pokémon, since she wasn't caught through battle, she wasn't particularly obedient to Erina. Under normal circumstances, their relationship would have eventually turned into something like Charizard and Ash's early dynamic in the anime.
However…
Erina: "To win over Dratini, I only need one Pokéblock! Because I'm the heroine of a gourmet manga!"
The moment Dratini took her first bite of the Pokéblock, her life flashed before her eyes!
Memories surfaced of her father's earnest advice when he entrusted her to Erina: "Listen, kid! I've found you a great Trainer! I'm not lying—when you grow up, you'll thank me for this!"
Back then, Dratini had just rolled her eyes and thought, "What nonsense is the old man spouting now?"
But now, tears welled up in her eyes as she gazed in the direction where her father resided, letting out a soft, emotional cry: "Old man, I thank your ancestors for eighteen generations (in a good way)!"
Mmm—so delicious! Your cooking is amazing! It's like heaven! I just ate your food! Can we eat together from now on? Let's eat! Let's become gluttonous idols together!
Burp—
Dratini: Don't underestimate this burp! This burp carries the flavor of a Dragon-type Pokéblock—a taste that other pseudo-legendaries, no, other Champion-level Pokémon, not even Legendaries, can ever experience! Don't think it's just a burp—it represents class, elegance, and status.
Burp—
Dratini: So I'm gonna do it again.
...
...
Hayashi, who had been observing Dratini from the side, rubbed his chin and said to Erina, "Look, Dratini just burped twice. Do you think she's overeaten?"
Erina glanced over at Dratini, who was lying motionless on the ground like a plump chicken… no, a plump earthworm, and said with concern, "She does seem a little too full."
Hisako suggested, "Erina, maybe reduce her portion a bit for the next meal. Eating too much isn't good for her."
Erina nodded, making a small adjustment to the Pokéblock quantity listed next to Dratini's name in her notebook. Then, with a sigh, she said, "I never expected I'd end up with a Dratini."
A Dratini with Hidden Ability, ideal Nature, and inherited Extreme Speed and Dragon Breath—if she were put up for sale, she'd probably make a bunch of rich folks drool with envy. That flying-type cape-wearing guy would likely come waving stacks of cash, trying to take the little princess home.
'Though, if that really happened, the little princess probably wouldn't even give Lance the time of day—' Hayashi shrugged, then turned his gaze to the Gengar sitting on a nearby bench, quietly licking a popsicle with an air of peaceful contentment.
"Hey, Gengar—" Hayashi sidled up, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders like a pair of close siblings. "Why've you been showing up less lately? I haven't seen you around at night."
Back in the day, Gengar would pop out every evening with a grin, acting as Hayashi's personal air conditioner. Her natural cooling ability let him sleep comfortably even on the hottest nights—without the dry throat that came with running an AC all night.
But thinking back, Hayashi realized Gengar had been scarce recently. She only seemed to appear during group meals or welcoming events, completely absent at night.
"G-geh, geh—"
Gengar shuddered, then guiltily rubbed her head.
W-well, y'see… I've been catching up on my backlog! Civilization VI is just too fun! Can't stop playing!
"Oh—"
Hayashi nodded in understanding, patting her shoulder with a chuckle. "Don't overdo it with Civ 6, though. That game's a liver killer!"
"Geh geh!"
Gengar nodded vigorously.
Actually, I've also been playing Light Guardian. Been grinding materials for ancient gear—no idea when I'll finally finish.
"…"
Hayashi's lips twitched. Damn, another liver-destroying game.
He worriedly patted Gengar's belly. "If you weren't a Ghost-type Pokémon, I'd be seriously concerned about your liver."
"Geh!"
Gengar cheerfully raised a tiny fist.
Don't worry! I'm super healthy!
Hayashi pushed himself up, hands on his knees. "Alright, then. Get some rest. I'm gonna go see Professor Oak—"
"Geh—"
Bye-bye~~
...
...
When Hayashi found Professor Oak, the man was in his lab reviewing the first-person Gigantamax footage Hayashi had recorded for him.
"Still studying?" Hayashi pulled up a chair, straddling it backward and resting his arms on the backrest as he leaned in teasingly. "Give it a rest! Gigantamax isn't like Mega Evolution—it only works in Galar."
Professor Oak rubbed his tired eyes, giving Hayashi an exasperated look. "I keep forgetting you already know everything. Are you just messing with this old man on purpose?"
"Wouldn't dream of it!" Hayashi cried innocence. "I'd never mess with you! I just figured a top-tier researcher like you would prefer discovering answers yourself over being handed them, right?"
'Right my ass!'
Professor Oak rubbed the bridge of his nose and said helplessly, "I do enjoy conducting my own research, but this thing of yours..."
Let's take a look at how many Legendary Pokémon there are in each region!
Johto's two birds, Hoenn's three goofs, the original trio of dragons, the Tao trio, the XYZ trio, Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma, the two dogs and Eternatus from Galar, and don't forget Calyrex!
Add them all up, and the number exceeds twenty!
And that's not even counting Mythical Pokémon like Mew, the legendary birds, the legendary beasts, or the Regis! If we include all of those, the number easily surpasses fifty!
Good grief!
Fifty Legendary Pokémon! Professor Oak feels like even if he researches until he goes bald, he'd never finish studying them all!
"So, what's the deal with Gigantamaxing?" Professor Oak pulled out his notebook and looked at Hayashi with utmost seriousness. "Hurry up and explain it to me."
"Alright, alright." Seeing the professor's "I'll lie on the ground and refuse to get up if you don't tell me" attitude, Hayashi clicked his tongue and said, "The reason Gigantamaxing is unique to the Galar region is because…"
Hayashi briefly explained Eternatus' backstory to Professor Oak, whose eyes sparkled with excitement as if he wanted to turn Hayashi into a robot that endlessly recited Legendary Pokémon lore.
"…And that's the gist of it." Hayashi took a sip of the cold water Professor Oak handed him to soothe his throat before wrapping up.
The professor stared at the notes in his notebook and sighed. "I really don't know how to thank you."
"!"
Hayashi perked up immediately, leaning in with a grin. "Hey! If you don't know how to thank me, I do! I just happen to have a tiny, tiny, itsy-bitsy—"
He even pinched his thumb and index finger together to emphasize just how small this request was.
"—little favor to ask. Hope you don't mind, Professor!"
"…"
Professor Oak twitched his lips in regret. I shouldn't have said that!
But being the honest man he was, he could only sigh and nod. "Go on. What is it this time? Another Pokémon, or something else?"
"Ahem, well—"
Hayashi coughed awkwardly and scratched his cheek. "You see, since Erina, Hisako, and I aren't from this world, we're not exactly experts at raising Pokémon, right?"
"Mhm. And?"
"So, uh, I was wondering if you know any trainers who could help us train ours." Hayashi chuckled sheepishly. "Sylveon, Florges, and Miltank don't like battling, but Gengar, Corvisquire, Arcanine, Milotic, and Tropius are willing to get stronger."
Hayashi would never force battle-averse Pokémon like Sylveon, Alcremie, Florges, or Indeedee to fight—but he also wouldn't stop Gengar, Corvisquire, Arcanine, and others from training if they wanted to improve.
But the problem was, Hayashi truly didn't know how to train Pokémon! At his core, he was just a casual Pokémon fan who played the games purely based on personal preference when forming teams, never bothering with IVs, EVs, natures, or abilities—after all, it was just the story mode. Couldn't you just overlevel and bulldoze through?
So forget about weather teams, stall tactics like Substitute + Protect + Toxic—Hayashi couldn't even grasp sensible move combinations. If left to his own devices, he'd probably just slap four same-type attack moves on a Pokémon and get hard-countered into oblivion.
Given this, how could Hayashi possibly feel confident training those Pokémon? While Corvisquire could temporarily be handed to Sabrina, she was fundamentally a Psychic-type specialist, making her somewhat ill-suited for the Flying/Steel-type Corvisquire. Thus, Hayashi decisively set his sights on Professor Oak.
Don't let Professor Oak's current image as a harmless, earnest researcher fool you. Just the sight of his Champion-level Dragonite at level 83 was enough to gauge how formidable his peak strength must have been.
Asking him to train Pokémon? Nothing to be ashamed of.
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