The current situation for Hayashi and the others could be described as "everything is ready except for the east wind," with the final "east wind" referring to Yunyun, who still hadn't made her decision.
"Sigh—"
Erina leaned back in her chair and said somewhat listlessly, "Hisako, what if Yunyun doesn't want to leave with us?"
Hisako, who was brushing Sylveon's fur, looked up and replied matter-of-factly, "Then we'll just have to leave her behind—Miss Erina, kidnapping against someone's will is a crime, and for lighter cases, the sentence ranges from five to ten years..."
"Stop, stop! That's not what I meant!" Erina looked at her secretary with a face full of exasperation. "I mean, I don't want to part with Yunyun!"
If the heroine (or hero?) of a gender-bending story awakens the femininity within their heart, then Erina had undoubtedly awakened her "maternal" instincts toward Yunyun—this child was just too heartbreaking!
"Then just come back to visit her when you miss her?" Hisako looked at Erina in confusion. "With Master Hayashi's Interdimensional Gate, coming back for a visit should be easy, right?"
"Yeah, it is easy..." Erina twitched her lips, her heart screaming internally: 'Hisakoaaa! You know that's not what I'm asking! I want to know if there's any way to take her with us!'
Erina glared at Hisako, feeling that her secretary had changed—she was no longer the same loyal companion as before. That was until she noticed Hisako's shoulders trembling slightly, and it dawned on her that her secretary actually understood everything all along but was deliberately keeping quiet just to tease her!
How wicked!
"Hisako—"
Erina pounced on Hisako in a huff, her face flushed with embarrassment and anger. "How dare you make fun of me—"
The two girls immediately tumbled into a playful scuffle, their inadvertent flashes of skin likely only visible to Hayashi, who had already retreated to a corner the moment their squabble began.
Hayashi: Remember what I said at the end of the last chapter? See, staying quiet and reaping the rewards is the best!
...
...
Perhaps it was the bond forged through six months of inseparable camaraderie with Hayashi's team that ultimately solidified Yunyun's resolve to leave with them—even abandoning the power system of her original world. As Yunyun put it, she had already mastered advanced magic, and even if she couldn't learn anything else in the future, she had no regrets.
"Looks like Yunyun will probably become a permanent member of the team," Hayashi mused, stroking his chin. "Hmm, once we enter the Overlord world, we'll definitely assign her an Elementalist class. Let her experience what it truly means to be a mage, yeah?"
Erina nodded vigorously, crossing her arms with a proud hum. "And we must make sure Yunyun learns all sorts of powerful spells before returning to the Crimson Demon Village. Then those who mocked her for only knowing intermediate magic will see what real magic looks like!"
Hisako clapped enthusiastically beside her. "Exactly! The young mistress is absolutely right! It's called a triumphant homecoming!"
Hayashi, meanwhile, wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. He suspected Yunyun's lack of popularity in the Crimson Demon Village wasn't just due to graduating with intermediate magic—it was probably more because she wasn't chuunibyou enough.
If they wanted Yunyun to earn the respect of the Crimson Demons, she might need to take lessons from Takanashi Rikka. Or maybe even learn a thing or two from Mori-sama, the 500-year-old elven archmage (laughs).
"U-um—"
Just then, a timid voice called out, and Yunyun appeared at the doorway.
Gone were the adventurer clothes she wore in Axel, replaced instead by a standard high school girl's outfit—a white short-sleeved blouse paired with a gray plaid pleated skirt and black thigh-high socks.
She looked utterly adorable.
"Wow! Yunyun, you look absolutely adorable!" Hisako immediately rushed over, pulling the bashful girl into the room with a bright smile. "It suits you so well!"
"R-really?" Yunyun's face lit up with happiness as she turned to Erina gratefully. "Thank you for the clothes, Erina."
"It's nothing. I never even wore these before," Erina waved it off dismissively, then scrutinized Yunyun closely. "Hmm, though my clothes don't fit you perfectly. Let's go shopping later and get you some new ones."
"Oh? There's no need..." Yunyun tugged at her skirt, saying with a hint of distress, "I saw there are still so many unworn clothes in the wardrobe. I can just wear those!"
"But they don't fit..."
"I-I'm still small!" The thirteen-year-old Yunyun hastily raised her right hand and said, "I'll still grow! I'll get taller!"
The key point is, with so many clothes, if they're never worn even once, wouldn't they be too pitiful?
And it's such a waste!
...
...
"A m-magician?" The old man looked curiously at Yunyun sitting beside Erina and asked, "Is it the kind of magician I'm thinking of?"
"Mhm, of course!" Hayashi nodded, winking at Yunyun. "Yunyun, come on, show the old man a little Fireball spell!"
"O-okay—"
Yunyun obediently nodded, then extended her right hand. The mana within her surged, and a flame the size of an apple emerged from her palm, causing the old man to show an expression of wonder.
Although he had indeed seen Pokémon—those miraculous creatures—with his own eyes, no matter how extraordinary Pokémon were, they were still "external." The wonder of a magician, however, was the wonder of "humanity itself," which naturally gave the old man a different feeling.
"So, old man, interested?" Hayashi winked at Senzaemon and said, "Want to learn? We can teach you!"
"!?"
The old man was slightly taken aback. He looked at Hayashi curiously and asked, "You mean... even I can learn this magic?"
"Of course..." Hayashi drew out his words, then quickly added, "it's impossible."
"?"
Honestly, the old man's fists were itching like never before. If possible, he really wanted to dash forward, deliver an uppercut to send Hayashi airborne, then follow up with a barrage of ORA ORA punches to turn this little Clefairy shrimp into a geoduck!
Teasing an old man like this—is that appropriate, appropriate, appropriate!?
"Ahem, old man, don't look at me like you want to send me flying and turn me into a geoduck, okay?" Hayashi raised his hands innocently. "Right now, we really can't teach you—the world we visited this time was one where you directly gain mana. They didn't teach us how to cultivate it ourselves."
Hisako also confirmed, "The young master is right! If you want to learn magic, we'll have to wait until we find a world with meditation techniques that allow you to cultivate mana before teaching you."
"That may be so..." The old man glared at Hayashi in frustration and said irritably, "Then why tell me I could learn magic now? Couldn't you just wait until you have the meditation techniques before teaching me?"
Hayashi fell silent for a few seconds, then guiltily averted his gaze. "I just wanted to give you a pleasant surprise, that's all..."
Are you sure it's a pleasant surprise and not torture?
The old man narrowed his eyes at Hayashi's slightly guilty expression and couldn't help but twitch his lips—he could swear by the last loincloth left when he tore off his clothes that this little Clefairy shrimp was absolutely doing it on purpose. He just wanted to see him suffer, wanting to learn but unable to!
So wicked, utterly wicked!
How could there be such a bad boy?
This is just as despicable as telling elementary school kids summer vacation starts next week—only to make them endure fifteen straight days of classes with no PE before it!
"Ahem, well then..." Hayashi noticed the old man's ominous glare—the last time he'd seen that look was, well, the last time—so he decided it was time to make himself scarce. "You guys chat, I'm heading to the Pokémon world."
Erina glanced at Hayashi's backpack and asked, "Are you bringing things like magic crystals to Arceus?"
Hayashi nodded with a grin. "Yeah, I promised Arceus I'd show him some specialties from other worlds. Maybe he can whip up something new for me."
"Don't take too long," Erina said, checking the wall clock before adding, "Remember to come back for dinner."
"Got it~"
Hayashi waved at Erina, then summoned the Interdimensional Gate and stepped into the Pokémon world.
...
...
"Arceus—ceus—eus—us—"
Hayashi stood in Professor Oak's backyard, shouting into the sky.
About ten meters behind him, Professor Oak crouched in the bushes, holding a branch in each hand, staring eagerly at the empty space ahead.
"Bzzzt—"
The next moment, a pink glow enveloped Hayashi, and he vanished before Professor Oak's eyes.
Professor Oak stood up from the bushes, utterly baffled, and muttered to himself, "Instead of Arceus coming here, he just... took him away!?"
Clutching his forehead, the professor let out a despondent laugh. "I finally get a chance to witness this, and you make me lose—this completely! Damn it!"
From now on, call me... Gotham Oak!
...
...
Hall of Origin.
"Four of Bamboo—"
The moment Hayashi's vision cleared, Ho-Oh's familiar voice rang in his ears.
Hayashi: "?"
He turned his head to see Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, Kyogre, and Groudon perched on chairs, shuffling the mahjong tiles he'd taught Sabrina during his Pokémon journey.
So, Ho-Oh... all that time you spent hovering above me, and the one thing you picked up was mahjong???