Victor, unaware of Lugia's sudden disappearance, stood on the upper deck of the yacht.
The yacht was returning to the port.
Victor scratched his head, speechless.
Gengar was floating beside him, mocking him relentlessly, and he couldn't even argue back.
No fish is no fish.
Victor could only endure Gengar's taunts, turning his head to ignore it.
"Gengar—"
Gengar appeared in front of him again, gesturing to show the size and length of the fish it had caught, just like those fishing fanatics who catch a big one and then parade it around town.
Seeing the big, purple, chubby face in front of him again, Victor finally snapped. He lunged at Gengar, frantically pulling at the corners of its mouth until it begged for mercy.
Only then did Victor stand up, satisfied. He went to the railing, resting his hands on it and calmly enjoying the sea breeze.
The setting sun was as red as blood, reflecting on the sea and turning its surface a fiery crimson. The blend of fire and blue created a beautiful painting.
Flocks of Wingull flew alongside the yacht.
Victor looked at the distant, continuous horizon, where the sea and the fiery sky seemed to merge.
The Wingull flew nearby in neat formations.
Autumn waters and the long sky are one and the same color.
Victor quietly watched it all, with Lilligant and the others at his side.
He took out his camera and snapped a picture.
When he lowered the camera and looked up again, the scene seemed to have lost some of its charm.
Perhaps such beauty is only fleeting. Or perhaps, beauty requires one's full attention.
Victor smiled to himself and put the thought aside.
Gengar, straining, lifted its bucket and came to Victor's side, pouring all the fish back into the sea.
Victor turned and looked at Gengar.
Gengar grinned back at him.
Victor shook his head gently, a smile playing on his lips.
That's my Gengar, all right.
He wondered if Lugia would take his advice and give the legendary birds a good thrashing.
He had to admit, Lugia's appearance had completely captivated him.
It was the peak of elegance.
As Victor was lost in thought, a dark spot appeared in the distance. Slowly, the spot grew larger, until its original form was revealed.
In Victor's vision, the blending of red and blue was suddenly interrupted by a flash of yellow.
The trees at the Twinleaf Town port were a brilliant gold, welcoming Victor and the others back in the wind.
Victor stepped back onto solid land.
He felt an inexplicable sense of peace.
On this fishing trip, he had been lucky enough to encounter Lugia, and luckily, it hadn't been hostile.
But as someone who had never been out to sea on a boat before, Victor had felt a strange, unsettling emotion the whole time.
In the world of Pokémon, the ocean was full of unknowns.
What if it hadn't been Lugia? What if it had been a different, hostile version of Lugia? Even in a world without Pokémon, the ocean is full of unknowns.
But Victor also felt a sense of excitement.
Thinking back on the Pokémon he had met today, he let out a soft breath.
It's a good life.
"Owner, today—"
Victor snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Ethan, who had an apologetic look on his face. Victor gave him a thumbs-up, just like the Machoke.
"I loved the fishing today."
"You did?"
"We'll definitely have to go again. Next time, I'll definitely catch more than all of you combined."
As he finished, he and Ethan looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Ethan swallowed the words he had been about to say.
If the owner says it's fine, then it must be fine.
He thought back to the rumors in town.
The owner of the Breeding House and his Pokémon defeated the bad guys who destroyed the forest and trafficked Pokémon.
If there really was a problem, the owner would probably be able to handle it, right?
Thinking this, Ethan's heart finally settled.
After saying goodbye to Ethan, Victor led his Pokémon back to the Breeding House.
...
Deep in the ocean.
The glowing ring lit up again, and Lugia emerged, its body glowing.
The ring then closed.
Lugia stopped, gliding for a distance through the water.
It found itself back in a familiar place.
It looked around, trying to find the ring of light again, but it was nowhere to be found.
Its mood soured even more.
A fight that was only half-finished...
It was incredibly frustrating.
It thrashed around on the seabed, churning up the water, until it finally calmed down and flew to the surface.
It looked at the nearby shore.
It sensed three familiar auras, all converging on one spot.
It grinned.
Then, it flapped its wings with immense power.
Lugia: Found you.
Still fired up from the unfinished fight, Lugia shot up and flew towards the continent.
...
At that moment, Victor had returned to the Breeding House.
He was lounging lazily in a chair in the rest area.
Mime Jr. and Gothita were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Victor had wanted to help, but Lilligant had stopped him and pushed him out of the kitchen.
Lilligant and Roselia were now acting as their assistants.
Victor could only lie on the chair, idly scrolling through his phone.
He had only mentioned that he hadn't tried a dinner made by Lilligant and the others, and his cooking privileges had been revoked.
Thinking of this, he shook his head and kept scrolling.
Gengar, seeing this, gave him a disdainful look.
"Gengar— (¬_¬｀)"
Even though I don't know what you're thinking, I know it's nothing good.
Victor shot Gengar a look, then rolled over, turning his back to it.
Seeing this, Gengar floated over.
"Gengar—"
It forcibly squeezed its big, chubby face in front of Victor's screen.
It saw that Victor was browsing comments.
"Gengar—"
Boring.
Gengar picked up the remote and turned on the TV.
Victor was browsing the comments on the two videos he had posted a few days ago.
He saw comments like, "I'm so envious of this life," and "I want an adorable Pokémon too."
He couldn't help but smile.
As expected, the videos had gone viral.
Looking closely, he saw that Cynthia had tagged the videos on her social media account.
Victor took a screenshot and opened his chat with her.
The last time they had talked was about the bubble tea ice cream.
He sent the screenshot, followed by a "Thank you."
Cynthia didn't reply.
Seeing no response, Victor continued to browse the comments.
Gengar, watching TV and eating snacks, saw that Victor was still happily reading.
It felt an itch.
Finally, it couldn't stand it anymore and squeezed its way back in.
Seeing the big, chubby face pushing against his own again, Victor was speechless.
He finally scooted over, letting Gengar see the screen more comfortably.
"I'm really at my wit's end with you," Victor rolled his eyes.
"Gengar—"
So what? You still made room for me.
Gengar then began to read the comments.
"Gengar—"
What's this? I can't read it!
Seeing Gengar's crimson eyes staring at him, Victor thought for a moment.
"You can't read?"
Gengar nodded reluctantly.
"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—"
Victor let out a piercing laugh.
It was so loud that the Pokémon in the kitchen and the Machoke in the backyard all came running.
They saw Victor with his foot on Gengar, holding it at bay, still laughing uncontrollably.
Gengar, being held back, was indignant, trying to lick him but unable to reach.
Dali and the others went back to the yard. Lilligant, seeing this, couldn't help but mimic Victor's facepalm.
Mime Jr. came over, looked at the cackling Victor, and placed a small hand on his forehead.
"Mime~"
No fever.
"Lili~" Lilligant nodded.
They then turned and went back to the kitchen.
"Hey, hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Victor called after them, miffed at their expressions.
He had relaxed his guard.
"Gengar!"
My turn!
Sluuuurp~
"P-Paralyzed—"
Victor was paralyzed. Gengar had used Lick.
Gengar panicked.
"Gengar—"
I used the wrong move!
In an instant, the Breeding House erupted into chaos.
Pokémon cries and the sound of things crashing echoed everywhere.
In the end, with the help of the forest Pokémon, Victor's paralysis was cured.
He sat there, chewing on a berry, still in shock.
The after-effects are so strong... How do trainers in this world withstand Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts?!
Especially that trio... How do they survive blasting off all the time—
Coming to his senses, he saw Gengar standing beside him, head bowed, sincerely apologizing.
Victor swallowed the berry, then pulled at the corners of its mouth.
"It's okay. I have to say, it was pretty thrilling."
Seeing Victor's smile, Gengar also grinned.
"Gengar—"
Then I'll use it next time, too!
Victor didn't understand what Gengar was saying; he just thought it was being emotional.
But he still punished it by making it clean up the Breeding House.
In the chaos of trying to cure his paralysis, the whole place had been turned upside down.
Gengar floated in the air, tidying up, while happily plotting which berries it would need to prepare for next time.
...
After dinner.
Victor, having showered, was resting in bed. He picked up his phone and saw Cynthia had messaged him.
He opened it.
Cynthia: You're welcome.
Victor, thinking about what happened today, decided to ask her about it.
Victor: Have there been any sightings of the legendary birds in other parts of Sinnoh recently?
Cynthia: ?!
Cynthia: How did you know?
Victor: I went sea fishing and ran into Lugia.
Cynthia: ...
Cynthia: ?!
(The other user has retracted a message.)
Cynthia: Lugia?
Victor: Mhm.
Cynthia looked at Victor's message, then at her Rotom Phone, which had a message from Flint.
"Lugia has left with the legendary birds."
She then replied to Victor.
Cynthia: So it was you.
Victor: ?
Cynthia: Flint, Lucian, and the Oreburgh Gym Leader, Roark, were just in Oreburgh City, preparing to stop the legendary birds from entering.
Cynthia: But right before they were about to engage, a Lugia dove in, gave the three birds a serious thrashing, and then left with them.
Cynthia: We're currently investigating why Lugia attacked them.
Seeing the messages, Victor's mouth twitched.
He couldn't believe Lugia had actually taken his suggestion.
Thinking of the three birds' miserable state, he couldn't help but laugh.
Victor: Maybe the birds just annoyed Lugia.
Cynthia: Who knows.
Cynthia: But, Victor, you seem to run into these Legendary Pokémon quite easily.
After chatting with Cynthia for a while, Victor closed his phone.
He thought back on their conversation.
Meeting Celebi was unexpected. Meeting Lugia also seemed to be an accident.
Victor nodded to himself and placed his phone on the dressing table.
"Gengar, can you dim the lights?"
Gengar came down from the ceiling.
"Gengar—"
You got it.
The small desk lamp turned on, and the room's main light dimmed.
"Goodnight, everyone."
"Gengar—"
"Yip~"
...
In the middle of the night, Victor felt a wind blowing on him.
He pulled the covers over his head.
He fumbled around in the bed.
He didn't feel the familiar, fluffy texture.
Empty.
He opened his eyes.
Where's Vulpix?
The wind was making the door bang.
Gengar wasn't in the room either.
Victor threw off the covers. The wind was cold.
He went to the balcony.
Gengar and all his Pokémon were standing there.
In the sky above the Breeding House, a giant, white, bird-like Pokémon was hovering, flapping its wings.
Behind it were three other bird Pokémon.
A yellow, spiky bird. A yellow, flaming bird. And a blue bird with a long, flowing tail.
Victor turned and went back to his room.
He pulled the covers over his head.
The wind blowing in from the door blew the covers off.
Victor had no choice but to go back to the balcony.
"Why are you at my house in the middle of the night?!"
Lugia: ?
The Legendary Birds: ??
Gengar (and all the other Pokémon): ???
Lugia chuckled softly.
"Victor."
Lugia's voice resounded in his head.
"You know my name?"
"These Pokémon told me."
Victor followed its gaze. Some of the weaker Pokémon were trembling.
Facing a divine being like Lugia, the aura it emitted was too powerful.
Even though it was trying its best to suppress it, it still affected them.
Victor looked at Gengar and the others.
They were standing in front of him, completely unafraid.
"So, can you tell me why you're here in the middle of the night?"
Lugia sensed the aura from Gengar and the others, and the deep bond they shared with Victor.
It flapped its wings gently.
Another gust of wind blew past.
Victor shivered.
"You have a good relationship with them," Lugia's gentle voice continued. "You take good care of them. And not just them."
All the Pokémon at the Breeding House were well cared for.
"I came this time to ask for your help."
Hearing the voice in his head, Victor was surprised.
Lugia... is asking me for help?
Me?
Lugia saw the doubt on Victor's face and chuckled.
"It's not a particularly dangerous matter. I just need you to give me some advice."
"Just like this afternoon."
Victor let out a sigh of relief.
I thought it was going to ask me to teach the legendary birds a lesson.
Really, I'm just scaring myself.
"What kind of advice?"
"How can I get these three to get along, so I don't have to keep coming over to solve their problems?"
Looking at the three, somewhat arrogant, legendary birds behind Lugia, Victor was speechless.
They're the legendary birds. If they didn't cause trouble, would they even be the legendary birds?
How would the plot of the world unfold?
And judging by their expressions, it was clearly going to be very, very difficult.
Victor secretly checked their status.
...
Get 10 chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"