Inside the living room Garchomp kept crunching through its Dragon Scale. Cynthia lifted her gray eyes and studied Luke in silence.
"Alright, alright, I'll go cook," Luke said, resigned.
Cynthia smiled and brushed her hair back. "I could help too."
"You really can't take chores away from Haunter," Luke said, entirely serious. "It gets anxious about that."
"Kojie!" Haunter nodded firmly, expression stern.
Cynthia covered her mouth, laughing quietly, then asked, "So what should I do instead?"
"I've already handled petting duty for you today," Luke said, wincing slightly. "Just don't bury your face in her stomach. I've never even tried that myself."
"Vee?! (｀皿*)"* Eevee lunged at him but Luke caught her easily by the scruff, her legs kicking wildly in midair.
"Vee vee! (〃＞皿＜)"
Luke grinned, pleased with himself. I can dodge Haunter's tongue every time. You think a little tackle is going to catch me off guard? Physically he wasn't exactly a super rookie, but his evasion instincts were maxed out regardless.
Right as the smugness peaked, Eevee sank her teeth into his hand.
Luke: ?
He braced for pain. It never came. If anything it felt closer to an affectionate nibble.
"Vee!" Eevee froze, worried she'd bitten too hard. Seeing Luke unharmed her face flushed instantly.
"I'll take good care of the two of them," Cynthia said, smiling. "Go on, you can head out now."
"...Hm?"
"Weren't you going grocery shopping?" Cynthia blinked. "Or would you like company?"
Luke coughed. "That's not necessary, I can manage on my own."
Cynthia already draws enough stares as it is. If the Metro City Association hadn't strictly locked down any media coverage of their current living arrangement it would probably be trending news by tonight. With Cynthia watching the two Pokémon, running errands solo was genuinely the easier option.
"Appreciate it, then," Luke said, nodding. "What would you like to eat?"
That fatal question landed again, and Cynthia, chin propped on one hand, sank into visible conflict.
Luke checked his watch. Five minutes passed before she finally spoke, hesitant. "Whatever's... whatever's fine?"
Please don't answer a question with another question.
"I'll just decide, then," Luke said, a little embarrassed.
"Mm," Cynthia agreed, nodding gently.
He was almost out the door when a wave of unease hit him out of nowhere. Having learned from painful experience, Luke rarely left his two Pokémon home alone anymore for fear of what they'd wreck in his absence. But Cynthia was here watching them today. Surely nothing would go wrong under supervision.
"Should be fine," Luke muttered to himself, nodding. "We're low on groceries anyway, so I'll need to be careful with what I buy."
______________________________
Alone in the apartment, Cynthia found herself really taking in the space for the first time. She'd already stayed one night, but this was the first real chance she'd had to actually look around a man's home carefully. Everything was clean and orderly, even the throw blanket on the couch folded with precision.
She thought back to that morning, groggily opening the bedroom door in her pajamas, and felt her face warm slightly. Sunlight filtered through the window past a screen of green foliage outside, the steady hum of cicadas making the quiet room feel even more peaceful.
Cynthia smiled softly, her gray eyes settling into something gentler.
"Do your best out there," she said.
"Kojie!" Haunter, ever the diligent helper, kept the apartment sparkling. It dropped its broom mid-sweep, wiped its hands on its apron, and grinned as it held out a handout for Cynthia to see.
"What's this?"
She took the document and skimmed the bold black text, mildly surprised.
"Thoughts on Toxic"?
"Kojie!" Haunter nodded, grinning bashfully.
"These must be Teacher Luke's own training notes." Cynthia studied it further and murmured, "Genuinely sharp insight here." No wonder Luke had gravitated toward raising a Haunter specifically. At least within Poison-type training this level of Toxic mastery sat comfortably at Elite tier.
"I'm not especially strong with Toxic myself, so I can't offer much there," Cynthia said, watching Haunter's face fall slightly. She tucked her hair back and smiled. "I can teach you something else, though."
Haunter paused, then its eyes lit up with excitement. "Kojie!"
"Consider it part of how I'm repaying today's hospitality."
Cynthia pulled her hair into a smooth ponytail, slid on sunglasses, and smiled. "Come on, Haunter. Let's go train."
"Vee!" Eevee darted out, clearly anxious to be included.
Cynthia smiled. "Eevee, you're welcome to join too."
"Vee! (ω)"
______________________________
Meanwhile, at the supermarket, Teacher Luke was deep in ingredient selection. He dropped a plastic-wrapped bundle of green peppers into his cart and his eyelid twitched, a heavy sigh escaping him.
Why does this unease keep creeping up on me?
"Can't be that bad," Luke muttered. "I've had decent luck with money the past couple of days."
"Probably just overthinking it."
He shook the feeling off and started running through his recent Master League haul instead. Beyond forcing a draw against Lance and using a Dragon Scale to win Garchomp's favor, he'd also come away with a Return TM and a Quick Claw. None of it was sellable, which stung a little from a pure profit standpoint.
Then there were the two items the system itself had handed out — one Legendary and one Epic tier, both claimed outright.
The Epic item turned out to be a pale green Berry covered in sharp little horns.
[Salac Berry: Infused with the power of the sky, boosting a Pokémon's Speed. (Based on the real-world snake fruit, also called salak.)]
This new Berry variety had also just unlocked in the system store, priced the same as the Petaya Berry at 500 BP. According to the description it carried a sweet-tart flavor and was safe for human consumption too.
Luke's expression shifted. "Guess there's new snacks on the horizon."
Not for him, obviously. For Eevee and Haunter. Broke as he perpetually was, Teacher Luke still wasn't quite low enough to start stealing Berries meant for his own Pokémon.
The Legendary item, though, genuinely excited him. Hands trembling slightly, he tapped the glowing gold card on his interface and the screen shuddered to life.
[Whoa! A Legendary pull!]
[Black Glasses: Unusual-looking glasses that noticeably boost the power of Dark-type moves when worn. (Visually indistinguishable from ordinary sunglasses.)]
Luke's eyelid twitched again. These genuinely look like the exact sunglasses from that famous Squirtle Squad scene.Are you absolutely sure this isn't just regular sunglasses dressed up with a fake description?
Not sellable either, realistically — try explaining to a buyer that it specifically boosted Dark-type moves and they'd assume he was scamming them.
"Well, Haunter will probably like these anyway."
Turning the faintly punk-styled glasses over in his hand, Luke added, a little wistfully, "Worst case I just wear them as regular sunglasses. Saves me buying a pair."
His cart was overflowing by the time he finished. He'd settled on Japanese curry for dinner, figuring it'd suit Cynthia's palate well enough.
The whole trip took about two hours. Luke pushed the door open, arms loaded with bags.
"I'm back!"
The apartment, to his surprise, was completely empty.
A pink sticky note sat on the table, Cynthia's small, neat handwriting still carrying a faint trace of her perfume.
"Took Haunter and Eevee out training. Back soon."
How long exactly counts as "soon"? It was nearly dinnertime already. Sneaking off to train was one thing. Doing it the one time he'd actually stepped out felt like a different level of betrayal entirely.
Luke sank onto the couch, exhausted, and glanced at the grocery bags still sitting untouched on the table. He let out a long, resigned sigh.
Feels like being an empty-nester, minus the actual kids.