“Ms.
Hathaway really is the same as ever.
She shows up whenever she wants and leaves whenever she feels like it.”
Nessa rested her arms behind her head as she watched Hathaway walk away.
“Yeah.
Still, it’s not like I only have one Pokémon, you know?”
Blake looked at Nessa helplessly.
“You mean that Egg that’s older than you are?
Your dad already said that Pokémon Egg has been sitting in your house for twenty years!
If it weren’t for hospital checkups and your family’s special ability confirming that the Pokémon inside is still alive, everyone would’ve written it off as a dead Egg ages ago.”
Nessa naturally knew what Blake was talking about: the Pokémon Egg that had been kept in Blake’s family for more than twenty years.
His father had already been trying to hatch it, and it had remained the same all the way until now, without showing the slightest sign of hatching.
Honestly, it was impressive that his family had managed to put up with it for so long.
“Don’t say that.
Who knows?
Maybe it’ll hatch tomorrow.”
Blake awkwardly scratched his head, though even he did not really believe what he had just said.
After all, that Egg showed absolutely no sign of hatching.
No matter how he looked at it, it really did resemble a dead Egg.
“Fine, fine.
Come on, let’s go to the Pokémon Center first.
Gastly should be tired from that battle too, so we might as well get him checked.”
Nessa knew this was one of the century-old problems of Blake’s family, so she did not press the topic any further.
She grabbed Blake and pulled him toward the Pokémon Center.
Blake nodded and followed along.
…
The Pokémon Center: every Pokémon’s second home.
Inside were a special species of Pokémon known as Nurse Joy.
And the one who appeared before them now was Nurse Joy—Galarian form!
All right, that was a joke.
Still, Blake had seen quite a few Nurse Joys over the years, and aside from height, he honestly could barely tell them apart.
It made him genuinely curious how Brock in the anime had managed to recognize every single one.
Was it really because of a one-centimeter difference in their hair or skirt hem?
Good grief.
Were those eyes, or laser rangefinders?
“Hello, you two.
Your Pokémon have both been checked, and there are no issues.
Please take them back.”
Nurse Joy smiled as she handed two Poké Balls back to them: Nessa’s Dive Ball and Blake’s Dusk Ball.
“Thank you, Nurse Joy,” they both said.
After thanking Nurse Joy, the two of them stopped by the counter to pick up the juices they had ordered, then found a place to sit and leisurely drank them.
“Your dad should be docking soon, right?”
The dining area of Hulbury’s Pokémon Center happened to have windows that looked out toward the docks in the distance. This chapter was copied from novelping.com without permission.
At the moment, fishing boats were already returning one after another.
Around the boats flying flags that marked them as fully loaded, many Wingull and Pelipper circled through the air.
A few Swanna and Corvisquire could also be seen here and there.
“Probably soon.
Anyway, every time they come back, they make such a huge racket that you can hear them from far away.”
Nessa bit on her straw as she spoke.
Her father’s fleet always made a big scene whenever they returned, probably because of his Exploud.
Somehow, that Pokémon had turned the entire fleet into a group of loudmouths.
“Hahahaha, your dad’s Exploud really is something.
Most Exploud use their massive voices to scare enemies away, but your dad’s Exploud can actually locate prey through sound.
That’s a pretty clever use of a Pokémon’s abilities.”
Blake could not help laughing as he thought of Nessa’s father’s remarkable Exploud.
“Yeah, it’s definitely amazing.
It’d be even better if its snoring wasn’t so loud when it sleeps.”
Nessa rested her chin on one hand as she spoke.
“That part is probably just in its nature.
I doubt there’s any way around it.”
Blake gave an awkward laugh.
He still remembered how, back then, Nessa had been so disturbed by the noise that she had run over to his house in the middle of the night to sleep there.
Because of that, Uncle Sam, Nessa’s hopelessly doting father, had been heartbroken for a long time.
On the other hand, Blake’s own father, who usually looked like he had stepped straight out of a gloomy old ghost story, had laughed so hard that even his back teeth were visible.
To this day, Blake’s house still had a room set aside for Nessa, just in case she came over to stay again.
“But it really is too loud!
And he doesn’t like going into his Poké Ball either, so it’s such a pain.
Oh, right, I’m staying over at your place tomorrow night.
I have classes the day after tomorrow, and I am not going to the Gym with dark circles under my eyes.”
Nessa sent out the sleepover request so smoothly that it sounded less like a request and more like a notification.
In any case, she was already used to staying there.
Whenever Uncle Sam came home, Nessa would usually be patient and sleep at home on the first night, but she rarely lasted longer than a day.
“Fine, fine.
Let’s just hope your dad doesn’t bring a harpoon gun when he drops you off this time.”
Blake scratched his head.
For a doting father, sending his daughter to stay at someone else’s house—especially when that someone else was a boy—was practically torture.
Normally, Uncle Sam treated Blake no differently from his own son, but at times like that, the murderous look in his eyes was impossible to hide.
“Stop messing around!
My dad isn’t like that.”
Nessa gave Blake a reproachful little shove.
‘Yeah, sure.
Not in front of you.
That face-changing speed of his is honestly incredible.’
Blake muttered inwardly, though he did not have the nerve to say it out loud.
By the time he looked down, the drink in front of him had already been completely drained by Gastly, who had slipped out of his Poké Ball at some point without anyone noticing.
“Buuurp—Gastly~ (￣~￣) chew!”
Gastly let out a deeply satisfied burp, looking utterly blissful.
“Hey! You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
When did you come out?!
If you wanted a drink, you could’ve ordered one yourself!”
Only then did Blake realize that Gastly had escaped, and that there was not a single drop left in his cup.
He immediately snapped at him in annoyance.
Gastly knew how to order, damn it!
“Gastly!
Heeheeheehee!”
Gastly wore a thoroughly mischievous grin.
Of course he knew how to order, but what fun was ordering for himself compared to stealing food and drinks from his Trainer?
“Aaaagh!
You little—!”
Blake angrily raked a hand through his messy black hair, then lunged at Gastly.
Gastly dodged lightly, flashing him another wicked grin before flying off to the side.
“Get back here!”
Blake felt that this could not be tolerated.
He had to make sure Gastly remembered who was in charge!
He immediately pounced forward and began chasing him, while Nessa burst into laughter as she watched.
Blake’s Gastly was far too clever for his own good, and he always managed to come up with all kinds of pranks.
Of course, chasing each other around inside the Pokémon Center was not exactly a good idea.
Before long, the boy and the Ghost-type were stopped by Nurse Joy.
After receiving a brief but firm lecture, they were finally allowed to leave.
“Seriously, next time you want something to drink, order it yourself.
It’s not like I don’t give you money.”
Having finally escaped Nurse Joy’s supervision, Blake lowered his head and lectured Gastly.
“Gastly~~ .◕ᴗ◕.”
Gastly stuck out his tongue, pointed toward the drink counter, then spat out a paper slip.
It was a pickup ticket, and the number on the drink shop’s electronic display just happened to match it.
“You already bought one?!
Then why did you drink mine?!”
Blake immediately understood what Gastly meant, and he was even more annoyed.
This little troublemaker had already ordered his own drink, yet he had still finished Blake’s Pinap Berry juice!
“Gastly, Gastly.”
Gastly laughed as he floated over to the drink shop, carrying a tray with his tongue as he returned.
There were four drinks on it.
Clearly, he had bought one for everyone, including Chewtle.
“Fine.
But don’t mess around like that next time.
Come on.”
Looking at the four drinks, Blake had no idea what else to say.
He helplessly took the tray, gave Gastly a half-hearted warning, and carried it back to their table.
By then, Chewtle had already climbed onto the table and was waiting for his share of the drink.
Beep-beep, beep-beep—
The group had only just divided up the drinks when Nessa’s phone rang.