Chapter 60: The Sweet-Toothed Fangirl

Neutral Underground Dungeon No. 5.

"Black… your taste really is…"

Baimu looked on, speechless, at the wide-eyed, sparkling Gengar.

Before them stood a princess bed whose main color was black, the sort with a dark gothic vibe, and on it was painted a portrait of a gothic young lady.

"Kido~"

Gengar shot him a glance, wearing an expression that said if you don't want to buy it, I don't care either.

Then it turned its head, folded its two little claws together and stood with arms crossed, though every now and then it couldn't help sneaking another peek at the bed.

What is this if not a live demonstration of "playing hard to get"?

"I only made one comment about your taste, what's with this reaction."

Without hesitation, Baimu handed the deposit and address to the smiling shop assistant not far away.

How could he go back on his word? He was only teasing Gengar about its taste being a bit off.

Speaking of which.

This thing must be quite novel for Gengar too.

Because back when it stayed with the Big Boss, it actually lived in the forest of the ecological park, not in some super-luxury mansion like Kojirou's Growlithe.

The Big Boss liked keeping Pokémon in their pure, natural state — how could he possibly give Gengar something so steeped in human society as a princess bed?

That plush doll could be said to be the only human-made item Gengar had by its side.

So from a certain angle, Baimu, who had taken the initiative to suggest buying a princess bed, was playing the sucker.

But in his own heart he knew perfectly well — if Gengar normally slept on a princess bed, would it have been so rare for it just now? Besides, Gengar was "going down to the countryside to help the poor," surely it deserved at least a princess bed.

Of course.

If Roggenrola wanted to sleep on the bed, Baimu wouldn't refuse either.

Only Roggenrola, ever since it realized its weight would crush the bed, had insisted on sleeping beside it, just like a big golden retriever at home.

And Chansey, though it basically had to be coaxed onto the bed, was clearly happy to be able to fall asleep cuddled up with a companion.

They probably wouldn't be willing to sleep on a princess bed either.

"That's about it… let's head back."

Baimu glanced at the list — everything that could be bought had been bought, and anything that couldn't would have to wait until it was restocked. "What do you want for lunch? The same things you used to eat?"

He asked Gengar in a low voice.

"Kido…"

Gengar was staring longingly at its princess bed; hearing his words it froze for a moment, striking a pose as if it wanted to say something but held back.

"I've already bought the princess bed, do you think I'd skimp on food? It's fine, you can have whatever you want." Baimu knew this young lady must have gotten another idea.

Sure enough.

Hearing his words, Gengar broke into a smile for the first time ever, turned and ran off toward a certain place.

Baimu hurried to follow, and in no time they arrived in front of a shop.

"Ah… so this is what you wanted to eat."

He looked at the gleaming burger shop sign, and seeing Gengar staring intently at the promotional poster, he knew this one wanted to try something it had never experienced before.

Come to think of it, burgers are certainly simple to make, and for the residents of Iron Town they're a relatively novel foreign product — otherwise it wouldn't have opened in an underground dungeon.

"Don't look at me like that, let's go in."

With a flick of his hand, Baimu watched Gengar, whose eyes held a glimmer of anticipation, push open the burger shop's door in delighted excitement.

Not long after.

At a window seat, Baimu sat with three Pokémon, eating burgers and drinking cola.

Honestly speaking, this shop's flavor wasn't as good as KFC from his previous life, but taking a bite inevitably stirred up a touch of nostalgia.

"Is it good?"

He turned to look at the Pokémon; Roggenrola and Chansey nodded quickly — used to the mild flavors of Pokémon food, they found the occasional taste of this sort quite novel.

Gengar covered its little mouth as it chewed carefully; hearing Baimu's words it immediately put on a so-so expression about the food, but gave the cola an extremely positive review.

"You really do love sweets."

He tugged at the corner of his mouth, watching idly as people and Pokémon walked to and fro inside the underground dungeon.

Communication and good food — truly the two great keys to improving the relationship between a trainer and their Pokémon.

Just a few hours earlier he had been wondering how long it would take before he could exchange more than a few words with Gengar; he hadn't expected a single lunch to close the distance so quickly.

But Baimu also understood that Gengar's current friendly attitude was built on the premise that he was very easy to talk to.

What would truly decide the relationship between them would be when conflict broke out.

Afternoon.

He returned to the surface and, as usual, went to the literacy class.

That teacher was very surprised to see him, probably thinking he had skipped two days of class and wouldn't be coming back.

But unfortunately for that assumption.

For the sake of his future money-making plans, he had to come.

Baimu sat quietly among a bunch of kids and girls, learning the written script of the Pokémon world along with them.

—

Sand Group Underground Dungeon.

In a brightly lit office.

Master Liu Ge sat in a plush boss's chair, resting his eyes; hanging upside down above his head was a strange Pokémon that looked like both a bat and a scorpion, its golden pupils like two bright lanterns.

Click.

Flobo opened the door and came in from outside.

"Big bro, I'm back."

"Mm."

"He went to the literacy class again this afternoon. Not forgetting his original aspiration, that's for sure."

"So?"

"So I think what you said before — that he wants to leave Huang Tie Town — should be right."

"That's normal. Once you've seen a single magazine from outside, watched a single clip from outside, nobody would like a place like Huang Tie Town."

Master Liu Ge opened his eyes and said softly, "Even I feel out of place here. Someone who rose from nothing would naturally find it even harder to bear."

Flobo stepped forward at once and said, "Then… should I bring him in?"

"No, forget it. One more mouth means one more risk of exposure. Let him keep accumulating money and strength, and find a way to escape on his own."

Master Liu Ge shook his head. "When the time comes, it wouldn't hurt to make things a little easier for him."

Flobo nodded and said, "True. By the way, the higher-ups say the test results will be out in almost a week, and developing the antidote won't take more than half a year."

"Mm, I know."

Master Liu Ge closed his eyes again, and Flobo withdrew just like that.

Half a year… after enduring all these years, another half a year won't make a difference.

He thought silently to himself. The restless fire that had risen in his heart subsided once more, and his eyes slowly closed…

"Lai lai lai lai—"

King Scorpion inexplicably let out a long burst of laughter.

Smack!

"What are you grinning about!"

"Lai wo~"

King Scorpion, wronged, covered its head with its pincer.

—

Evening.

Dinner ended.

Loudred felt the taste was passable. The after-dinner dessert, cream cake, was more of a stretch — better than nothing.

Overall, it was fairly satisfied.

Except—

"One piece every two days, no more. Remember that yourselves."

All Baimu said to Loudred and Chansey while washing the dishes.

Considering that a certain young lady loved sweets, he had specially bought three pieces of cream cake. He hadn't expected Kadabra to take one sniff and run off in disgust, so he had no choice but to enjoy them himself.

The taste was so-so. Because it was vegetable cream — cream made from Moo Moo fresh milk was far too expensive, and if it couldn't be sold the cost would be too high, so even the cake shops in Underground City No. 5 weren't willing to make it.

Loudred had some complaints about this, but considering its own situation, it gave a reluctant rating.

But now, hearing that even the vegetable cream cake could only be had one piece every two days, it couldn't help puffing out its cheeks.

"Chee-doh!"

"You never used to eat cream cake every day before, did you? What's with all the grievance?"

All Baimu was amused.

The big boss entrusted specialists to raise his Pokémon — how could he possibly let them be raised like Snorlax? Loudred's training sessions in the ecological park weren't all that frequent, and a high-calorie thing like cream cake could only make it fat.

So in the past it had also found it very hard to get any.

"Lucky…"

Chansey timidly raised its little hand, offering to share its piece with Loudred.

Loudred's face lit up with hope at the sight, but the moment its gaze met All Baimu's and caught that half-smiling expression, it understood everything at once.

"It's not that I can't afford it — there's no need."

All Baimu wiped the water off the plate and patted Chansey on the head.

When it came to food preferences, the latter gave him the most headache, because it had no preferences at all — no matter what it ate, it would smile and say it was delicious.