Right before dinner, Chanel did manage to drag her little brother back. But judging by his cheerful look, he seemed to have already forgotten what just happened.
"Back already? …No backbone at all," Chanel's mom said with slight annoyance as she circled around her son to check him over.
Chanel puffed up "angrily" and tattled, "Yamato said we have guests today, so dinner would definitely be better than usual. That's why he ran back on his own, I didn't even get to hit him yet!"
"You… didn't hit him?"
As soon as she heard that, Chanel's mom couldn't take it anymore. In a blur, she grabbed her son's arm with lightning speed.
"I've got him! Hurry up and make it up!"
"Okay~" Chanel beamed and eagerly ran over, starting her greeting as a loving oneesan.
Smack…
Smack…Smack…
Smacksmacksmacksmacksmacksmacksmacksmack!
Sato and the others looked completely baffled. Was this how a loving family… was supposed to behave?
Each one was wilder than the last!
Amid Yamato's cries for his mom and dad, Sato's group was hazily ushered to the dinner table.
"Everyone, sit down, sit down~ Sorry you had to see that! If you don't smack kids for three days, they'll tear the roof off. He'll stop crying and eat when he's had enough," said the head of the house with a cheerful grin, completely unfazed by the wailing.
Sure enough, once all the dishes were set on the table, Yamato's crying came to a sudden stop.
When they looked over again, he was already hugging a large bowl, face full of urgency to dig in.
"…" x4
"We're half an hour later than yesterday, and there are only three more dishes…? Mom, you're so stingy!"
BAAAAAAANG!
"Shut up! Can't even keep your mouth shut while eating!"
Chanel was sitting right next to Yamato, and upon hearing that, she immediately punched him; quite the contrast from her earlier quiet, shy, and well-behaved demeanor...
Yamato took the hit but still muttered carelessly, "But it's true..."
Chanel shot him a sharp look, and that finally stopped him from saying another word.
It was then that Sato and the others noticed: Yamato was definitely mischievous, but Chanel never hit him hard; she was always measured.
Of course, for a kid that rowdy, a few casual smacks wouldn't fix anything. Their squabbling seemed more like a form of communication.
The food wasn't fancy, but it also wasn't as stingy as Yamato claimed. Every dish was generous in portion, more than enough to fill everyone up.
Sato and the others weren't picky. Having a place to rest was already more than enough; they didn't need to ask for anything more.
After dinner came the usual training time. Due to limited space, Sato only sent out Skorupi to run through some basic training.
The red Skorupi looked incredibly tempting… ahem, cool! Very cool!
After this period of nurturing, Skorupi was no longer as frail as it had been in the beginning. Though still small, it was full of energy.
"Venoshock."
"Skoruuu!"
A stream of deep purple poison blasted toward a rock, white smoke hissing and bubbling as it rose from the surface.
"Still not strong enough. Compress the impact zone to increase the power. Right now, you're only hitting stationary rocks. If your opponent were a Staraptor, how would that ever land?"
Sato spoke sternly. When it came to training, he was always serious.
Skorupi swayed its tail slightly, seemingly thinking about how to narrow Venoshock's coverage.
A few seconds later, it launched the second Venoshock.
"Yeah, a little progress… but still not enough! Keep going!"
"Skoruuu!"
Behind the human and Pokémon, Yamato was sneakily hiding and peeking over.
He hadn't even washed his dish, just snuck out to see what kind of strong Pokémon Sato had.
'A Skorupi?'
Yamato curled his lips. 'What could a bug even do? So this is what a Trainer was like…? What a letdown.'
Naturally, Sato had sensed Yamato behind them, but thinking of the young Takeshin from before, he simply smiled and didn't stop the boy from watching.
What he didn't realize was that kids could be very different. Takeshin had genuinely wanted to learn something, wanted to become a Trainer.
But Yamato… was just mocking Sato in his head, thinking this guy wasn't all that great either.
"Knew you'd be here!" came a sharp scolding voice. Sato turned around to see Chanel grabbing Yamato by the ear and dragging him back toward the house.
Sato shook his head and paid it no mind, continuing his training with Skorupi, gradually adjusting Venoshock.
At dusk, Chanel came over and interrupted Sato's training. She spoke shyly, "It's getting dark… Mr. Sato, you should rest now."
"It's fine. I'll train a bit longer," Sato shook his head. He hadn't even finished half of today's training plan, rest didn't exist.
But to his surprise, Chanel didn't leave after hearing that. Instead, she stayed beside him, hesitating.
"…Is there something else?" Sato turned to ask.
"Well… our village isn't very safe at night, so Mr. Sato, please… please come back with me!"
"Not safe?" Sato was stunned. Judging from her expression, she wasn't lying, but she also didn't want to explain further.
After thinking for a moment, Sato finally recalled Skorupi and followed Chanel back to her house.
"Boss, you came back too. They say it's dangerous outside at night, so how about we… hmm?"
Cynthia and the others were already gathered in the living room. Seeing Sato return, Mark immediately jumped up and hinted with a grin.
"Let's scout first, no rush," Sato said, understanding what Mark meant; probably hoping to go exploring again, maybe even find a strong opponent.
For a Trainer, there was nothing that couldn't be done with Pokémon. Every so-called supernatural incident was just the work of a Pokémon.
And besides… how do you meet new teammates without taking risks? Mark's Poké Balls were already itching.
"My Pokémon aren't suited for nighttime scouting, but if a battle breaks out, call me anytime," Cynthia said calmly, then turned and went back to her room.
"I'll stay out of this one too. It's a good chance to improve Cacturne's diet, see if it helps it lvlup sooner."
"Thanks." Sato patted Joseph on the shoulder, saying everything without needing words.
"Be careful out there!" Joseph smiled and turned back to his room as well.
"Boss, just the two of us left~ Hehehe!"
Smack!
"Three days without a beating and you're climbing the walls."
Mark held his head, on the verge of tears from the hit.
"A-Are you really going out tonight?" Chanel, who had been watching silently, finally asked, worried and frightened.
"Of course! Boss and I are both super strong Trainers!" Mark jumped in right away, full of pride, with no trace of a master's poise.
"You can't go! It's really dangerous outside!" Chanel's face instantly turned pale at Mark's confident reply. She shook her head frantically.
"What exactly is out there that scares you all so much?"
.
.
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150 ¨PS = Extra Chapppp
This time we only hit two…
35+ ahead - Patre-on/Romeloff