Compared to Kalos, there was at least one thing Sinnoh did better: people here respected Cynthia's personal space.
No one tried to tail her all the way home or hang around awkwardly at the door. Everyone just… dispersed on their own. It was refreshing.
Because of that, Luther, who originally planned to avoid suspicion and stay at a hotel was promptly talked into staying at Cynthia's place with Mai.
After a grueling round of training at noon, the Pokémon were all given the afternoon off. Mai started preparing dinner early, partly out of habit and partly out of self-preservation. Cynthia's cooking was something best kept a secret from the world, and if they didn't get a head start, there was a very real chance they'd end up being dragged to the nearest restaurant again.
Blissey worked beside Mai like an experienced sous-chef… sorting vegetables, washing what needed washing, and laying everything out neatly.
That made Mai think of Candice's Delibird, who had somehow mastered every household task under the sun. Chansey had followed it around for just a few days and already picked up half its tricks… Maybe Blissey could do the same if they had the chance one day.
Since they were staying under Cynthia's roof, it didn't feel right to take it easy. And the education Luther had received didn't allow him to just sit around doing nothing while enjoying a host's hospitality.
He originally wanted to help cook, but when he peeked into the kitchen and saw Mai and Blissey already in full swing, he retreated in defeat.
Blissey had also neatly taken over the rest of the household chores, leaving Luther with absolutely nowhere to contribute. It felt strange, like he'd been benched in his own life.
In the courtyard, Garchomp and Darkrai were still deep in conversation. As Cynthia instructed, whenever Darkrai didn't understand something, Garchomp patiently explained it.
At first, Darkrai could still raise plenty of his own opinions to argue back, but later he was gradually pulled into Garchomp's way of thinking, slowly developing a sense of agreement with Garchomp's words.
Seeing Luther leaning against the edge of the courtyard, sunbathing, Darkrai couldn't help but turn his head and glance at him a few times.
"Shouldn't you be resting in the water? Why are you here?"
Luther looked down at Gastrodon, who lay sprawled on the veranda steps like a puddle with a face. He poked its soft, damp side. Gastrodon lifted his head and pushed Luther's hand away, then continued enjoying the sunshine.
'Ah… he really didn't know what he was supposed to be doing.'
The truth was, Luther had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to be doing.
Ever since arriving in this world, he'd been constantly on the road—traveling, taking gym challenges, overseeing his team's training even on rest days. Now the Pokémon were snoring peacefully all over the courtyard, and for the first time in ages he had… nothing.
Nothing to plan. Nothing to manage. Nothing to fight.
He didn't know how to handle that.
What did he usually do when he was bored before?
Use the computer, play console games, read novels… it was probably just these?
Just as he pulled out his phone to check what mobile games in this world looked like, a chat message popped up.
"Luther, get online. We're running co-op. Diantha hasn't made it home yet—we need a human player to farm materials."
Even from another room, Cynthia still found a way to pull him in.
He sighed, knocked on Cynthia's bedroom door, and let himself in.
Given Cynthia's usual lifestyle, he expected chaos. Clothes everywhere. Books stacked where books shouldn't be. An occasional fossil on the floor.
Instead, the room was spotless.
Luther didn't know Blissey had spent half an hour earlier frantically cleaning everything in sight. If Blissey hadn't intervened, the room would have looked exactly the way Diantha saw it last time—which Cynthia still refused to talk about.
Cynthia sat cross-legged on the bed, a massive bag of chips beside her, controller in hand as she tore through a dungeon run.
He didn't even need to ask. This had to be the game Cynthia and the others had an entire group chat dedicated to—Wailing Road.
From what he had overheard, the game was a mix of brutal monster encounters, trial-by-fire difficulty, and a certain… artistic flair for suffering.
No matter where you were, people always seemed to love elements that didn't exist in this world, and artistic works never stopped exploring and creating such elements.
Pokémon-world games mainly revolve around Pokémon as their core element. But precisely because of that, players have developed a serious aesthetic fatigue. So the most popular titles are still these "another-world" genres.
"Here, this console is yours. Create an account, customize your character, and once you're finished, I'll help you complete the beginner dungeons. Then you can join us for material farming."
Cynthia's room had two consoles. She said that whenever she couldn't form a party, she would log into her alternate account and leave it AFK in her team.
"This game can't form online parties?"
"If you're separated by a screen, you don't know if your teammate is real or a ghost. Some teammates really mess with your mental state... charging in, swinging wildly, messing up your rhythm, and even making monsters enter berserk mode. So, unless there's a strict requirement, I only party with people I trust."
'Fair enough.' Luther had experienced this, too. In games that required real skill, it was very easy to tilt if you weren't teaming up with friends.
Character creation felt familiar, though more detailed this time. Luther's face-sculpting OCD immediately kicked in, and he kept adjusting every possible facial feature.
When Cynthia finished a dungeon and emerged, she saw that Luther was still stuck on character creation. She snatched the controller and finished his character in a few quick moves.
Looking at the face, a countenance not inferior to an eldritch god, Luther couldn't help feeling deeply dissatisfied…
"Quit making that awkward face. You can buy face presets from other character creators through trading. It's cheap. Besides..." Cynthia pointed at her screen. "Once you put on a full suit of armor and a helmet, who's going to know what horror is underneath?"
After entering the game, Luther realized that Wailing Road still had many stylistic elements from this world.
For example, the pets that guided him were Pokémon, as were the companions that assisted him in battle. In the settlements where players gathered, tons of NPCs were anthropomorphized Pokémon.
Luther's randomly assigned starter pet was a Surskit. According to the beginner tutorial, pets couldn't help him fight, so he figured it didn't matter which one he got. But at least Surskit had one good point: it was cute.
With his gaming foundation, Luther got used to everything quickly. After Cynthia carried him through several beginner dungeons, he already understood all the controls.
"Cynthia, this Pokémon is anthropomorphized too, who is this one supposed to be?"
Luther had just switched out of his starter gear, bought some dyes, and turned his armor gray. While looking at the dye artisan in front of him, he suddenly grew curious. The adorable artisan wore a gray-white beret. Her brown animal ears twitched from time to time, and even the white trench coat couldn't hide her striking figure.
A white tail, probably longer than her entire body swayed constantly behind her, occasionally curling up to help secure the material pouch on her back.
"Look at the color of her tail."
Cynthia reminded him.
'Wasn't the tail white?' Luther walked behind the dye artisan. At the tip of the swaying tail, a faint green tint entered his eyes.
Ah… my apologies. Turns out she was the Father of the Field Egg Group: Smeargle.
(End of chapter)
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