"Honestly speaking—" Hayashi leaned close to Erina's ear and whispered, "I feel like if Professor Oak were a Pokémon, he'd probably have been caught by you already."
"..."
Erina glanced at the professor, who was devouring her dishes with such gusto that he seemed to be regressing into an ape-like state, too overwhelmed to speak. With a subtle expression, she said, "Even so, I refuse to catch him—"
Pfft!
How savage! That's outright disdain for Professor Oak, huh?
"Burp—"
Meanwhile, after letting out a satisfied belch, Professor Oak leaned back in his chair with a look of existential doubt and muttered, "What on earth have I been eating all this time?"
How could food be this delicious? If I were a Pokémon, I'd probably follow you for 1,000 kilometers just to sneak bites while you slept... or, heck, dive into your Poké Ball willingly!
"So, Professor?" Hayashi grinned, sitting beside him with a smug look. "What do you think? Erina's cooking is amazing, right?"
"Beyond anything I imagined," Professor Oak admitted, smacking his lips sincerely. "I truly believe now that she could tame Pokémon with her cooking skills!"
Good grief, are chefs from other worlds all monsters?
"About the Starter Pokémon—"
"Fine! Milcery and Florges, right? I'll get them for you." Professor Oak rubbed his face resignedly and grumbled, "Florges is easy, but Milcery... sigh, feels like I'll have to swallow my pride for this one."
Milcery was a Pokémon from the Galar region, which at this time was still in a state of isolation! Even for Professor Oak, obtaining one wouldn't be straightforward.
But having made the promise, could he back out now? No way! That'd be too embarrassing!
"By the way..." Hayashi stroked his chin curiously and asked, "Professor, can I request a specific ability for the Eevee?"
"Eevee? Of course, no problem. What ability would you like it to have?"
Hayashi said with a delighted expression, "One with the Anticipation ability. I plan to evolve Eevee into Sylveon, and when an Eevee with Anticipation evolves, its ability changes to Pixilate."
Professor Oak twitched the corner of his mouth and muttered, "Planning to evolve it into Sylveon? That's so manly!"
Manly? More like adorable!!
...
...
"Because of the Milcery situation, you might have to stay at the research lab for about a week." Professor Oak looked somewhat apologetically at Hayashi and the other two, deciding to offer some compensation. He said, "If you're interested, you can help me take care of the Pokémon in the backyard and get a feel for it in advance. How does that sound?"
"Great!"
The three of them immediately showed expressions of pleasant surprise—Professor Oak was a renowned Pokémon scholar not just in the Kanto region but throughout the entire Pokémon world. His backyard even had Dragonite and Dragonair. This was truly a great opportunity.
"By the way—"
Hayashi turned to Professor Oak and said with a smile, "Professor Oak, could you teach Erina about making Pokémon food?"
"Leave it to me!" Professor Oak patted his chest confidently and said, "Though I might not be as good as her in regular cooking, when it comes to Pokémon food, I'm a professional!"
...
...
"But when it comes to Pokémon food, I'm a professional—"
Hayashi stood by the window overlooking the backyard, sighing deeply as he spoke to Professor Oak beside him, "She's completely surpassed you, hasn't she?"
Next to Hayashi, Professor Oak was pressing his face against the window, tears streaming down as he watched the group of Pokémon in the backyard fawning over Erina with utmost flattery. He sobbed, "But... but you guys only ever wanted to eat my food before!"
It's only been two days! Two days!!
Erina Nakiri, what you're doing is downright inhuman!
"My condolences." Hayashi patted Professor Oak's shoulder sympathetically and then asked, "By the way, Professor, how's the research on Legendary Pokémon going?"
Oh, you're bringing this up? Then I won't be sad anymore!
Professor Oak perked up immediately, his face filled with excitement and admiration as he said, "It's all thanks to the information you provided, Hayashi! Who would've thought that the Legendary Birds of the Orange Islands are responsible for balancing the world's ocean currents? And that there's actually a population of them, not just one..."
"Hmm, as far as I know, Lugia isn't unique either." Hayashi rubbed his chin and said, "I remember Ash once encountered a young Lugia."
"..." The professor couldn't help but rub his temples and said, "Don't give me information about other research topics right after I've just delved into one—"
My poor hair is probably going to fall out again!
...
...
Today marks the third day of staying at Professor Oak's research lab.
"Here are the Starter Pokémon you requested." Professor Oak placed two classic red-and-white Poké Balls on the table and said, "This one is Florges from the Alola region, a Fairy-type Pokémon. And this one is an Eevee with the Anticipation ability."
Under the envious and resentful gaze of the young lady, Hayashi and Hisako joyfully accepted their own Poké Balls, carefully examining them in their hands.
"Go ahead and let them out," Professor Oak said with a cheerful smile. "Since these are Pokémon for new trainers, I specially prepared young, recently hatched ones for you. No need to worry about them being difficult to handle."
"Thank you so much, Professor Oak!" Hayashi could hardly contain his excitement as he gently pressed the button on the Poké Ball. With a soft hiss, the originally lychee-sized ball quickly expanded to the size of his palm, thrilling him beyond words.
Wow, this was the real deal—a genuine, size-shifting Poké Ball, not some plastic toy from his world!
No, no, stay calm, stay composed!
Hayashi took a few deep breaths to steady himself before pressing the button on the Poké Ball once more, softly calling out, "Come on out, Eevee!"
With a soft "pop," the Poké Ball opened in Hayashi's palm, releasing a red light that swiftly materialized into a small figure on the coffee table in front of him.
"Eve!"
A crisp cry rang out as a tiny, mischievous creature with brown fur and a fluffy cream-colored mane appeared before Hayashi, Hisako, and Erina. Standing only twenty centimeters tall, the little Eevee shook its head lightly before quickly fixing its gaze on Hayashi, who stood before the table holding the Poké Ball, his eyes brimming with excitement and adoration.
"Eve!"
The little Eevee let out another adorable cry before wobbling unsteadily toward Hayashi.
Hayashi hurriedly stretched out his hands to catch the approaching Eevee, muttering, "Whoa, whoa, careful there—"
"Eve eve—"
After letting out a couple of babyish cries, the Eevee hooked its front paws onto Hayashi's shoulder and leaned in, licking his face a few times with its soft tongue.
"Ooooh—"
Hayashi felt like his heart might stop from sheer cuteness overload!
Supporting the Eevee with one hand, he clutched his chest with the other and turned teary-eyed toward Hisako and Erina, whose pupils had practically turned into hearts. "This... this is it. My life is complete!"
"So... so cute—"
"Ah, I'm dead!"
The young lady and her secretary beside him clutched their chests, looking as if they'd been struck by Cupid's arrow—the sheer lethality of a baby Eevee had far exceeded their expectations!
"Eevee ish sho adowable widdle baby—"
Hayashi was so smitten by the little Eevee that his speech devolved into baby talk—thankfully, this world had no "big bwain tigers," "big wion kings," or "no angwy," or else Hayashi would've gone full toddler mode.
"Ew—"
Hayashi's current state instantly earned him looks of disgust from Erina and Hisako. No matter how you looked at it, a 23-year-old man grinning like a doting aunt while cooing "sho adowable" was a sight that would make any bystander cringe.
"What, isn't little Eevee adowable?" Hayashi raised an eyebrow. He lifted the Eevee by its armpits and held it up to the young lady and secretary. "Come on, little cutie, show them your charm! Let them witness your devastating power!"
"Eve~~"
The little Eevee was a natural-born expert at being adorable. After letting out another babyish cry, it playfully wagged its big, heart-patterned tail and gazed innocently at Erina and Hisako with its big, watery eyes.
"Adow... adowable..."
See? These two stood no chance against the Eevee's charm! They couldn't even last a single attack before surrendering—both immediately leaned in with doting smiles, poking and teasing the little creature.
"Eve! Evel!" The lively little Eevee waved its limbs and let out more adorable cries, melting the hearts of all three onlookers.
"Ahhh, no way—I need to catch a Eevee too!" Erina's eyes practically sparkled with hearts. "It's too cute! How can something this adorable even exist?"
"If we're talking about cuteness, the Vulpix from the Alola region is also adorable~" Hayashi took out his phone and opened a saved picture of an Alolan Vulpix, saying, "Look, a snow-white little fox~"
"!!"
The young lady and Hisako immediately leaned in with bated breath, letting out excited squeals.
"What is this!? What is this!? Does such an adorable creature really exist!?"
"Young lady, it looks just like cotton candy, so fluffy!"
"Those tails, ah, they're irresistible!!"
Hayashi watched the two women completely succumb to the charm of the Alolan Vulpix and let out a disdainful chuckle. He lifted his Eevee up to his face and nuzzled its cheek with his nose, saying, "I'm not as fickle as them! I'm devoted only to my precious Eevee~"