To Hayashi's disappointment, Erina ultimately didn't fulfill the "compensation" he had requested.
She merely pecked him on the cheek before ducking her head, grabbing Hisako's hand, and speed-walking back to her room—where she promptly buried herself in a pillow, fully embracing her ostrich mode.
H-How could he… ask for something like that—
Erina's pupils trembled violently.
T-That's just… too… AHHHHHH—
Her mind was completely occupied by Hayashi's outrageous demand—
"Just wear black stockings, pour some lubricant on your feet, and slide them all over me—"
THERE'S NO WAY I COULD EVER DO THAT AHHHHHH—
Erina: Currently Ostrich Mode (MAX).
...
...
"Ah—"
Hayashi shook his head with a world-weary sigh, then walked into his bedroom with his hands behind his head, muttering, "No compensation, no water ballet—"
When you round it off, isn't this a total loss?
Damn it!
Hayashi flopped onto the bed and lazily kicked his legs a couple of times, calling out, "Gengar, come out and let me hug you—"
"Gee-hee!"
The Gengar in the shadows widened its eyes in surprise. He didn't call for Sylveon or Growlithe, but for this Gengar!?
Whoa! This round is a victory for the purple chubby one!
Take that!
Gengar leaped out of the shadows like a diver. Just as she let out a mischievous giggle, opened her eyes, and flashed a grin, Sylveon came crashing into her.
Σ(°△°|||)
Gengar was sent flying in shock. Mid-flight, she watched helplessly as Sylveon snuggled affectionately into Hayashi's arms and wrapped herself around his head.
'Th-that should be my spot—'
Tears welled up in Gengar's eyes as her body ricocheted around the room like a super bouncy ball before finally landing with a splat on Hayashi's back as he lay on the bed.
"G-Gengar…" Hayashi struggled to speak, his arm barely poking out from under her. "Y-you're trying to kill me—"
"Gee-hee—"
Let me explain! I'm innocent! I got attacked the moment I came out, waaah!
"First of all, let's ignore how much damage a Sylveon's Tackle can even do with its base Attack stat—" Hayashi propped himself up, flipped over, and grabbed Gengar's cheeks with both hands, stretching them outward. "Even if you got hit, there's no way you'd bounce around that much and just happen to land on me, right?"
"G-gee-hee?"
W-well, anything's possible, right?
Gengar laughed nervously and scratched her head with a sheepish grin.
"Let's play a game."
Hayashi gave Gengar a kind smile and said, "Alright, Outlast—Insane difficulty—"
"G-gee-hee?"
I-is this game scary?
Hayashi winked. "C'mon, Outlast doesn't even have weapons. Get what I mean?"
"Gee-hee!"
No weapons?
In Gengar's mind, the equation "no weapons = no combat = no monsters = cozy and safe" made perfect sense. She immediately rubbed her round belly, stood up from Hayashi, and gave him a thumbs-up with a confident grin.
No problem, leave it to me!
...
...
According to Hisako's testimony, Gengar's screams seemed to last intermittently for about three hours last night.
According to Erina's testimony, when they saw Gengar the next morning, its color seemed a little paler than usual.
According to Sabrina's testimony, Gengar seemed somewhat dazed while eating.
"Did you scare it silly?" Hisako took a sip of porridge and asked, "Mr. Hayashi, you should take it easy! Even if you're playing horror games, you should ease into it. Don't try to gobble it all up at once."
The underlying message was to gradually ramp up the horror level, aiming to make Gengar scream a bit more! That way, when he plays even scarier games later, the less terrifying ones won't feel as impactful anymore.
Hayashi, however, wasn't worried at all. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "Hisako, you can relax! Gengar here is pretty much on the same level as those three famously cowardly players on Bilibili. No matter how many horror games he plays, he'll still scream like a banshee when the time comes."
Hisako nodded in understanding. "Then it's fine."
Gengar, who was currently sipping porridge: "?"
Hey, could you guys, like, maybe—just maybe—discuss these things not right in front of me? Or at least pretend to whisper so I can pretend not to hear? Would that be too much to ask?
Give me some face, and I'll play along and pretend to save face!
Instead, you're sitting right next to me, openly discussing how a Ghost-type Pokémon like me gets so scared playing horror games that I practically fade from fright, how I'm the epitome of cowardice, and how my courage never grows.
That's just downright disrespectful.
What if I decide tonight to not scream even once? What if I calmly, coolly, and elegantly breeze through Outlast to show you what I'm really capable of when I put my mind to it?
Don't underestimate me!
Though that's what he thought, Gengar didn't voice any of it. Instead, he lowered his head again and quietly went back to drinking his porridge—Huh? Why didn't he say anything?
Come on, if he actually said it out loud, what if Hayashi did make him play those horror games with a straight face and perfect composure? He was just posturing in his head—he never actually intended to follow through, okay?
"Whew—"
Hayashi looked up at Erina and asked, "So, where are we heading next?"
Erina tilted her head in thought before replying, "Hmm, I'd like to visit Ecruteak City in the Johto region."
Ecruteak City?
Hayashi pondered for a couple of seconds. "Ecruteak? What's there?"
Hisako lifted her head, swallowing a bite of pancake before answering, "Isn't the Bell Tower near Ecruteak?"
"Ohhh!" Hayashi smacked his forehead in realization. "The shiny Fearow!"
"Cough-cough-cough!"
Sabrina, who was sitting nearby, choked upon hearing Hayashi refer to Ho-Oh as a "shiny Fearow." She covered her mouth, coughing for a good while before finally recovering, then shot Hayashi an exasperated glare. "Seriously, if the people of Johto heard you calling Ho-Oh that, they'd probably beat you to death!"
Hayashi grinned and winked at Sabrina. "No big deal. I wouldn't say it in front of outsiders anyway."
"Hoh—"
Sabrina drew out the sound, then turned to Erina with a smirk. "Your man just said I'm not an outsider! Aren't you going to react to that?"
Erina fell silent for a few seconds before looking at Sabrina and saying, "The frog went home."
This, much like "the blanket flew away," was a classic Japanese pun-based dad joke—and Sabrina, of course, got it immediately.
"Pfft—HAHAHA!"
With a laugh like a clanging dumbbell, Sabrina immediately collapsed onto the table in hysterics. As her laughter continued uncontrollably, she gradually slid off her seat and ended up under the table.
This is downright embarrassing.
'What reaction could I possibly have?' Erina calmly took a bite of her egg pancake, then thought coolly to herself, 'Sorry, Sabrina, but a funny girl has no love life.'
...
...
On the plane to the Johto region, Hayashi's preoccupied expression caught Erina's attention from the side.
"What's wrong?" Erina placed her hand on the back of Hayashi's hand and asked worriedly, "You're frowning so hard."
"I'm just trying to deduce the area where Entei might appear." Hayashi scratched his forehead in confusion and said, "Yesterday, while Gengar was playing games, I skimmed through the original series and found the episode where Entei appears. Tsk, but the anime didn't specify the exact location."
Entei first appeared in the anime in Episode 256 of the original series (Bilibili catalog), "Entei and the Hot Spring Friends." The only clue was that "Ash was in the process of returning Larvitar to Mt. Silver at this time."
How the hell am I supposed to find it with that!? It's like showing you a picture of a pair of black-stockinged legs and asking which cosplayer they belong to! As if I'd recognize them… Oh, wait, these are actually Fuyu's.
Ugh!
After hearing Hayashi's frustration, Erina blinked in surprise, then couldn't help but chuckle softly. She leaned her head against Hayashi's shoulder and said, "Is this because I mentioned wanting to visit a hot spring blessed by Entei?"
Hayashi nodded matter-of-factly. "If my girlfriend wants to find it, of course I'll do my best to analyze it for her!"
'Oh, this guy…' Erina couldn't help but smile sweetly. She whispered, "Actually, it's fine even if we can't find it."
Hearing this, Hayashi immediately raised an eyebrow. He nudged his shoulder, pushing Erina away, then pulled out his laptop with a stubborn expression and put on his headphones. "Don't disturb me. I refuse to believe I can't find it!"
"?"
Erina, now pushed aside, stared at Hayashi's profile in shock. She pointed at herself, then glanced at Sabrina, who was covering her mouth to stifle laughter, and Hisako, who was shaking her head in resignation.
'Don't get mad, don't get mad. He's my boyfriend. I chose him, I chose him—' Erina took a deep breath and tried to console herself internally. 'He's a straight guy, he's a straight guy, he's a straight guy…'
Don't get mad? As if she wouldn't get mad!
Erina's fists clenched. She had always thought this kind of dense behavior only existed in novels—who knew it would actually happen with her own boyfriend!?
"Pika—"
Pikachu shook her head helplessly and patted Erina's shoulder, comforting the fuming girl.
Don't be mad! I'll steal the meat from his bowl later to get revenge for you!
"Eevee—"
Sylveon, curled up on the seat nearby, shook her head before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Our trainer is so dumb.
"Gen—"
Gengar emerged from the shadows, then wiped the cold sweat from its forehead.
Hopeless. Just wait for death.
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