After learning that Gengar might have accidentally deleted his save file, Hayashi couldn't help but shoot him a sympathetic look.
That's just brutal. For a single-player gamer, this has to be one of the worst things that can happen, right? Especially with a game as long as Civilization. If you accidentally delete your save, you'd probably feel like quitting altogether.
Hayashi sighed sincerely, "Man, you've really had it rough."
"Gee, gee-hee—" (┬﹏┬)
Gengar choked back a sob. His master is so kind, comforting him like this!
Really, he's so gentle—I could just cry myself to death.
"Alright, alright, don't be sad—" Hayashi turned his attention back to the game and said, "If it really hurts that much, why not switch to another game for now? Forget Civilization! Need for Speed, Forza Horizon—aren't those great? And there's The Witcher, Dark Souls, Tomb Raider, and Assassin's Creed. All pretty fun, right?"
Hayashi waited a few seconds but got no response from Gengar. Puzzled, he turned his head, only to find that Gengar had vanished.
"?"
Hayashi tapped his shadow curiously and called out, "Gengar, did you go back in?"
A few seconds later, Gengar extended a tiny claw, gave Hayashi an OK sign, and quickly retracted it.
"Odd but adorable—"
Hayashi shrugged and continued playing the game with Erina.
...
...
After enjoying an afternoon of leisure, the four of them huddled in the room that night, watching a superhero movie on the projector before waking up refreshed the next morning.
"Looks like it's going to be a nice day—" Hayashi stood at the entrance of the Pokémon Center, gazing at the bright sunlight that resembled Rem's smile, and couldn't help but muse, "Heading out in weather like this is bound to bring the blessing of a Shiny Fearow, making it easy to encounter the Pokémon we want!"
"Chirp chirp—" The Fletchinder perched on Hayashi's head tilted its head curiously.
Why the blessing of a Shiny Fearow? What's so special about a Shiny Fearow? Why not a Shiny Pidgeot? Or a Shiny Talonflame?
"Pfft—hahaha—" Sabrina, who had just realized that "Shiny Fearow" was another name for Ho-Oh, couldn't help but burst into laughter. Suppressing her giggles, she explained to Fletchinder, "Shiny Fearow doesn't actually refer to Fearow—it's another Pokémon."
"Chirp?" Fletchinder tilted her head in confusion.
Shiny Fearow isn't Fearow?? Are you even listening to yourself? Like saying braised ribs aren't ribs? Or that wife cakes don't have wives inside? Or that wallets don't have money?
Are you kidding me!?
Hayashi grinned smugly and pulled out his Pokédex from his pocket. He placed images of Ho-Oh and Fearow side by side, then held them up in front of Fletchinder, laughing heartily. "It's actually this! Hahaha, Fletchinder, look! Doesn't Ho-Oh look just like a Fearow? Hahahaha—"
"Chirp!?" (Σ(°△°|||)) A massive exclamation mark practically popped out of Fletchinder's head as she trembled in shock.
Y-you mean… the Shiny Fearow you're talking about… is… is Ho-Oh!?
"Hahaha, bingo!" Hayashi was practically wheezing with laughter. "This little trivia never fails to crack me up! It's so weird—Lugia, another Legendary Pokémon, is so elegant, so why does Ho-Oh look like a glorified Shiny Fearow? Especially those dark circles—just can't take it seriously—"
"CHIRP CHIRP!!!" The next second, Fletchinder went berserk, pecking furiously at Hayashi's head like a madwoman.
How dare you insult Ho-Oh like this, you wretched human—!!
You're gonna pay for this—!!
You'll get what's coming to you—!!
"OW OW OW—!!" Hayashi howled as the pain on his scalp threatened to turn him bald. He shook his head violently, trying to dislodge the bird. "You crazy bird! Get off! Get off!!"
"Chirp!" Fletchinder seethed with rage.
No way! Today, either you go bald or you die—pick your fate!!
"Both options suck for me! Get down already, you damn bird!" Hayashi flailed in panic. "Sylveon, help me get this thing off!"
"Syl!"
Sylveon nodded and immediately pounced toward Hayashi's head, raising a paw to swat the offending bird away. But to her surprise… she missed?
Perched atop Hayashi's head, Fletchinder dodged with uncanny agility and resumed her relentless pecking. Since Hayashi couldn't see the top of his own head, he had no way of knowing if he was actually going bald—but one thing was certain: it hurt like hell!
"YOWCH—!!"
Hayashi flailed his arms wildly, trying to grab her, but Fletchinder dodged like a seasoned Touhou player, weaving through his attacks with practiced ease.
"Chirp—!" Fletchinder declared proudly.
Give up! You'll never catch me! You think I escaped on pure luck? Nah—it's all thanks to these mad dodging skills!
This damn bird's actually proud of herself!?
Hayashi resorted to wrapping both arms around his head in a desperate, full-coverage defense. Faced with such shameless turtling, Rocket Bird had no choice but to flap her wings and retreat with a huff.
"Chirp—!"
You coward! Fight me like a real trainer for once!
"Pfft, you're a Pokémon and you want to fight me, a human?" Hayashi rubbed his scalp while glaring at Fletchinder, grumbling, "What an ungrateful little thing! I feed you, give you drinks, even let you use my hair as a nest, and this is how you repay me?"
"Chirp chirp!"
You're the one being unreasonable here!
"How am I being unreasonable?"
"Chirp!"
How could you compare Ho-Oh to a shiny Fearow!?
"I was talking about Ho-Oh, not you. Why are you getting so worked up?"
"Chirp!"
Lord Ho-Oh is the most revered deity among all Flying-type Pokémon!
"Huh? You're a Pokémon from Kalos—shouldn't you worship Yveltal instead of Johto's Ho-Oh?"
"Chirp!"
Yveltal isn't Fire/Flying, but Ho-Oh is! Same typing as me!
"Tsk—"
Hayashi sucked in a sharp breath, thoughtfully stroking his chin as he muttered, "You know what? That actually makes a tiny bit of sense."
Understanding why Fletchinder was upset, Hayashi sighed and patted his head. "Alright, fine. I'm sorry for badmouthing Ho-Oh in front of you, okay?"
When you're wrong, you apologize.
Though Hayashi had only been teasing Ho-Oh without malice, to Fletchinder, who revered the legendary bird, the joke had still stung.
"Chirp—"
You're really apologizing?
"I wouldn't lie to a Pokémon, come on." Hayashi gave Fletchinder an exasperated look. "Even if I didn't mean any harm, the fact that it upset you means I should apologize."
His sincere attitude seemed to catch Fletchinder off guard. Now that he'd apologized, she wondered if holding a grudge would make her seem petty.
"Chirp—"
You really admit you were wrong?
"Wrong, wrong!" Under the amused gazes of Erina and Hisako, Hayashi raised his hands in surrender. "Look, let's be real—I actually like Ho-Oh! Why else would I give it a nickname?"
"Chirp chirp?"
You've given other legendaries nicknames too?
"Of course! Like the Hoenn Trio—Groudon the Landbound, Kyogre the Fathead Fish, and Rayquaza the Mega Caterpie!" Hayashi crossed his arms, utterly unrepentant.
"...Chirp~~~" After a few seconds of stunned silence, Fletchinder collapsed onto the ground, shaking with laughter.
Landbound? Fathead Fish? Mega Caterpie?! Hahaha, are you trying to kill me and inherit my feathers?!
And... pfft, the Hoenn Trio? HAHAHA!
Compared to those nicknames, calling Ho-Oh a shiny Fearow suddenly doesn't sound so bad, does it?
"Oh, and I've got a nickname for Arceus too—" Hayashi crouched down, scooping up the wheezing Fletchinder into his palms, then glanced around before whispering, "I call it the Almighty Llama!"
"Chirp?"
What the heck is an alpaca?
Hayashi chuckled mischievously as he pulled up a photo of the grass-mud… I mean, the alpaca on his phone, then held back his laughter as he showed it to Fletchinder.
"Chirp!?" (Σ(°△°|||)) Fletchinder's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she flapped her wings and took off from Hayashi's palm.
Y-you—you're insane!? How dare you joke about this? Aren't you afraid Arceus will smite you if it finds out?
"Ahem, well, it's just between us, right?" Hayashi shamelessly winked at Fletchinder. "As long as we don't blab, who's gonna know?"
"..." Regret. Just pure regret.
Just as Hayashi was laughing shamelessly, a sudden gust of wind blew by. With a yelp, he squeezed his eyes shut and whined, "Erina, Erina! Sand got in my eyes—quick, blow on them for me!"
Suppressing a laugh, Erina walked over and said, "Serves you right for badmouthing Arceus behind its back."
Hayashi pouted innocently. "Arceus is probably still snoozing in Michina right now. What's it gonna do, reach across the region to smack me?"
Erina gently blew on his eyes and said, "Alright, alright! Let's put that aside for now. We should hurry up and start searching for Hatterene, Indeedee, and Rookidee."
Hayashi reopened his eyes, then grinned and hugged her. "Ahhh, my girlfriend is just too sweet—love you to bits!"
Erina's face flushed red again as she clutched her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. 'Erina, you need to get used to this—this dense guy's sudden, blunt attacks!'
Ugh, why weren't you this straightforward when you confessed!?
Stupid dense guy!
Hmph!
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