Chapter 55: Little Cat Monster (Patreon)

Under the night sky, a tempting sizzle rose up.

Right behind it came the rich, fatty aroma of sugar and oil, a smell no one could possibly resist.

Misty sat at the makeshift dining table with her eyes shut in bliss and let out a sigh. "Renan, even if you never become a Trainer, you could make a name for yourself on this skill alone."

Renan watched the fish cutlets bobbing in the pot and answered offhandedly, "Then after I finish the Indigo League, I'll open a restaurant… no, forget it. I'll go be a farmer instead. Raising Pokémon eats up a lot of resources, and if I grow my own berries and medicinal herbs, I can save a ton of money."

There wasn't much to do at night, so the two of them just started chatting.

Misty asked curiously, "You don't have any Grass-type Pokémon on you, right? Doing it by hand is fine for a day or two, but over a long stretch, you won't be able to keep it up."

Renan shrugged. "In Kanto, with Viridian Forest right there, high-aptitude Grass-types aren't exactly everywhere, but they're definitely easier to run into than Electric-types."

Misty clearly agreed with that. "True. So your sixth Pokémon is going to be a Grass-type?"

Renan shook his head slightly. "Not necessarily. But if I come across a promising egg, I'll most likely make a move. It'd also fill the gap of being a psychic user without a single Psychic-type Pokémon."

"Hey, you've really planned everything out, haven't you," Misty teased.

Renan didn't mind. "If I'm going to challenge the League, I have to plan my team composition ahead of time. In fact, I've even thought through what moves Exeggutor should carry in matches. First slot is Substitute, so it can't get wiped out by a type matchup. Then a little Sleep Powder plus Leech Seed combo. And last, a special attack move to cover blind spots, or Ingrain to stop forced switch-outs."

Misty: "Uh…"

It wasn't the first time, but every time the girl heard those tactics come out of Renan's mouth, the same thought rose in her: whoever fought this guy would be sickened by it, even if they won in the end.

"Oh right, the held item goes without saying. It's obviously Left—"

"Shut up already!"

"Fine then (╯▽╰)."

Just then, the fish cutlets finished their second fry, and Renan scooped them out of the pot.

The boy turned around and asked, "Want to eat now, or wait until the soup's done and have it all together?"

Misty swallowed and made a painful decision. "I'll wait a bit longer."

Renan didn't mind. He set two plates of golden fried fish cutlets on the table, loaded the rest into a feeding bowl, mixed in some Pokéblocks of the matching types, and handed it to the hungry Pokémon waiting nearby, both his own and Misty's.

With that done, he went back to the improvised stove and began the final seasoning of the wild vegetable soup.

"Roar!" "Pii!" "Nido!" "Shell!" "Zeni!"…

Unlike Misty, who had resolved to wait for Renan, the Pokémon had no such scruples. The moment the food was set down, they buried their heads in it and wolfed it down with happy munching sounds.

For a while, the Pokémon's delighted cries rang out now and then.

Misty held a fork in her left hand and a knife in her right.

The fragrance of the fried fish kept drifting into her nose, torturing her willpower.

'Maybe I should just take one bite first?' the girl reassured herself, hunting for reasons to justify what she was about to do. 'I'm just checking whether the fish is cooked through. Yes! That's it!'

Almost at the same moment, Renan's voice came from not far away. "If you want to eat, go ahead. It's just the two of us here, so no need to stand on ceremony."

With the cook himself saying so, how could Misty hold back? "Then I'll dig in first."

The moment the words left her mouth, she cut off a piece of fish with her knife and fork and popped it into her mouth.

The next second, as her pearly teeth chewed gently, the sweetness of the fish and the richness of the oil burst out in full.

Misty couldn't help squinting her eyes in happiness. "So good~"

She'd only meant it as an exclamation and never expected an answer. But right after, a cat's cry that sounded like agreement suddenly rang out beside her ear.

"Meow~"

"Hm?"

Misty looked toward the sound, and a cat-like Pokémon with a light blue front half, a black back half, and a star-shaped tail entered her view.

It was lying on the dining table right now, eating the fish cutlets that had originally been Renan's portion.

Misty was the future Gym Leader of the Cerulean Gym, but her specialty was Water-type Pokémon. For many Pokémon from outside Kanto and the Johto region, she couldn't actually name them without pulling out a Pokédex.

Seeing the creature across from her demolish the fish cutlets in three bites, she shouted almost by instinct. "Renan!"

Not that Misty needed to warn him. The moment the cat Pokémon cried out, the black-haired boy seasoning the soup by the stove had already noticed it too.

"Glameow…"

Renan murmured under his breath.

Glameow was an Electric-type… no, a Normal-type Pokémon from the Sinnoh region, one of the household-pet crowd in the games, but it had no native population in Kanto.

Now that one had suddenly appeared, the first thing Renan thought was that it had been abandoned by its Trainer.

But he quickly overturned that guess.

The Glameow's body was a bit too small, yet it wasn't the malnourished frailty of Lao Wu. It was closer to the state of something newly born, about the same as Shellder.

Renan hesitated. He honestly couldn't tell what this Glameow's aptitude was.

But since they'd met, it counted as fate.

He promptly released Confusion and seized the creature in midair as it finished two fish cutlets and prepared to jump off the table and bolt.

Then he walked over slowly. "Little guy, eating and running off like that is a bit unkind, don't you think?"

"Meow~"

The Glameow gave a soft cry, as if apologizing for what it had done.

But right after, its expression suddenly changed. It looked rather fierce, and a very faint mental pressure radiated from its body.

However, by Renan's estimate, the Glameow's current strength was probably only around Lv3 or Lv4.

Never mind affecting Renan, even Misty, sitting nearby, only blanked for a moment before snapping back, her face filled with surprise. "A Pokémon born with a trace of the 'Intimidate' Ability?!"

"Renan, your luck has arrived! Even if this kid isn't an Electric-type, its potential is definitely not low!"

Renan had naturally seen it too.

He kept the Glameow bound with Confusion, raised his right hand, and scratched under its chin.

The Glameow undoubtedly wanted to resist, but how could it be a match for Renan?

In just a few strokes, it was making moaning sounds, unable to stop itself from feeling too good.

Half a minute later, the whole cat had gone limp on the table, and even though most of the Confusion wrapped around it had faded, it couldn't get up for the moment.