C5

The next day, Isaac, who had finished his work early, pulled Hana Smith aside.

Hana's face turned red from this unexpected move, and she thought to herself, "Could it be... Isaac... no way... but he..."

Seeing her conflicted expression, Isaac felt a bit confused and called out, "Miss Smith? Miss Smith?"

"Huh?! Yes!" Hana snapped out of her thoughts and immediately stood up straight when she heard her name.

"..." Isaac was dumbfounded. "What were you thinking about just now?"

"Nothing..." Hana mumbled, looking down. "So, what did you need me for, Isaac?"

"Uh..." Isaac scratched his head. He wanted to catch a Pokémon for Hana and needed to know what kind she liked. But being an otaku, he wasn't used to seeing girls blush in front of him and didn't know how to start the conversation.

Finally, he said with difficulty, "There's something... Miss Smith, you're twelve years old now, right?"

"Yes, is there a problem?" Hana tilted her head.

"Well... I want to catch a Pokémon that you like as a thank you for your family's care over the past few days," Isaac said. "What kind of Pokémon do you like?"

"Huh? Isaac, you mean, you want to catch a Pokémon especially for me?" Hana asked excitedly, looking up at Isaac with her cute, blinking eyes.

"I guess... you could say that..." Isaac replied.

Upon hearing his response, Hana said disappointedly, "What do you mean by 'guess'..."

Isaac, feeling helpless, said, "Alright, yes, I'm going to catch a Pokémon just for you!"

"Really? Thank you so much, Isaac!" Hana exclaimed happily.

"So, have you decided what kind of Pokémon you want?"

Hana thought for a moment, then looked up, touching her fingers together in front of her chest, and shyly said, "I want... I want a cute Pokémon! One that's even cuter than Isaac's Kirlia!"

After saying this, she lowered her head in embarrassment.

After a while, when she didn't hear Isaac speak, Hana, still in her cute finger-touching pose, sneaked a glance at him and saw that he was deep in thought.

Based on Isaac's knowledge, if she wanted a cute Pokémon, Eevee would be the best choice in the Kanto region. Although some baby Pokémon were also cute, they often evolved into strong and tough forms.

He couldn't guarantee finding a Pokémon like his Kirlia, which was from another region but appeared in Kanto. 

Well, never mind. An Eevee would do. He could always search thoroughly in the forest and hopefully catch one.

Having made up his mind, Isaac said to Hana, "There's a Pokémon called Eevee in the Kanto region. Have you heard of it?"

"I think besides the common ones, I only know Pokémon that can be used as ingredients..." Hana replied.

"Uh..." Isaac sighed. "Okay, I'll show you a picture of Eevee on the computer later."

Even though the Pokémon League emphasized friendship between humans and Pokémon, using Pokémon as food still happened occasionally, adding a dark twist to the world.

Someone clearly forgot how much they enjoyed the meal two days ago...

The Smith family did have a computer, mostly used for checking market prices. With Hana's guidance, Isaac went to the workroom where the computer was kept.

To make it convenient to post store information, the computer was in the room where they processed ingredients. Ignoring the smell of meat, Isaac searched for Eevee on the computer.

He was surprised to find that all eight of Eevee's evolution forms had been discovered, though the conditions for evolving into Sylveon were not yet well understood.

"Wow, this pink Pokémon is so cute, Isaac!" Hana exclaimed, pointing at the picture of Sylveon and looking at Isaac with her big, adorable eyes.

Isaac, resting his chin on his hand and leaning on the table, casually said, "Cute, but not easy to catch. All evolution forms start with finding a basic Eevee, and even ordinary Eevees are hard to find... sigh..."

"Is that so... if it's hard to catch, then forget it." Although she said that, Hana's eager eyes betrayed her true feelings.

Isaac, feeling helpless, said, "Why are you looking so pitiful? Fine, I'll help you catch an Eevee. The hard part is just finding one. These baby Pokémon are pretty weak, so a basic Poké Ball should be enough to catch one."

"Yay! Isaac, you're the best!"

"Why are you acting like a little kid? Even Misty, who's a bit younger than you, is almost a Gym Leader."

Hana, smiling, said, "Compared to Isaac-oniichan, I'm just a kid. Besides, you're seventeen and still don't have a girlfriend! Dad said he had six girlfriends by the time he was seventeen!"

Because Isaac promised to catch her a Pokémon, Hana even changed how she addressed him.

But seriously, revealing people's shortcomings like that... Seventeen-year-olds dating is considered early on Earth! It's amazing how people in the Pokémon world are more extraordinary than the Pokémon, able to travel the world at an age when I was still in elementary school.

"Go away! I just haven't met the right girl yet. There are enough people chasing after me to form a line from Pewter City to Viridian City!" Isaac said, then added, "But did your dad really have six girlfriends by seventeen? Maybe he's exaggerating."

"Who knows," Hana said, covering her mouth with a smile.

With the decision to catch an Eevee, Isaac needed to make some preparations. The system had given him basic breeding knowledge, including the habitats of many Pokémon. Eevee and its evolutions were known to live in various environments but were most commonly found in forests. They liked flat areas near rivers and often used the water to clean their fur.

(I'm making this up...)

"Does your family have any spare Poké Balls?" Isaac asked. Being broke, he couldn't afford them himself, so it was better to let Hana's family, who ran a successful BBQ restaurant, cover the cost.

This wasn't being stingy; it was just being poor...

"Yes, my sister left many Poké Balls from her time as a trainer."

Isaac was surprised to hear that Hana had a sister. "You have a sister who was a trainer? I never heard your family mention her."

As she led him to a small storage room on the second floor, Hana explained, "My sister travels a lot and hasn't been home for two years. She only calls briefly to say she's safe, which makes Mom and Dad sad, so they don't like to talk about her."

"We're here! This is the small storage room where my sister kept her Pokémon tools." Hana opened the door.

Isaac immediately noticed a photo on the cabinet. A girl who looked a lot like Hana was smiling brightly, standing next to a Blastoise, the evolved form of a Squirtle.

Unlike Hana, who had long hair and a quiet demeanor, her sister had short hair and a sporty look, clearly an experienced trainer.

She must have been an elite trainer, a step above the average trainer, as only direct descendants of elite trainers could have that status. Despite the seeming closeness of ordinary and elite trainers, the gap in league points required to advance was significant. The Smith family was more remarkable than he thought!

"My sister is beautiful, right?" Hana asked with a smile.

"Very cool!" Isaac replied without thinking.

"..." Hana was speechless.

Seeing the small box Hana dragged over, Isaac's eyes lit up.