"…"
Hoshino paused behind Lillie, a look of confusion on his face.
Although he didn't interact much with his classmates at school, he had seen others release their Pokémon while he was resting and enjoying the scenery.
But Lillie was the only one who hadn't.
"Hey, hey, she wouldn't…", Hoshino considered a possibility.
Especially after seeing how desperately she wanted to catch the Poké Doll, he was even more certain of his guess.
Isn't this the feeling of wanting to capture a Pokémon?
But if you can't catch a real one, you can only use a fake doll as a substitute.
Thinking of this, he stood behind her, observing for a while without being noticed.
Then he watched as Lillie's composure slowly crumbled, yet she stubbornly refused to give up…
"Move the claw a little more to the right."
"Huh?"
Lillie was slightly startled to suddenly hear a somewhat familiar voice behind her, but she didn't have time to see who it was.
However, she instinctively followed the instruction.
This time, the claw just barely hooked the ribbon on the back of the Poké Doll, looking like it would fail again.
"Alright, alright, when it's about 5 centimeters from the highest point, swing it hard!"
"…"
Lillie really wanted to know who was guiding her.
Even Moon, whose skill level was similar to hers, had gone out to buy things.
But she made a decision instantly, watching the Poké Doll, hooked by the claw, swing precariously, threatening to fall at any moment.
She aimed precisely, decisively swung the joystick, and the Poké Doll was thrown out by the momentum, landing perfectly at the edge of the exit.
"That's possible?!"
"Wait…it succeeded!"
Lillie took out the Shiny Clefairy Poké Doll, hugged it, then excitedly turned around, but there was no one behind her.
She looked around, her gaze finally settling on the retreating figures of Hoshino and Cyclizar.
Her expression froze, then she pursed her lips and smiled faintly.
…
Hoshino didn't really want to help her; he just didn't want to owe a favor.
Since Lillie had rescued him and brought him home from the beach before, helping her this time was only right.
"Alright, back to slacking off…working!"
"Cycli~"
The day ended with slacking off.
After getting off work at 10 PM, Hoshino returned to the claw machine, looking at the Gengar inside.
Although it had been refilled at noon, many had already been grabbed.
The only constant was still that Gengar doll with a mischievous smile.
"So what's the problem? My technique is definitely not the issue…"
Hoshino got a few coins and returned to try again, but the result was still the same.
This Gengar doll could never be picked up, as if there was some kind of curse on it, preventing it from being caught.
"Cycli!"
"You want to try too? Here you go."
"Cycli~"
Cyclizar inserted a coin and started operating it, but as expected, it also failed.
Seeing this, Hoshino stopped trying.
He had worked all day, so it was better to go back and rest early.
Anyway, the doll wouldn't run away.
After they left, it wasn't long before the store gradually emptied.
The boss turned off all the lights and went home.
As the door closed, the store was instantly swallowed by darkness, deep and silent.
Only in this darkness, inside a certain claw machine, a pair of red eyes suddenly lit up!
"Gengar~"
…
The next day was Monday again.
After paying back all the money he owed Boss Slowking, Hoshino was safe.
The rent wasn't urgent; he'd pay it at the end of the month.
He arrived at school as usual, expecting everything to be the same, but there was a slight change.
As he pulled out a textbook for some unknown class, propped it on his desk, and prepared to sleep, Lillie, sitting in front of him, turned sideways, her fair fingers playing with her hair, and said softly with a smile, "Um, yesterday…thank you!"
"Nothing to thank me for.
Go to your class, don't disturb my sleep…"
"…"
One sentence completely flustered Lillie, almost erasing the little good impression she had managed to restore.
She pouted, her delicate eyebrows slightly furrowed, and glared, showing a cute, slightly annoyed expression.
Turning back, she no longer paid him any mind.
…
After school in the afternoon, Hoshino and Cyclizar rushed to the store immediately.
Fortunately, the Gengar doll still hadn't been caught by anyone, maintaining its smile, lying among a group of Ghost-type Pokémon dolls.
Then, after work, he and Cyclizar exchanged some coins, specifically to catch the Gengar doll.
If you ask why, it's a kind of stubborn persistence, like fighting a boss in a Soulslike game; skipping it is impossible.
Each time the Gengar doll slipped from the claw, Hoshino's expression gradually became calm, no longer nearly driving him to self-isolation like before.
A good mindset is key to playing games, and as a technical expert in this area, catching the Gengar doll was simply a breakthrough goal.
"Half my salary is gone.
Let's go home."
"Cycli~"
"Gengar~"
"Huh?"
Hearing that laugh again, Hoshino stopped in his tracks, instinctively looking at the Gengar doll inside the claw machine, but found nothing unusual.
If the opponent currently doesn't need help, the map will not show the presence of a Pokémon.
And Gengar are usually around 1.5 meters tall, so is there really a Gengar less than 0.3 meters in this world?
Gastly are bigger than that.
"It's clearly a doll, impossible, but if a Gengar is secretly hiding and playing pranks, then I'd believe it."
Hoshino, hands in his pockets, went back to eat with Cyclizar.
Soon, the store returned to darkness, all the dolls quietly lying in the claw machine, but those red eyes lit up again.
"Gengar~"
The Gengar doll swayed slightly, finally managing to flip over, but it ended up buried among other dolls, and the red light disappeared.
…
From that day on, every day after work, Hoshino and Cyclizar would come here to try their luck.
He had made catching the Gengar doll a goal.
This was not unlike Lillie before, the only difference being their mindset.
He wasn't using the game to vent emotions; rather, one could say he was playing with a Pokémon.
And as the days passed, the "Gengar~" growl, which came from who knows where, noticeably changed from sounding like mockery to sounding happy.
Hoshino's understanding of Pokémon growl was constantly improving, so he could clearly hear that this was a Pokémon laughing.
…
In the blink of an eye, it was mid-December, and in about a week, school would begin its winter break.
With the onset of winter, the temperature on Melemele Island had completely dropped.
It was said that in a few more days, it might even snow here, which was rare.
However, snow hadn't been seen, but rain certainly had.
The sudden heavy rain caused Hoshino to fall off his Cyclizar again on his way to work on the weekend, chased by Meowth and others, and his pants were even pulled down.
Helpless, he could only take a temporary leave today.
After getting a phone card with money, he was no longer a single-player gamer and could easily contact others.
Although it was the weekend, the oppressive atmosphere of the heavy rain meant fewer people were out shopping, and business at the claw machine store was also slow.
So, whether he was there or not didn't matter today; the boss would even be happy to pay two fewer salaries.
The Gengar doll lay quietly inside the claw machine.
Halloween had long passed, and Ghost-type Pokémon dolls were no longer popular.
Now, very few people came here daily to try and catch it.
It still held its belly, maintaining that mischievous smile, remaining motionless, looking out through the glass.
But today, it didn't seem to see the human who played with it every day.
However, this kind of thing was common.
It just had to wait until evening… But it waited until dusk and still didn't see the person appear.
Outside the glass, the people walking around had also thinned out considerably.
It could only continue to maintain this expression, looking outside.
Finally, a few people came to this claw machine, but everyone had already heard the rumors about the Gengar doll.
Except for those persistent individuals, no one was willing to waste money trying to catch it anymore.
Time continued to pass.
Although it was still early before closing time, there were no other customers visible in the store, and half the lights had already been turned off.
Against this dim backdrop, the Gengar doll, only capable of smiling, seemed to flash a hint of loneliness and solitude, even with other dolls accompanying it, even though every day was like this…
But soon, it heard footsteps approaching its machine, so it immediately regained its composure and let out a growl as usual.
"Gengar~"
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped in front of the machine.
However, reflected in the dim light above, what appeared was a figure holding a screwdriver, and then, a sinister smile spread across that person's face…
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