Satoshi thought he had misheard, so he carefully checked the message list again.
To his surprise, he hadn't misheard at all.
He turned to Misty with a blank expression and noticed that her face was flushed. Her breathing was slightly rapid, and there was even a hint of joy in her eyes.
As soon as she realized that Satoshi was looking at her, she immediately lowered her head as if trying to hide something.
"What is this girl thinking about?"
Satoshi sighed inwardly, falling into deep thought.
This "more than friends, less than lovers" relationship… he had never seen or heard of it before—at least, not in the game.
Of course, he understood what such a relationship meant in real life, but this was something completely new in Pokémon Generations.
In his past life, the deepest bond he ever had with in-game characters was "trust," and none of the players on the forums had ever mentioned such an ambiguous relationship.
Could it be that no one had ever reached this kind of relationship with the game's NPCs before? Otherwise, why was there no information about it anywhere?
Satoshi could only come to that conclusion, yet he remained confused about its origins.
He didn't even bring up anything related to romance—he simply completed a hidden quest, and Misty's favorability increased. And suddenly, she was acting like this?
That didn't make sense. If a relationship like this could be triggered just by completing tasks, then wouldn't similar things have happened with other players before? Someone should have posted about it online.
"Misty must have misunderstood something and filled in the blanks on her own, which led to this reaction," Satoshi thought.
This explanation seemed the most logical.
Ultimately, it wasn't a bad thing—just unexpected. But there was no need to explain anything to Misty.
No sane person would say, "I just completed the quest and got the reward. Don't overthink it."
That would be the peak of emotional incompetence.
Still, there was no point in wasting time—after all, it was getting late.
In the morning, he had gone to Mt. Moon, fought a bunch of Trainers, then spent some time leveling up in the mountains, capturing a Riolu along the way.
At noon, he had run into Misty at the Pokémon Center, which led to him accepting her hidden quest.
After that, he went straight after Team Rocket, engaging in another long battle.
Now, it was nearly dusk.
Although Misty's injuries were minor, she was covered in dirt and probably feeling uncomfortable.
Clearing his throat, Satoshi said, "Misty, you mentioned that you're a Trainer from Cerulean City, right? Let's head there now. Your wounds may not be serious, but you still need treatment."
He made sure to emphasize the injuries on her body.
Misty blinked before realizing that she had been knocked unconscious earlier. She quickly pulled out a small mirror from her pocket and checked herself.
There weren't many cuts, but her entire body was covered in mud.
After all, she had been hit by water attacks, completely drenched, and then slammed against the walls. It would be a miracle if she wasn't dirty.
Even as a man, Satoshi wouldn't be able to tolerate being covered in grime like that—let alone Misty, who was much more conscious of her appearance.
At that moment, Misty snapped out of her strange thoughts.
Without a word, she signaled for Satoshi to follow her and immediately sprinted toward Cerulean City.
"Heh, figures," Satoshi muttered with a smirk as he followed behind her.
It was dusk when they arrived at Cerulean City.
Eager to clean up, Misty didn't slow down and rushed straight to her home, which turned out to be far grander than Satoshi expected.
He knew from the forums in his past life that Misty came from a wealthy family, and he had seen pictures of her house before. It had always looked quite large.
But standing in front of it in person, he realized that those images hadn't done it justice.
It was a grand Contest villa built on the water, like a floating palace in the middle of the lake. Elegant, noble, and massive.
Satoshi was genuinely impressed. In his previous life, he had never been here—he had left Cerulean City quickly after challenging the gym, and Misty certainly wouldn't have invited a stranger over.
For Misty, though, this was nothing new. Having lived here her whole life, there was no reason for her to be surprised.
Clearing her throat, she said, "Ahem, we're here. Satoshi, this is my home. I contacted the maids on the way, and they've already prepared everything. Let's go inside."
At the entrance, a row of maids stood waiting.
"Welcome back, Miss Misty. Welcome, Mr. Satoshi," they greeted in unison, bowing slightly.
Misty turned to Satoshi. "I asked them to prepare a hot bath in advance. I'm going to wash up first. They'll take you to a guest room to rest. We can talk more after dinner."
Without waiting for his response, she hurried inside—clearly unable to stand being in her dirty state any longer.
Two maids approached Satoshi, leading him to a guest room where a bath had also been prepared for him.
Pokémon Generations was a holographic virtual reality game, meaning everything within it felt as real as actual life.
Players could eat and feel full, experience pain when injured, and even suffer the effects of paralysis. The level of realism made many people believe that this game was a miracle beyond its time.
Of course, Satoshi knew the truth—this was because Pokémon Generations wasn't just a game. It was a real world.
After all, logging in was no different from stepping into another dimension.
But putting aside all of that...
After fighting for so long inside that cave, even if he wasn't as dirty as Misty, his body was still covered in dust and sweat.
So after being guided to his guest room, Satoshi wasted no time in sinking into the hot bath, letting out a satisfied sigh.
End of the Chapter.