"Chef, one piping-hot Flamigo Lao Gan Ma grilled rice ball, please." Taking the bar stool next to Larry, Lucas placed his order with the Treasure Eatery's head chef.
The chef glanced down, recognized Lucas, and his eyes lit up. "Isn't this the trainer whose Luxray went bzz-bzz and straight-up zapped Larry's Staraptor unconscious? Here to crash Larry's turf again today?"
Head down and chewing, Larry sighed weakly, "Today's business is worse than a gym challenge."
The chef blinked, glanced between the two, and gave an awkward laugh. "Ha ha, then I'll leave you to it."
He turned to his station to cook, sensing the conversation might turn heavy and deciding it was best not to overhear.
Setting down his spoon, Larry looked at Lucas with a flat expression. "You came."
Lucas nodded. "I came."
Larry added, "You shouldn't have."
"…Why?"
"Because if you're here, that means my unpaid overtime is about to start."
"…"
Lucas was at a loss for words. Geeta couldn't be that stingy, could she? She'd been prompt about paying when she'd commissioned him.
As a seasoned working adult, Larry could read a person's thoughts from the look on their face. "This is the helplessness of entry-level society members," he said mildly. "Sometimes you have to indulge your boss's whims. If the chairwoman didn't mention overtime pay, you don't go asking for it."
"Life is full of compromise and nothing you can do about it. That's the only way to stay steady in the workplace. You young people without life pressures wouldn't understand."
Lucas: "…"
No—as someone who once enjoyed the 9-9-6, I understand you very well, Larry. We're probably the two people on earth who get each other best.
Also, the ones who landed you in this surprise overtime… are probably Arven and me.
Having finally escaped the 9-9-6 grind for good, Lucas felt guilty, but didn't know how to comfort Larry—so he kept quiet for the moment.
Larry ate in silence too, the occasional chew… swallow breaking the hush.
By the time Lucas's grilled rice ball was ready, Larry had finished his meal. He wiped his mouth, tidied up his spot, then took a rolled-up map from his briefcase and switched into work mode.
"Lucas, keep eating. To keep the rescue efficient, I'll go over the plan for entering the Paldea Crater."
Lucas munched on the rice ball, cheeks working, and simply nodded in response.
Larry began, "The giant crater in central Paldea is called the Paldea Crater, but its official name today is Area Zero. Area Zero has three tiers—upper, middle, lower—the deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets."
"A few months back, I escorted the two professors and their research team to Research Station 3. They should now be in the lower area beyond Station 3, building Research Station 4."
"Area Zero's environment is a tangled maze—even more complicated than Medali. Luckily, thanks to the efforts of past explorers, there's now a relatively safer and simpler route down."
He traced a line on the Area Zero map with his pen.
"We'll enter the upper layer through the Zero Gate, follow this line to Research Station 1, then proceed along the path left by those before us all the way down to Station 3."
"It's a long trek. Be ready for a war of attrition. Did you stock up on supplies? …No, looks like I needn't worry."
His gaze fell to the battered, overstuffed hiking pack at Lucas's feet, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. Lucas had come prepared.
Listening carefully, Lucas finished the delicious rice ball, then opened the pack to show Larry the potions, rations, and other supplies. He'd spent a lot of time traveling in the wild before; he knew how to prepare.
"In that case, let me grab a few things and we'll head out."
Larry sighed, tilting his head back to stare straight into the Treasure Eatery's warm lights, as if lamenting the peaceful life that was about to vanish.
He'd only just gotten to the point where he could finish overtime before ten at night.
Larry's preparations were efficient. He wasn't the type to slack—whatever he did, he did right. In Larry's words, that was the necessary self-discipline of a working adult.
He usually walked to work. For longer trips, he rode his Tropius—Staraptor and Braviary had a hard time carrying a grown man.
As for how Professor Kukui once crossed the sea on a Braviary, Lucas could only say a superhuman Alolan might hang one-handed from a Braviary's talons—but Larry, hollowed out by overtime and looking like he might drop dead any minute, definitely could not.
Gazing at the sheer cliffs not far away, Lucas, from Dragonite's back, turned to the Tropius-mounted Larry beside him and asked, curious, "Do we have to go to the Zero Gate? If Dragonite and Tropius climb to a higher altitude and we dive in from above, wouldn't that be more efficient?"
Larry shook his head. "No. The fog blanketing the top of the crater seems to induce disorientation in people and Pokémon. Very few Flying-types can break through it; more often they get lost until they're exhausted and then plummet into the crater to their deaths."
"Only the Zero Gate sits at a safe entry altitude. That's the most reliable way in."
Lucas nodded thoughtfully. These were things the game never mentioned. If he'd been cockier, he might have tried diving straight in from high above—and then run into disaster.
There's real value in the experience of those who came before.
Larry really did know the Paldea Crater and Area Zero inside and out. He wasn't just Medali's Normal-type Gym Leader; he was also Paldea's Flying-type Elite Four member.
One likely reason Geeta stationed Larry in Medali as a Gym Leader was to keep constant watch over the crater's conditions and to maintain a reliable combat presence here.
With Larry leading the way, they soon reached the vicinity of the Zero Gate. Larry kept Tropius out and motioned for Lucas and Dragonite to follow.
After passing through a dim tunnel, they emerged before a building that felt old and worn.
Perched halfway up the mountain, the building saw League staff coming and going. Their tense expressions showed the impact of the communications blackout below.
Larry moved through them with practiced ease, bringing Lucas into the brightly lit interior. Staffers greeted Larry here and there, and he returned each greeting with polite composure.
That, too, is the poise and social grace of a working adult.