"Hiss~"
As soon as Lucas opened his eyes, he saw a serpentine Pokémon looking down at him.
The scar over its eye extended all the way to its body, and its long, terrifying fangs glinted in the sunlight. It was flicking its long tongue while staring at him, making a constant hissing sound.
"Oh my god—"
Lucas was so scared his soul almost left his body. Gengar was quick to react, grabbing it and stuffing it back into Lucas's mouth.
"Gothitelle?"
(Why are you calling me?)
Gothitelle was busy sweeping the Breeding House. Hearing Lucas shout "Mom," she stopped and looked at him.
"No, I wasn't calling you, keep going."
Lucas patted his chest to calm himself while speaking to Gothitelle, who was sweeping on the stairs.
Gothitelle glared at him and continued cleaning.
Meowstic (the sister) was holding a small water bucket and a rag, wiping the stair railing.
Lucas had said that with the New Year approaching, the Breeding House needed a thorough cleaning to sweep away bad luck and welcome good luck for the coming year.
The Pokémon at the Breeding House were all doing their jobs. Gengar and Latias were responsible for cleaning the ceiling, while Lilligant was in charge of taking Mime Jr. and Roserade to clean the windows—
After giving instructions for a while, Lucas found an excuse and took Ninetales to the rest area to use Slack Off.
He had just woken up when he was startled by the Seviper in front of him.
"Uncle, the room is cleaned up~"
Shauna rushed downstairs with Chimecho, then threw herself into Lucas's arms.
"Little Shauna, Mom, Dad, Chimecho, and Brother Meowstic have cleaned all the rooms. Except for your and Sister Cynthia's rooms, which we didn't touch because Gothitelle and Lilligant said they would help tidy them up, so we didn't."
Shauna rubbed her cheek against Lucas's chest, then looked up, her forehead and face sweaty, which she wiped onto Lucas's clothes.
"Hehe."
Shauna showed her white teeth.
Lucas picked her up and sat her on his lap, then looked at Seviper, "What's wrong? Seviper, do you have something to tell me?"
Seviper nodded when asked.
"What is it?"
Seviper tapped the floor with its tail.
"Lilli—"
(If you tap the floor again, just see what happens—)
Lilligant looked back at Seviper; there was already a crack in the floor where its tail had been.
Lucas: —
"My floor—"
Seviper shrank back, not daring to look at Lilligant, and looked at Lucas, explaining its intentions.
Heard you found a way for the Zangoose Family to improve themselves.
"You mean the cooperation contract with Twinleaf Town?"
Seviper nodded.
"Actually, that was a request from Officer Jenny in Twinleaf Town. She needed help from the Zangoose Family, so I just went with the flow and facilitated their cooperation," Lucas explained.
(Why can't it be us Seviper? We won that battle!)
(How did this sound like I'm some heinous villain—)
Besides, Officer Jenny cooperating with Zangoose is a bit strange, but Officer Jenny's partner in the Alola region is Gumshoos, and Zangoose and Gumshoos are somewhat similar.
But if you let Officer Jenny and other police officers cooperate with Seviper—
Officer Jenny: "Seviper, use Toxic!"
Who's the villain here?!
"Even so, you Seviper and Officer Jenny— it's inevitable that you won't get along, right?"
Lucas said cautiously.
—
Seviper simply lay on the ground.
(I don't care! You're cheating! You're biased towards the Zangoose Family! We Seviper want a chance to train too!)
Charm doesn't work here!
Besides! You Seviper, isn't the scar extending from your eye to your chest a symbol of a cold Pokémon? Rolling around on the ground like a caterpillar and acting all charming, does that really match that scar of a strong warrior?
Seviper, like a child, kept wiping the floor with its body.
The next second, it flew up and was thrown out of the Breeding House.
"You're blocking my cleaning."
Gothitelle said coldly, broom in hand.
Seviper crawled back into the Breeding House, looking at Lucas with eyes full of grievance, as if Lucas were a heartless scum.
Lucas: —
Lucas was exhausted.
Even if he had the idea, he had to consider whether Officer Jenny would agree. After all, Officer Jenny, who represents justice, cooperating with dangerous venomous snakes—
I really can't help—
"Lucas."
Officer Jenny walked into the Breeding House. She saw the Pokémon cleaning the Breeding House, "Is this— a big cleaning?"
Lucas looked at the arriving Officer Jenny, guessing which Officer Jenny she was from her tone.
"Sister Lika?"
Officer Jenny nodded. Lucas was proud of himself for guessing correctly, then let Officer Jenny come to the rest area to sit.
"Sister Lika, please sit."
Gothitelle brought tea for guests from the kitchen, poured a cup for Lucas and Officer Jenny each, and then picked up the broom to continue cleaning the Breeding House.
It had to be said, Gothitelle's outfit looked very much like a head maid of the Breeding House.
Especially with a Pokémon behind her wearing a maid outfit, trying to stand on tiptoe to wipe the bookshelf.
"I say—"
Lucas resisted the urge to spit out his tea, his mouth twitching as he asked: "Gengar, where did you steal that maid outfit from again—"
Gengar, wearing the maid outfit, heard Lucas asking, looked back at him, and gave a wink.
(Isn't it cute?)
Hehe, today is Maid Gengar~
Lucas gritted his teeth.
"Go change your clothes— never mind, as long as you're happy."
Before Lucas finished speaking, he saw Gengar hiding in the corner drawing circles again, so he could only helplessly let it continue wearing it.
It seems he really needs to control the time it spends watching cartoons.
The Officer Jenny from Sandgem Town nearby watched his interaction with Gengar and couldn't help but laugh.
Hearing the laughter, Lucas looked away and looked at the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny, saying embarrassedly: "Sorry, Gengar's personality is just like that."
The Sandgem Town Officer Jenny shook her head, "I actually think it's quite good, no wonder Sister Reese keeps praising you."
Lucas scratched his head shyly, "Not really."
"But Sister Lika, do you need my help with anything today?"
"When I arrived just now, I saw Seviper being thrown out. Did something happen?"
They spoke at the same time.
Lucas heard Officer Jenny's question and explained.
"Recently, Twinleaf Town reached a cooperation with a nearby Zangoose Family to drive away irritable wild Pokémon that easily hurt others, and also to chase down some bad guys together. Seviper found out and wanted me to find them an opportunity like that too."
Officer Jenny's eyes flashed with a strange light after hearing Lucas's words.
"Seviper— if they are like Zangoose, it's inevitable that there will be some dissonance, and I can't find a place for them to go—"
Listening to Lucas's words, Officer Jenny nodded with satisfaction, "Come to our Sandgem Town."
"Seviper can't cooperate with Twinleaf Town together with Zangoose, and there's no shortage elsewhere— what?"
Lucas looked at Officer Jenny and asked.
"I said, let Seviper come to our Sandgem Town. Our Sandgem Town can cooperate with them. The contract that Twinleaf Town signed with Zangoose, our Sandgem Town can sign exactly the same one with Seviper."
The Sandgem Town Officer Jenny picked up the tea and took a sip, then repeated it.
Lucas: ?
"I came here today to discuss this with you. Although the cooperation between the League and wild Pokémon has never happened before, since the League allowed Twinleaf Town to cooperate with Zangoose, it means they think it's feasible. Since that's the case, our Sandgem Town can also try it."
"Of course, the main reason is that we trust you. You can build connections with these wild Pokémon. I believe that with your help, our Sandgem Town can be just like Twinleaf Town."
The Sandgem Town Officer Jenny said with a smile: "Actually, I came here this time to ask if Luxray and the others could sign a contract with our Sandgem Town to help us."
Luxray on Lucas's left raised its head, looking at Officer Jenny with a just-woke-up look.
?
Lucas reached out and grabbed Luxray's head, letting it rest its head on Shauna's lap, and rubbed its head hard with Shauna.
"But now that I hear you say that, it feels like Seviper is more suitable for us?"
Luxray: ??
"After all, after watching for a long time, Seviper actually looks quite cool."
Luxray: ???
Lucas: —
Officer Jenny riding on an Arcanine, commanding Seviper to fight evil personnel?
"Does Sandgem Town need this group of Seviper?"
Officer Jenny nodded, "Yes."
Lucas let go of Luxray's head and said "Okay."
"Little Shauna, can you help me go to the backyard and call Seviper?"
"Okay~"
Shauna jumped off Lucas's lap and ran quickly towards the backyard.
In a short while, Shauna dragged a two-meter-long Seviper from behind the counter.
"Uncle, it didn't want to come at first, but it doesn't matter, I dragged it over."
Seviper found that it couldn't struggle out of Shauna's clutches at all, so it had to resign itself to being dragged by her.
(I could have gone myself—)
Little Shauna didn't understand. Little Shauna took a deep breath, put the tail on her shoulder, and started running.
Dragging Seviper in front of Lucas and the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny, Shauna put down the tail, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and said softly: "Tired out little Shauna."
"You little rascal."
Lucas pinched her cheek, wiped the sweat from her forehead, hugged her into his arms, and looked at the Seviper leader who was still emotional.
"Still angry?"
Seviper lay on the floor, shifted its body, and turned its snake tail towards Lucas.
"It's fine. How about this, Sister Lika, why don't you see how Luxray is? Luxio and the others can also help you just like Zangoose. I originally wanted to let a certain snake go, but who knows if they are willing."
"Hiss!"
(No way!)
Seeing the huge snake head appear suddenly, Shauna, who was held in Lucas's arms, was startled, then swung her fist and smashed it down.
The Seviper leader lay on the floor, losing consciousness.
"I didn't mean to— it scared me—"
Shauna looked up and explained to Lucas.
Lucas was between laughter and tears.
How on earth can she be raised into a proper lady?
When the Seviper leader regained consciousness, it went to find Lucas immediately. The next second, Lucas's voice rang out, "It's okay, she went back to get the contract."
Seviper looked at Lucas, seeing him sitting on a chair, smiling at it, "She originally wanted Luxray and the others."
Seviper became nervous.
"But later she felt that Seviper seemed more suitable for her, so she asked me if it was possible to let Seviper go to help them in Sandgem Town, just like Zangoose in Twinleaf Town."
Seeing that Seviper was not yet clear-headed, it seemed that Shauna's punch was quite powerful.
"So, Seviper, are you willing to take the Seviper and go to Sandgem Town to help Officer Jenny and the others protect Sandgem Town?"
Lucas approached Seviper and asked.
Seviper didn't hesitate at all and kept nodding its snake head.
Lucas smiled when he saw this, and then hugged Shauna, quietly waiting for the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny to bring the contract.
Not long after, the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny walked into the Breeding House with a few contracts.
Lucas took the contract and glanced at it; it was almost identical to the one in Twinleaf Town, and the content was based on the premise of equality between the two sides.
For example, Seviper would help the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny protect Sandgem Town well, but Sandgem Town also needed to protect the safety of Seviper, including but not limited to free treatment, providing sufficient food, and suitable living environments. Of course, Seviper did not need Sandgem Town to pay fees.
At the same time, if any Seviper met a Trainer they had in mind, Sandgem Town could not stop the Seviper from following the Trainer and leaving.
It could not interfere too much with the living habits of Seviper. Seviper would only accept commands when driving away wild Pokémon, catching bad people, and cracking down on crimes. At other times, it was all free time for Seviper.
Relatively speaking, Seviper could not cause panic in Sandgem Town, not enter Sandgem Town unless necessary, and could not fail to comply with the contract for no reason, or fail to help Sandgem Town drive away Pokémon or crack down on crimes.
Overall, the benefits for Sandgem Town were significant. After all, Seviper were wild Pokémon and did not need to pay fees. This one item alone was worth other treaties.
After Lucas explained the content of the contract to Officer Jenny and Seviper, he witnessed Officer Jenny pressing her handprint, and Seviper pressed its tail on it.
Two contracts, one handed to Officer Jenny representing Sandgem Town, and this one kept by the Breeding House representing Seviper.
After signing the contract, the Seviper leader went to the backyard or forest to summon other Seviper.
Lucas and the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny stood at the entrance of the Breeding House. Lucas suddenly remembered something and instructed the Sandgem Town Officer Jenny: "By the way, Sister Lika, absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, do not let Seviper and Zangoose meet."
The Sandgem Town Officer Jenny nodded.
"If you need to cooperate with Sister Reese, you must communicate well in advance. Otherwise, if they meet on a mission—"
Lucas dared not imagine that scene.
"Don't worry, I know."
Officer Jenny patted Lucas on the shoulder, comforting Lucas.
"Mhm."
Lucas nodded. Seeing that the Seviper had gathered, he walked over, "Remember to come back to find me if you have anything."
The Seviper leader nodded.
"Remember, if you need Zangoose and the others, try to be merciful."
Seviper nodded.
"Go, looking forward to you becoming stronger. There will be another battle between you and Zangoose this year."
All the Seviper present instantly became full of fighting spirit.
The Sandgem Town Officer Jenny nodded to Lucas, then rode her motorcycle and took the Seviper towards Sandgem Town.
Lucas looked up, Staraptor nodded and followed behind them.
"Are they gone?"
Shauna held Lucas's hand.
Lucas looked at Shauna gently, "Yes, Sandgem Town needs them."
"Will they come back?"
"They will, have you forgotten? They will continue to fight with Zangoose."
"Besides that time?"
"Hmm— they will find the place they want to live."
"I hope they can be happy."
"They will."
***************************
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