"Can I come too!"
"Um... huh?"
Hoshino, who was communicating with the Tandemaus, was momentarily stunned when he heard Lillie's words, thinking he had misheard.
Seeing no response, Lillie walked right up to him and said with an even more serious expression, "Please let me join the Yorozuya! I want to help those Pokémon in trouble too!"
This time Hoshino finally heard clearly. He let out a scoff, waved his hand, and replied, "Don't be so idealistic, Young Lady. Don't blame me for being blunt, but you should overcome your fear of Pokémon first; otherwise, you'll be completely useless."
"Even though business is slow right now, the Yorozuya needs to deal with Pokémon frequently. Maybe my theoretical knowledge isn't as good as yours, but if you're put together with a Pokémon, can you understand what they're saying?"
"..."
These few sentences immediately silenced Lillie. Just a moment ago, she had acted on impulse, but now it felt like a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head...
Hoshino ignored her, knowing it was just a sudden idea from a naive young lady. She would surely give up once she calmed down.
Besides, let a second person into the Yorozuya? What a joke. He didn't like collaborating; being alone with his Pokémon was enough.
He continued looking at the two Tandemaus. Gengar had already stepped forward to join the fun, but just then, a panel popped up in front of him again, showing reward special effects.
[Obtained Tandemaus's Friendship: Pure Love War God (Damage dealt to NTR targets is massively increased... Pure love may be foolish, but it is truly beautiful. Everyone can become a Pure Love War God through their own efforts. Those NTR scumbags who destroy beautiful pure love deserve to die! Go out and hunt to your heart's content tonight!)]
'The description is so long! What a terrifying talent!'
Hoshino was stunned. Although it seemed like another useless talent, maybe it would come in handy one day. Besides, he was a Pure Love fan too!
Then, out of habit, he checked the status...
[Pokémon: Tandemaus]
[Type: Normal-type]
[Height/Weight: 0.29m/5.3kg, 0.31m/5.5kg]
[Ability: Run Away (Escapes very quickly)]
[Moves: Population Bomb, Baby-Doll Eyes, Echoed Voice, Helping Hand, Double Hit, Super Fang]
[Status: Happy (Finally together again), Grateful (Very thankful to the person who helped them)]
'Seems normal. It would have been better if the ability was Own Tempo. If they evolve into Maushold, their ability could become Technician, but whatever...'
After all, the Tandemaus weren't his Pokémon, so he didn't need to think about training them. Plus, the request was over, though there didn't seem to be a reward?
He glanced at the two Tandemaus and decided to let it go. He didn't expect them to give him anything; the talent was reward enough.
All that was left was to wait for them to recover and then hand these little guys over to Officer Jenny to be sent back to the Paldea region.
"But with all this work, I won't get to eat barbecue tonight, and there's also..."
Before Hoshino could finish, Lillie, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly shouted again, "I might not be able to participate directly, but I can be your assistant, right!"
"Huh?"
"Whenever you need to find information about Pokémon, I can find it for you!"
"..."
Hoshino didn't expect her to persist. He swirled his teacup and said casually, "The Young Lady is being quite humble. Are you begging me?"
"That..."
"But then again, are we really that close? You don't know me at all. And I think you're just doing this on a whim. You probably don't even understand what the Yorozuya is."
"..."
Lillie fell into a brief silence again, then lowered her head and whispered, "I truly want to help those Pokémon. Even though I'm a Trainer, without a Pokémon or someone to accompany me, I can't even go to many wild areas. At the very least... I want to have a place where I can use the knowledge I've learned!"
Looking at her like this, the surroundings grew quiet. Slowking shook his head, a lollipop in his mouth, and said, "Loving Pokémon but being afraid of them? Well, it's good to learn more. At least you're much better than a certain someone who knows nothing. But learning knowledge without using it is just stagnant. This guy's Yorozuya thing is actually quite suitable for you to show what you've got."
"..."
Hoshino glanced at Slowking, realizing these words were actually a suggestion. It seemed this guy especially liked helping people with dreams and strong determination—just like he had back then.
He was still very reluctant. After all, this was his Yorozuya. It was so comfortable being alone with his Pokémon. Why let an outsider who looked like nothing but trouble join? Did he want a headache all day?
After a long silence, just as he was about to refuse, the lonely Decidueye drinking at the far end of the bar suddenly turned around and looked at them.
"Goo..."
It let out a growl very similar to a Rowlet's, but much more world-weary. If one looked closely, they would see that this Decidueye seemed very old and in poor spirits.
Hearing the sound, Slowking looked at Hoshino and said slowly, "Looks like business has come for you."
"Hmm?"
Hoshino was slightly taken aback, then snapped out of it and walked over to the Decidueye. "The Yorozuya does anything. Do you want to hire us?"
"Goo!"
Despite sitting there for a long time, the Decidueye didn't seem drunk at all. Instead, it seemed to have been listening to their conversation for a while.
Seeing him start to take a request, Lillie curiously leaned in, wanting to see the process.
Since it was a language he was hearing for the first time, Hoshino needed a moment to understand. However, he caught the gist and asked, "Does it have to do with your Trainer?"
"Goo!"
"..."
Hoshino's hand recording the details came to a halt. He understood the meaning of those words, but they were a bit...
"Eh?"
Seeing the sudden silence, Lillie looked confused. Slowking shook his head and explained in a low voice, "Its Trainer is about to pass away, but at a time like this, they won't let it see them for the last time. They're even trying to drive it away. That's why it's upset and wants to hire someone to investigate the reason."
"..."
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Lillie didn't know what to say. She looked at Hoshino, wanting to see what he would do next...
"An investigation request. Can you provide more details? If it's not convenient to talk here, we can go somewhere else."
Hoshino quickly composed himself. Life and death were common occurrences. Having died once himself, he accepted such things relatively quickly.
Decidueye nodded, then borrowed a pen and paper from Slowking and wrote down an address.
"Goo."
"Go here tomorrow morning? I understand."
He took the note, effectively accepting the request. The Yorozuya existed to help Pokémon solve their troubles; Hoshino naturally wouldn't refuse.
Seeing him accept the request, Decidueye nodded, paid for its drinks, and left the Izakaya.
Watching its departing back, Slowking said slowly, "This fellow has been a regular customer of mine for over ten years. It used to travel all over the world with its Trainer. After many setbacks, it finally got tired and settled down in Alola, which was just starting to develop."
"I can tell it has a lot of stories."
Hoshino looked at the address, put the paper in his pocket, thought for a moment, then looked at Lillie, and said, "Since you want to be my assistant, let's give it a try. Tomorrow, you'll come with me for the request. Consider it an internship to see how you perform."
"Uh... wait, you agreed?!"
The surprise came so suddenly that Lillie hadn't quite processed it.
Then, Hoshino looked into her beautiful green eyes and said with a calm expression, "Just so you know, I'm not used to collaborating. If we encounter any danger during the request that I can't handle, I won't hesitate to leave you behind and run."
"I don't care!"
Lillie raised her small fist and responded without hesitation, a smile finally blooming on her face once more.
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