Can't We Do Both?

Can't We Do Both?

"The police station?"

Half an hour later, in the consultation room, Dr. Solanus looked troubled as he briefly recounted what had happened.

It turned out that Dr. Solanus had spent the night sleeping in the consultation room. When he woke up that morning, he remembered that it was the day new students were reporting in, and he was responsible for part of the work.

He had barely slept the past two days, and he had not changed his clothes for several days. Since it was still early and his home was not far from the academy, he planned to go back, wash up, and return.

Who would have thought—

When he got home, he discovered that Thieves had broken into his house. The place was a complete mess.

So he immediately called the police.

Then Officer Jenny brought him back to the Rustboro City Police Station to assist with the investigation.

Since he was afraid his phone would disturb his sleep, he had left it in his office the night before. He had assumed he would be back soon, but who would have thought... That was why he had been missing for so long.

"What was stolen?"

Jing He handed him a glass of water.

Dr. Solanus accepted it and smiled helplessly. "That's the problem. I took a quick look, and none of the valuable things were missing. Only some stones that wouldn't hold much appeal to other people were gone."

Stones?

Before Jing He could react, Steven Stone reacted somewhat strongly. "Those stones?"

"Yes."

To be honest, some of those stones, including a few meteorites, were indeed rather rare. But in most people's eyes, they were nothing more than useless rocks.

What kind of Thieves would risk everything for a few stones? Yet clearly, there was someone else in this consultation room who understood their value.

Steven Stone's expression turned serious. From the look of it, he seemed ready to help Dr. Solanus recover the stolen stones.

For some reason, Jing He had a sudden feeling.

Could their real target have been the stone in his possession, the one Gastly had originally been sleeping in?

It was not impossible.

But if that was the case, and they had failed to find the stone with Dr. Solanus, might they come looking for it on him? Jing He suddenly recalled that, in the original story, Dr. Solanus had drawn the attention of Team Aqua and Team Magma because he found a meteorite.

Could it be that he had originally intended to tell Dr. Solanus that the stone containing Gastly was in his hands, and ask whether he could exchange something for it?

But now, that matter would probably have to wait.

At least until he determined what those people were after.

"It's good that you're all right," Jing He comforted him.

"Thank you." Dr. Solanus gave him a grateful look.

He did not know whether it was because Jing He had let him get a good night's sleep yesterday, because he had handled the new student registration work for him today, or for some other reason.

Jing He shook his head to indicate that it was nothing.

"All right, I need to let the Academic Affairs Office know. I just saw quite a few missed calls on my phone." Dr. Solanus stood with a bitter smile.

"I'll come with you." Jing He stood as well. Under the puzzled gazes of Dr. Solanus and Steven Stone, he explained helplessly, "There's a problem with my computer tower. I'll see if I can apply for one first."

"I can go by myself. Take mine and use it for now; I hardly use it anyway. The application won't be approved that quickly. Once it comes through, you can switch back," Dr. Solanus suggested.

After a brief hesitation, Jing He nodded. "...All right."

Dr. Solanus left, leaving only the thoughtful Jing He and the grave-faced Steven Stone in the consultation room.

After quite a while, Steven Stone suddenly realized something.

They had only gotten halfway through discussing Metang's problem.

After choosing his words carefully, he said, "Teacher Jing He, Metang, it..."

Jing He came back to his senses and smiled faintly.

"Don't worry. Metang's issue isn't serious. Some psychological counseling will be enough."

Steven Stone let out a breath of relief.

A measure of self-blame rose within him.

If he had not been so busy with company matters lately and had paid more attention to Metang, perhaps... Metang would not have developed such a problem. Then, once again, the question that had long troubled him—and become harder to choose between as he grew older—surfaced in his mind.

As the Young Master of Devon Corporation and a descendant of the Stone Family, he had to shoulder the company and the family. Steven Stone would not refuse that responsibility, nor could he.

But as a Trainer, he also had to be responsible for his Pokémon, as well as the ideals he truly loved and longed for. He knew full well that a person's energy was limited. If Devon Corporation were only a small company, or if his goals as a Trainer were not so great, then perhaps this would not be a problem for someone of his ability.

But—

"Steven Stone."

Jing He's voice suddenly interrupted him.

Following the sound, Steven Stone saw him place the folder of "doodles" on the table.

Metang was standing at a fork in the road.

"To treat Metang, we can proceed in two steps: psychological counseling and physiological intervention."

Using his pen, he wrote "psychological counseling" and "physiological intervention" on the two branches. Then he looked up at Steven Stone and asked casually, "Which step do you plan to take first?"

Steven Stone almost instinctively asked, "Can't we do both?"

Jing He smiled. He used his pen to draw vertical lines between the two branches, turning them into one broad road, and said meaningfully:

"Exactly. Can't we do both?"

Looking at the two paths that had been widened and merged, Steven Stone's body trembled slightly. He looked at Jing He somewhat stiffly.

For some reason, he felt that Jing He's words seemed... to carry another meaning.

When he met that meaningful gaze, the feeling grew even stronger.

But Jing He had already put away the folder. Leaning back in his chair, he took a sip of coffee and said, "It's too late today. How about we start tomorrow?"

Steven Stone hesitated, then smiled warmly. "All right."

After Steven Stone left, Jing He added a line at the bottom of the page.

Steven Stone—an extreme perfectionist.

"Gastly, what kind of stone do you think this is?"

With the consultation room restored to its usual quiet emptiness, Jing He took out the stone again.

The more he looked at it, the more he felt that the burglary at Dr. Solanus's house was connected to it.

"Koujie..."

Gastly floated out from the ceiling.

Seeing that Jing He was no longer pursuing the matter of it breaking the computer, Gastly could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Then it revealed a confused expression.

It did not know, either.

Perhaps it had known once, but it had long forgotten why it had chosen this stone as the place for its slumber.

"Could it be a fossil?"

Jing He had no choice but to make what seemed like a relatively reasonable guess.

If it was a fossil of an Anorith or Lileep, it would be quite valuable.

"Koujie?"

Gastly floated in front of the stone, looking it over from every angle, but it could not make out anything unusual.

"How about giving it back to Dr. Solanus?" Jing He looked at Gastly and asked tentatively.

If this stone really was the source of trouble, then returning it to its original owner seemed like a good choice. It might be a little irresponsible, but he would at least try to give some warning.

"Koujie! Koujie!"

However, Gastly shook its head vigorously. It pointed at the stone in Jing He's hand, then at itself, firmly rejecting the suggestion while indicating that it was the stone's true owner.

Jing He laughed. "All right, all right. When it comes down to it, it did originally belong to you."

"Koujie!"

The mist around Gastly formed a hand and patted his shoulder, wearing the expression of someone pleased that he could be taught.

Jing He shot it an annoyed sideways glance, but did not argue with it. He turned his attention back to the stone.

"Maybe I'm overthinking it. Those people may have already gotten what they wanted."

Do you believe that yourself? That was the look Gastly gave him.

Jing He decided not to dwell on the matter too much, because the initiative had never been in his hands from beginning to end.

"Gastly, do you feel unwell anywhere?"

He recalled that when he had checked Gastly's Pokédex entry earlier, its condition had not been listed as optimal.

"Koujie?"

Gastly shook its head in confusion.

Unwell? No.

Jing He frowned at the sight.

Whether Pokémon or humans, the biggest problem was that when they were sick, they often could not feel that anything was wrong.

Although studying Pokémon Psychology had involved some Pokémon medical knowledge, what he knew was enough for ordinary minor issues. When it came to potentially hidden problems like this, however, he was out of his depth.

What was more, a Ghost-type Pokémon like Gastly could not be treated like an ordinary Pokémon.

Should I take it to the Pokémon Center?

But the moment he thought of the cost for a non-League Registered Trainer to have a Pokémon treated at the Pokémon Center, his head began to ache.

Money.

It was not just the medical expenses. Raising Gastly would require a huge amount of money, too.

The kind with no upper limit.

He sighed inwardly.

Fortunately, he had a stable job. If he was only raising Gastly, it should be enough... probably.

"Then let's continue from before."

Gastly had only demonstrated the beginnings of its moves that morning before being interrupted. Only now did they have time to continue.

"Koujie—"

"The other moves are easier to discuss, but when it comes to Hypnosis, I do have some experience..."

"My understanding of Will-O-Wisp is that concealment matters more than speed. Of course, speed is important too..."

"Confuse Ray can focus more on speed, because it is harder to conceal. But you can try combining Confuse Ray with Will-O-Wisp."

Please keep reading, dear readers~~ Writing as a newcomer is really too hard, please keep reading~~