Two Friendships in One Haul

Xingye had been supposed to start school the next day, but he ended up lying in the hospital for a whole week, wrapped up like a mummy and unable to do anything.

The case had been resolved by the third day. As one of the two main parties involved, he got off without any trouble at all—he was a minor, after all, and he had been beaten so badly.

Mihao's situation, meanwhile, was far more serious. Intentionally assaulting a Pokémon School student and causing severe injuries was enough on its own to ruin him.

But the police had also uncovered other things. In any case, the guy really was no good person. He seemed normal enough on the surface, but he had secretly made Pokémon attack other Trainers and injure them on multiple occasions.

Whether anyone had died because of him had yet to be determined, since those incidents had happened in other regions. Mihao's final sentence had not been handed down yet, but he was looking at a minimum of twenty years, along with a lifetime ban from being a Trainer...

"Tch, serves him right, Meowth."

Xingye watched the news on the TV in his hospital room. Since he was a minor, his privacy had been protected, and the report did not mention which Pokémon School student had been attacked.

He had reacted quickly that night. The moment he heard the police sirens, he knew he had to hurry and disguise himself as a victim, so he put on an act with Cyclizar.

Well, he was the only one acting. Cyclizar had not known what was going on, which was why, after its legs gave out and it fell flat on the ground, it had let out that heartbreaking cry of grief.

Xingye knew that although Cyclizar looked rather dumb, its reaction speed was incredibly fast. It could make an instant turn while racing forward at full speed, so naturally, it could also pull back its strength the instant it threw a punch.

It had been risky. If Cyclizar had failed to hold back, he would have been dead on the spot. But that was Xingye's trust in Cyclizar. Even though they had only been together for a few short days, he believed Cyclizar could do it!

If you treated Pokémon well, they would naturally respond in kind. Though he had lost the fight, as a Trainer, he had won completely and utterly.

"So it's about time I got discharged..."

Those injuries had mostly healed within a week. The medical standards in this world really were impressive, perhaps because Pokémon helped out.

Xingye changed into his school uniform. Some bandages were still wrapped around him, but they did not get in the way. He did not want to keep wasting time in the hospital.

After saying goodbye to the other patients in his room, he left directly. When he arrived at the hospital entrance, Cyclizar was already waiting there.

Since this was a human hospital, Pokémon over one meter long were prohibited from entering in order to prevent unexpected incidents, so it could only wait outside.

"Cyclizar, Cyclizar~"

The moment Cyclizar saw him come out, it happily rushed forward and bit down on his head.

"Alright, alright. You've been waiting a long time, huh? Let's go home."

Xingye was helpless, but he was happy too. He put on his goggles, climbed onto Cyclizar, and rode off. Though he had taken a beating this time, it had felt pretty good to teach that scumbag a lesson.

Maybe Odd Jobs could take on requests like this in the future—like killing cheating bastards for free or something...

After returning to the Drifter District and teasing the Meowth chasing after him from behind, he finally reached the izakaya's entrance. It was only afternoon, so it was not open yet, but the door was.

"Hm?"

Curious, Xingye walked over with Cyclizar. He happened to see Delphox, dressed in a maid outfit, cleaning the place, so he greeted her.

"Alola~"

"Huohu~"

Seeing that it was him, Delphox happily cried out in response. After what had happened that day, their relationship had improved tremendously.

Xingye nodded. He already knew that Slowking had taken her in, allowing her to happily do the work she liked here every day.

Just then, the panel before his eyes flickered, and the reward effect that he had not seen in a long time suddenly appeared.

[Obtained Delphox's Friendship: Flame Stick (can easily start a fire by rubbing sticks together in any environment)]

"What kind of everyday survival skill is that..."

It was not surprising that he had gained a Friendship Talent, but the effect of this one truly disappointed Xingye. After all, any Pokémon that knew Fire-type moves could do this, couldn't they?

Still, it did not matter. What he needed more was for Delphox to help promote his Odd Jobs business to customers during her downtime.

Then he suddenly remembered something. His expression instantly changed as he glanced inside and asked, "Where's Boss Slowking? That guy swallowed all my compensation money. Is he planning to run off without saying a word?"

Why had he pretended to be a victim in the first place? Wasn't it so he could score a huge compensation payout?

Yet Slowking, pretending to be his guardian's Pokémon, had gone over there and done who knew what before accepting all of it on his behalf. When Xingye saw that in the television report, he had nearly passed out from rage.

Hearing his voice, Slowking emerged with its hands behind its back and called out, "What are you yelling about? You're discharged already? That was pretty fast."

Xingye was not going to listen to any more of its nonsense. He stepped forward, grabbed the decoration around its neck, and demanded loudly, "Where's my compensation money?!"

"I used it all to cover your medical bills. For you to get discharged so quickly, I had to find you the best doctor in Alola. It was only thanks to the miraculous Doctor Bai Jack that you recovered. You should be thanking me."

"Keep making things up! Why not say it was Doctor Li Fuxi?!"

Xingye had already seen how good this guy was at making things up. It had definitely pocketed the money and refused to give it to him, while even trying to keep him in debt. What a schemer!

But Slowking still wore that dim-witted expression as it slowly replied, "Your mentality isn't good. You spent a week in the hospital and still haven't calmed down."

"And whose fault do you think that is?!"

"I don't know. Even an Omniscience Slowking has things it doesn't know."

"..."

Xingye gave up. This guy clearly intended to deny everything to the bitter end. That had been such a huge compensation payment—enough to pay off all his debts with money left over—yet it was gone just like that. Nothing had changed.

Watching the two argue, Delphox smiled and did not go over to interrupt. Inside the izakaya, Ceruledge glanced over briefly before looking away again.

Just then, Slowking, which had been wearing a foolish expression moments ago, suddenly became serious. Its gaze sharpened as it asked, "So you intend to keep helping the Pokémon on this street solve their troubles in this way?"

"..."

Xingye came back to his senses. He had not expected Slowking to suddenly ask something like that. It had clearly been extremely unimpressed by the idea before, yet its attitude had changed rather quickly.

But no matter how it asked, Xingye would never change something he had already decided on!

"Isn't that obvious? Not only that, I'm going to open an Odd Jobs business here that does anything and everything, specifically to help these Pokémon solve their troubles!"

"An Odd Jobs business that does anything and everything..."

Slowking muttered to itself. After a moment of silence, it unexpectedly broke into a goofy smile and said, "Then work hard and do what you want on this street. A brat like you might really end up accomplishing something big."

After saying that, Slowking turned and went back inside. But Xingye could already tell that it meant it approved of his idea, and he smiled softly as well.

But at that very moment, the panel before his eyes flickered again, and the reward effect triggered once more!

[Obtained Boss Slowking's Friendship: Not Dumb at All (improved learning ability; makes it easier to understand Pokémon language; Trainers only)]

"???"

Xingye could not figure it out. It was not that he was confused about suddenly gaining Friendship, but why was it Boss Slowking instead of Slowking?

And this Talent effect was incredibly useful in every way. It was exactly what he needed right now, yet he had obtained it so easily?

Thinking back on the four Talents he had gained aside from the Rotom Phone, their effects seemed to vary wildly. The good ones were exceptionally good, while the bad ones were exceptionally bad.

"Could this thing have a rare Talent system too?"

That thought suddenly popped into Xingye's mind. If it had only been an ordinary Slowking, it might have given him some normal Talent that kept his mind clear. But this was Boss Slowking!

At that thought, he immediately looked toward Slowking. After obtaining a Friendship Talent, he could inspect its status information. Maybe he could learn something...

[Pokémon: Slowking]

[Type: Water type + Psychic type]

[Height/Weight: 1.95 m/76.6 kg]

[Ability: Oblivious (will not become confused)]

[Moves: Nasty Plot, Yawn, Disable, Amnesia, Zen Headbutt, Slack Off, Psychic, Rain Dance, Psych Up, Mega Punch, Rest, Sleep Talk, Protect, Shadow Ball, Surf]

[Status: Dumb (just dumb), Irritated (that brat really knows how to cause trouble; he'd better not pull something like this again someday), Happy (the izakaya's best employee is back. That brat really can handle proper work, so should I lower his rent? Better not.)]

"Then lower it already!"