This Plushie Is Impossible to Win

"Look over there, isn't that what's-his-name's Cyclizar?"

"Hm?"

The three beside her all looked in the direction Lillie pointed. After spotting Cyclizar, Selene had Rowlet confirm it, then nodded. "It is. Does that mean he's nearby?"

Mallow waved a hand, speaking casually. "Who cares? Just pretend he doesn't exist. After doing something like that, he couldn't even give a simple apology. He ignores us, and we ignore him. We're not the same kind of people, so there's no need to let him ruin our mood."

Lana nodded beside them and said quietly, "I thought he was only like that because he'd just transferred here and hadn't adjusted yet. I figured he'd be easier to get along with after a few days. Who knew his personality was just this awful? Someone like him probably doesn't even have a single friend. It's kind of sad..."

Just then, Selene smiled and suggested, "Enough about things that ruin the mood. Let's go take a look. We can play the claw machines too. Just wandering around and buying stuff is boring. What do you think, Lillie? Want to win some plushies to take home?"

"Huh?"

Lillie froze slightly, then, after realizing what she meant, replied with a smile, "Sure, let's go. But I've never played one of these before..."

"It's fine, I'll teach you!"

After agreeing, the four girls headed toward the claw machine arcade together. As soon as they approached the crowd, they heard a child suddenly shout, "Go, big brother at the claw machine!"

"Hm?"

Curiously, they moved closer, only for all of them to stare blankly. Beside Xingye at the claw machines was already a pile of Ghost-type Pokémon plushies.

He looked like he was on the verge of shutting down as he kept feeding in coins, trying to grab the final Gengar plushie in the machine. His expression had completely fallen apart...

"So it really is him!"

"That's incredible... Did he win all those plushies?"

"He's a claw machine genius..."

"That's ridiculous..."

Lillie and the others couldn't understand it, yet they were deeply shocked. But after remembering that it was this guy, somehow it became understandable again.

Xingye didn't care how many people were watching him. He just couldn't understand why he absolutely could not win this final plushie.

If the machine was broken, then how could all the other plushies have been won? There were other limited editions inside too, yet this Gengar plushie alone refused to come out.

"Gengar~"

"Hm?"

Another auditory hallucination. Xingye had heard that mocking sound several times already, but he couldn't find where it was coming from. Besides, he couldn't be bothered to care.

With the final empty grab, he had also squandered all his coins. Blowing several days' worth of wages in one go was probably insane, but at least he could earn it back.

"Cyclizar~"

Cyclizar caught several little brats secretly trying to steal its plushies. Only after making them honestly hand the plushies over did it let them leave.

Xingye turned around and shouted at the people watching the spectacle, "Selling plushies! Just won them, fresh off the machine. The regular ones are cheaper, the limited editions cost more. If you want one, squeak."

"Squeak..."

Within a minute, every plushie had sold out. Just the few limited editions had earned back his money.

No matter what he did, even if he truly couldn't take it anymore, he stayed clear-headed and knew exactly what he was doing.

Winning all those plushies had also been partly for selling them and recovering his losses, making sure he didn't lose money.

Just as he packed up and prepared to get back to work, he noticed several familiar people across from him watching.

"What?"

Holding Rowlet, Selene asked curiously, "What are you doing here? Just winning plushies to sell them?"

"I'm working. What else would I be doing? I don't have living conditions as good as yours. Debt collectors came kicking at my door this morning, pinned me against the wall, and held a sword to my neck to make me pay up..."

Xingye casually responded as he counted the cash he had just earned.

He had been sleeping comfortably that morning when Ceruledge suddenly rushed in, yanked him from the bed he had just bought, and dragged him against the wall. Then there was no then.

But upon hearing this, the girls were utterly shocked. This was the first time they had learned about this guy's family situation, and it somehow sounded even more outrageous!

Debt collectors holding a sword to his neck? Hey! Was that really okay? Alola had criminal gangs like that? Surely calling the police would be better.

Amid her surprise, the usually quiet and gentle Lana seemed to think of something and suddenly asked, "Don't you have any family?"

"Lana!"

Mallow hurriedly called out to her. Only then did Lana realize she had said something wrong. They weren't stupid; if debt collectors had come after Xingye himself, then there definitely weren't any adults left at home.

"What a strong attack..."

Xingye didn't really care. He had come from that very famous whatever-orphanage, after all. He had heard things like this far too often and had nothing to care about.

Without paying them any more attention, he and Cyclizar turned around and left to continue working.

But as he departed, he still didn't forget to glance at that claw machine, especially at the Gengar plushie lying alone inside because of him.

"Gengar~"

"..."

Xingye narrowed his eyes without saying anything, turned back around, and continued his afternoon shift...

An hour passed quickly. The arcade was still as lively as ever, but as long as nobody deliberately caused trouble, the work was actually fairly easy. It was just too noisy.

Over this period, Cyclizar had learned quite a bit of common sense for adapting to human society. At the very least, it no longer bit anything it found interesting like before.

But Xingye still wasn't entirely at ease, so during work, he wandered around everywhere with it.

"Cyclizar!"

"Don't worry. If I couldn't win it, nobody else can win that Gengar plushie either."

They were still thinking about what happened at noon. After the claw machine had been restocked with new Pokémon plushies, it was once again being visited by those little brats.

To prevent those kids from stealing the Gengar plushie after losing too badly, they came by every so often to check on it, ready to deal with anything that happened.

"They've been behaving so far, but don't let me catch you. Otherwise, I'll call your parents over..."

He turned around, ready to patrol the other side with Cyclizar, when his gaze was caught by a particularly conspicuous white sunhat.

Lillie was sitting before a claw machine filled with Fairy-type Pokémon plushies. Under Selene and the others' guidance, she played with a serious expression.

"They're all amateurs. Who are they trying to teach..."

Xingye could tell at a glance that those girls were no good, but he didn't go over to mock them. He simply left with Cyclizar from behind them.

But another hour later, when he circled back, only Lillie remained there. Selene and the others had gone somewhere unknown.

"Why is the young lady all alone..."

Muttering that, Xingye continued past behind her. Yet from the corner of his eye, he saw what Lillie wanted: a Shiny Clefairy plushie. In just that short time, she had already failed twice.

"...Again!"

Lillie inserted another two coins. It was impossible to tell how many times she had failed. She looked on the verge of tears, yet forced herself to focus completely, only to fail once more.

"Even if you try your best to hide it, you can't change the fact that your mindset has become unbalanced. No matter how people disguise themselves and show their strong side, they must eventually face their truly weak selves."

The unrenowned philosophical master Xingye muttered this quietly. He had noticed Lillie's problem on the first day, since he was an expert at playing dumb. Such a minor disguise couldn't fool him at all.

Before, he had guessed it might be the troubles of adolescence, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.

For a simple claw machine game to bring such an expression to her face, she had clearly projected some of her usual real emotions and worries into it.

"Come to think of it... what Pokémon did she have again?"