Find Mousy's Other Half

Even surrounded and toyed with by those Meowth, trembling all over, the white Mousy still wore a fiercely intimidating expression.

It raised its tiny hands, opened its mouth, and bared its little front teeth, seemingly trying to scare the Meowth away. Clearly, though, it only made it look adorable.

"A Tandemaus... no, a Maushold? I can't tell. It's one mouse, right?"

Xingye glanced over in confusion, but did not dwell on it for now. Those Meowth had caused trouble by running off that afternoon and gotten him failed, and now they were bullying an adorable Mousy here. They seriously could not behave themselves for even a moment.

"Cyclizar, go!"

"Cyclizar!"

Cyclizar launched forward and charged straight over. Gengar wanted to join in too, to give those annoying bastards a couple of solid punches, but Xingye held it back.

"Don't go. Shadow Punch barely works on them."

"Gengar..."

Gengar drooped in disappointment. By then, Cyclizar had already closed in. Hearing the commotion, those Meowth turned around. The moment they saw it, they were startled and immediately prepared to Run Away, but they were far too slow.

With one sweeping tail strike, Cyclizar sent most of the Meowth flying. The rest fled in a panic. They only dared sneak attacks to bully Xingye; they had absolutely no ability to fight back against Cyclizar.

Seeing the ones who had bullied it flee, Mousy dropped its fierce-cute pose and prepared to Run Away as well, only for Xingye to walk over and block its path.

"Rawr!"

Mousy raised both hands again and let out a milky little roar, but it was completely ineffective. Xingye simply picked it up.

"You're pretty badly hurt. Let's get you treated. After all, I'm a Meowth victim too..."

Though he said that, Mousy kept up its threatening pose the whole time. It was clearly terrified and could only use that stance to feel safe.

"Gengar?"

Gengar floated over and landed on Xingye's arm, then reached out to touch Mousy. It was startled when Mousy suddenly whipped its head around.

Watching this, as well as the glowing point on the panel, Xingye had no idea why Mousy had come to a place like this alone.

Tandemaus were Pokémon that were often born in pairs, one male and one female.

Sometimes they were born alone, but they would quickly find their other half. Neither would ever leave the other. They were childhood sweethearts and champions of pure love!

They would grow up together, then somehow have children before they knew it, changing from Tandemaus into Maushold.

But now, Tandemaus had become a single mouse. This was extremely rare, unless something had happened to its other half.

Yet in times like these, the one left behind would quickly choose to die for love as well. It would not let its other half walk that road alone...

"Cyclizar?"

Looking at the adorable Mousy, Cyclizar instinctively reached out to touch it. It loved cute things too, but the instant it touched Mousy's ear, it was startled by its little roar.

"Don't tease it. The little guy's having a stress reaction. Let's take it home and treat it first. We can ask about the rest later and see if there's anything we can help with."

"Cyclizar~"

Holding Mousy in his hand, Xingye put on his wind goggles, mounted Cyclizar, and continued home. Gengar floated beside them, still deeply curious about Mousy.

Nothing happened along the way, and the Meowth did not show up again. By the time they returned to the Drifter District, Kabukicho was just beginning to come alive.

Mousy kept up its threatening pose at Xingye the entire time. It neither resisted nor tried to flee before being brought back to Odd Jobs.

"Finally back. Home really is more comfortable. What a rotten day, and I've still got a group practical exam tomorrow..."

Xingye turned on the lights, casually set the groceries aside, and walked into the living room while complaining.

He placed Mousy on the sofa, returned to his usual expression, and reminded it, "The streets around here are dangerous, so don't run around. I'm going to get some medicine and treat your wounds."

Once he left, Mousy finally lowered its hands. It immediately jumped off the sofa and ran down the hallway toward the exit, only to crash into Gengar, which emerged from the floor. It bounced away and rolled several times.

"Gengar?"

Gengar rubbed its belly and floated over. Seeing it approach, Mousy instantly assumed its threatening stance again and let out a fierce-cute cry, only to be picked up by Xingye, who had suddenly appeared behind it.

"Don't run around. I'm treating your wounds. You don't want to collapse from severe injuries before you find your companion, do you?"

At those words, Mousy suddenly froze. After a brief pause, it finally lowered its hands, though its eyes remained wary.

Seeing that, Xingye knew his guess had been right. Mousy had indeed been separated because its companion had either gotten lost or suffered some mishap.

Pokémon born to love each other like that surely had some special connection between them, allowing them to sense the other's condition.

If the other Mousy had met with misfortune, this one would definitely have felt it, then sunk into depression and grief before finding somewhere to end its own life.

Bringing Mousy back to the living room, Xingye took out a can of medicinal spray and said softly, "This might hurt a little. Bear with it."

As he spoke, he sprayed some onto the wounds Mousy had received from the Meowth's claws, then wrapped them simply with bandages. Mousy did not make a sound throughout, remaining on guard.

Gengar sat quietly on the sofa and watched. Just then, Cyclizar came in from outside carrying half a case of Moomoo Milk. It had just brought it up from the izakaya downstairs. Gengar was still a child and needed to drink more of it.

"Cyclizar?"

"Just put it in the kitchen. I'll warm some up when I make dinner later."

"Cyclizar~"

After treating Mousy's wounds, Xingye left it on the sofa and headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Once he left, Gengar and Cyclizar leaned in again to greet Mousy.

After what had happened earlier, the little one had improved considerably. At least it did not immediately raise its hands and assume an attacking stance.

Gengar sat directly beside it. The two Pokémon were about the same height, and from a distance, they looked like two plush toys neatly arranged together.

"Gengar~"

"..."

"Gengar~"

When Mousy did not respond, Gengar continued greeting it enthusiastically. It had often played at the izakaya downstairs these past few days and occasionally talked with other Pokémon, gradually becoming more outgoing.

Finally, under its persistent enthusiastic greetings, Mousy moved and responded, "Eep..."

That was different from the sound it made when threatening others. This was its real cry, soft and squishy just like it looked.

"Gengar~"

Gengar instantly brightened. It reached into its belly and pulled out a little dress. It had a habit of hiding things it liked inside its stomach so it could take them out whenever it wanted.

Then, without hesitation, it handed the dress over, intending to put it on Mousy while criticizing it for being adorably naked and improperly dressed.

"???"

"Gengar!"

"Eep!!!"

Mousy hurriedly ran away and jumped onto Cyclizar's head. It was a boy—how could it wear something like that? Besides, now was not the time for this. It had to Run Away!

Seeing it try to flee again, Cyclizar grabbed it with one hand and put it back onto the sofa, then squatted beside it with a friendly expression.

"Cyclizar~"

"..."

Seeing that Mousy seemed frightened, Gengar set the dress aside and stepped up to comfort it, while also making sure Cyclizar apologized.

"Cyclizar..."

After that whole farce, Mousy was extremely anxious, but it knew it could not escape. Finally, it could not hold back any longer and began to cry.

Gengar had been about to put the dress on it to make it even cuter. Seeing this, it was suddenly at a loss and hurriedly went over to continue comforting it.

After all, it was only a child less than a month old, still rather innocent in every way.

Under Gengar's comfort, Mousy finally revealed the truth. Its companion had been captured by someone, which was why it was so anxious and wanted to save them.

"Cyclizar?!"

"Gengar?!"

Hearing this, Gengar and Cyclizar instantly knew they had work to do. Wasn't Odd Jobs A-Xing supposed to help Pokémon solve the troubles in their lives?

They exchanged a glance and, without hesitation, promised to help find Mousy's other half, accepting this request on Xingye's behalf while he was cooking in the kitchen!

Gengar patted its belly, smiled, and gave the Mousy that had finally stopped crying a thumbs-up, telling it to leave everything to them!

"Gengar!"