Snowing: Finding Lillie While Delivering Food

"Lucky~"

Watching Chansey leave after healing him, Xingye still had not quite processed it.

Just as he had guessed before, it really was easier to earn the friendship of certain Pokémon.

This talent could only be used on himself. It merely sped up his recovery rate, making him more like a Pokémon.

"Say, if all my talents stack up, could I turn into a humanoid Pokémon...?"

He was not sure, but it felt possible.

Xingye climbed down from the stretcher, then glanced at the Pokémon Egg in his hands. It seemed to twitch faintly. He remembered that this meant it was close to hatching. It would probably hatch in about a week.

"For now, I'll keep it safe."

He was only looking after it temporarily. Once it hatched, he would have to tell Jenny. After all, it was an outsider Pokémon. Releasing it into the wild casually could have some ecological impact, so it needed to be handled properly.

But he put all that aside for now. He walked over to Mousy, who was being comforted by Gengar, crouched down, gently stroked its little head, and said, "Don't worry. Since it's still alive, it must be wandering around Hau'oli City. Maybe it's looking for you too."

"Eek..."

"Don't worry. Our Odd Jobs will help you find it. We'll see any job through once we accept it, so stay with us for the time being."

Looking at the boy who had run around all night for its sake, Mousy froze for a moment before nodding in agreement. It was beginning to trust him.

Xingye was happy as well, though this commission truly was difficult. Luckily, vacation was about to start, so he would have plenty of time.

Seeing that Mousy had finally stopped crying, Gengar sighed in relief. Then it spotted the Pokémon Egg and floated over with a curious look, raising a hand to smack it. Fortunately, Xingye reacted quickly and moved it away.

"Be good, you can't hit this!"

"Gengar?"

"This is a Pokémon Egg. Most Pokémon hatch from these, so you need to be gentle with it..."

Xingye explained it to him. Gengar had not hatched from a Pokémon Egg, so it had never seen one before. Its curiosity was perfectly normal.

He did not let Gengar play with the egg. Instead, he looked toward the biggest deal of the night—the Cyclizar sleeping nearby.

Earlier, it had suddenly charged over, slipped as if its feet had given out, and crashed into him. It had nearly sent him straight to the grave. Then, in the next second, all the electricity had vanished, and it had fallen asleep. The whole thing was utterly baffling.

Xingye stroked Cyclizar's head. The panel before his eyes showed that it had fallen asleep from excessive exhaustion. There was nothing else wrong with it. Its moves were normal, and so was its Ability.

But there was no doubt that Cyclizar's Ability had become Hadron Engine earlier. The purple lightning and those pupils that displayed a colorful OLED dot matrix were things only Miraidon possessed. So why had it happened?

"..."

Xingye could not figure it out. Cyclizar was merely a very common ordinary Pokémon, while Miraidon was possibly a Legendary Pokémon from the future. Even if they were related as Paradox Pokémon, this was still ridiculous.

Could his Cyclizar actually be Miraidon? Maybe it had lost its power and memories, temporarily becoming like this? That would explain why it was so strong. After all, it was the youth version of a Legendary Pokémon.

For now, that was his only guess. Perhaps Silvally's power had threatened Cyclizar, causing it to instinctively log into its main account for a moment and use Miraidon's power?

Just as Xingye was still pondering these things, he suddenly felt a jolt in his hand and snapped back to his senses. Cyclizar had opened its eyes, though its pupils had returned to normal, and it wore a confused expression.

"Cyclizar?"

"You're finally awake. Does anything feel uncomfortable?"

Xingye smiled faintly. Rather than immediately asking about Miraidon, he first showed concern for Cyclizar's condition.

"Cyclizar..."

Cyclizar shook its head, then stood up and looked around as if searching for the one who had sent it flying. It seemed completely unaware of its battle with Silvally.

"So it forgot after all..."

Xingye noticed that its amnesia was still there. He shook his head and stopped thinking about it, then said with a smile, "Whatever. Just be yourself. We're still Odd Jobs, and that won't change!"

"Cyclizar?"

Cyclizar scratched its head, not quite understanding why he said that, but it nodded anyway. Its cheerful expression returned, and it promptly bit down on his head.

"Ow, ow, ow! Don't drop the egg!"

This incident came to an end once again. By the time Xingye returned to Kabukicho from the Berry Orchard, it was already two or three in the morning.

Little Gengar and Mousy had both fallen asleep. Only Cyclizar was still carrying him along. He had not eaten dinner, but he could not be bothered to eat anymore. He was simply exhausted.

Although Chansey had healed his injuries, physical fatigue was not so easily erased. So without hesitation, he decided not to attend the practical exam that morning. He would get some proper rest first.

He had already failed two subjects anyway. Failing one more did not matter. It was just a practical exam—he could pass the retake with his eyes closed. Surely no one could actually fail that, right?

Afterward, he would go find another part-time job. Odd Jobs barely had any business now. Once he paid the rent at the end of the year, they would be chewing on Berries through the New Year.

After getting home, he put the two little ones to bed, found a blanket to wrap the Pokémon Egg in, and placed it beside the bed. He declined the calls on his phone, gave Cyclizar a few instructions, and once everything was done, he flopped straight down...

He had no idea how long he slept. When he woke up, the little guys had already carried the Pokémon Egg away and placed it on the living room sofa, watching over it.

"Don't break it..."

Xingye was speechless. Checking the time, he saw that it was already afternoon. Pokémon School had gone on break, and as for the retake, he could worry about it next year.

He looked at Cyclizar and asked, "Did you take them to Nae-chan's place for a free meal this morning?"

"Cyclizar~"

"If we can freeload, we freeload. I'll make lunch for you guys, then we'll head out together."

He planned to look for delivery work, whether food or packages. With his map for shortcuts and Cyclizar's speed, this line of work would be absurdly easy.

There would also be plenty of free time. He could roam all over Hau'oli City while helping Mousy search for its companion. His days ahead were basically settled.

In his previous life, Xingye had often delivered food during the day while dodging security guards, then worked as a security guard at night catching delivery riders. He had plenty of experience in this area and was completely at ease.

Sometimes, while delivering food, he ran into people he knew. For example, at the construction site where Machoke and Gurdurr worked, he ran into Xiaoyang, who had ordered takeout. Who would have thought that guy was mixing concrete at a construction site during winter break?

Xingye ignored him, though. Once the delivery was complete, he left. Mousy had not come along and instead stayed home to help look after the Pokémon Egg.

It was too light. If Cyclizar went even a little too fast, it could easily get flung off. Xingye had to look after the food deliveries too, so he could not take care of it. Yet several days passed without any clues about its companion.

Xingye asked some regulars at the izakaya to keep an eye out too, but there were still no results.

In the blink of an eye, a week passed. Christmas was only a few days away, and before the holiday arrived, Hau'oli City finally welcomed its first snowfall of the year—the first in nearly three years...

Night fell. The temperature suddenly dropped that evening, and snow began to fall. Cyclizar was so cold it could barely run, while Xingye was on his way back after finishing a delivery.

This order had been fairly far away, over in Lili'i Town, but the pay was good. Fortunately, it was his final order of the day.

Irregular snowflakes drifted slowly down from the night sky against the cold wind. Little Gengar was seeing snow for the first time and curiously reached out to catch some, but it quickly melted. The icy sensation made it shiver.

"Gengar..."

Wearing a helmet and wind goggles, Xingye glanced at it and said, "If you're cold, hide inside my jacket. I'll have Cyclizar slow down. We're already near downtown, so we'll be home soon."

Little Gengar nodded, then crawled inside his jacket and zipped it up, leaving only its upper body exposed so it could continue admiring the snowy nightscape.

Then Xingye suddenly laughed. "This order has a pretty generous bad-weather bonus. It completely crushes those Ugly Group and Are You Full? losers... Since it's cold, let's bring Mousy to Octopus Bro's for barbecue later."

"Cyclizar~"

"Gengar~"

Both of them were delighted. Braving the snow, Cyclizar slowed down slightly and continued forward.

But as they passed a seaside bridge near the Port Area, they saw a young girl standing alone by the railing, completely motionless.

Her golden hair and long dress fluttered faintly in the cold wind. Snow, falling faster and faster, struck the white sunhat on her head.

Yet she remained there as if petrified. She looked exactly like someone making her final mental preparations before jumping.

"..."

Xingye frowned slightly, then had Cyclizar slow down and stop nearby. He called out to the girl, "Hey, you over there! Don't stand by the railing alone. Whether you got dumped or whatever, you can't try to kill yourself just because you can't get over something!"

"..."

Seeing no response, he continued shouting, "Think about your family and friends! If you don't have any, then think about me. I'm in a hurry to get home for barbecue, yet I'm standing here in the snow trying to talk you down."

"..."

"Say something, miss!"

When she still did not respond, Xingye was at a loss. He could only take off his wind goggles and hang them around his neck, then pull out his phone to call the police while preparing to go over and pull her back.

He truly disliked people who casually tried to end their lives. As long as you were alive, there was hope, wasn't there?

But the moment he took off his goggles, his vision became much clearer. When he looked again, he realized that her silhouette seemed familiar, and her outfit was even more familiar. Wasn't that Lillie?!

"What are you doing..."