Lillie Wants to Join Odd Jobs Too?

Seeing so many Pokémon walking down the street like humans, all of Lillie's composure vanished. But Xingye was not about to let her leave just like that.

They had not run into Meowth and the others tonight, so Cyclizar easily carried the two of them inside. Lillie, however, was already close to fainting from fright.

"After putting on such a brave front, this is all you've got? I thought you'd be scared into tears..."

Xingye shook his head. Still, it seemed he could bring people into Kabukicho normally. As long as they got close to the district entrance, they could see it.

So how exactly did those Kabukicho Elite Four, who still had not shown themselves, keep others from discovering this place? This was absurd, wasn't it?

He could not figure it out. The more he thought about it, the scarier it seemed. No wonder Slowking had warned him not to investigate...

Before long, they arrived at the izakaya. Perhaps because it had snowed today, the weather was especially suited for drinking, and the place was quite lively.

Xingye took off his goggles and helmet, then looked at the trembling Lillie. "We're here. Get down. And don't go wandering around, okay? Some wild Pokémon will chase people down and attack them."

"!!!"

That only made Lillie more frightened. She could no longer even pretend to be calm. In the end, Cyclizar deliberately raised his tail a little, startling her into jumping down.

"..."

"See? This environment is great. If you stay here long enough, won't you get over your fear of Pokémon?"

"Even if you put it that way!"

Lillie tightly gripped the strap of her Clefairy-shaped backpack. Right now, all she wanted was to go home.

This place was terrifying. Why was there somewhere like this in Hau'oli City? And Xingye actually lived here. No wonder he went to school injured every day.

Just then, she looked up. After seeing the sign for Slowking Izakaya, she continued looking upward, her expression briefly freezing. "Odd Jobs A-Xing?"

"That's my home."

Xingye answered. Seeing that the lights in his home were off, he knew Mousy must have come downstairs, so he tidied himself up and headed straight into the izakaya.

Little Gengar followed closely behind while carrying the unconscious Mousy. Cyclizar, now stripped of its riding gear, immediately followed as well. Lillie stood where she was, looking left and right in confusion, before she could only follow them inside.

It was fairly lively inside, and warmth immediately washed over them as they entered. Fortunately, only a Decidueye was seated at the counter, drinking berry wine.

Above the bar, Slowpoke was as usual. Mousy was caring for a Pokémon Egg placed in a basket, which Delphox had made.

The moment Xingye entered, he called out, "Boss Slowking, one hot fruit tea, and prepare some food that'll help with recovery too. Also—"

"This isn't a membership restaurant!"

Noble Pokémon cursed around its lollipop, then had Delphox go prepare the order. Hearing the voice, Mousy also looked toward the entrance and immediately spotted the figure in Gengar's arms.

Watching it go from stunned to excited in an instant, Xingye was quite happy as well. "I found your companion."

"Eek!"

"If you want to thank someone, thank her. If she hadn't rescued Little Gray, it probably would've fallen into the sea."

Xingye smiled and pointed to the cautiously approaching Lillie behind him.

Some of Mousy's fur was indeed slightly gray, so he had named it Little Gray. The other one was Little White. He did not have much talent for naming things, but as long as he could tell them apart, that was enough...

When he suddenly pointed at her, Lillie was still a little bewildered and did not understand what was happening. But she did see Little White on the counter.

"Another Mousy?"

Just as she was wondering about it, Little White saw the unconscious Little Gray and immediately became anxious again. Xingye stroked its head and comforted it. "It's okay. It'll recover soon. It was probably looking for you for days too. Now that you've finally reunited, you should be happy."

"Eek..."

"Gengar!"

"Cyclizar!"

Seeing them all gathered together, Lillie, who seemed completely isolated, wore a surprised expression and murmured, "No way... He can actually smile like that? Is this a hallucination?"

At that moment, Slowking finally noticed her. It looked at Xingye and asked, "You're bringing things home every day. This time, what is it... a girlfriend? Doesn't look like it. She seems pretty scared."

"Uh..."

Just as Xingye was about to answer, Slowking suddenly noticed something unusual. Its gaze instantly sharpened as it asked, "You didn't trick her into coming here, did you? You've fallen this low too, brat!"

As it spoke, it threw a Mega Punch, sending Xingye flying straight into the wall. It was the same familiar move he had experienced once two months ago.

"!!!"

Lillie jumped in fright, having no idea what had happened. The customers, meanwhile, seemed used to it and even called out a few teasing cheers.

Sitting on the floor, Xingye clutched his face through the pain and shouted, "I didn't do anything!"

"It'll be too late once you do. You won't even spare such a young girl? Just take him out... before he commits a crime."

As Slowking's voice fell, Ceruledge suddenly raised its blade and flashed in front of Xingye, preparing to bring it down.

"What a fast sword! Uh... No, no, that's not right!"

Seeing Xingye about to be cut down, Lillie snapped out of it and hurriedly shouted, "It has nothing to do with him! I was worried, so I asked to come along myself!"

"Hm? Then it's fine."

Noble Pokémon waved a hand to stop Ceruledge, then slowly explained, "This guy especially likes girl-type Pokémon like you. He's always getting handsy with the Delphox in my shop, especially its tail."

"From time to time, he even goes to the red-light districts to hunt Kirlia and the like... I thought he'd finally changed targets and started going after humans."

Hearing that, Xingye suddenly panicked and shouted, "Don't casually reveal such shocking facts! And what's this about visiting red-light districts? How come I don't know about that? I've never gone there!"

But after hearing the explanation, Lillie's expression darkened. She took half a step back, gave him a disgusted look, then calmly replied, "Yes, I was tricked here by him. Hurry up and do it."

"Hey!!!"

A short while later, Lillie took a small sip of the sweet-and-sour hot fruit tea, and her body warmed up considerably.

After setting down her cup and thanking Slowking, she closed her eyes, gave a soft huff, and said to Xingye, who was seated beside her, "Congratulations on reaching a new low. No wonder you shut yourself off and never interact with anyone else every day. I never expected you to be having such a great time with Pokémon in private."

"..."

Like the Slowpoke on the counter, Xingye stared up at the ceiling, not knowing how to respond. Gengar floated beside him and gently touched the spot where he had been hit.

Little White was caring for the still-unconscious Little Gray, while Cyclizar had run off to play with the drunkards.

When Lillie saw that he did not respond, she began seriously observing the izakaya. There were clearly so many Pokémon around, yet for the first time, she did not feel afraid. Instead, she found it incredibly warm and comforting. It was strange.

Pokémon living their lives like humans, Delphox and Ceruledge working as waiters, and Slowking communicating through telepathy...

This was all something she had experienced for the first time. She had seen another side of Pokémon in their daily lives, a life that belonged to the Pokémon themselves.

She looked at Slowking again and softly asked, "Um... may I ask some questions?"

"If you want to know about Kabukicho, you can ask that guy next to you. As for anything more, it's better not to pry."

"Okay..."

Lillie was not too disappointed, though she remained very curious. Besides, simply being able to see and experience this place already made her very satisfied.

Just then, Little Gray, whom Little White had been caring for all this time, finally woke up. The food here at Slowking's was highly restorative, and since it had merely been cold and hungry, it recovered quickly.

Hearing the movement, Xingye finally came back to his senses. Looking at the two Mousy hugging each other, he smiled and said, "You've recovered well. Don't get separated again. You're pretty dirty, so go upstairs later and take a hot bath."

Gengar also floated over to greet it.

"Eek?"

Faced with all these unfamiliar figures around it, the newly awakened Little Gray was clearly still completely confused.

But after Little White introduced everyone, it finally understood. Then it looked at Lillie, who had saved it, and gratefully jumped straight onto her.

"!!!"

Lillie's body reacted instinctively, and her hair stood on end. Fortunately, Xingye quickly caught Little Gray and placed it back on the counter. "Don't suddenly jump on her. You should ask first."

"Eek?"

"That's right. But don't rush. Focus on getting your health back first."

Seeing this, Lillie asked in surprise, "Are you... talking with Pokémon?"

Noble Pokémon behind the counter glanced over and explained, "Don't let his unserious appearance fool you. He's always been working hard to understand Pokémon language and figure out its meaning so he can communicate with them."

"He's that amazing?!"

"More or less. After all, he runs Odd Jobs upstairs, helping Pokémon as a business. He needs to be able to communicate. Though his business is pretty terrible."

"Odd Jobs..."

Lillie thought of the sign she had seen outside, as well as the fact that, a week ago before vacation started, someone had missed an exam but still received recognition from the school. Could it have been because of this?

"Can I join too!"

She suddenly looked at Xingye and asked with an extremely serious expression. She loved Pokémon, but because of psychological reasons, she could not get close to them.

But if she could help Pokémon solve their problems, then she would surely be very happy...