A Test to Become an Assistant, a New Request

"Can I come with you too?!"

"Hmm... huh?"

Xingye, who had been talking with the Mousy pair, froze when he suddenly heard Lillie say that. For a moment, he did not react, thinking he had misheard.

Seeing that he did not respond, Lillie walked right up to him and said with an even more serious expression, "Please let me join Odd Jobs. I want to help Pokémon that are in trouble too!"

This time, Xingye finally heard her clearly. He snorted, waved a hand, and replied, "Miss, don't get carried away. Don't blame me for being rude, but you should overcome your fear of Pokémon first. Otherwise, you really won't be of any use."

"Even though I don't have much business right now, Odd Jobs requires dealing with Pokémon all the time. Maybe I don't know as much Pokémon theory as you do, but if I put you together with Pokémon, would you even be able to understand what they were saying?"

"..."

Those few words left Lillie speechless. She had only gotten carried away and suddenly come up with the idea, but now it was like a basin of cold water had been poured over her head...

Xingye did not continue paying attention to her. He knew this was merely a naive idea that had suddenly occurred to the young miss. Once she calmed down, she would surely give up.

Besides, adding a second person to Odd Jobs? What a joke. He did not like working with others. Being alone with Pokémon was enough for him.

He continued looking at the two Mousy Pokémon. Gengar had already gone over to join the fun, but at that moment, a panel popped up before him again, accompanied by reward effects.

[Obtained Tandemaus Friendship: Pure Love War God (Damage dealt to cuckolds greatly and excessively increased... Pure love may be foolish, but it is truly beautiful. Everyone can rely on themselves to become a Pure Love War God. Cuckolds who destroy beautiful pure love deserve to die! Tonight, go hunting to your heart's content!)]

"That description's way too long! What a terrifying talent!"

Xingye stared in disbelief. It seemed like another useless talent, but perhaps it would come in handy one day. Besides, he was a believer in pure love too!

Then, out of habit, he checked their status...

[Pokémon: Tandemaus]

[Type: Normal]

[Height/Weight: 0.29m/5.3kg, 0.31m/5.5kg]

[Ability: Run Away (Really fast at slipping away)]

[Moves: Population Bomb, Baby-Doll Eyes, Echoed Voice, Helping Hand, Double Hit, Super Fang]

[Status: Happy (Finally together again), Grateful (Deeply thankful to those who helped them)]

"Pretty normal. It would've been better if their Ability was Oblivious. If they evolved into Maushold, they could become technical experts, but whatever..."

After all, Tandemaus were not his Pokémon, so there was no need to think about training them. The request was already over, though it seemed there was no payment?

He glanced at the two Mousy Pokémon, thought it over, then decided to forget it. He did not expect them to give him anything anyway. The talent could count as payment.

All that remained was to wait until they had recovered enough, then hand the two little ones over to Jenny so she could send them back to the Paldea Region.

"But after all this, there won't be any barbecue tonight, and there's also..."

Before Xingye could finish, Lillie, who had been quiet for quite a while, suddenly called out again, "Maybe I can't participate directly, but I can be your assistant, right?!"

"Hmm?"

"As long as you need information about Pokémon, I can help you find it!"

"..."

Xingye had not expected her to still refuse to give up. He swirled his teacup and casually said, "The young miss is being awfully humble. Are you begging me with that tone?"

"Well..."

"But then again, are we even that close? You don't understand me at all. And it looks like this is just a passing whim for you. You probably haven't even figured out what Odd Jobs is."

"..."

Lillie fell silent again for a moment. Then, lowering her head, she softly said, "I truly want to help those Pokémon. Even though I'm a Trainer, without Pokémon accompanying me, I can't even go into many wild areas. At the very least... I want the knowledge I've learned to have somewhere it can be used!"

Seeing her like this, the surroundings somehow fell quiet as well. Noble Pokémon shook his head and said around the lollipop in his mouth, "You love Pokémon, yet you're afraid of them? Still, learning more is good. At least you're much better than some guy who doesn't understand anything. But learning knowledge without using it is just practicing yourself to death. That whatever Odd Jobs thing of his really is a good place for you to show what you can do."

"..."

Xingye glanced at Slowking. He understood that those words were actually advice directed at him. And it seemed this guy especially liked helping people with dreams and strong determination. Xingye himself had been like that back then.

He still did not want to agree. This was his Odd Jobs business. How comfortable was it to be alone with Pokémon? Why should he let some troublesome outsider barge in? Did he want a headache all day long?

After a long silence, just as he was preparing to refuse, the Decidueye that had been drinking alone at the far end of the counter suddenly turned around and looked at them.

"Coo..."

Its cry resembled Rowlet's, but sounded far more weathered. Looking closely, one would notice that this Decidueye seemed quite old and was not in good spirits.

Hearing it, Slowking looked toward Xingye and slowly said, "Looks like you've got business."

"Hmm?"

Xingye was briefly stunned before coming to his senses. He walked over to the Decidueye and said, "Odd Jobs does anything. Do you want to commission us to help?"

"Coo!"

Although it had been sitting here for quite some time, Decidueye did not look drunk at all. Instead, it seemed to have been listening to their conversation for a long time.

Seeing him begin accepting a request, Lillie curiously came closer as well, wanting to see how the process worked.

Since it was a language he was hearing for the first time, Xingye needed some time to understand it. Still, he grasped the meaning and asked, "Is it related to your Trainer?"

"Coo!"

"..."

Xingye's hand stopped abruptly as he recorded the details. He understood what Decidueye meant, but it was somewhat...

"Huh?"

Seeing everyone suddenly fall silent, Lillie looked utterly confused. Noble Pokémon shook his head and quietly explained, "Its Trainer is about to die, but at a time like this, they won't let it go see them one last time. They even drive it away outright. That's why it's so distressed. It wants to commission us to investigate the reason."

"..."

The atmosphere instantly became heavy. Lillie did not know what to say, and she looked at Xingye, wanting to know what he would do next...

"An investigation request. Can you tell me the details more clearly? If it isn't convenient to talk here, we can change locations."

Xingye quickly recovered. Parting through life and death was common enough. He himself could be considered someone who had died once, so he accepted such things more easily.

Decidueye nodded, then borrowed paper and a pen from Slowking and wrote down an address.

"Coo."

"Go here tomorrow morning? Understood."

He put away the note, officially accepting the request. Odd Jobs existed to help Pokémon solve their troubles, so Xingye naturally would not refuse something like this.

Seeing that he had accepted the request, Decidueye nodded. After paying for its drinks, it left the izakaya.

Watching its departing back, Slowking slowly said, "That guy's been one of my regular customers for over a decade. It used to travel all over the world with its Trainer. After many setbacks, it finally grew tired and returned to settle down in Alola, which had begun developing."

"You can tell it has a story."

Xingye looked at the address, slipped the paper back into his pocket, and thought for a moment. Then he looked at Lillie and said, "Since you want to be my assistant, let's give it a try first. Come with me on the request tomorrow. Consider it an internship. We'll see how you perform."

"Uh... wait, you agreed?!"

The surprise came so suddenly that Lillie had yet to fully process it.

Then Xingye looked into her emerald-green eyes and calmly said, "Let me make this clear first. I'm not used to working with others. If we encounter danger during the request that I can't handle, I'll leave you behind and run without hesitation."

"I don't mind!"

Lillie raised her small fist and answered without hesitation. At that moment, a smile finally blossomed across her face once more.