"Azoth Kingdom..."
Dian was dressed in a pristine white formal suit, with a ribbon-like Shield Badge fastened to his chest.
Just thinking about everything that had happened lately made his stomach hurt.
Lately, it had been like a famine followed by a plague of locusts. Pokémon Hunters everywhere had turned into sharks scenting blood, capturing and stealing Pokémon left and right. He had no idea whether anyone else had been worked to death, but the Pokémon Rangers were certainly on the verge of collapse.
Hyuga, Chuangyi, and the others were so busy they barely had time to sleep... and the League wasn't even paying them extra for all that overtime.
And that wasn't all. Even the Member Kingdoms seemed to be stirring, especially the Azoth Kingdom in the Kalos Region.
As he pondered this, the Capture Styler beside him vibrated. Who else could it be but their staffer, Rumi?
"..."
He didn't want to answer.
He really, truly didn't.
He was so exhausted he could puke.
He was a big shot, for crying out loud. Why did he still have to do all this himself?
The reason was simple.
o(╥﹏╥)o
No money. He was too poor. Any more talk about it would only bring tears.
Dian had calculated that hiring Pokémon would save money, but he hadn't accounted for those bald bastards at the League being even more ruthless. They had slashed his subsidies on the grounds that Pokémon weren't people.
Only then had he learned why Professor Oak, Professor Ivy, and the others insisted on having a whole group of Researchers with them—professors were obligated to train Researchers.
Otherwise, wouldn't their funding be far too easy to collect?
Apparently, assistants really were just "assistants," not secretaries.
Probably only Professor Sycamore and a handful of others had actually turned their