Pokemon: Helping Pokemon Pays Off

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Knock! Knock! Knock!

"..."

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"..."

BOOM—

"!!!"

Hearing a loud bang, Hoshino and his Cyclizar jolted awake, thinking something had exploded. They quickly pulled open the door and rushed into the living room.

"What the heck! Did an Electrode roll in? I swear I locked the door..."

"It's not an Electrode, it's just me, Slowking. Alola~"

"Huh?"

Hoshino blinked in confusion, only to see Boss Slowking standing at the door, hands behind his back, dramatically backlit by the morning sun. Beside him lay the door—completely shattered from a heavy impact, bent and leaning against the wall.

"My door… it's dead..."

"Fix it yourself. I knocked forever, and no one answered."

"Was that really necessary?! Even if it's just a door, it had dreams, too—like protecting this home—and you just crushed them..."

"I'm the landlord."

"..."

One sentence left Hoshino speechless. He couldn't even find an excuse to make Slowking fix the door. Guess he'd have to handle it himself later.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he grumbled, "So, Boss Slowking, why are you here so early? It's only… 7 AM."

After last night's fiasco, Hoshino didn't have the best impression of Slowking. In fact, it felt like this surprise visit was just a disguised rent collection attempt.

But Slowking seemed to read his mind, calmly saying, "Relax. I'm not here to collect rent. This month's almost over anyway. Your rent starts next month—pay every two months. Just settle everything by the end of the year."

"Wow, I actually get to stay for free for a few days… So, what are you really here for?"

"Household registration check. Just realized—you're not from Alola, are you? You never say 'Alola' when greeting people, and you've got this Cyclizar that's even dumber than a Slowpoke. Are you from Paldea?"

"Drifter. Haven't had a home in ages."

"Is that so? No wonder you ended up here. Name? Age? What do you do?"

"Are you interrogating me?" Hoshino rolled his eyes but lazily replied, "Hoshino, 15 years old, and I'm a—WHOA!!!"

Before he could finish, a sudden gust of wind smacked him square in the face. A punch landed hard, sending him flying several meters with a scream of pain.

Slowking retracted his fist and shouted, "Brat, you should be in school! This isn't a place for kids like you!"

Lying on the ground, clutching his face in agony, Hoshino wailed dramatically, "HEY! This 'kid' just got wrecked by your heavy punch! That was a Mega Punch, wasn't it?!"

"That was the Underage Protection Punch."

"Protecting WHAT?! You trying to say if you finish me off, there's nothing left to protect, huh?!"

"You could interpret it that way."

"Crap!"

Panic washed over Hoshino. What kind of Pokémon was this? It just started throwing hands out of nowhere!

Could he really survive in this neighborhood? These guys seriously looked like they'd KO him and loot his corpse without a second thought.

Seeing Hoshino suddenly getting punched, Cyclizar immediately jumped in between them, striking an aggressive pose—though it had zero intimidation factor, completely lacking in presence.

Slowking glanced at it briefly before shifting his gaze back to Hoshino, speaking slowly, "Fifteen years old, wandering around here instead of going to a shelter—you probably don't even have valid identification, and clearly, you're not a registered Trainer. That's pretty rare. But you don't seem like some fugitive criminal either. So, no family?"

"Family?"

Hoshino rubbed his face, stood up, and his expression suddenly turned calm as he replied, "What family? Never had one…"

Slowking observed his demeanor for a while before turning around, resuming his pose with hands behind his back, and said, "Come with me."

"Huh? Where to?"

"Breakfast. Then we'll get your ID sorted out. I don't expect someone who can't even find a part-time job to pay rent."

"..."

Watching Slowking walk outside, bathed in sunlight, Hoshino's expression turned to one of surprise. Did he hear that right?

"If you're not coming, I'm leaving."

"Wait!"

"Let's go, Cyclizar!"

Hoshino and Cyclizar quickly followed. Who wouldn't take advantage of free stuff? As for the broken door—meh, they'd deal with it later.

By now, Kabukicho had completely lost the chaotic vibe from last night, fully restored to its usual look as a drifter's district. The streets were spotless, as if nothing had happened.

After heading downstairs, Slowking walked deeper into the district. Hoshino sat on Cyclizar, lazily following behind, asking curiously, "Isn't everything closed? Where can we get breakfast in Night City?"

"There's a place—Gardevoir's Bun Shop."

"Do they have Kirlia's buns too? I prefer the little sister type over the big sister type!"

Hoshino was starting to adapt. After all, this was Pokémon Kabukicho. How could a Gardevoir's job be normal here?

Slowking glanced back, responding flatly, "What nonsense are you spouting? Are humans just filled with pervy thoughts all the time? Can't survive without it, huh?"

"See? You got it instantly!"

"I'm the all-knowing, all-powerful Slowking!"

"Cycli?"

Cyclizar had no idea what they were talking about. It just wanted breakfast—whatever those buns were.

A short while later, Slowking brought them to a place called "Smiling Restaurant."

From the outside, the décor looked pretty good, with a distinct traditional style that made it stand out from the surrounding buildings.

"It's actually a legit restaurant…"

Hoshino stared at the half-closed place. There were no customers in sight, and even the staff seemed absent, yet the lights were still on, and it looked like business was open.

Slowking explained, "Kabukicho usually operates from 6 PM to 6 AM. This is closing time now. You'll often see drunk Pokémon getting tossed out of bars around this hour."

"So, this restaurant stays open until 8 AM. The staff are already off duty, but the owner personally cooks breakfast to sober up these drunkards before sending them home full."

"In every sense of the word..."

Hoshino felt that you couldn't treat these guys purely as Pokémon anymore. They were more like something between Pokémon and humans.

As they entered, Slowking suddenly called out toward the kitchen.

"Slowlow~"

"Voir~"

A lazy voice replied, and soon, a Gardevoir with a tired, unmotivated look stepped out from under the lights.

What caught Hoshino's attention was that this Gardevoir's arms and curled hair were light blue—an alternate color Pokémon!

But that wasn't even the most surprising part. The Gardevoir was wearing a red dress with the white parts of its dress completely replaced. Golden rose patterns adorned the fabric, and its hair was styled into two matching buns on either side of its head.

"Uh…"

Hoshino was speechless. Where did this hometown vibe come from? The traditional aesthetic was practically bursting out of the scene. No—he'd never even seen anyone dressed like this back home, let alone here!

"Slow~"

"Voir~"

"King~"

"Voir…"

The two Pokémon chatted away. Hoshino couldn't understand a word, but Gardevoir's lazy, soft voice somehow gave him goosebumps—in a good way.

After their conversation, Slowking turned around and introduced, "This is Nai-chan, the owner."

"That's such a cringy nickname."

"Voir?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean you…"

Hoshino quickly apologized to avoid offending the Gardevoir. But just then, Cyclizar suddenly vanished from his side. When Hoshino realized it, Cyclizar had already clamped its jaws around Gardevoir's head!

"Cycli-Cycli~!"

"…"

Hoshino froze, then snapped out of it in an instant, rushing over to yank Cyclizar off while shouting, "You can't eat that! Let go!!!"

…

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