Chapter 40: Purugly's Last Wish

The store was small, but it carried a wide variety of goods.

The store girl and her little friends stood by the counter the whole time, their eyes fixed on Haruki.

More precisely, on the Skiploom floating around him.

Haruki took his time carefully selecting items and finally finished replenishing his supplies.

As he approached the counter, all the others except the store girl scattered like startled Pidgey.

"Checkout."

"Y-Yes, let me total it up."

"No rush, take your time."

Noticing how nervous she was, Haruki didn't push her. He turned and gave Skiploom on his shoulder a little shake.

"Have you gotten chubbier lately?"

"S-Skip!"

Skiploom was utterly shocked. It spun in circles, inspecting itself, and ended up genuinely believing it had put on weight.

After all, during its evolution from Hoppip to Skiploom, it had indeed become noticeably rounder.

"Skip~Skiiip…"

Skiploom looked devastated. It reached behind itself and pulled out a jar of Honey.

"Slurp~"

The floral sweetness spread in its mouth, quickly dispelling its gloom.

Haruki couldn't help but laugh.

"So you do know how to use Honey~"

Skiploom didn't catch the teasing in Haruki's voice and instead nodded earnestly.

"S-Sir, I'm done calculating."

The store girl interrupted softly, her eyes full of awe… and a strong hint of envy.

"I'm not a sir, just an ordinary Trainer. This is my partner, Skiploom. How much?"

Haruki spoke while taking out his wallet.

"So it really is a Skiploom! Ah… um, that'll be 678 Pokédollars, but you can just give me 670."

"Alright, here's the money."

After paying, Haruki nodded at the store girl and turned to leave the shop.

Just then, a pink figure darted past him, followed by two aproned women brandishing cooking spatulas as they gave chase.

"Thieving brat, stop right there!"

"It's at it again!"

Behind him, the store girl suddenly cried out in concern. Without even closing the shop, she took off after them, puffing with effort.

Haruki had been watching from the start and found himself growing curious about the pink figure. He hadn't gotten a good look earlier and still wasn't sure what kind of Pokémon it was.

"Want to check it out?"

Haruki asked Skiploom.

"Skip!"

Skiploom, still in high spirits, nodded eagerly. It loved a bit of excitement.

"Then I'm counting on you. Help me catch up to them."

"Skip~"

Skiploom proudly patted its chest(?), then zipped ahead, sniffing rapidly with its twitching nose.

Haruki jogged after it and soon caught up to the two women.

"That annoying little thief again… It ate all the dried berries I just finished laying out!"

"Mine was beef jerky, it cost way more than yours!"

"Fine, you go chase it. I need to catch my breath."

Haruki almost laughed out loud.

'So this was what middle-aged frenemy dynamics looked like.'

He quickly passed them, afraid of getting stuck listening to the next round of bickering. Thanks to his good stamina, Haruki soon caught up with the store girl, not even short of breath.

To his surprise, the girl seemed quite familiar with the "little" thief.

He found them crouched in a corner of an alley, the girl scolding it nonstop.

"If you're hungry, come to me. You can't keep stealing from the aunties. They won't like you if you do."

"Snub~ Snub~"

Next to her, a petite Snubbull clutched a heap of dried fruit and jerky. No matter how the girl tugged at it, it refused to let go.

Perhaps because it noticed Haruki approaching… or maybe it was just fed up, Snubbull suddenly let out a loud roar at the girl.

"SNUUUUUB!"

The girl was startled into letting go, and Snubbull immediately turned and vanished into the alley.

Haruki stepped forward and helped the frozen store girl to her feet.

"Skip~"

Skiploom, always empathetic, casted Aromatherapy to calm the girl's frightened state.

Once she had recovered a bit, Haruki finally spoke.

"You alright?"

Hearing that, the girl's eyes suddenly turned red.

"It's never snapped at me before. I thought we were already friends…"

Haruki blinked. 'What a sentimental, emotionally intense girl. Crying just like that.'

"Snubbull may look fierce, but it's actually very timid. It probably used the move Roar just now, which is why it scared you."

"So it really did roar at me…"

"..."

Haruki didn't feel like dealing with brat logic. He stood up straight and pointed in the direction they came from.

"Your store's still wide open."

"AHHH! I forgot to lock it!"

All her sadness and distress evaporated instantly.

The store girl dashed back at a speed even faster than before.

Haruki chuckled to himself, wondering how many spanks she'd get, then turned his attention toward where Snubbull had disappeared.

Just as he said, the Snubbull species was extremely timid.

Snatching food wasn't out of character, but running off with it like that… was a bit strange.

"Skiploom, can you still catch its scent?"

"Skip~"

"Alright, let's check it out."

"Skip~"

----

Ten minutes later, Haruki stood before a half-collapsed house.

"Start with Aromatherapy."

Skiploom nodded and began spinning its flower crown, releasing a gentle fragrance to soothe the Pokémon's hostility inside the room.

After a moment, Haruki crouched down and entered with Skiploom.

As soon as they stepped inside, they were blocked by a snarling Snubbull. But its trembling legs betrayed its fear.

"Meow~"

Suddenly, a meow came from behind Snubbull.

Snubbull froze, its fierce little face stunned. Then it silently stepped aside.

Haruki exchanged a glance with Skiploom, then proceeded deeper in.

Turning into the next room, Haruki saw the source of the meow.

An old Purugly lay sprawled on a cushion, its skin loose and whiskers all gone. It was clearly aged.

Next to its mouth were bits of dried fruit and beef jerky.

'So, Snubbull had been stealing food to feed this Purugly.'

Upon seeing Haruki, Purugly showed no hostility. In its frail state, it didn't have the strength to resist.

It was still alive only because it couldn't let go of that foolish Snubbull.

"Meow~"

Purugly meowed again.

Snubbull crept along the wall, returning to Purugly's side.

Then, trembling, Purugly stood up. Under Snubbull's stunned gaze, it nudged the little one toward Haruki.

'Was this… a last wish?'

Haruki frowned. Though he felt bad, he had no intention of catching Snubbull.

Snubbull wasn't weak. Once it evolved into Granbull, its movepool was wide, and its attack stats were solid.

Fairy-type hadn't even been officially introduced yet, but Snubbull's cute looks already gave it high value.

But none of that mattered to Haruki.

Mainly… he couldn't afford it.

With no strong backing or sponsor, it was better for him to stick with an "elite-squad" strategy.

Snubbull just didn't fit into his plans.

"If needed, I can help it find a good Trainer. A peaceful life isn't hard to arrange."

Haruki offered gently.

But Purugly's eyes only dimmed as it lay back down again.