"Look over there, isn't that… Cyclizar!"
"Huh?"
The three people beside her all looked in the direction Lillie pointed. After seeing Cyclizar, Moon had Rowlet confirm it, then nodded and said, "It is indeed, which means he's nearby?"
Mallow waved her hand and said casually, "Who cares about him? Just pretend he doesn't exist. He did something like that and couldn't even give a simple apology. He ignores us, so we'll ignore him. We're not on the same path, no need to let him spoil our mood."
Lana, who was beside her, nodded and whispered, "I thought he was just new to the school and hadn't adjusted yet, and that in a few days he'd be normal to be around. Who knew his personality was so annoying? But someone like him probably doesn't even have a single friend, which is a bit pitiful…"
Just then, Moon suddenly smiled and suggested, "Let's not talk about things that ruin our mood. Let's go over there and take a look. We can also play some claw machines. Just shopping is so boring, Lillie, what do you think? Do you want to catch some Poké Dolls to take home?"
"Ah?"
Lillie was slightly startled, then, after realizing, she responded with a smile, "Okay, let's go over there then. But I've never played this before…"
"It's fine, I'll teach you!"
After discussing, the four girls all headed towards the claw machine arcade. As they approached the crowd, they heard a child suddenly shout, "Go, big brother at the claw machine!"
"Huh?"
The girls curiously pushed their way over, then all froze. Beside Hoshino, who was in front of the claw machine, there was already a pile of Ghost-type Pokemon Poké Dolls.
And he looked like he was about to shut down, continuously inserting coins to try and grab the last Gengar Poké Doll inside the machine, his expression completely unable to hold up…
"It really is him!"
"So amazing… are all those Poké Dolls caught by him?"
"This is a claw machine genius…"
"Unbelievable…"
Lillie and the others expressed their inability to understand but were greatly shocked. However, when they considered that it was this person in front of them who did it, it seemed somewhat understandable again.
Hoshino didn't care how many people were watching him. He just couldn't understand why this last Poké Doll just wouldn't be caught.
If it was a problem with the claw machine, then how could it be explained that all the other Poké Dolls in this machine had been caught? There were other limited editions inside too, but only this Gengar Poké Doll couldn't be caught.
"Gengar~"
"Huh?"
Another auditory hallucination. Hoshino had heard this mocking sound several times now, but he just couldn't find the source, and he was too lazy to care.
With the last empty grab, his coins were all gone, squandering several days' worth of wages in one go. He must have been crazy, but he could still recover.
"Cycli~"
Cyclizar caught several rascals who were secretly stealing his Poké Dolls and made them honestly return the Poké Dolls before letting them leave.
Hoshino turned around directly and shouted at the onlookers, "Poké Dolls for sale, freshly caught, still new! Regular ones are cheaper, limited editions are more expensive. If you want one, make a sound."
"Squeak…"
In one minute, the Poké Dolls were all sold out, and a few limited editions alone covered the cost.
No matter what he was doing, even if he couldn't maintain his composure, he would still remain clear-headed and know what he was doing.
Catching all the Poké Dolls out was also partly to sell them and recoup his money, ensuring he didn't lose anything.
Just as he was packing up and preparing to start work, he saw several familiar faces looking at him from across the way.
"Something wrong?"
Moon, holding Rowlet, asked curiously, "What are you doing here? Just catching Poké Dolls to sell?"
"Working, what else would I be doing? I don't have the good living conditions you all have. The debt collectors came kicking my door in this morning, pinned me against the wall, and held a sword to my neck, telling me to pay up…"
Hoshino responded casually, counting the money he had just earned.
He was sleeping comfortably that morning when Ceruledge suddenly ran in, dragged him off his newly bought bed and pushed him against the wall, and then there was nothing else.
However, upon hearing his words, the girls were greatly surprised. This was the first time they had learned about this guy's family situation, and it seemed even more outrageous!
Chasing debt with a sword to the neck? Hey! Is that really okay? Does Alola actually have such dark forces? It's probably better to call the police.
Amidst her surprise, Lana, who was usually quiet and gentle, seemed to think of something and suddenly asked, "Don't you have any family?"
"Lana!"
Mallow quickly called out, and Lana also realized she had said the wrong thing. After all, they weren't stupid; if debt collectors were chasing Hoshino, it meant there were definitely no adults left in his family.
"Such strong aggression…"
Hoshino, however, didn't care. He came from an orphanage, so he had heard such things many times and there was nothing to care about.
Without bothering with these people any further, he and Cyclizar turned and left, continuing their work.
But as he left, he still didn't forget to glance at that claw machine, especially the Gengar Poké Doll lying lonely inside because of him.
"Gengar~"
"…"
Hoshino narrowed his eyes, said nothing, turned his head, and continued his afternoon work.
…
Soon an hour passed. The store was still bustling, but as long as no one deliberately caused trouble, it was actually relatively relaxed, just too noisy.
During this time, Cyclizar had learned a lot of common sense for adapting to human society; at least it wouldn't bite curious things like before.
However, Hoshino was still not very at ease, so during work, he always wandered around with it.
"Cycli!"
"Don't worry. If I can't catch it, no one else can catch the Gengar Poké Doll either."
They were still thinking about what happened at noon, and after the claw machine was refilled with new Pokémon Poké Dolls, it started to be patronized by those rascals again.
To prevent these guys from being sore losers and eventually stealing the Gengar Poké Doll, they would periodically come by and patrol, ready to handle any situation that arose.
"Still honest, but don't let me catch you, or I'll call your parents…"
He turned around, about to go patrol another area with Cyclizar, when his gaze was drawn to a very conspicuous white sun hat.
Lillie was sitting in front of a claw machine filled with Fairy-type Pokemon Poké Dolls, playing with a serious expression under the guidance of Moon and the others.
"They're all amateurs, who are they guiding…"
Hoshino knew at a glance that these guys weren't good, but he didn't go over to mock them, simply walking away with Cyclizar from behind them.
However, another hour passed, and when he circled back, only Lillie was left there. Moon and the others had disappeared.
"How did the young lady end up alone…"
He muttered, Hoshino continued to walk past her from behind, but out of the corner of his eye, he still saw that what Lillie wanted was a Shiny Clefairy Poké Doll. In just that short time, she had failed twice.
"…Again!"
Lillie inserted two more coins. She didn't know how many times she had failed. She looked like she was about to cry but was forcing herself to concentrate, yet she still couldn't avoid failure.
"Even if you try your best to hide it, you can't change the problem of an imbalanced mindset. People, no matter how much they pretend to show a strong side, ultimately have to face their true, weak selves."
The unrenowned philosopher Hoshino spoke softly like this. He had seen Lillie's problem in this regard on the very first day. After all, he was a master of feigning ignorance, and such small pretenses couldn't fool him at all.
He had previously guessed it might be the troubles of adolescence, but now it seemed that wasn't the case.
To show such an expression while playing a simple claw machine game, she must have incorporated some of her usual true emotions and troubles into it.
"Speaking of which… what was her Pokémon again?"
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