Even though the white Tandemaus was surrounded and played with by these Meowth, trembling, it still maintained a very fierce expression.
It raised its small hands, opened its mouth, and showed its tiny front teeth, seemingly trying to scare away these Meowth, but it was obvious this only served to make it look cute.
"Maushold… No, is it Tandemaus? I can't tell, but it's a Tandemaus, right?!"
Hoshino looked at it with confusion, but didn't think too much about it for now. These Meowth—one ran out this afternoon and caused him to fail, and now they're bullying a cute Tandemaus here. They really haven't been well-behaved.
"Cyclizar, go!"
"Cycli!"
Cyclizar launched itself forward, charging directly. Gengar also wanted to go, to give those annoying guys a couple of solid punches, but Hoshino held him back.
"Don't go, Shadow Punch will have little effect on them."
"Gengar…"
Gengar hung his head in dejection. By then, Cyclizar was already close. Those Meowth heard the commotion, turned around, and seeing it, were immediately startled and prepared to run, but their speed was too slow.
With a sweep of its tail, most of the Meowth were sent flying, and the remaining ones scattered in a panic. They only dared to sneak attack and bully Hoshino; they had no ability to resist Cyclizar.
Seeing the guys who had been bullying it flee, the Tandemaus dropped its fierce-yet-cute stance and was also ready to slip away immediately, but Hoshino walked over and stopped it.
"Ow!"
The Tandemaus raised its hands again, letting out a milky roar, but it was completely useless. Hoshino picked it up.
"You're quite badly injured. Let me take you for treatment. After all, I'm also a Meowth victim…"
Although he said that, the Tandemaus kept its intimidating posture, clearly very scared, only able to make itself feel safe this way.
"Gengar?"
Gengar floated over and landed on Hoshino's arm, then reached out and touched the Tandemaus, only to be startled when the other party turned its head sharply.
Hoshino looked at this scene, as well as the shiny spot on the panel, and didn't know why the Tandemaus would run to such a place alone.
Pokémon like Tandemaus are often born as two together, a male and a female paired up.
Sometimes they are only children, but they quickly find their other half, and neither will leave the other, acting as childhood sweethearts and pure love warriors!
They grow up together, and then, unknowingly, have children, transforming from a Tandemaus into a Maushold.
However, a Tandemaus becoming a single Maushold is extremely rare, unless the other half met with some misfortune.
But in such cases, the remaining one would quickly choose to commit suicide, not letting the other half go on alone…
"Cycli?"
Cyclizar looked at this cute Tandemaus and instinctively reached out to touch it. It also really liked cute things, but as soon as it touched the Tandemaus's ear, it was startled by an "Ow!" from the other party.
"Don't tease it, the little guy is having a stress reaction. Let's take it back for treatment. We can ask the rest later to see if there's anything it needs help with."
"Cycli~"
Holding the Tandemaus in his hand, Hoshino put on his goggles, rode Cyclizar, and continued home. Gengar floated alongside, still very curious about the Tandemaus.
The journey was uneventful; those Meowth didn't appear again. When they returned to the Wanderer District, it was just in time for Kabukicho to start bustling.
The Tandemaus maintained its intimidating posture in Hoshino's hand the entire time, neither resisting nor trying to escape, and was then brought back to the Yorozuya.
"Finally home. Home is comfortable. I had bad luck all day, and tomorrow there's another group practical exam…"
Hoshino turned on the light, casually placed the groceries nearby, walked into the living room, and complained.
Then he placed the Tandemaus on the sofa, returned to his usual expression, and reminded it, "It's very dangerous on the streets here, so don't run around. I'll go get a Potion to treat your wounds."
Seeing him leave, the Tandemaus finally lowered its hands, then jumped directly off the sofa, ran down the hallway towards the outside, and then crashed into Gengar, who emerged from the floor, bouncing off and rolling a few times.
"Gengar?"
Gengar rubbed his belly, then floated over. Seeing him approach, the Tandemaus immediately assumed its intimidating posture again, letting out a fierce-yet-cute growl, but was suddenly picked up by Hoshino, who appeared behind it.
"Don't run around. I'll help you treat your wounds. You don't want to collapse from severe injuries before you even find your companion, do you?"
Hearing this, the Tandemaus's body suddenly stiffened. After a brief pause, it finally lowered its hands, but its eyes remained wary.
Seeing this, Hoshino knew he had guessed correctly: this Tandemaus was indeed left alone because its companion was lost or something had happened to them.
For Pokémon that are naturally so affectionate, there must be some special connection between them, allowing them to sense each other's condition.
If the other Tandemaus met with misfortune, this one would certainly feel it, and then, in the sorrow of depression, find a place to end its own life.
Taking the Tandemaus back to the living room, Hoshino took out a can of Potion spray and softly said, "It might hurt a bit later, so bear with it."
As he spoke, he sprayed some Potion on the wounds where the Meowth had scratched the Tandemaus, then did a simple bandage. Throughout the process, the Tandemaus made no sound, still remaining vigilant.
Gengar sat on the sofa, watching quietly. Just then, Cyclizar came in from outside, carrying half a box of Moo Moo milk. It had just brought it from the Izakaya downstairs. Gengar was still a child, so he should drink more of this.
"Cycli?"
"Just put it in the kitchen. I'll warm it up when I cook."
"Cycli~"
After treating the Tandemaus's wounds, Hoshino had it stay on the sofa, then went to the kitchen to start preparing dinner.
Once he left, Gengar and Cyclizar went over again and greeted the Tandemaus.
After what had just happened, the little guy was much better; at least it didn't immediately raise its hands in an attack posture anymore.
Gengar sat directly beside it. The two Pokémon were similar in height, and from a distance, they looked like two plush toys neatly arranged.
"Gengar~"
"…"
"Gengar~"
Seeing the Tandemaus not respond, Gengar continued to greet it enthusiastically. In the past few days, he had often played at the Izakaya downstairs, occasionally interacting with other Pokémon, and his personality had gradually become more outgoing.
Finally, under his persistent enthusiastic greetings, the Tandemaus moved and responded with a sound: "Maus…"
This was different from the growl it used to intimidate others; this was its true growl. As expected, just like its appearance, it was soft and gentle.
"Gengar~"
Gengar instantly became happy, then reached into his belly and pulled out a small dress. He was accustomed to hiding his favorite things inside his belly so he could retrieve them directly when he wanted to use them.
Then he unhesitatingly handed the dress over, wanting the Tandemaus to wear it, and criticized that being bare was not proper for something cute.
"???"
"Gengar!"
"Maus!!!"
The Tandemaus quickly ran away, then jumped onto Cyclizar's head. It was a boy! How could it wear something like that? And now was not the time for such things; it had to escape.
Discovering it was trying to escape again, Cyclizar grabbed it with a backhand, then put it back on the sofa, while he himself squatted beside it with a gentle expression.
"Cycli~"
"…"
Seeing that the Tandemaus seemed scared, Gengar put the dress aside, went forward to comfort it, and also didn't forget to make Cyclizar apologize.
"Cycli…"
After a series of antics, the Tandemaus, though extremely anxious, knew it couldn't escape and finally couldn't help but cry.
Gengar was about to put the dress on it to make it even cuter, but seeing this scene, he was immediately at a loss and hurried forward to continue comforting it.
Ultimately, he was just a child less than a month old, relatively innocent in all aspects.
And under Gengar's comfort, the Tandemaus finally told the truth: its companion had been captured, which was why it was so anxious and wanted to rescue the other party.
"Cycli?!"
"Gengar?!"
Hearing this, Gengar and Cyclizar immediately knew they had work to do! Wasn't the Yorozuya there to help Pokémon solve their life problems?
They exchanged glances and unhesitatingly stated that they would help find the Tandemaus's other half, taking on this request for Hoshino, who was cooking in the kitchen!
Gengar patted his belly, a smile on his face, and gave a thumbs-up to the Tandemaus, who had finally stopped crying, indicating that everything was in their hands!
"Gengar!"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Read Advanced Chapters, and support this novel, please join me on [email protected]/geats2000
(Note: Replace "@-" with "a" on your web browser.)