Yuga and Nurse Joy discussed for a long time before finally settling on the compensation for the damage done to the Pokémon Center. At the same time, he sincerely apologized to the Trainers whose Pokémon had been unintentionally injured.
Fortunately, none of the Trainers involved were unreasonable or overly demanding. After Yuga offered a sincere apology and provided compensation, they didn't pursue the matter any further—otherwise, he might have had to spend even more effort resolving the situation.
After returning from cleaning up the mess, Yuga was extremely angry and gave Pheromosa and Buzzwole a thorough scolding.
At that moment, Ninetales slowly and leisurely returned, looking to be in quite a good mood. Upon seeing the chaos all around and Yuga still in the middle of reprimanding Pheromosa and Buzzwole, it asked in confusion, "What happened here?"
Having vented his anger on the two troublemakers, Yuga felt a bit calmer. He told Ninetales about the incident those two had caused. After listening, Ninetales nodded in agreement and said, "They really needed a good scolding. Far too unruly."
The longer Ninetales lived among humans, the more particular it became about everything. Seeing the Pokémon care area in such a chaotic state made it feel extremely uncomfortable.
"Litten~"
Just then, a soft mewing sound came from behind Ninetales.
"What was that?" Yuga asked curiously, leaning forward to look.
Ninetales swept its tail behind it, and a black lump rolled out.
"There, it's this little guy," it said.
The black lump was filthy from head to toe, and the cleanliness-loving Ninetales flicked its tail in disgust after brushing against it.
Looking closely, Yuga realized that the black lump was none other than a Litten.
Litten tumbled out, nervously glanced around, and let out another soft "Litten~" before trying to hide against Ninetales for safety. However, Ninetales, finding it too dirty, refused to let it get close and pressed a paw down on its head to keep it away.
"Litten~ Litten~"
Unable to move, Litten lay on the ground, meowing pitifully in grievance.
"Where did this little one come from? Don't tell me you abducted it from someone?" Yuga asked in surprise.
Litten are rarely seen in the wild and are usually owned by Trainers—especially one appearing in the city like this.
Ninetales immediately became displeased upon hearing that. "What do you mean abducted? Would I need to abduct such a filthy little thing?" it snapped, shooting another look of disdain at Litten.
It turned out that while Ninetales was returning from a walk downtown, it had seen this little guy shivering in a pile of garbage. Feeling a moment of kindness, it had given the kitten some of its snacks—never expecting that the little thing would then latch onto it and follow it home.
Yuga chuckled upon hearing that and said, "Didn't expect you to have a kind side!"
"Hmph!" Ninetales couldn't be bothered to argue with Yuga. It merely glared fiercely at him and said nothing more.
After thinking for a moment, Yuga said, "Could this little one have gotten separated from its Trainer?"
As he spoke, he crouched down and gently asked, "Litten, do you have a Trainer? Should I help you find your Trainer?"
"Litten~"
The moment Yuga finished speaking, Litten let out a sharp cry, darted out from under Ninetales' paw in a flash, and bolted straight into Ninetales' fluffy tail. Only its little rear end stuck out, with its tail twitching slightly.
Because Ninetales was both beauty-conscious and obsessed with cleanliness, it took great care of its tail, which made its fur even fluffier than that of most Ninetales. For a small and nimble Litten, hiding inside was no problem at all.
Ninetales, being a clean freak, nearly lost its mind when Litten dove into its tail. But considering how scared the little cat was, it barely managed to hold itself back—though it was so uncomfortable that it felt like its head might explode.
This Litten had literally been sleeping in a garbage pile just moments ago!
Yuga hadn't expected that a single sentence from him would frighten Litten so much, and he could only feel helpless about the situation.
"Hey~ Litten, how about coming out and having a little chat with me?" Yuga tried to coax Litten out, but it refused to respond to anyone but Ninetales, firmly staying hidden inside its tail and ignoring everyone else.
...
[ Litten ]
Type: Fire
Ability: Blaze
Gender: Male
Aptitude: Blue
Level: 20
Moves: Scratch, Ember, Lick, Payback
...
While trying to communicate, Yuga used the Insight skill to examine Litten's condition and discovered that it was actually a cyan-aptitude Pokémon, which made him even more convinced that this Pokémon had an owner.
With no other choice, Yuga had to say to Ninetales: "Help this little guy get cleaned up. I'll go ask Nurse Joy and see if she knows anything about this Litten."
Ninetales didn't want to agree at first, but at the thought of a filthy Litten hiding in its fur, it reluctantly nodded.
After leading Ninetales and Litten to the area in the Pokémon Center where Pokémon could get cleaned up, Yuga went off to find Nurse Joy.
He hadn't expected Nurse Joy to actually know Litten's situation.
"You mean that child!"
At the mention of Litten, Nurse Joy couldn't help but sigh.
"This is what happened…"
Nurse Joy told Yuga about Litten's story.
It turned out that more than half a year ago, a massive fire broke out in Malie City. The fire affected a particularly wide area, and many people lost their lives in it.
Litten originally belonged to a small Pokemon Day Care in Malie City, which unfortunately happened to be located within the area devastated by the massive fire.
The owners of the small Pokemon Day Care were a young couple who had a child who was almost ten years old, and Litten was the Pokémon they had prepared for their child.
But the entire family of three perished in the fire.
At that Pokemon Day Care, besides the couple and their child, many Pokémon also lost their lives—only a small number managed to survive.
Most of the surviving Pokémon were arranged to be adopted by local residents of Malie City. Since the couple had no other family members, Litten was the only one left behind.
It wasn't that no one was willing to adopt Litten—on the contrary, because of its outstanding aptitude, many people wanted to take it in. But Litten didn't want to go with anyone.
Later, Litten was sent to Nurse Joy, as Malie City hoped she could take care of it.
Of course, Nurse Joy had no problem with that, but things didn't go as smoothly as hoped. On the very first night it arrived at the Pokémon Center, Litten secretly ran away.
Although it was found and brought back the next day, from that day on, Litten began running away frequently. Without someone watching it at all times, it was impossible to keep it contained.
But Nurse Joy was already incredibly busy every day—there was no way she could keep an eye on it constantly. Gradually, Litten basically stopped coming back.
The eesidents in the area would occasionally catch glimpses of it. Sometimes they would kindly offer it food, but it remained unmoved, always running off the moment it saw people.
"I went to look for it afterward, but it just refused to come back with me," Nurse Joy said helplessly.
"So that's what happened."
Yuga suddenly understood. No wonder Litten had such excellent aptitude—it used to be a Pokémon from a Pokemon Day Care.
Yuga wasn't surprised that a fire had broken out in Malie City. The Alola Region is the hottest climate zone in the Pokémon world and is a high-risk area for fires.
Of course, because humans in the region have implemented strong fire prevention measures, most of Alola's fires happen naturally in forests. Fires in urban areas are comparatively rare.
Just because it's rare doesn't mean it doesn't happen.
"Actually, not long ago, there was a Trainer who managed to catch it. At the time, I thought that maybe, after spending enough time together, it would eventually settle down with that Trainer," Nurse Joy continued, "but it wasn't long before Litten was sent back."
"The reason was that the Trainer found Litten disobedient. They said it didn't participate in training, wouldn't stop barking out orders during battles, and constantly threw tantrums at the Trainer."
After chatting with Nurse Joy for a while about Litten, Yuga left. Nurse Joy told him that if Yuga could earn Litten's trust, she would be more than happy for him to take Litten away.
Nurse Joy knew that Yuga was a highly capable Trainer, and she sincerely hoped Litten would live a good life in the future, so she was very eager to see him succeed.
When Yuga returned, he found Ninetales rolling Litten over and over again in the sandpit. Strangely, Litten was behaving very obediently in Ninetales' grasp, completely different from the rebellious creature Nurse Joy had described.
Of course, Yuga had just experienced how stubborn and unyielding Litten could be himself, so he was certain Nurse Joy hadn't been exaggerating. He could only sigh emotionally and think, "There's always something that can keep another in check."
The sand that Ninetales and Litten used for bathing was a special kind of bath sand with extremely strong dust-absorbing capabilities. It could clean away most of the dirt on a Pokémon's fur.
So, this kind of bath sand was developed specifically for Pokémon that didn't like water. Fire-type Pokémon like Ninetales and Litten were especially well-suited to using it.
Of course, there were many kinds of bath sand, each with its own set of particular requirements. For example, the type Ninetales used for its fur was completely different from the one used for rocky-skinned Pokémon like Golem. Even adult Pokémon and newborns used different kinds.
However, bath sand wasn't cheap. The fact that the Pokémon Center in Malie City had a specialized bath sand pool showed that its facilities were top-notch—much better than those in most other cities.
After being cleaned, Litten looked much more pleasant and no longer appeared so frail.
Nurse Joy had said that although Litten didn't want to come back, she often brought it food. So for the most part, Litten hadn't gone hungry.
Though Litten didn't like accepting help from others, it had a decent attitude toward Nurse Joy and was willing to eat what she brought.
"Litten~"
After its bath, Litten shook its fur like crazy, flinging the sand everywhere, then rolled straight into Ninetales' tail, sticking its head out and rubbing against it with a blissful expression on its face.
Ninetales originally wanted to stop it, but when it saw the little smile Litten gave as if trying to please it, the words it was about to say were swallowed, and it simply raised its tail a bit higher to make Litten more comfortable.
Seeing this, Yuga grinned. Although Ninetales was usually sharp-tongued and often talked back to him, deep down, it really was gentle.
"I'm back!"
Yuga called out, and the moment Litten heard him, it immediately tucked its head back into Ninetales' tail.
Seeing Litten's reaction, Yuga was utterly speechless. The difference in how it treated him versus how it treated Ninetales was just too much! And to think Nurse Joy believed he had a shot at winning Litten's approval...
Sigh~ Well, my Pokémon's wings are still my own wings...
"By the way, Ninetales, didn't you go out shopping? How was it? Is Malie City fun? Want to tell me about it?" Yuga asked.
Although it was getting dark, Yuga had just woken up and had nothing to do. It was the perfect time to experience a bit of Alola's nightlife. Plus, he was getting a little hungry—going out for a meal didn't sound bad at all.
"Well, since you're asking, I guess I'll show you around a little," Ninetales gave him a sidelong glance, then elegantly stepped out of the sandpit.
Yuga and Ninetales walked onto the main streets of Malie City, with Litten still hiding in Ninetales' tail.
Besides that, Yuga also released Pheromosa and Buzzwole—partly to let them experience the atmosphere of human life, and partly as a punishment.
Though the sky had darkened, the streets of Malie City were still bustling. Bright lights illuminated every corner, dazzling the eyes of Pheromosa and Buzzwole, who had never seen anything like this before.
Along the way, Yuga joined in on anything that looked fun, but Pheromosa and Buzzwole were left out of all of it.
After playing for a while and getting a little tired, Yuga found a restaurant and ordered a big meal for himself and Ninetales. As for Pheromosa and Buzzwole—they just stood there watching, drooling, but Yuga didn't give them a bite.
"Mmm~ So good!"
Yuga praised the food as he ate. Across the table, Ninetales occasionally fed Litten, who showed no resistance whatsoever when it came to Ninetales.
Since being caught, Yuga had been very generous with Pheromosa and Buzzwole. Whatever he had, he never shorted them. Now that they were suddenly being punished, they were deeply uncomfortable.
Especially Pheromosa. It had followed Yuga precisely because it yearned for the beautiful life outside. Now it could only look and not touch, let alone eat. It deeply regretted not holding back earlier when it caused trouble.
After leaving them hanging for a while, Yuga placed a Pokeblock next to Pheromosa.
"Here, eat. Buzzwole was the one who started trouble today, so it has to take most of the blame. No dinner for it tonight."
Hearing this, Pheromosa immediately felt a surge of schadenfreude and thought: The master is actually quite fair.
But compared to the Pokeblock, what Pheromosa really wanted to try was the sautéed Slowpoke tail garnished with spring onion in front of Yuga—it looked incredibly delicious.
It had been eating Pokeblock every day since being caught, so they'd long since lost their novelty.
Noticing Pheromosa's gaze, Yuga warned: "As long as you don't cause any more trouble in the future, there'll be no shortage of good food and fun."
Pheromosa quickly nodded, suddenly finding the Pokeblock in its mouth tastier than ever. While Yuga wasn't paying attention, it shot a smug, provocative look at Buzzwole.
Buzzwole had a hot temper. It already felt unfairly treated because of Yuga's punishment, and now being taunted by Pheromosa made it furious. It raised a fist, ready to strike.
"Ninetales~"
Just then, Ninetales let out a low call, and Buzzwole froze instantly.
Unlike Pheromosa, who was persuaded into being caught, Buzzwole had been subdued through sheer force, so Ninetales' intimidation had a significant effect on it.
Back when it was first caught, Buzzwole was quite disobedient and got beaten up by Ninetales more than a few times.
After spending the evening out, Yuga returned to find a call from Beidou. After several days of radio silence, Beidou had finally gotten back in touch.