That afternoon, the HR department called an emergency meeting.
Naoki received the notice and headed to the conference room with Alvin.
Alvin scanned the heavy atmosphere with nervous eyes, then leaned close to Naoki’s ear.
“What’s going on?”
A beat passed, then his face went pale.
“Don’t tell me someone reported me for slacking off.
I’m finished.
Sato is going to tear me apart.”
Naoki glanced at him in silence and said nothing.
That was not what this was about.
He had been picking up enough over the past few days to have a reasonable guess.
Wild Pokémon disturbances had been breaking out across multiple areas of Paldea in rapid succession.
The League was already stretched thin, and with each incident that went unresolved the situation was worsening.
An emergency meeting had been coming.
Sato pushed through the door shortly after, moving with visible urgency.
He took his place at the front of the room and tapped the table once with his fingers.
The low murmuring cut off immediately.
“I expect everyone here has heard about the abnormal Pokémon disturbances occurring across Paldea,” he began.
He surveyed the room and continued.
“Villages, towns, and urban districts have been reporting Pokémon outbreaks one after another.
The business division and patrol division have deployed all available personnel and are still critically short-handed.”
“To address this shortage, the Champion has issued a directive of considerable importance.”
“Effective today, all HR department staff are to carry out their regular administrative duties while also visiting Naranja Academy and the streets of Mesagoza to identify promising candidates and invite talented Trainers to join the Paldea League.”
“I understand that none of you are professional Trainers and that your combat capability is limited.
Our core task is not to handle the outbreaks directly.
It is to recruit elite talent and expand the League’s reserve strength.”
A ripple of unease moved through the room.
Sato raised a hand and it settled.
“The Champion has further instructed that for every qualified Trainer successfully recruited and signed to a formal agreement, the staff member responsible will receive a direct bonus commission.”
“For any exceptional recruit demonstrating outstanding talent and proven ability, the bonus will be doubled, with additional rare Poké Balls and internal League promotion points awarded on top.
Performance will factor directly into the year-end review, and staff ranking highest will receive priority consideration for promotion, pay raises, and accelerated advancement.”
Naoki sat with that for a moment.
Geeta, he thought.
The world’s talent pool exists to serve me.
The meeting ended and everyone returned to their desks.
Naoki sat quietly and turned the situation over in his mind.
This could be an opportunity worth taking seriously.
Though if he was being honest with himself, Zorua was still occupying more of his thoughts.
HR had no overtime that evening, at least.
With no leads on the Zorua’s whereabouts, Naoki decided to head to the Nurseries in the eastern district after work and see what was available.
He arrived early enough this time.
The shops were still open.
The one he walked into was called Momo’s Pokémon Nursery.
The owner was a girl with the same shade of pink hair as Nurse Joy, her expression warm and unhurried.
“Welcome!”
Naoki explained what he was looking for.
“A starter Pokémon?” She glanced toward the back garden.
“Right this way.”
She led him through while asking, “Any particular type you have in mind?”
“I’d like to have a look first,” Naoki said after a moment.
“Of course.” Momo smiled and nodded.
They came out into the back garden together.
It was a wide open grassy area enclosed by a wooden fence, and in the distance a number of Pokémon were resting and playing across the lawn.
Momo whistled once.
The Pokémon came running from every direction.
“That’s everyone!” she said, turning to Naoki with a warm smile.
Naoki looked them over.
Spinarak, Skiddo, Beautifly, Psyduck, Chewtle, Gossifleur.
Common Pokémon, the kind found without much difficulty in the wild.
A quiet disappointment settled in his chest.
Honestly, none of them were what he had been hoping for.
Paldea had no shortage of Pokémon well-suited to new Trainers.
Pawmi with its Electric typing, Rookidee that could eventually evolve into Corviknight, Applin with its branching evolution paths, all solid choices with respectable ceilings.
This Nursery simply did not have any of them.
“What sort of prices are we looking at?” Naoki asked.
Momo answered pleasantly.
“Nothing too steep.
Most of these fall between 200,000 and 300,000 League Credits.”
Naoki said nothing for a moment.
Not steep, strictly speaking. Get faster updates on g.com.
But not cheap either.
Thinking it through, the price almost certainly included the Nursery’s care and handling costs on top of everything else.
Still, at his current financial position, a single Pokémon would clean him out entirely.
And the purchase price was the small end of it.
Everyone knew that.
The real long-term costs came from raising resources, Exp.
Candy, Potions, Poké Balls, the kind of ongoing expenditure his current salary could not comfortably support.
“I’ll need to think it over,” Naoki said.
Momo gave a small nod, clearly accustomed to hearing exactly that.
“Of course.
You’re welcome back whenever you’re ready.”
Naoki sighed as he stepped back out onto the street.
He needed to sort out the money situation first.
Everything else came after that.
He opened his screen and found a stack of friend requests waiting, almost certainly from players who had seen his forum listings.
He left them unread for now and headed home.
The eastern district was a fair distance from his apartment.
By the time he finished dinner at a restaurant and made it back to his building, the clock had crept up to nine in the evening.
The street was quiet, nearly empty.
He was about to head upstairs when something at the edge of his vision stopped him.
A familiar figure stood in the shadows by the roadside, watching him from a short distance away without a word.
The girl from the night before.
Something jumped in Naoki’s chest.
“Zorua?”
The moment it realized it had been recognized, a flicker of alarm crossed its face.
“Don’t be scared,” Naoki said quickly.
“I’m not going to hurt you.
Did you come looking for me?”
Zorua looked at him.
It hesitated for a moment, then gave a small, careful nod.
There was a soft sound, like a breath releasing.
The little girl vanished.
In her place stood a small fox, slight and dark-furred, with a pair of pale blue eyes that caught the light and held it quietly.
This was Zorua’s true form.