(AN: Word count is increased to at least 2K per chapter now.)
...
[Monthly Budget]
Income: 35,000 $
Expenses:
Razor Claw: 15,000 $
Vacation: 5,000 $
Food: 4,500 $
Feebas's Beauty Products: 13,500 $
(AN: Don't bother counting, lol. Even I'm not sure if they are correct.)
This was Hisoka's total expenses for this month. He had spent about 38,000 dollars, which was the total income he earned from selling his old house in Viridian City and the mission reward that he completed back in Cerulean Gym. It appeared that Hisoka had spent nearly all of his money unconsciously.
If it wasn't for the 2,000 dollars Elite Trainer monthly allowance that had just arrived the day before, Hisoka might not even have enough money to eat.
Fortunately, there won't be any large expenditure in the coming week. After finishing this mission, Hisoka could take the 85,000 dollars and improve his financial situation.
'I have to speed up and take more missions,' Hisoka thought while closing the ledger.
He must prepare a lot of money to compete with the Sootopolis Gym before another Prism Scale popped up in the auction.
In fact, many Prism Scales were found near the ocean. Usually, a Milotic nearing the end of its life would find a hidden cave at the bottom of the sea and quietly wait for its death.
After an unknown amount of time, the beautiful figure of Milotic had already decomposed into a pile of bones, leaving only a few Prism Scales that fell off its body. But because of the ocean currents, those Prism Scales were likely to be washed away near the beach.
If someone picked up a Prism Scale somewhere along the ocean, it was very likely that the Prism Scale came from a Milotic who died on the ocean floor.
It might take a lot of time for Hisoka to find a Prism Scale by himself. If he was lucky enough to find one. It was much better for him to wait for the appearance of another Prism Scale on the auction sites rather than looking for one.
…
Toot!
Toot!
After two long blasts of a ship horn, the S.S. Anne that was anchored at the Vermilion Harbor was leaving berth and about to sail.
Hisoka looked at the time. He got on the ship at around 7.00 a.m and was later briefed about the mission. After resting about an hour or so, the time had almost reached 9.00 a.m, just in time for the ship to disembark.
Since he was bored, Hisoka had decided to take a walk on the cruise ship. After all, it is one of the most famous luxury cruise liners in the world. So he might as well enjoy his time on the ship here.
Then, he changed into a blue long-sleeved shirt, black jeans, and a pair of red shoes. After that, he tied his ponytail with a white rubber band while standing in front of the mirror.
"Good!" Hisoka checked himself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.
"Do you guys want to come with me? I want to take a walk around the cruise ship," Hisoka asked with a smile while his Pokemon were staring at him.
"Kirlia wants to go," After Kirlia replied telepathically, she instantly moved next to Hisoka with her hand outstretched.
Hisoka was slightly taken aback by her action. He then let out a smile as he held Kirlia's small hand.
Weavile was not used to being intimate with Hisoka like Kirlia does. Besides being a haughty cat, she also used to be a wild Pokemon. She quickly stood from her temporary nest and walked next to him. Then, she adjusted her messy red collar and folded her arms, waiting for Hisoka to lead them out of the room.
After recalling Feebas back to its Pokeball, Hisoka opened the front door and walked out of the room. He was worried about leaving Feebas in the room alone. Moreover, he had a hunch that something might be happening on the S.S. Anne soon.
Otherwise, why would the Captain of one of the world's top passenger ships be willing to recruit hunters as bodyguards? The hunters themselves were a factor of instability to the ship's security.
On top of that, Hisoka felt that the Captain was only using them as cannon fodder rather than bodyguards.
And if something does go wrong, Hisoka would undoubtedly be willing to do his job. However, once the matter was beyond his scope of ability, he would definitely try to escape as soon as possible. There was no way he would be risking his life just for the sake of three thousand people's lives on the ship.
And he was pretty sure that the three other hunters were thinking of the same thing too. After all, as experienced hunters, their sense of smell for danger was much higher than Hisoka, who was only just promoted to a higher ranking hunter.
…
The main dining hall of S.S. Anne was grand and lavishly decorated with a crystal chandelier in the center of the room. As was customary, S.S Anne was holding a welcome party for the passengers.
A large variety of foods and drinks filled the long table. There was even a small bar for those who preferred alcoholic beverages.
Trainers and tourists from all over the world spoke freely in the room. They were discussing or exchanging their experience while enjoying the early morning party.
Of course, some merchants would not want to miss such a good opportunity. The tourists who could board the luxury cruise ship were relatively well-off in terms of their financial situation.
The outermost booth area of S.S. Anne was even more popular among many trainers. If a merchant wanted to set up a booth in such a place, they only had to pay a small fee.
Hisoka was strolling among the crowd. From time to time, he tasted a few delicacies served around the buffet area.
He chose two strawberry-flavored Poke Puffs for Kirlia and Weavile. As for himself, he chose a ham and cheese wrap.
"Hi! You're here!"
Someone suddenly touched his shoulder. He then turned around only to see a beautiful girl standing in front of him.
"Hi, it's nice to see you again," Hisoka smiled and raised the cocktail in his hand, "Would you like a drink?"
The beauty in front of him was the auburn-haired girl who gave him the S.S. Anne ticket yesterday.
Unlike her sailor's outfit yesterday, she was wearing only a black, knee-length, one-piece dress with a pair of high heels today. Although her dress wasn't as revealing as her outfit yesterday, it still failed to hide her seductive figure behind the simple dress.
...
"I can't drink alcohol while working," she looked around and said softly.
"The Captain will deduct my wages if they saw me drinking. But a glass of juice will be fine."
She picked up a glass of orange juice from the table and toasted Hisoka's glass.
After that, she ate a piece of dessert and quickly wiped her hands while saying, "By the way, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Maggie, and I'm 16 years old this year."
"It's good to meet you. I'm Hisoka, and I'm 17 years old," Hisoka replied while shaking her hand.
"So you're not an adult yet!"
A look of surprise appeared on her face, and then she whispered, "Minors are not allowed to drink."
"If you keep it quiet, then nobody will know," he whispered with a smile.
"Hmmm. Yeah, you're right," Maggie nodded thoughtfully.
"Anyway, I don't think anyone will notice that you're underage. You look so tall and mature. Not like a seventeen years old boy."
...
"Papa! Mama! Look! The Pokemon standing next to that onii-san is so pretty! Just like a little princess!"
While Hisoka and Maggie were happily talking, a child's voice suddenly interrupted their conversation.
Turning their heads around, they saw a little girl with blond hair in a white dress was pointing her hand at Kirlia with stars shining in her eyes.
"Okay, Aya-chan. It's rude to point your finger at someone," A young woman admonished the little girl while putting her hand down.
"Remember, you're a lady."
"Ummm. Okay!" she nodded her head repeatedly.
"Well, it is indeed a kind of Pokemon that we have never seen before," said a man in a black suit, who was apparently the father of the little girl.
"Dear, don't be too harsh on Aya-chan. She is just excited to see a rare Pokemon," the man said to her wife.
"Yeah!" The little girl hugged her father happily.
"You guys," The young woman shook her head with a wry smile.
...
"What a cute little girl!" Maggie looked at the happy family slowly walking away from them.
"Oh yeah! Let me introduce you to my Pokmon" Hisoka took Kirlia's hand.
"Her name is Kirlia. She is a Psychic and Fairy-type Pokemon from the Hoenn region," said Hisoka.
"And this one is Weavile. A Dark and Ice-type Pokemon," he pointed his hand toward Weavile.
"Okay?"
Maggie seemed a little surprised after looking at the two unknown Pokemon, but she quickly snapped out of her thoughts.
Then, she crouched and stretched her hands out with a smile, "Kirlia! Weavile! It's so nice to meet you guys. My name is Maggie."
"Weavile!" Weavile nodded her head slightly and took a step back as she folded her arms. She doesn't like to be in contact with anyone else except Hisoka.
Kirlia calmly shook her hand and said, "Hello, Maggie."
"Hello!"
Maggie instinctively replied, but then she looked at her with wide eyes and said, "Y- Can you talk?"
Kirlia didn't reply to her question. Instead, she returned to Hisoka and stood next to him calmly. Actually, both Kirlia and Weavile didn't like to be in contact with strangers. It's just that Kirlia was more polite than Weavile.
"Sorry. They don't like to be with strangers," Hisoka said apologetically.
"It's fine. Most Pokemon are like that," Maggie waved her hand good-naturedly.
"How did she talk to me just now," She asked again with a confused face.
"This is her ability, Telepath. And only a small number of Psychic-type Pokemon can learn it." Hisoka explained.
"What an amazing ability!" Maggie sighed.
"Maggie, where are you? Get over here quick. You can talk to that handsome guy later. If the Captain sees you diddling around, he will deduct your wages later."
An angry voice came from the walkie-talkie on her waist.
Maggie blushed in embarrassment. Then, she quickly grabbed the walkie-talkie and whispered to it, "I"m coming. Just hang on a second."
After that, she looked around awkwardly, relieved to see that no one was paying attention to her.
"Sorry, I have to go to work first!" she bowed slightly.
"Well. You can go ahead and work first. I'm going to take a walk around the ship and see if there's anything that catches my eyes," Hisoka smiled in reply.
"Thanks. Enjoy your stay at S.S. Anne." Maggie tidied up her hair and dress, then slowly walked away from Hisoka.
...
"Well, well, well. Look who's here." A familiar annoying voice sounded. Suddenly, the man from yesterday appeared next to Hisoka.
"If it ain't the handsome boy from before. It's only been an hour, and I've already seen you hooking up with another girl. Moreover, that girl's figure is much better than the woman before. Bro, are you willing to tell me her size? I need it for future reference for my upcoming porn novel."
Puff!
Hisoka sprayed the cocktail that he was drinking into the air.
'What the f***?'
The man's voice was so loud that everyone around them could hear what the man was talking about just now. Everyone was staring at them with contempt, especially the females. They were even glaring at the two of them with fire in their eyes.
'Idiot!'
After cursing in his heart, Hisoka quickly headed out of the room. He doesn't want to be seen with the man again.
"Hey, kid. Wait for me! We are all men anyway. Isn't it normal for us to discuss this kind of topic?" Seeing that Hisoka was quickly leaving the area, he started to give chase. Suddenly, the man felt his body becoming heavy and couldn't budge his legs no matter how hard he tried.
Meanwhile, Kirlia's eyes glowed blue as she followed after Hisoka. Then she waved her hand slightly, causing the men to fall heavily.
"Interesting, it's actually Kirlia from the Hoenn region," The perverted smile on the man's face disappeared. And he narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the figure of Hisoka disappearing among the crowd, followed by his two Pokemon.
"As for the other Pokemon, it should be Weavile. This kind of Pokemon can only be found in Sinnoh. And it's pretty rare at that. This kid's not bad."
...