C4

Pewter City, Bell's BBQ.

"Isaac, make sure you work hard to find a girlfriend today too~"

A customer, after paying, smiled and said to Isaac.

At that moment, Hana Smith happened to come by and heard this, covering her mouth as she laughed.

Isaac, feeling awkward, quickly finished cleaning up and slipped out the back door.

Regular customers at Bell's BBQ had gotten to know Isaac, the new server, and they were all familiar with him.

Ever since that day when Hana's dad, the man who drank every day, threatened Isaac to drink with him or he wouldn't get paid.

Coincidentally, Hana had to visit her grandmother with the store manager that day, leaving only Hana's dad and Isaac at the store.

Unaware that the store manager held the financial power, Isaac thought Hana's dad was serious and reluctantly agreed to drink with him.

The low-alcohol soju didn't feel strong at first, but the aftereffects were significant. Initially, Isaac thought he could handle it, but soon, he ended up just as drunk as Hana's dad.

Facing each other, they started to boast, talking about anything and everything, completely forgetting there were still a few customers in the store.

"Mr. Smith, you're such a coward, only daring to drink like this when the store manager isn't around, hahaha—" Isaac gestured wildly, mocking Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith glared, "You little brat, you're seventeen, and you've never even held a girl's hand. You're the one who's a disgrace, hahaha!"

Isaac, hearing this, turned red and yelled, "I… I have held a girl's hand. I have a new girlfriend every day! Every day I..."

Before he could finish, Isaac passed out.

Since then, customers who knew about the incident would always ask Isaac, "Isaac, where's your girlfriend?"

When the store manager returned from shopping, she saw Isaac and asked, "Isaac? What's wrong? Why are you running so fast?"

"Ah…" Isaac scratched his head, "Nothing really…"

The store manager, seeing this, didn't press further. "Based on your daily work, with a wage of 500 Pokemon Dollars a day, you still owe 1,690 Dollars."

"Ah… okay…" Isaac replied dejectedly, regretting eating so much that day. Now, besides owing money, he also had to save for a plane ticket to Lumiose City for this year's League Breeder exam. Life was so tough!

Hana came over and saw Isaac's distressed expression. She laughed, "Isaac, don't worry. You'll pay off that money quickly."

"That's easy for you to say, but I still need to go to Lumiose City for the Pokémon Breeder exam this year..."

"Lumiose City?" Hana frowned, "Where is that? I've never heard of it."

"It's normal you haven't heard of it. Lumiose City is in the Kalos region, which is four regions away from Kanto… The plane ticket alone costs 20,000 Pokemon Dollars..." Isaac explained.

Hana, a bit surprised, started counting on her fingers, "Wow, Isaac, you'd have to work at our place for... 44 days!"

Isaac had a look of deep sorrow, seemingly cursing the profiteering capitalists who set such high prices.

"Alright, alright, don't look like that. If you work hard, you might get a bonus." The store manager said, "Besides, my beautiful daughter keeps you company in the store every day. What more could you want?"

Under the store manager's meaningful and intense gaze, Isaac shook his head vigorously. "No, no, I'm very satisfied!!"

The store manager, although gentle, had once caught her husband coming home drunk. She dragged him into a room by his ear, and the ensuing screams were something Isaac would never forget.

The store manager nodded, "Good."

She was very generous, offering 500 Pokemon Dollars a day, which was rare elsewhere. But the real reason she took such good care of Isaac was undoubtedly due to the charming and clever Kirlia.

Kirlia had somehow made the store manager laugh heartily the day she came out of her Pokéball. Since then, Kirlia seemed to forget about Isaac and stayed with the store manager, enjoying good food and a good life, occasionally flying around in front of the busy Isaac.

"Thank you very much!"

These days, Isaac had been staying at the store manager's house. Despite working hard, the Smith family always invited him to meals, making him feel well taken care of.

[Ding! Random Task Issued!]

[Random Task: Since the store manager is so kind to the host, please do something to repay her!]

[Capture a Pokémon with at least green potential for Hana Smith within three days!]

[Task Reward: 10,000 Pokemon Dollars]

"Whoa, don't scare me like that, system!" Isaac was startled by the sudden system prompt.

"Three days to capture a Pokémon with green potential… That's not too hard, but I only have the afternoons free... Hm..."

"By the way, there won't be any penalties if I fail, right? Like losing a few centimeters or something?"

[Rest assured, this system upholds humanitarian principles and won't do such things.]

"Whew, that's good."

[However, please note that if the task fails, Hana Smith's favorability will drop to indifference.]

"??????" Isaac was shocked, "Didn't you say no penalties?"

[Just no loss of height. There are still penalties.]

"Ugh!"

If Hana's favorability dropped to indifference, how would he earn money for the plane ticket to Lumiose City? No, he couldn't imagine that. He had to capture a Pokémon with green potential!