[Ding! Mission Triggered: Help Duplica's Ditto Correct Its Transformation Flaw!
[Mission Reward: A set of the Magical Transformation Outfit — a magical costume set that can transform into various outfits!]
Oh, it's this mission?
I thought it was going to be some task about helping the girl in front of me bathe or rub her down or something.
Turns out the system's still pretty decent! I'm the one who let my mind wander!
Still, this Transformation Outfit—while it's not a battle item—sounds pretty fun later on.
Can it really transform into anything?
Does it auto-detect gender?
What if it gives me black stockings and a frilly dress? That'd be super awkward!
Ahem, okay, I might be getting a bit sidetracked.
As Kazuki finished reading the mission, Duplica had already slipped on her underwear and returned to the room.
"Uh, I… I just came in to get out of the rain!"
"I saw all the hanging fabric when I came in…"
"And I've got two companions who got separated in the maze!"
"I thought one of them had come into this room…!" Kazuki earnestly explained his reason for entering.
"Sheltering from the rain?" Duplica clicked her tongue. "Still, this isn't—"
She was about to say it was the bathroom, but then remembered that her performance house was under renovation, and the bathroom was temporarily unusable. That's why she'd been soaking in a tub in an empty room.
"Sorry, I really didn't mean to! I just…" Kazuki trailed off, momentarily distracted by the way Duplica's soft, pale skin bounced as she moved with agitation.
Duplica caught the look in his eyes and quickly pointed her finger at him. "You… you… just get out! Get out now and I'll ask you later!"
Blushing, she turned her back to him.
"Alright!" Kazuki replied, turning and closing the door behind him.
Duplica let out a long sigh once she heard the door shut, her face still tinged with a deep flush.
Seriously! There's never anyone around when I'm just practicing with Ditto for our shows!
Why did a guy have to show up today of all days—during a storm—while my performance house is being remodeled!?
Ugh! So embarrassing!
He saw everything! My whole body!
I didn't even get a good look at whether he's handsome or not!
What if he's ugly? Then what? Am I supposed to treat him as my future…?
Ugh, Mom, why'd you make such a ridiculous rule!?
Whoever sees your body has to be your future!?
Did you even consider situations like this!?
Duplica grumbled to herself for a while before shaking her head, trying to clear her thoughts, and began pulling on her white knee socks.
Meanwhile, Kazuki, after leaving the bathing room, looked around and saw Pikachu hopping up and down on a stool.
"Hey, Pikachu, you look pretty pleased with yourself!"
Kazuki crouched down and noticed something odd.
"Huh? I thought this felt like a living thing earlier!" He grabbed the stool by a leg and lifted it up.
"Hey hey hey! Put it… put it down!" Duplica's urgent voice rang out from behind him.
Startled, Kazuki loosened his grip, and the "stool" dropped to the floor, transforming into a pink blob.
He turned around to see Duplica standing at the door, hiding shyly behind it.
By now, she had changed into casual clothes. Her damp hair still dripped water, and her cheeks were flushed with lingering embarrassment.
"You… you… you saw my body, and now you're teasing my Pokémon too!"
"Don't think just because I'm a girl, you can push me around!" Duplica pouted, her voice full of grievance.
"Pokémon?" Kazuki looked down at the pink blob. "Oh, so this is your Ditto, huh?"
Now that he'd confirmed the mission target, Kazuki stood up and introduced himself.
"I'm Kazuki, a—"
But before he could finish, Duplica took a step back, startled by how tall and well-built he was.
Whoa—so tall, so big, so strong!
Hmm? And his face… is pretty decent too!
Alright, alright, I guess it's not so bad that he saw me naked!
If he looks like this… maybe it's not impossible to consider, you know…
Wait, what am I even thinking!? Ahem, I should be more aggressive and interrogate him!
"Kazuki? I don't care if you're a river or a lake! I'm not someone you can just mess with, I—"
Duplica suddenly furrowed her brows, carefully examining Kazuki.
"Wait a second…"
"I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before…"
Kazuki blinked, puzzled, just as Duplica clapped her hands.
"That's it! I remember now! You're the trainer who beat Kaz and Yas in Dark City!"
Her eyes lit up with excitement.
"You know about that?" Kazuki was surprised that she recognized him.
After all, he'd been grinding and traveling for days now—he'd left Dark City about ten days ago, and should be pretty far by now.
Or had he somehow been circling the area?
He quickly reviewed the route he'd taken in his head.
"I'm a Pokémon performer. My name's Duplica. I love performance art!"
"So I often watch League news updates when I'm bored."
"I saw your story in the latest bulletin!"
"Even though it was just a tiny blurb way in the back!"
"But I love cute Pikachu!"
She smiled sweetly at Kazuki's Pikachu.
"So I ended up reading your whole article!"
"You're amazing! A rookie trainer defeating two Gym Leaders right out the gate!"
Having confirmed Kazuki's face matched her impression, Duplica completely forgot the embarrassment of being seen naked. If anything, she now seemed to think it wasn't so bad.
Now that she knew he was a League-acknowledged trainer, she grew even more excited.
"Oh! So Joy must've already reported my deeds to the League!"
"Hah, can't believe those old farts at the League actually spared some space for me in the bulletin!"
"That's rare!"
Kazuki chuckled, poking fun at the League's usual stinginess.
The biweekly League bulletin usually only featured major developments across the regions.
Anyone who made it into the bulletin—even in a tiny back-corner paragraph—was usually someone noteworthy.
If this world had live commerce, Kazuki could've just sold anything and made enough for a lifetime with that exposure alone.
Normally, rookie trainers didn't get any coverage.
Even when Kazuki had saved Porta Vista, it had only made the local paper. The bulletin only mentioned the giant Tentacruel.
So hearing from Duplica that he'd made the bulletin this time gave Kazuki a small ego boost.
"Kazuki! Kazuki, you saw my body earlier, and I can let that slide!"
"But can you promise me one thing?"
Duplica clasped her face in her hands, looking up at Kazuki with adoration.
Kazuki's pupils twitched slightly in surprise.
Whoa! She's really letting that go?
Is this girl that chill about it?
Or am I just too damn charming?
So… does that mean I could replay the Lara plotline here? Help her out and then…?
If not, I've still got two Adult Poké Balls!
Could use them to deepen intimacy, too!
Kazuki gave Duplica another once-over.
Hmm… maybe I'll wait and see.
After all, I haven't even gotten the Poké Ball reward from Suzie's mission yet.
Wasting one now wouldn't be worth it.
"What is it?" Kazuki asked cautiously.
Seeing a chance, Duplica lit up and started speaking quickly.
"You're a rookie trainer recognized by the League!"
"I don't usually read those bulletins, but this was the first time I saw a rookie trainer get mentioned!"
"You must be really good at training Pokémon!"
"Can you help train my Ditto?"
"It always messes up the eyes!"
"Ditto! Transform into Pikachu!"
She pointed, and Ditto instantly morphed into a yellow Pikachu-like form.
Kazuki watched it change—everything looked right, except those two black dot eyes, which made it look like a meme face.
"See? Everything else is perfect, but those eyes!"
"This one flaw is driving away the audience at my performance house!"
"This time, I tricked my parents by saying the renovations were going poorly and got a big budget for it!"
"But once that excuse runs out and Ditto's still like this, I'll have to go home and study music!"
"If you help me train it, I'll pay you!"
"Pay me?" Kazuki looked around at the performance house, which resembled a haunted mansion. "You've got money?"
"Ugh…" Duplica waved her hand. "Not me, but my dad does! He's a restaurant tycoon! Owns tons of chains! He's loaded!"
"I just squeezed a huge renovation budget out of him!"
"I just hung a bunch of fabric in the lobby to fake it—barely spent anything!"
"So? Will you help me, Mr. Kazuki?"
She gave him a slight bow, flashing a charming smile.
Kazuki squinted and gave her another good look.
Whoa, so she's a rich heiress too?
That makes that bathhouse encounter even more valuable!
Man, she was already in Rome—why take another lap around it?
Guess the saying's true: the wealthy really are different!
He chuckled to himself, then returned to the matter at hand. After all, this was a system-linked mission—and if it came with a little extra funding, why not?
"Training a Pokémon? No problem. Leave it to me!"
"Yes! Yes!" Duplica clapped her hands in delight. "Then let's head upstairs!"
"Since it's raining, we've got a big room up there where you can do the training!"
"Wait! Hold on! My two companions are still stuck in your spiderweb maze of fabric!"
"They're trapped?" Duplica stuck her tongue out playfully. "S-Sorry! I just wanted to hang more to convince my dad I needed all that renovation money!"
"I'll help you find them!"
With that, Duplica eagerly bounced off to help.
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