1. Ash's Story (Part 10: Galar)

Chapter 43: Wings in the Workroom

Clear weather felt strange after so many days of sand. The Wild Area sky opened blue above us, and the sunlight made the grass shine where yesterday's dust had tried to dull every color. I could still feel Dusty Bowl grit in my shoes, but Hammerlocke Academy's job board waited with a new practical assignment.

Alice stood beside me while Pikachu leaned over my shoulder to see the listings. Orbeetle hovered behind us, calm and thoughtful, its eyes reflecting the board's pale light. Butterfree and Pink Butterfree rested near the courtyard flowers, wings opening and closing in the clear air.

Gloria arrived with Raboot, already stretching like he expected another rough field day. Flora came with Roserade and Lilligant, looking relieved that the sky was finally clean. Helen carried a cooking bag with Pack of Potatoes tucked inside, while Elena kept Feebas's tank shaded from the sun.

The board changed to Bug-type requests, and the list filled the screen from top to bottom. Dream Diary needed Bug-type Pokémon to thin weeds on farmland. LASS wanted delicate cloth. Celebrity wanted lovely cloth. DENSOKU wanted many-legged Bug Pokémon to help develop sports shoes.

Daily Discovery wanted durable cloth. Wailord Aquaculture needed flexible nets. Jetsetter wanted luxurious silk. Turffield Orchards requested help harvesting vegetables. Porcini wanted good silk. Good Fit wanted silk shoes. HIJKI OKA wanted cloth that could not be cut. Gramophone Records wanted recordings of Bug-type Pokémon voices and sounds.

More details unfolded when Alice opened the longer descriptions. Some clients wanted three or four helpers, while others asked for five, six, seven, eight, nine, or ten. Gramophone Records sat at the bottom with space for thirty Pokémon, which made the request sound large without making it feel like the same cloth order again.

Flora stared at the board for a long moment, then folded her arms. "Seriously? A majority of Bug-type jobs involve tasks associated with String Shot, used to make clothes. I mean, there are other methods besides String Shot to create fabric."

Alice sighed beside her. "I totally get what you are saying."

I glanced from Flora to the board. She was not insulting Bug types. She sounded more like a Grass-type specialist watching another type get narrowed into one trick over and over. I understood that feeling. No type deserved to be treated like a single move with legs.

Pikachu tapped my shoulder, cheeks quiet but eyes bright, "They are asking for silk, but the wings want to be heard too."

I smiled. "Then we should pick the job that listens."

Flora blinked at the last listing. "Gramophone Records?"

"It is the thirty-Pokémon request," Alice said. "And it is not another cloth job."

Gloria leaned closer. "Recording Bug-type sounds could be fun, but also chaotic."

"Only one job," I reminded everyone. "We choose Gramophone Records and leave the rest for other groups."

Orbeetle lowered slightly, its body tilting toward the glowing listing, "Sound is another pattern. Patterns can be protected."

I nodded to Orbeetle. "Then you help us keep the pattern safe."

I accepted the Gramophone Records job through the academy system. The other eleven listings stayed open, and the board marked only our chosen job as assigned. That small detail mattered after so many practical lessons. A full board was not permission to swallow every task in sight.

Flora still looked tempted to lecture the whole screen, but she took a breath and pocketed her phone. That was progress too. The lesson did not need her to stop loving Grass types most. It only needed her to see that frustration with people's requests was not the same as frustration with Bug Pokémon.