A/N: Sorry for the delay! Sometimes I've got other commitments.
CHAPTER 9: BACK TO WORK!
By now, Hilda and Osman had finished the investigation. Both of them had to do lots of patrolling - Osman even got his Crabominable to move aside some rocks to see if Shiny Pokemon had been hiding there. Osman had found a lot of Shiny Pokemon, of course, and Hilda found a few too.
Anabel met Hilda and Osman at the entrance of Wela Volcano Park and congratulated the two.
"Thank you for your effort," said Anabel.
"It was no trouble at all," said Hilda. "I'm just doing what comes naturally. It was nice to complete my first mission, even if it wasn't discussed in the previous chapter."
"What is that?" asked Osman.
"Nothing," said Hilda.
The three of them laughed.
"It's been a pleasure working with you, Hilda," said Osman. "I hope we can do it again sometime."
Anabel gave Hilda and Osman a decent sum of money.
"I love getting paid," said Hilda, "but not as much as helping Pokemon."
Hilda looked out the window.
"I wonder how Hilbert is doing," she said. "He must be enjoying his new job just as much as I am."
Meanwhile, back at Aether Paradise, Hilbert was working. He is dressed in his Aether Foundation Uniform. He was taking down notes on conservation. He had been given an assignment to take notes on Corsola and Mareanie.
Hilbert looked at Kiana, who was also taking notes.
"It's good that Corsola have a safe place to thrive here at Aether Paradise," said Hilbert. "But I'm kinda concerned about Mareanie too. They need to eat Corsola to survive and prosper. I know culling their population will do good for the Corsola population, but parasites are just as much part of an ecosystem as anything else."
"I think that's useful information to keep in mind," said Kiana.
"That is right," said Hilbert. "Pokemon do overpopulate. Take Lapras for example. There used to be very few of them, but now there's a lot of them. In Unova they've been expanding their range in recent years. Although that may be a good thing as well, since Lapras are very useful for transporting people. But getting back to the Mareanie problem...I think giving some Mareanie birth control would be better than killing them."
"I caught a Mareanie a few weeks before Hilbert arrived," said Ricardo. "I put it on a controlled diet so it won't attack Corsola. I've heard some Trainers even had their Mareanie spayed or neutered, but personally I think that's a little extreme."
Allison and Emil walked over.
"Yesterday's excursion was fun," said Allison, "but it's nice to get back to work too."
"How's the assignment on Mimikyu going, Emil?" asked Hilbert.
"It's going quite well," said Emil. "I'm almost finished. I'm glad they have a library here, so I don't have to go all the way to Ula'ula Island to observe wild Mimikyu."
"I'd hesitate around those things," said Kiana. "They're really creepy."
"I think they're cute," said Hilbert.
"They're not so cute when you look under them," said Allison. "Supposedly, if you look under their rag, you'll die."
Hilbert scratched his beard (he has been growing one as of late) and thought about it.
"I guess I'll keep my distance from one of those guys!" he said.
Hilbert went over to Snowdrop's little home. He saw that Rosella was absent - Hilbert had been told that she was busy making Pollen Puffs.
Snowdrop flew up to Hilbert.
"Meep meep!" he said.
"Hello, Snowdrop," said Hilbert.
"Meep meep!" said Snowdrop.
"Are you hungry?" asked Hilbert.
"Meep meep!" said Snowdrop. "Meep meep!"
"I guess you are," said Hilbert.
Hilbert took a few Poke Beans out of one of the pockets on his jumpsuit.
"Here you go, little guy," said Hilbert.
Snowdrop gobbled up the Poke Beans with his proboscis.
"Meep meep!" said Snowdrop.
"No problem," said Hilbert. "Your mom should be back any minute."
After a few minutes, Rosella came back with some Pollen Puffs. She saw that Snowdrop was full, so she decided to save the Pollen Puffs for later.
"Bzzz bzzz," said Rosella. She gave Hilbert a Pollen Puff.
"Thanks," said Hilbert.
"Bzzz bzzz!" said Rosella.
Hilbert walked away. He went back to his assignment. When he finished it, he gave the notes to Kiana, who would give them to Wicke.
"Now to go check on Hilda," said Hilbert.
Hilbert made his way back to his room and decided to call Hilda. Hilda picked up her cellphone.
"Hello?" said Hilda.
"Hello!" said Hilbert. "How did your first mission go?"
"It went pretty good," said Hilda. "I completed it and was paid for my hard work. How's things at Aether Paradise?"
"I'm working," said Hilbert. "Right now, I'm on a thirty-minute break, so I decided to talk to you. I'm going to get back to work after I'm done calling you."
"Okay," said Hilda. "How are your co-workers?"
"Most of them are pretty nice," said Hilbert. "I'm still having trouble getting along with Sebastian, but I haven't seen him today. Everyone else is doing good. I just finished working on an assignment related to Corsola and Mareanie."
"I'm glad things are going well," said Hilda.
"I've got to get back to work now," said Hilbert. "See you soon!"
"Bye, Hilbert!" said Hilda. The two of them hung up. Afterwards, Hilbert went back to work.
