His cleaning-mate did have a good point; just walking around and collecting trash wasn’t a very exciting activity. Hideo had gotten tired of doing this long before he got his license. And he wasn’t even doing that much himself; his Pokemon were doing pretty much all the cleaning. So he was mostly just there to direct them and carry around the wastebasket.

But he did perk up overhearing her suggestion. “Well, if you want someone to sing, I know a bit of music~. Wouldn’t mind singing.” It was at least something to do to pass the time.

Only question was what kind of song to sing. “Since we’re on the beach and all...why not start off with a sea shanty? I know a few of ‘em.” Actually an understatement; he knew a lot of them. They were easy to learn, and all you needed was your voice to sing them.

Without even waiting for a response, he began to sing; “♫I thought I heard the old man say ‘Leave her Joooohnny leave heeeeer!’♫”

His Aipom and Bibarel immediately perked up, joining in at each part of the chorus. They were singing along perfectly - which, unfortunately only amounted to them singing their own names, albeit in line with Hideo’s own singing. Wasn’t the first time he’d sung this one to them, and it wasn’t going to be the last.

And he was more than ready to sing the entire shanty with the two of them. His Aipom would still be working at clearing trash out of the sand, even timing it so it’d land in Hideo’s basket along with the rhythm, but his Bibarel was just entirely enraptured by the singing, doing nothing but singing along.

They were singing so loud, in fact, that they couldn’t hear Hideo’s Dewott attempting to warn them that they were attracting attention; a number of a water-type Pokemon were drawn in by the singing, popping out from under the water to listen.

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Hideo was pleasantly surprised to find that his cleaning-mate sang along with him, including her Pokemon; he’d heard of a Pokemon that could repeat what other people could say, to the point that you could even have a conversation with them. If only he could remember their name.

Whatever the case, he wouldn’t refuse more singers; sea shanties could be done solo, but the more people singing, the better they sounded. And Hideo wasn’t one to turn down more singers, whether human or Pokemon, whether or not in a language he understood.

“♫For the voyage is done and the winds don’t blow. And it’s tiiiime for us to leeeave heeeeeer!♫” He finished the song on a high note, finishing with a sigh.

He didn’t expect the round of applause coming from the sea; it sounded like a lot more Pokemon than his Dewott and Bibarel were clapping. He wasn’t able to tell just how many Pokemon had emerged from the water to listen - which was a lot.

“Guess we got an audience now!” he said, bemused. “Guess we can keep singing shanties. Any you want to start with, Miss? Or you want me to start a new one?”

He heard wet fins slapping against sand approach him - his Dewott. He could hear him exert himself a little as he tossed something into his basket.

An idea found its way into the boy’s head. “Hey Slaps; see if you can convince them to help clean up here. We could get a lot more done if they all pitch in.”

Slaps was hesitant at first, but after thinking it over for a moment, nodded. He ran back to the ocean, ready to start recruiting some new helpers.

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Hideo grinned as the girl complimented him. “Thanks! I get a lot of practice. And I’m sure I’ll do well with what you got next~” Singing was an activity that wasn’t affected by his disability, and his sister loved exposing him to many different types of music. Who could blame him for memorizing some of them, especially the easier-to-sing ones?

The one she started to sing, he recognized; a Galarian shanty (his knowledge about international shanties was far better than his knowledge about other regions). It took him a moment to remember the lyrics, but once it was time for the chorus?

“♫We'll scrape her and we'll scrub her, with holystone yes sir, for there blow some cold nor'westers on the Bay of Circhester!♫”

He stopped walking when he realized far more Pokemon than just Pom and Bibble joined in with that chorus line. And that a number of them were sounding like they were getting closer to him. He knew he did ask Slaps to get their help, but he didn’t think there were this many of them listening along and willing to help.

And once they got close enough, they made sure to give him what trash they found. A lot of them just threw it in there, but a few opted to climb up his body to reach the basket - still singing along when it came to the chorus. Nothing too heavy for him to deal with, but it did catch him off guard.

Still, he tried to sing along; uncomfortable as it was, he didn’t feel like he was in any danger.  His Diglett was directing the crowd too, so they wouldn't overwhelm.

It also helped that he wasn’t going to be the other one dealing with the horde; Slaps had made sure to direct some of them to the other trainer helping to clean up, so as not to overload his own. Quite a few water-type Pokemon made their way to her, each carrying varying amounts of trash they found (in the water or on the beach).

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Singing while getting swarmed by helpful Pokemon wasn’t easy, but he had the fortune of some of his Pokemon helping to direct things. Had they all come at him at once, he definitely would’ve been crushed under their weight.

Though that wasn’t to say he wasn’t feeling pretty heavy at the moment; those Pokemon had given him a lot of trash. He could hear it get higher and higher up whenever a can or bottle was put in there, getting closer and closer to his ears.

But that still wouldn’t stop him; helped that his cleaning-mate was encouraging him. “♫And we'll scrape her and we'll scrub her, with holystone yes sir, for there blow some cold nor'westers on the Bay of Circhester!♫”

There was a brief pause before another round of applause from the small horde they’d attracted. “Thank you, thank you!” He was half-tempted to bow, but he knew he risked tipping the collected trash over his head, and he did not want to be smelling like that.

Though as he turned his body to wave to the “crowd”, his basket felt pretty heavy. He reached back with the grabber to see just how much he’d been given - and found that his basket was full. He couldn’t tell if he was more surprised that the wild Pokemon had worked so quickly, or that there was that much trash just lying around for them to collect - and the implication that there was more.

Either way, that was much as he needed to collect. “I was told I only had to fill this basket all the way to the top!” he shouted, “I like singing shanties with you, but I think I’ll find a trash can to dump this in and head off! It was nice working with you, Miss!” While he did like cleaning, there was plenty of other stuff he could be spending his time on, like training his Pokemon. Or catching more.

Heck, if he’d brought any spare Pokeballs with him, he’d try catching some of their helpers. But they’d get off this time.

This time.

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