"You could be a waiter!"

"I think you're only allowed to be a waiter if you're a gym trainer though? How hard is it to be a gym trainer?"

"That's a stupid rule. If I were in charge of the gym I would let anyone who wanted be a waiter."

"Okay but you aren't though. Anyways I heard Fennel and Amanita were looking for help with their research?"

"Ewww, boring. I think he should move to Nimbasa and work at the amusement park."

"He said 'around here' though, Nimbasa isn't around here."

"Guys you are all forgetting about battling. Whenever I want more money I just challenge my little brother to a battle."

"Isn't your brother four?"

"He gets an allowance."

That is mostly not very useful but the Fennel thing seems like a good lead, he's pretty sure Fennel likes him.

"Okay but even if he has money he's still four. It's not fair to battle a four-year-old."

"He has a better Pokémon than I do though, Mom and Dad like him better than me."

"You shouldn't say that about your Pokémon, it's not nice."

"Okay but it's true though."

"I don't get why it's such a big issue if he's four. I battled lots of people when I was four."

The kids start arguing about battling four-year-olds. Most of them seem to agree that it's fine to battle four-year-olds who challenge you to a fight, but you probably shouldn't go pick on random four-year-olds who haven't challenged you.

"Okay fine, next time I'll just tell him that Sandy is cooler than Emma and wait for him to start it."

If he were four he thinks he wouldn't want people to just not battle him. Probably there's no way to bring that up without inviting awkward questions about his childhood.

Eventually lunch will end. 

The afternoon's class is a continuation of the previous day's lecture, this time focused on using items to help navigate caves. (It does not at any point mention light sources.)

...He raises his hand. This is probably a stupid question and might give him away, but getting lost in a cave sounds dangerous.

"Yes, Sebastian?"

"Apologies for my ignorance, but how are you supposed to see in a cave?"

Maybe the answer is just "a flashlight" and that was so obvious the teacher didn't even bother to include it.

"Great question! In some caves, like Chargestone Cave, there are natural phenomena that serve as light sources. However, in dark caves where that doesn't apply, it's a good idea to bring a Pokémon that's been trained in special techniques for lighting up the area."

So they have wrist-cellphones but not flashlights. Okay. Sure. Maybe if you already have Pokémon who can light things up, you never bother inventing flashlights.

The rest of the lesson proceeds as normal. They let out at around the same time as yesterday.

He heads over to Fennel's lab.

This time there's another woman, fiddling with one of the machines near the bed. Fennel looks up when he walks in.

"Oh, hi! Sorry for missing your call, I was sleeping. What's up?"

"I heard you were hoping to hire a research assistant. ...Also, while I'm here, I can give you a report on my observations so far."

"Oh! It might be pretty temporary depending on how fast this project goes, is that okay?"

He's not planning on staying in this city long-term anyways. "That should be fine."

"Oh good. I was going to head out to the Dreamyard again today to make some observations, you can come along for that. ...Anyways, tell me more about your Munna!"

"When I woke up today there was some black mist floating near him. I assume this is the 'dream mist' you've mentioned."

She frowns. "From the description, that seems likely, but dream mist is typically pink or purple."

"Oh."

She shrugs and grabs a bag. "Anyways, let's get headed over to the Dreamyard. How much do you know about scientific research?"

He waits for her to finish packing and follows her outside. "...I've taken science classes before, but my home region is very different, so I don't know how much will transfer."

She nods. "The core of scientific research is observation. By observing many Pokémon, we can learn more about their behavior and capabilities. Today, we're going to try to observe Munna and Musharna in the wild."

That is not how the scientific method was explained to him but she's the scientist, not him.

"What do you need me to do?"

She holds up two fingers. "First of all, I need you to make sure that no one from Team Plasma interferes with our research or steals our Pokémon. Second, if you notice any dream mist, let me know right away."