Chapter 111:
"Sorry... my hand had a mind of its own..."
Looking into Serperior's proud eyes, now so close, Hayashi Kaede swallowed hard and spoke sheepishly.
He finally realized what had changed about Serperior after evolution.
Its demeanor!
This demeanor was too... intimidating.
If the original Snivy was tsundere with a touch of cuteness, and Servine was tsundere with a hint of youthful awkwardness, then the current Serperior was like a lofty monarch.
This aura made him instinctively hesitant to approach.
"Serperior...." Serperior shot him a disdainful look, then glanced at the tail he was still holding.
The meaning was clear: shouldn't you let go now?
That area is very sensitive.
"Ahem... sorry."
In his nervousness, Hayashi Kaede hadn't even noticed he was still holding its tail. He quickly released it and looked at Serperior. "Um, could you let me go now?"
Serperior slowly loosened its hold on Hayashi Kaede, giving him a sidelong glance.
"Serperior..." (You used to hold me often when I was small, and now you won't even let me hold you once...)
Hayashi Kaede: "???"
Wait, is this what you call "holding"?
Are you sure this isn't "binding"...?
Serperior flicked its tail, ignoring its Trainer any further, settled down, and closed its eyes.
Landing on the bed, Hayashi Kaede didn't dwell on it. He glanced at Serperior's stat screen.
[Pokémon: Serperior]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Contrary (+)]
[Potential: Gold]
[IVs: HP (28+2) Attack (22+1) Sp. Atk (29+2) Defense (28+1) Sp. Def (24+2) Speed (31+3)]
[Level: 41-46]
[Moves: Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Glare...]
"Feels like it just grew this big bit by bit through raising..."
Muttering as he looked at the now over Level 40 Serperior, he retrieved the Vulpix that had been watching the excitement, then turned off the light...
....
The next day.
August 29th.
Waking up early, Hayashi Kaede saw Vulpix lying on his stomach. He carefully picked it up, placed it on the bed, and tried to move, only to find a serpentine tail resting on his calf.
Looking closely, it was Serperior's tail...
He carefully moved Serperior's tail aside, then walked out, rubbing his fingers.
At the same time, he couldn't help but mutter inwardly, "So smooth... I really want to keep touching it. Serperior is still asleep, maybe I should go pet Milotic instead?"
But then he shook his head.
Barring any surprises,
He had a very busy day today!
And motivated by the Combee from yesterday, he needed to work hard today too!
First, after getting up, he checked the Breeding House, confirmed that Mew had brought back another Berry today, stored it away satisfied, and headed to the plantation.
Then he called the construction team, but the response was that their team was working on a renovation at a dessert shop in Aogiri Town these past few days and probably wouldn't be free until tomorrow.
Hayashi Kaede thought about Dragonite's performance yesterday and felt it wouldn't be a big problem for it to stay in its Poké Ball for two more days.
But he still summoned it to explain the situation.
"Dragonite~" (It's fine, it's fine...)
Upon hearing the reason, Dragonite expressed that it had no issues.
Actually, it felt a bit embarrassed.
It could sense that.
In yesterday's matches, even if it hadn't participated, that Gardevoir could have helped this human win first place.
So, right now, it was basically freeloading meals.
How could it dare make new demands of this human?
Returning Dragonite to its ball, Hayashi Kaede breathed a sigh of relief. He then woke up the lazy Torchic for its run,
Grabbed a bundle of pasture grass harvested by Rotom, and returned to the kitchen.
He had promised the Miltank new-flavored Wild Grass Dumplings yesterday; he couldn't forget that.
The process wasn't much different from making the previous milk dumplings, just replacing the MooMoo Milk with Sweet Honey.
Half an hour later.
Hayashi Kaede opened the steamer,
Dozens of dumplings emitting a faint, sweet aroma were revealed.
[A Grade Wild Grass Dumplings – Wild Grass Dumplings created by the maker's burst of inspiration, mixing multiple ingredients.
Dish Effect 1: After consumption, Grass-type Pokémon's move proficiency increases for a short time.
Dish Effect 2: After a Pokémon consumes this, moves that affect plants will undergo a mysterious variation, giving plants a certain probability of mutation.]
"Huh?"
When he saw this dish effect, Hayashi Kaede was taken aback.
Moves that affect plants...
Wasn't that Serperior's Grassy Terrain?
"I'll try it with Serperior when it wakes up."
Shaking his head, he packed the dumplings from the steamer into a large bag, used psychic power to levitate it, and went to the barn.
Coincidentally, the Miltank were also waking up.
Seeing Hayashi Kaede, they immediately called out cheerfully and urgently.
"Miltank~" (Milk us, milk us quickly...)
"Miltank~" (So fragrant, so fragrant, today's smell is different from before, it's the smell from the barn...)
"Miltank..." (Full...)
Looking at the increasingly impatient Miltank, Hayashi Kaede felt a bit helpless. "Looks like I'll have to control your food intake from now on..."
He hadn't restricted their food yesterday, so this morning, the Miltank were already quite full.
First, he poured the honey Wild Grass Dumplings into their feeding trough. Then he found a small stool, took a bucket from his Storage Capsule, and started milking them.
And so, the Miltank enjoyed Hayashi Kaede's "service" while devouring the dumplings.
"Miltank..." (So fragrant, so fragrant, and so sweet...)
"Miltank..." (There is something new added, tasty...)
o(≧∇≦)ﾉ: "Miltank..." (I feel more comfortable....)
.....
After filling seven buckets of milk, Hayashi Kaede used psychic power again to bottle them in purchased glass bottles and sent them to the Breeding House.
Now that the quality of MooMoo Milk had increased, so had the price. But since the Pidgeotto delivery service started, sales weren't a worry.
After finishing all that, Hayashi Kaede looked at the land.
It was almost September now.
Watermelons, Berries, and some other vegetables were nearing the end of their season.
Only the late-planted ones were still fruiting,
But there wasn't much point in keeping them anymore.
He needed to clear this area.
Turn the soil again, fertilize it, think about what seasonal vegetables to plant, or re-plan and expand the Berry area a bit.
Moreover, in three days, he needed to prepare containers for brewing the Grepa Berry Wine.
Before leaving Budo Town, Hayashi Kaede had asked Plantation Owner Inoue.
She said they usually use oak barrels for brewing Grepa Berry Wine. So, he needed to find a manufacturer for oak barrels.
And just at that moment, Takagi Megumi came running to the plantation with some bad news.
She said she was going back to school…
Oh no!
Everything's piling up…