Chapter 226:
"Blaziken!" (How long until it goes away!?)
Blaziken asked in shocked.
This pink glow... it really didn't look good on it!
"Uh..."
Hayashi Kaede shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure either.
"But it should be between half an hour to an hour. So, do you still want to eat more?"
Blaziken thought, since it was already glowing, why not eat a bit more?
So, it directly picked up a plate holding over a dozen macarons and ate them all in one go, completely missing the increasingly strange looks Hayashi Kaede and Gardevoir were giving it.
"Blaziken~" (Tasty!)
After finishing them all in one breath, Blaziken even sighed with appreciation.
But seeing the strange look in its trainer's eyes, it froze, then instinctively looked down at itself.
The original pink glow had vanished, replaced by... a dazzling array of multicolored lights flashing across its body like neon signs.
"Blaziken?"
Blaziken was dumbfounded, then looked at its trainer in disbelief. "Blaziken?" (Why do the colors stack?)
"Well... you didn't ask..." Hayashi Kaede said matter-of-factly.
"But it actually looks quite good, shiny Blaziken..."
He nodded seriously, but couldn't hold back a laugh. "Pfft...."
....
He initially thought the glow on Blaziken would fade after an hour or two, but by evening, it was still there, just slightly dimmer.
This was quite interesting. During dinner, they didn't even need to turn on the lights. Just having Blaziken stand there provided a non-electric light bulb.
Everyone gathered around it, looking on in amazement.
"Alcremie?" (How did you become like this!?)
"Vulpix!" (It's glowing, it's glowing, so pretty....)
"Milotic?"
"Brionne..."
Even Milotic looked at Blaziken with novelty.
"Blaziken...."
Blaziken was suffering in silence.
Hayashi Kaede didn't keep them in suspense. After arranging the macarons on plates by color, he directly explained their effect.
"It's the effect of this treat. It's made from the pumpkin Serperior brought today, plus flour. Whatever color macaron you eat, you'll glow that color. If you want to glow a certain color, just eat that one."
The Colorful Giant Pumpkin was quite large, bigger than the watermelons Hayashi Kaede had grown before, so it was fine to use it generously.
So far, he had only used about a quarter of that big pumpkin.
He planned to make good use of the rest in the next few days.
To keep it fresh, Hayashi Kaede had even asked Gardevoir to use its psychic power to create a vacuum-sealed area.
"Serperior?"
Serperior curiously picked up a light green one with its vines, hesitated for a moment, then put it in its mouth.
Sure enough, after eating it, its body began to emit a color similar to its own, a gleaming, jewel-like green, as if it were a piece of polished jade emitting light.
Little three's eyes lit up at the sight.
So pretty...
"Alcremie~"
After one Pokémon ate one, most of the others became very interested.
The Alcremies also scurried over to the macarons matching their own colors and started eating them.
Then, over a dozen little light bulbs of various colors lit up on the table.
Next were Steenee, who had evolved today, the Eevees, Brionne...
Suddenly, the already colorful garden became even more vibrant and multicolored. This made the Combee think it was already daytime, and they came out ready to collect nectar...
Speaking of which, the Combee had been getting more and more diligent lately, seemingly because winter was coming, and they wanted to prepare more food for Hayashi Kaede in advance.
And right at this moment,
Mew, who had taken Jirachi out wandering, finally returned to Aogiri Town.
Seeing the familiar place, it couldn't help but smile, then pulled Jirachi along and quickly flew towards the garden.
But upon reaching the garden, it noticed,
the garden seemed a bit different today?
Everyone was emitting glows of various colors.
"Meeew?"
It quickly flew to Hayashi Kaede's side with Jirachi. "Meeew?" (What's going on? Why is everyone glowing?)
Jirachi's face was also full of curiosity, and its eyes held a glint of envy.
Everyone was sparkling and shining.
It wanted to sparkle too.
"Hmm? You two are back from playing?"
Seeing Jirachi and Mew return, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but ask curiously.
Jirachi became excited. "We went to a really big, tall tree! There were lots and lots of Pokémon I've never seen before, and all kinds of glowing stones. It looked so beautiful!"
"That tree can even talk..."
Hayashi Kaede was surprised. "You went to the Tree of Life?"
He was a bit shocked. Mew and Jirachi had gotten so close that Mew could just take Jirachi directly to the Tree of Life.
"Meeew~"
Mew covered its mouth and laughed, not directly answering Hayashi Kaede's question, instead turning its attention to the macarons on the table.
Having been here so long, it knew Hayashi Kaede often brought out food with strange and wonderful effects. It seemed the reason for everyone's glow was right here.
Hayashi Kaede explained, "These are macarons. Eat one, and you'll glow whatever color it is."
Hearing this, the two Mythical Pokémon's eyes lit up, and they immediately flew over to the macarons.
"Jirachi~ Can I eat one, Big Brother Kaede?"
Jirachi looked at him expectantly.
"Of course you can." Hayashi Kaede nodded.
"Jirachi~"
Jirachi immediately cheered, then picked through them and selected a yellow macaron that matched its body color.
After eating it, sure enough, its body began to emit a bright yellow glow.
"Jirachi~! I'm glowing too!"
Jirachi flew through the air, laughing happily, like a child experiencing something new.
Mew ate a pink macaron and flew around with Jirachi. The light emanating from their bodies was like the contrails left by airplanes, painting colorful streaks across the gradually darkening sky.
On the ground, Alolan Vulpix ate a white macaron, the Eevees ate green, multicolored, and dark blue ones respectively.
They led Goodra, who had eaten a purple macaron, in a carefree chase across the lawn.
"Eevee..."
"Vulpix..."
"Goodra..."
Red, green, yellow, pink – all sorts of colors mingled throughout the entire garden.
Seeing this scene, Hayashi Kaede suddenly felt something was missing...
Right... some music~
Because this was even more like a dance party now~
So, without further ado, he called over the Rotom and started playing some music.
It wasn't pop music, but the Pikachu Hero theme song that Alolan Vulpix and the Eevees often watched.
When the theme song started playing, Alolan Vulpix and the Eevees, who had just been chasing each other playfully, seemed to have their DNA triggered. They immediately jumped out of the grass and launched mock electric attacks at Goodra.
Hayashi Kaede watched for a while, then couldn't help but shake his head. Looking at the various colored macarons, he thought for a moment, then picked up a black one and ate it.
As a black glow shimmered across his body,
he took out the second World Leaf from a storage ball, brought out the hot water kettle he had prepared earlier, and placed the leaf inside.
The macarons could boost luck, so naturally, it was time to prepare the World Leaf tea, which had a chance of granting Aura power.
The tea needed time to steep. Right now, Alolan Vulpix and the Eevees were busy playing wildly.
Hayashi Kaede wasn't in a hurry so he turned his gaze to Gardevoir.
With lights and music, drinks were naturally unavoidable.
So Gardevoir was now sitting elegantly at the table, a glass of Grepa Berry wine in front of it, taking occasional small sips.
Since learning that this wine could even enhance its psychic powers, it had grown even fonder of it.
It wasn't glowing.
Hayashi Kaede felt a sudden impulse. He looked at the last remaining pink macaron, picked it up, and walked over to Gardevoir. "Don't you want to try one?"
"Gardevoir~?"
Gardevoir looked at the macaron in Hayashi Kaede's hand, then at the expectant look in his eyes, a slight curve forming on its lips. "Gardevoir~" (Then I'll try one.)
It picked up a macaron, put it in its mouth, and then its body also began to shimmer with a pink glow.
So strange...
It felt no abnormality within its body, but it was glowing externally.
Indeed, this was its trainer, always coming up with some strange and wonderful foods.
It wasn't particularly keen on having its body emit such a glow.
In the wild, glowing like this meant standing out.
It would attract all sorts of Pokémon.
But could it refuse when its trainer asked?
Besides, it wasn't in the wild anymore.
Just like Steenee, Blaziken, and Brionne now.
They had all found their own place to belong...
"Hehehe...."
Looking at Gardevoir glowing pink all over, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but giggle foolishly.
The pink light shimmering on its blue hair... however he looked at it, it seemed just right.
Then he picked up another one and ate it himself.
Sure enough, after eating it, his whole body began to glow pink as well.
'Later, I should create a dish that can nullify any status condition.'
That was Hayashi Kaede's first thought after starting to glow.
Otherwise, the states brought by some dishes were really strange.
Turning green, glowing... what if in the future there's also gigantamaxing or shrinking... that would be really hard to handle.
Imagine a gigantamaxed Dragonite accidentally crushing the plantation with one step...
As his mind wandered...
"Rooooar!"
A tremendous draconic cry suddenly reverberated across the entire sky.
Hayashi Kaede froze, then looked at Dragonite and Salamence, who had suddenly become tense beside him.
The two Dragon-type Pokémon immediately became alert, looking up at the sky in unison.
The weather had been cloudy today, so the clouds were heavy in the evening, suggesting rain tomorrow. But now, within the thick layers of clouds, a shadow loomed.
Its body was long, dozens of meters, coiling through the clouds like an azure dragon, parting the cloud layers.
The energy radiating from it was vast and powerful, like a deity of the heavens.
Wreathed in clouds, its black body, with jet-black eyes dotted with yellow specks, pressed down from above.
Hayashi Kaede also shot to his feet, exclaiming in shock, "No way? Rayquaza?!"
However, the moment the clouds parted...
the next second...
the astonishment vanished from Hayashi Kaede's face....
Because the "Rayquaza" now appearing in the sky... was shimmering with a pink glow...
He certainly didn't remember Rayquaza coming down to eat his macarons.
This wasn't Rayquaza at all; it was clearly Mew transformed.
It seemed Jirachi had told Mew stories from the past, and Mew had taken the form of Rayquaza.
And...
it was the shiny form.
"Jirachi! That's it, that's it!"
By now, Jirachi, glowing yellow, had also flown excitedly to Hayashi Kaede's side. "Big Brother Kaede, Mew is so amazing! It can not only turn into me, but also... the form of the Sky High Pokémon!"
Hayashi Kaede replied, "It can probably turn into almost any Pokémon."
After calming down Dragonite and Salamence, he couldn't help but look up at the "Rayquaza" in the sky.
Truth be told, aside from fluffy Pokémon, the Pokémon he liked also included cool and cute ones.
And among the cool Pokémon, Rayquaza definitely fit his preferences perfectly.
He often fantasized about whether he could ride Rayquaza into outer space.
Just like the wish he made as a child, he wanted to ride Arceus.
He didn't even dare imagine how incredibly awesome it would be to ride a Rayquaza like this into the sky.
But wasn't there just such an opportunity right in front of him now?
With that thought, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but call out, "Mew, come down!"
Instantly, the dragon-like form parted the clouds, its jet-black body illuminated clearly by its "built-in lights."
The long, sleek black body, sharp claws, yellow rings encircling it, crimson mouth, and... eyes holding a hint of laughter...
"Blaziken?"
"Vulpix?!"
"Eevee!"
"Roooar!"
The moment "Rayquaza" descended, almost all the Pokémon were startled, some even adopting defensive postures.
Finally, after Hayashi Kaede explained that this was just the little cat that came for free meals every day, everyone relaxed their guard.
Once they relaxed, they all crowded around, unable to believe that the little cat-like Pokémon could transform into something so large and intimidating.
Helplessly, Hayashi Kaede once again took on the role of Pokémon explainer. "I haven't told everyone yet, Mew..."
Unknown to Kaede and his Pokemon, while he was explaining — In the far reaches of outer space, on a massive meteoroid, a coiled giant figure quietly opened its big eyes.