Chapter 445:
The first to ask was Gardevoir.
It inquired about the purpose of this trip.
"Actually, nothing too major. Just visiting a friend over there; her mother is sick. Also, I plan to buy a big house there for us to stay during winter, so we have a place when we go to play. I'll probably be back in just two or three days."
After Kaede explained the reasons, Gardevoir nodded, then shook its head, clearly indicating it wouldn't be going this time.
These two days weren't the weekend. The Breeding House still needed managing. If it went, the house would have to close for a few days again.
It wasn't going, but that didn't mean other Pokémon didn't want to.
Seeing Alolan Ninetales get its wish, the three Eeveelutions immediately swarmed up, tugging at the hem of Kaede's pants.
Serperior also showed a look of eager anticipation.
Meowscarada had already positioned itself behind Kaede, placing both hands on his shoulders.
And Kaede added another sentence, "It's fine. Anyone who wants to go can come."
Milotic seemed swayed too, poking its head out of the Reservoir, its beautiful eyes blinking rapidly from within the water.
Primarina followed behind Milotic, a glimmer of curiosity in its eyes as well.
Its hometown was also in Alola. It had been a long time since it went back, and now it wanted to see it again.
"Primarina, Primarina?"
"Then Milotic and Primarina can come too. Steenee, Tsareena, do you want to go back and take a look?" Kaede then turned to the Steenee mother-daughter pair who had approached.
"Steenee..."
"Tsareena..."
Steenee and Tsareena exchanged a glance and nodded as well.
As for the other Pokémon, Arcanine seemed somewhat distracted. Clearly, it didn't really care about Kaede's two-to-three-day trip.
Blaziken struggled internally but ultimately chose to stay home. If it went along and Kaede got busy, it might cause some trouble and Kaede would have to worry about its large appetite.
So better not go.
As for the others, Butterfree seemed to have become a "homebody" these days, its life consisting of eating, sleeping, or gathering nectar with the Combee—a very leisurely existence.
Logically, spring, with its flowers blooming, was when Butterfree would breed. Kaede had tactfully asked about it some time ago, wondering if it had such thoughts.
Well, Butterfree just fluttered its wings and flew off, showing no interest at all.
Its take was: life at home is comfortable; why go out?
Having decided which Pokémon were coming along for the trip, Kaede recalled them into their Poké Balls one by one.
He also told Gardevoir that if Mew returned, to mention the Tree of Beginnings matter to it. Then, he walked over to Dragonite. "Let's head out!"
"Dragonite~"
....
....
Alola Region.
Hospital Room.
The warm, orange glow of the setting sun streamed through the hospital window.
Mallow, who had been sitting by the bedside all afternoon, had inevitably dozed off. A sudden warm breeze startled her awake. She blinked, quickly checking the time.
4:15 PM.
Mallow let out a sigh of relief.
It wasn't dinner time yet.
"You're awake, Mallow."
The gentle voice came from the hospital bed.
"Yeah, sorry, Mom. I fell asleep," Mallow said, awkwardly rubbing her head.
"No, you've been here all day. You must be exhausted," the woman on the bed sat up, shaking her head.
She didn't feel particularly unwell at the moment.
But she understood the hospital report. It was only because the illness was caught early that she felt this way. If it had been discovered two or three months later, the outlook would have been grim.
She owed it all to her daughter, who had repeatedly urged her to get a checkup, leading to this discovery.
And in the days since, Mallow had been taking diligent care of her.
Just then, the hospital room door opened.
Lillie and Lana walked in, carrying a fruit platter.
"Auntie, Mallow."
They exchanged a glance, then entered with solemn expressions.
Mallow's mother's illness had only come to light in the past few days. They didn't know all the details, but they understood it was serious. If not caught early, it could have been life-threatening.
But thankfully, it was discovered in time.
"Alola."
"You girls are here. Thank you for your trouble. Mallow is really lucky to have friends like you."
The woman smiled at the newcomers.
For patients like her, a family member needed to be present during the day. But obviously, Mallow's father had to manage the restaurant, and Mallow couldn't be in the room every single moment—like when she had to deliver meals to patients. During those times, Mallow's classmates—Lillie, Lana, Kiawe, and Sophocles—would take turns filling in.
For a mother, seeing her child have good friends was a great comfort.
"Alola."
"Alola..."
"It's no trouble, Auntie. Mallow always looks out for me at school too," Lillie said earnestly as she set the fruit platter on the table.
"That's right, Auntie. The important thing now is for you to focus on getting better quickly. That will make Mallow happy," Lana added, taking a seat by the bed.
"Yes, I really owe it to Mallow. If this illness had dragged on, it would have been troublesome. Thinking about it now, it feels like a narrow escape," the woman's attitude remained positive. "Come to think of it, I was wondering why Mallow insisted several times that I get a check-up."
"No, it wasn't me who figured it out, Mom," Mallow interrupted, shaking her head. "Someone reminded me to take you for a check-up."
"Hmm?" The woman was taken aback, then looked at her daughter in surprise. "Who?"
"He's not from Alola. Just someone who ate at our restaurant once," Mallow explained, but this only deepened the confusion in her mother's eyes.
Running a restaurant meant seeing many customers daily. How could she possibly remember them all?
Seeing this explanation wasn't working, and noting the puzzled looks from Lillie and Lana too, Mallow quickly tried another approach. "Lillie and Lana know him too. It's that Mr. Kaede from the Eastova region... Oh, right! He has a really big Dragonite!"
*'Him?'*
The moment the word "Dragonite" was mentioned, everyone in the room immediately knew who she was talking about.