Chapter 76:
"He’s not a bad kid."
Hayashi Kaede watched Kawamura Yū walk off and murmured to himself, then turned his attention to the energy blocks in his little shop.
Right now, the Stamina energy blocks co in three tiers.
The first tier is made entirely by Gardevoir on her own; the effect is a bit weak, so they sell for 500 PokéDollars.
The second tier is produced primarily by Gardevoir with Kaede assisting — these have a "culinary" effect and aren’t at all inferior to blocks Kaede would make by himself. Think of it as the first version’s Stamina block.
The third tier is made with Life Berry diluted into the mixture — Stamina blocks ant for long-term feeding that grant sustained stamina-boosting culinary effects.
To Kaede’s surprise, the best sellers were the 500 and the 5,000 PokéDollar blocks.
That taught him sothing: when presented with the sa effect, ordinary trainers tend to pick the cheaper option. Even if the expensive one works faster, it’s still "expensive." Ordinary trainers usually have ti on their hands, so they’ll pick value.
So the low-tier blocks couldn’t be discontinued.
Besides, now that Gardevoir was helping, production was easier. If nothing unexpected happened, this would likely be the manufacturing model going forward.
Having sorted that out, Kaede didn’t loiter in the Breeding House. He went to the Plantation first and put everyone back in their usual places.
Everyone was calm.
Only Torchic piped up when released, "Chick?" (Are we fighting? Where’s my opponent?)
But when it saw its little nest, it froze.
"Sorry, seems there’s no battle planned today."
After Kaede explained, Torchic sulked for a mont — until two energy blocks were set into its feeding bowl, at which point the sulk disappeared.
Food solves everything for a gourmand; give them sothing to eat and they forget their troubles. Torchic had been increasingly well-behaved these days, chirping at Kaede from ti to ti.
After finishing the day’s milking for Miltank, Kaede walked to the reservoir and waved to Milotic that had just slipped in.
"Milotic~?"
Milotic poked her head up, blinking as she looked at Kaede. Her red eyes shone, reflecting his silhouette.
"You’re truly beautiful — no wonder trainers want to catch you."
Kaede rested a hand on her smooth flank and sighed in appreciation.
He felt proud of his Pokémon. Whether it was Feebas evolving into Milotic, Snivy into Servine, or Pidgeotto into Pidgeot... their Friendship hadn’t dropped after evolution. If anything, it had increased.
Not every Pokémon was like that — so change personality after evolving. Charizard in the ani is a famous example.
"Milotic~"
Milotic shifted uneasily and averted her gaze for a mont, but her Happiness visibly climbed.
"Milotic~" (It’s thanks to you, Trainer.)
Kaede didn’t deny it; he smiled and rubbed his hands together. "Heh, can I hug you?"
When he’d stepped ashore earlier riding Milotic, supporting himself on her back, the idea had crossed his mind. But in front of others it would have been awkward. At ho, though, he had no hesitation.
"Milotic~" (Okay...)
Milotic wasn’t shy; she nodded and swam up to the reservoir’s edge, arching her body so Kaede could lean in and hug her.
The mont his arms wrapped around her, his hand slid along her flank and a satisfied smile spread across his face.
So cool, so smooth...
Kaede thought to himself that there were two kinds of Pokémon he simply couldn’t resist in this world.
One type has smooth, jelly-like skin — Milotic, Snivy, popplio— all irresistible to the touch. The other kind was fluffy Pokémon — like Ninetales — whose bellies he loved to rub before bed. He’d play with their paws and smooth their fur.
But holding Milotic now, one thought dominated: she was so big. If only she were the size of a body pillow... nights would be blissful.
Wait — that might be inappropriate.
Letting go of Milotic, Kaede chuckled at her obedience. "You’re easygoing — you let hug you. Servine, I praise you and you tie up."
At the Plantation gate, Servine’s grin that had been slightly upturned instantly flattened. Two vine whips uncoiled and lashed toward Kaede.
Suddenly bound tightly around his waist and hands, Kaede found himself hoisted into the air. "Huh? What are you doing?!"
"I was complinting you, Servine!" Kaede protested.
"Servine!" (I don’t need that kind of praise!)
Servine had tied Kaede behind it and walked off toward the forest edge without looking back.
Being teased about childhood antics often produces awkward embarrassnt — Servine would never admit it, but the first ti it’d tied Kaede it felt a strange new sensation.
"Isn’t Servine usually well-behaved?" Gardevoir gave Kaede a puzzled look as she watched. Is this how those two bond — by "bullying" the Trainer? Strange thod. Huh, maybe she’ll try it too soday.
That night.
With Gardevoir helping during the day, Kaede suddenly had more free ti. So he began planning his delivery business.
"First, delivery can’t be for everything — set a minimum order."
"Then, based on Pidgey and Pidgeotto’s strength, set their delivery ranges. Hmm... Pidgey deliver within 25 km, minimum 5000 PokéDollars; Pidgeotto deliver within 150 km, minimum 25000 PokéDollars."
"Of course, for big orders we can deliver anywhere in this region — have Pidgeot handle those."
"And we’ll charge a delivery fee to cover the Pokémon food..."
In a few sentences, Kaede had drafted the rules for his courier service.
All that remained was for Pidgeot to bring the Pidgey and Pidgeotto over.
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