Chapter 89:
Kaede watched Gardevoir fly off to train the Pidgeotto and Pidgey, then turned to the Servine that had just finished laying down a Grassy Terrain on the Plantation soil.
"Servine — do you think I look like a kid?" he asked.
"Servine?" the Servine replied, rolling its eyes.
Kaede held up a hand. "What, what’s that look for? You’re calling childish?"
Servine ignored him and shot him a withering look. Only kids asked that kind of question — and besides, whose opinion would you get from the other Pokémon out here?
"Hey — what does that eye-roll an? Are you saying I really do look like a kid?" Kaede blocked it with a grin and reached to ruffle Servine’s head, but Servine nimbly dodged and glared at him. "Servine!" (Don’t touch !)
"Why not? You didn’t evolve that long ago either," Kaede teased. He pressed on stubbornly, planting his hand on Servine’s head anyway. "There — now you’re a kid, too!"
"Servine..." Servine closed its eyes and sighed. Who isn’t a kid at heart? Or who wouldn’t want to be a kid again?
Kaede laughed softly. When he’d had his fill of scolding-and-ruffling, he freed Servine and looked around the Plantation’s Pokémon. He pulled out the Everstone. "Is there anyone that whom do not want to evolve?"
Most Pokémon wanted to evolve, but a few were content to stay as they were. Now that he had an Everstone, Kaede wanted to ask.
"Popplio?" The Popplio curled back into the water.
Bounsweet poked its head out from the tree.
Servine paid him no mind and looked a little grumpy — why was Kaede only bringing this up now?
Finally, Torchic stepped forward.
"Torchic!" it chirped with fierce determination. "I want it — I’ll evolve after I overtake my Trainer!"
That goal made Kaede blink. He studied Torchic for a mont, then smiled oddly. "Uh... that’s a pretty big target. Even if you evolve and surpass , it’s still the sa." He added quickly, "And don’t worry about eating more after evolution — I’ll still be able to feed you. Eat all you want."
Those words broke Torchic’s resolve in the best way; its small eyes went watery and it dove straight into Kaede’s arms, bumping him affectionately.
"Torchic..." it whimpered.
Kaede comforted it. "All right, don’t cry. If you cry again, tomorrow your twenty laps will beco forty, okay?"
That did the trick — Torchic quieted down obediently and then snuck off to the barn to snatch so sweet dumplings from the Miltanks.
"What a little drama queen..." Kaede rubbed his temples. Seeing no one else object to evolution, he was about to pocket the Everstone when Bounsweet called up from the tree.
"Bounsweet?" (If I evolve, will other humans want ?)
Kaede thought about Bounsweet’s evolutions — Steenee and then Tsareena — rare and showy Pokémon. He nodded. "Probably. People tend to like how you look when you evolve."
Bounsweet’s round, sweet-slling face blinked. Its little mouth closed as it whispered, "Bounsweet..." (Then I don’t want to evolve. I only want you to like .)
It didn’t want other people to fawn over it, but it liked Kaede.
Kaede felt sothing prick his chest when he heard that. Looking down at the tiny, honey-scented Bounsweet, he couldn’t help himself — he scooped it from the branch into his arms. "You’re so cute," he laughed. "I’ll like you whether you evolve or not."
Bounsweet blinked and gave him a shy little look.
"All right — I’ll keep the Everstone with you for now. When you’re ready to evolve, just give it back." Kaede gently tied the Everstone to one of Bounsweet’s leaves, set it back in the tree, and went into the Breeding House to take Rotom out with him.
He needed to talk to the town mayor about planting flowers — if the community agreed, he could line the Bluestone Trail with blossoms. If not, he’d plant on the adow behind the barn. Either way, so flowers would brighten the place and make life less monotonous; later, if Combee ca to make honey, flowers would make their work easier.
"Plant flowers along the Bluestone Trail and let Combee gather nectar? Sounds good — I’ll ask around," Mayor Hanyu Yū said with a nod when Kaede brought the idea to him.
Hanyu Yū had watched Aogiri Town grow busier lately; that was good for the town. He’d long since retired his Pokémon and his own wandering days, but seeing a kid like Kaede full of plans made him smile. "I’ll go ask people later."
"Thank you, Mayor Hanyu!" Kaede said, grateful. Then he and Rotom used the map to find a florist in Aogiri City.
"Flabébé Florist?" Kaede read the shop sign aloud when they arrived.
A tiny Flabébé greeted him at the door, holding a bright red blossom between its leafy hands.
"Flabébé~" it chid, cheerfully presenting the flower. It was white with twin leafy ’tails’ and bright, green-rimd lashes — more like a living decoration than a shop attendant.
From mory (and a quick glance at Rotom’s inbuilt Pokédex), Kaede rembered: Flabébé wandered gardens, tended wilting flowers, and could draw strength from them in battle. If he ever opened a garden, maybe he should catch one to look after the blooms.
A young woman wearing a red bandana and a green apron ca out from the shop as Kaede hesitated. "Hello — welco. What sort of flowers do you need?"
"I’m looking for plants suitable for Combee to collect nectar from. Do you have any recomndations?" Kaede asked.
The woman blinked at him for a second — his face was still young — then smiled and launched into a friendly explanation. "For Combee, it’s not just any ordinary flowers. The best choice isn’t simple blossoms — what works especially well is the Honey-Sweet Tree."
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