Chapter 79:
Hayashi Kaede nodded. "Of course. How much do I owe you in total?"
Koli shook her head. "No— I just wanted to find them a reliable Trainer. From what I've seen, you fit what I hoped for."
She sighed with a trace of melancholy. "Young people these days usually want to travel, be Trainers and roam. It's rare to find someone who'll stay and care for a Plantation like you do…"
With that she opened one Poké Ball after another. One by one, Alcremie of various colors and similar shapes shimmered out in a glow of red light.
"Alcremie?"
"Alcremie!?"
Red ones, white ones, green ones… Kaede was dazzled — so many Alcremie.
The Alcremie, unsettled by the strange new surroundings, clustered around Koli. Some crawled onto her, others clung to the hem of her coat.
"Alcremie…" (Where is this… home…)
"Alcremie…" (Home…)
Koli's eyes softened. "These are the youngest batch of my Alcremie. I thought Grandpa would get better here and I'd expand the cake shop. But—" She stopped and shook her head.
Saying goodbye was painful. She didn't want to burden the Alcremie with her sorrow. Bending down, she stroked each one. "Alright, little ones. From now on, this will be your home. Your new Trainer will be good to you."
"Alcremie?"
"Alcremie…"
Some of the Alcremie turned their gentle eyes to Kaede, a little timid.
Kaede felt helpless. "What should I do?" he wondered. For a moment he felt like a villain stealing someone's Pokémon.
Koli reassured him. "Don't worry. I already told them before we came — they'll be good helpers for you."
She crouched and handed the Alcremie to Kaede one by one. When his arms were full she placed the rest on the sofa beside him. After she'd settled them all, she straightened, wrapped her coat tighter, and bowed slightly. "Please take care of these kids. I don't have much time — I have to catch my train."
Before Kaede could reply she smiled at the Alcremie and then left the room.
"Alcremie…"
"Alcremie…"
The Alcremie glanced from Kaede back to their former Trainer. Though sorrowful, they didn't make a fuss — they called softly, expecting what had happened. They'd already said that partings before; still, farewells stung.
Kaede rubbed his temple and sighed as he looked at the dozen-plus Alcremie now filling the room. It should have been a happy moment — yet the house felt heavy with sadness.
He raised a hand and called out gently to get their attention. Some looked up, eyes expressing worry, fear, or curiosity.
Finally, a red Alcremie with two strawberry decorations on its head stepped forward and blinked at him with big eyes. "Alcremie? Alcremie…" (Our Trainer said you'd find us a good new Trainer. Will you be nice to us?)
At that question the other Alcremie grew even more anxious, their eyes darting about as if afraid Kaede would say something terrible and they'd be eaten. (They're all made of cream — the room smelled sweet and milky.)
"Don't worry. I'll be good to you," Kaede said, scooping the little red Alcremie into his arms and channeling veridian power to soothe it. Nothing calms Pokémon quite like that gentle veridian energy.
Seeing their unease, he let his veridian power and Gardevoir's psychic aid drift in faint threads over each Alcremie.
"Let's sleep first. A nap will help."
When the Alcremie finally settled and dozed, Kaede set about arranging places for them to rest. Beds were out of the question — what if they dreamed and oozed cream in their sleep and ruined the sheets?
Then an idea lit up his face. He went into the kitchen and brought out thirteen large bowls. One by one he placed the Alcremie into them like little pastries and watched their peaceful sleeping faces, licking his lips at the thought.
Alcremie come in many appearances. Counting head decorations and cream flavors, there are 7 × 9 = 63 possible combinations, each producing a different-tasting cream. With the thirteen sleeping before him, Kaede finally had time to catalogue them.
From their decorations these thirteen fell into strawberry, clover, and wild-berry styles. Tasting would reveal flavor, but for now he used his Scan Eye. A smile tugged at his mouth. Among these thirteen there were six distinct flavors.
With toppings and cream types they were:
Strawberry sugar-decor vanilla-cream, caramel blend, milk-lemon, milk-snow-salt, milk-mint.
Wild-berry sugar-decor vanilla-cream, caramel blend, triple blend, milk-matcha, milk-lemon.
Clover milk-matcha, milk-lemon, milk-snow-salt.
Each accessory and cream profile meant each Alcremie could produce a differently flavored cream.
"So… what can we make with all this cream?" Kaede mused.
Filled bread, cakes, milk caps, cheeses, tiramisu, ice cream, cookies, cream puffs… so many possibilities. The thought of experimenting through all those recipes felt like a huge task.
As he pondered, a small sound came from the kitchen doorway. "Vulpix?"
Alolan Vulpix — whose nose was the most sensitive — had smelled the Alcremie and padded over to investigate. When she saw the bowl-resting Alcremie on the table her eyes lit up. "Vulpix?" (Tasty friends?)
She'd left the newborn stage and was finally curious about the world.