Chapter 143:
Watching the two stunned students, Hayashi Kaede smiled. "The breeding house stocks Stamina Energy Cubes and Super Potions for healing. If your Pokémon get injured or run out of energy, you can always come to the breeding house to buy some. Just let me know whenever you clear a challenge."
The two fifteen- or sixteen-year-old boys, right at that competitive age, didn't find this boring at all. On the contrary, they thought this kind of challenge was incredibly interesting.
Hayashi Kaede, meanwhile, glanced at Pidgeot and signaled it to keep an eye on things—making sure the battle didn't spill over toward the Western-style house—before leaving.
Truthfully, Hayashi Kaede didn't think they stood much chance of succeeding. After all, while their Pokémon were improving, the Pidgey and Pidgeotto were progressing too.
But that was fine. Through these challenges, they were bound to gain valuable experience.
He could even consider offering a consolation prize after multiple failed attempts—something to keep motivation high.
Returning to the breeding house, he watched the male Indeedee gradually growing accustomed to handling the register.
With things running more smoothly, Hayashi Kaede actually felt a little bored.
*Maybe I could try developing other challenges?*
Before long, the idea crossed his mind, and the more he thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
Take the Sky Challenge, for instance. Rikuchi Homura's and Suzuki Takeshi's Pokémon would undoubtedly expend a lot of energy. If they relied on natural recovery, it would take time. But if they used Energy Cubes from the breeding house, the time needed to recover could be greatly reduced.
If challenges like this became popular, plenty of Trainers would likely stop by to buy various Energy Cubes.
*Kinda feels like grinding bosses in a game,* he mused inwardly, shelving the thought for now as something more pressing came to mind: road repair.
He wasn't familiar with the specific process, so he needed to consult the town mayor.
"Come on, Rotom, let's head out," Hayashi Kaede said, turning to the Rotom floating in the air.
As the number of Pokémon in the breeding house increased, Rotom's workload had lightened considerably. These days, it rarely even had to cut the grass anymore.
"Rotom?" The phone Rotom was possessing promptly followed.
After all that dawdling, Eevee and Alolan Vulpix finally emerged from the room.
It was worth mentioning that, since no separate room had been prepared for Eevee, it currently slept in Hayashi Kaede's room alongside Alolan Vulpix—a good way to boost friendship, after all.
He'd also gotten his hands on a Baby-Doll Eyes TM and had Eevee learn it.
This was partly due to a little personal preference of Hayashi Kaede's—out of all the Eeveelutions, Sylveon was his favorite. Especially those two elegant ribbons.
So, last night, he'd asked Eevee which evolution it might prefer, carefully explaining the advantages and disadvantages of each form. But Kaede eyes kept drifting toward pictures of Sylveon.
Gardevoir, who happened to be in his room at the time, saw right through him.
The sequence went something like this:
After helping make Energy Cubes, Gardevoir had followed him into his room, claiming she wanted to chat. Eventually, the topic turned to Alolan Vulpix's possible evolution.
Hayashi Kaede asked the little fox if it wanted to evolve.
Its answer was hesitant—clearly it hadn't made up its mind. It enjoyed being able to act spoiled as a Vulpix, but also wondered if evolving would make it stronger, better able to help Hayashi Kaede.
Kaede didn't pressure it to decide immediately. Evolve if it wanted to; stay as it was if it didn't.
Then he turned to Eevee, asking if it had any evolution in mind, listing all eight options complete with pictures.
But Kaede gaze kept wandering back to Sylveon.
Gardevoir called him out on it, then said to Eevee, "Gardevoir~" (What about this one? It looks really pretty.)
Eevee, who didn't have strong opinions about evolution, also thought Sylveon looked the nicest, and so somewhat reluctantly chose it.
Honestly, Hayashi Kaede was a bit stunned by Gardevoir's assist.
Back to the present.
"Vulpix?" (Take me, take me too…)
Alolan Vulpix trotted over, squinting its eyes and hitting Hayashi Kaede with a "Baby-Doll Eyes."
It was super effective.
"Alright, alright, I'll take you with me" Hayashi Kaede sighed, picking it up. He then glanced at Eevee waiting by the door. "How about you, Eevee? Want to come?"
"Eevee." (Sure.)
Eevee nodded, mentally taking notes on the move Alolan Vulpix had just used on Hayashi Kaede.
Over the past few days, especially during bedtime, Eevee had noticed that whenever Alolan Vulpix gave that look, Hayashi Kaede would basically agree to anything.
It seemed similar to one of its own moves.
How fascinating.
"Then let's go."
He didn't carry them, letting them walk on either side of him.
Honestly, both Eevee and Alolan Vulpix were fox-like Pokémon, and foxes were canines. Pokémon like these really needed daily walks…
Like Vulpix—when it got restless before, it would always run around the garden or go watch Serperior use Grassy Terrain. These were signs of boredom.
Hayashi Kaede thought that now that things were calmer, he should take these two out for walks more often.
The mayor's house was near the town exit, a relatively new small building.
When Hayashi Kaede arrived, Mayor Hanyu happened to be home. After hearing what Hayashi Kaede had come for, Mayor Hanyu's eyes immediately lit up. "You mean you want to repair the entire road?"
"Ahem, that's the idea. People always say it's too inconvenient to travel, and I've made some money recently," Hayashi Kaede said, smiling sheepishly.
"Excellent! Leave contacting the road repair crew to me," Hanyu said, patting his chest, a look of heartfelt approval on his face. "In this regard, you're even more outstanding than your father was. That guy was a lazybones."
"Ehehe…"
Hearing this, Hayashi Kaede laughed too.
It seemed true enough.
His childhood impression of his father was that he was incredibly strong Pokémon-wise, knew everything about breeding, and could answer any question Hayashi Kaede threw at him.
Thinking back now, even some really tricky questions got answers.
And occasionally, people would come asking for favors.
The tasks they asked for help with always seemed difficult.
But his father was lazy—the kind of lazy where if he could lie down, he wouldn't sit; if he could sit, he wouldn't stand.
Only close friends could get him to move.
As for his mother, his impression was that she was very beautiful, got along great with his father—always flirting and bickering—and had a very youthful spirit.
When he was little, whenever they got all lovey-dovey, he had to quietly leave to avoid being a third wheel.
Thinking back, it was kinda nostalgic.
After saying goodbye to the mayor, Hayashi Kaede prepared to head back.
On the way, Rotom suddenly broadcasted, "Rotom? Master, there seems to be some unusual news from Haikou City today. Would you like to hear it?"