Chapter 161:
"Gardevoir, and a Shiny one too?"
The moment Yūji laid eyes on Gardevoir, his eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
If Gardevoir was considered a rare Pokémon, then a Shiny Gardevoir was rare among the rare.
But Gardevoir paid him no mind. It walked over to Hayashi Kaede's side and fixed its gaze on him, the message in its eyes unmistakable.
To be honest, Gardevoir was still a bit worried.
In the human world, most young people indeed yearned to embark on journeys and become Trainers who challenged Gyms.
This trend had become increasingly obvious over time, based on all the places it had been and the people it had met.
It was a result of the era's development.
With more and more League competitions, everyone dreamed of becoming a Trainer and making a name for themselves.
"Don't worry..."
Hayashi Kaede rubbed his nose and smiled. "I won't abandon the breeding house."
He had built the breeding house from the ground up. How could he just give it up because of a few words from Yūji?
Besides, as Yūji had said, even if he occasionally felt impulsive and decided to challenge a competition, it wouldn't take long.
Take the largest competition, the Pokémon League Conference —it lasted only three days. Adding a potential challenge against the Champion would make it four days. If Dragonite returned on time, he could even commute daily within those four days.
"Gardevoir..." Only then did Gardevoir let out a sigh of relief. Just then, the Energy Cubes were finished. Thinking this human might still try to persuade Hayashi Kaede, it simply sat down beside him. Its eyes grew increasingly crimson as it stared pointedly at Yūji across from them.
"Huh?"
An inexplicable pressure settled over Yūji. He swallowed hard, his earlier awe of Gardevoir quickly turning into wariness.
He instinctively looked for his Psychic-type Pokémon, Jynx, but when he turned, he found that Jynx seemed even more frightened than he was—hiding behind the sofa. Only Flareon watched Gardevoir warily; the other Pokémon didn't dare to meet its gaze.
What's going on? he wondered, puzzled.
After traveling for so long, he and his Pokémon had seen plenty of the world. Shouldn't they be used to this by now?
Why couldn't they even look this Pokémon in the eye?
He hadn't felt this way even when facing that Trainer named Red!
In truth, Gardevoir had grown up in the wild. Combined with the nightmare energy bestowed by Darkrai, when it directed hostility toward a Trainer or Pokémon, the malice in its gaze alone was enough to make them uneasy.
"Alright, alright. A Trainer isn't just a Trainer, and a Breeder isn't just a Breeder. Challenging Gyms and competitions doesn't necessarily require traveling. You focus on preparing for the Pokémon League Conference and aim for a good ranking."
Hayashi Kaede stood up and patted Yūji on the shoulder.
The two had been close since childhood, so he understood Yūji's desire to persuade him to become a Trainer.
But childhood was childhood, and adulthood was adulthood.
Did promises made in childhood have to be kept?
When he was three or four years old and just starting to run around, Hayashi Kaede had once said he wanted to ride Arceus someday.
Was that likely to happen?
Probably not...
After Gardevoir's intervention, Yūji attempts at persuasion faded. He said he'd take care of the three Eevees in a few days and deliver the other two, then took his leave.
After seeing Yūji off, Hayashi Kaede let out a long breath and turned to look at Gardevoir, who was following behind him.
It was watching Yūji depart. When it noticed Hayashi Kaede's gaze, it looked back.
Its light-blue dress shimmered slightly in the breeze, and its crimson eyes held a tenderness that hadn't been there when they first met.
Hayashi Kaede said, somewhat surprised, "I've never seen that look in your eyes before."
"Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir didn't hide its thoughts. It said frankly, "Gardevoir...." (Because I was really worried you'd get swept up by his persuasion and impulsively decide to travel.)
It liked Hayashi Kaede, but it preferred the Hayashi Kaede who stayed at the breeding house, caring for every Pokémon.
After a pause, seeing that Hayashi Kaede hadn't responded, it asked worriedly, "Gardevoir?" (Did that look scare you?)
Hayashi Kaede shook his head. "...Not at all. Don't worry, I won't go traveling..."
He stretched lazily and smiled. "I'll head to the kitchen later. First, I want to check on how the younger Indeedee is doing..."
"Gardevoir..." (Mm...)
...
September 27th.
Time flew by, and another three days had passed.
The first two days were quiet. Yūji hadn't brought the Eevees over, and Mewtwo and Dragonite hadn't returned yet.
But today, there was progress on a new front: road construction. Grandpa Hanyu said he had already coordinated with the League and a proper road construction team.
He also brought good news: because someone seemed to have put in a word, the League would cover most of the road construction costs. The town only needed to contribute one million PokéDollars.
If the town's residents were willing to help, that one million could be reduced even further.
For Hayashi Kaede now, this was only a tenth of his assets.
So he felt there was no need to ask the town's residents for help, especially since most of the townsfolk were elderly, with few young adults around.
But the town mayor was very enthusiastic. He said he'd survey each household tonight to see how they felt, hoping to reduce the cost further.
Those with money could contribute money; those with strength could contribute labor.
Those with neither could at least help with meals.
Today was the survey day for the construction team. After the survey, the road construction would begin.
According to the surveyors, the road conditions were fairly good, so they only needed to widen it and pave it with shock-absorbing asphalt.
The actual construction would take about half a month before the road could be officially used.
And it wouldn't affect traffic during construction.
This left Hayashi Kaede amazed.
He exclaimed, "So fast!"
In the plantation
The younger Indeedee was planting flowers, and Hayashi Kaede stood beside it.
As time passed, some of the earliest planted flowers had begun to wither. Now, new flower seeds needed to be planted to ensure the garden wouldn't look barren.
Watching Indeedee, who had learned to recognize all the flowers in just a few days, Hayashi Kaede genuinely felt how much easier it was to have these two little ones in his breeding house.
Without them, he'd have to manage the breeding house, the garden, and...
Well, a whole bunch of things.
"I deeded~" (All done, everything's planted...)
Looking at the freshly tended garden, the younger Indeedee couldn't help but smile.
"Mm, well done! You learned all this in just a few days..." Hayashi Kaede offered his praise at the right moment, unable to resist reaching out and ruffling its head.
This made the younger Indeedee shyly lower its head.
It felt like this Trainer really enjoyed praising it and its brother.
But they were just doing what they were supposed to do.
Dad said helping the Trainer with such tasks was normal and that they shouldn't expect praise.
But receiving praise really did make them happy.