Chapter 163:
"With you?"
Mewtwo felt a stir of interest, then glanced around the plantation. Tasks that once required manual harvesting could now be handled by Gardevoir and Indeedee.
The breeding house up front was managed by Indeedee, watering was taken care of by Milotic and Popplio, and plant care was overseen by Serperior.
In short, compared to its last visit, the plantation had undergone a dramatic transformation.
It could now operate as a self-sustaining system...
Put simply, it could function smoothly with or without Mewtwo.
But Mewtwo couldn't help asking, "Doesn't your plantation already have enough help?"
"Ah, who said that?" Hayashi Kaede raised an eyebrow. Hearing Mewtwo's tone, he knew it was tempted.
He walked over and patted its shoulder. "There's plenty to do. It's not like you have anything else going on, right?"
Like helping me repair roads or overseeing challenges—maybe even setting up a Psychic-type challenge later, with you as the final boss!
That way, no one should be able to clear it, right?
As the saying goes, what you can't have is always the most desirable.
An unbeatable boss stage would keep people eager to challenge it!
Like Red on Mt. Silver?
I wonder if he's made it there yet.
Anyway...
There's always something to do—more than you might think.
Of course, Hayashi Kaede wouldn't say this outright to Mewtwo; it was a bit too blunt.
He'd just ask for its help when the time came.
"...Well... alright." Mewtwo nodded, feigning "hesitation."
"Great... You all go sit down. Indeedee, Gardevoir, and I will head to the kitchen to prepare food... Oh, and later, tell me about what happened during these past few days of your 'game.' I'm quite curious."
Mewtwo: "..."
...
An hour later.
Hayashi Kaede brought the food to the table, served each Pokémon their portion, then turned to Mewtwo.
But he didn't ask about the "game" first. Instead, he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, have you seen Mew these past few days? On the last day, it seemed to follow you."
Mewtwo paused, recalling how worried Mew had been lately. It had explained that it seemed to have had a falling out with Hayashi Kaede, which was why it asked Mewtwo to bring it along to the breeding house.
But in reality, even after Mewtwo brought Mew to the skies above the breeding house, the little guy was too nervous to come down immediately and had hidden itself instead. Mewtwo had no idea where it was now.
It had even asked Mewtwo to put in a good word for it.
So strange...
Despite its immense power, it worried about such things.
But now, it seemed Hayashi Kaede had no idea about any of this.
"It said it had a disagreement with you, so it's worried and doesn't dare come."
"Uh... worried?"
Hayashi Kaede was taken aback, then shook his head with an amused smile. "If you find it later, tell it I'm not angry at all."
Their conversation wasn't hidden in any way.
At that moment, in a pine tree outside the plantation, a "Pidgeotto" perked up upon hearing this. Its previously hesitant wings finally lightened, and it flew down, landing on the table in front of Hayashi Kaede, looking at him timidly.
"...Uh..." Hayashi Kaede was momentarily stunned, then broke into an amused grin. "Still using that form, huh..."
The next second,
The "Pidgeotto" before him transformed into Mew.
"Mew...."
It flew to Hayashi Kaede's side, cautiously observing him, then circled around. Only after confirming that the smile on his face was teasing rather than anything else did it fly a bit closer.
"So strange. You've met plenty of people, right? Why are you still afraid of me?"
Hayashi Kaede muttered, placing two large steamed buns in front of it, then adding some catnip-infused meat sauce. "Eat up, it's fine..."
"Mew~?"
Hearing this, the little Mew finally felt relieved. Its eyes lit up as it looked at the food. It picked up a large steamed bun, hovered above the table, and began nibbling, occasionally dipping it in the sauce.
Although it had never tried this way of eating before, it had seen Hayashi Kaede do it while disguised as a "Pidgeotto," so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar.
Still, it felt refreshingly new.
Along with it came the system's reward notification.
[Congratulations, Host! Mew's Happiness has increased from 5 to 50. Reward: 3 Master Grade Rare Candies, 5 bags of Master Grade Fertilizer, 1 World Tree Leaf (SSS-grade ingredient. Seems usable for brewing tea?)]
Upon hearing this, Hayashi Kaede's mood improved even more.
Goodness.
With rewards like this, how could he ever "drive away" Mew?
Or how could he ever stay angry at it?
"...Unbelievable. I was created from its genes..."
Watching this scene, Mewtwo couldn't help but complain inwardly.
Its own personality was so strong-willed. How did Mew become so "timid"?
Looking at the little cat before him, Hayashi Kaede felt a growing interest. This was his first time observing Mew up close. He realized that Mew actually had fur—very short, clinging to its body, fine and soft.
Its tail was long, and its body was somewhat streamlined.
When he used to watch the anime, he always thought Mew was hairless and smooth.
Now he realized—some things you only truly understand by experiencing them in reality.
Mew noticed Hayashi Kaede studying it and shyly giggled back before moving a bit closer.
"Mew~" (So tasty~)
"Pfft... Hahaha."
Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but laugh heartily, then reached out and placed a hand on Mew.
Probably no one would believe it if he said so, but he had just managed to pet the Pokémon all researchers dreamed of—Mew—using nothing but steamed buns and sauce!
Mew didn't understand why he was laughing, but it felt happy now, so it didn't dwell on it and simply kept munching on the bun.
When he finally stopped laughing, Hayashi Kaede withdrew his hand and turned to Mewtwo, pouring it a cup of rice wine. "Come on, tell me, what did you do in the Kanto region?"
"..." Mewtwo fell silent for a moment, wanting to say something but unable to find the words. Finally, it shook its head. "I don't know how to explain it."
Such a complex matter—asking a Pokémon born without a talent for words to articulate it clearly was truly asking too much.
"...It's fine, I'll just sense it!" Hayashi Kaede didn't press further. He placed a hand on Mewtwo's shoulder.
As countless images flashed through his mind, his expression grew increasingly peculiar.