Chapter 279:
"Giratina seems a bit introverted."
Time and space shifted once more. Looking at the familiar barn, Hayashi Kaede felt somewhat dazed.
After talking with Giratina for so long, it seemed it could barely muster a few sentences.
No wonder, really. Staying in the Reverse World for so long, it's normal not to be good with words.
"Gardevoir?"
"Serperior!"
The moment his figure materialized, Serperior and Gardevoir, who had been waiting in the barn, rushed over.
Serperior circled Hayashi Kaede, looking him over left and right, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming he was unharmed.
"Gardevoir?" (Was it the Pokémon that stole the Grepa Berry Wine?)
Gardevoir quickly realized the cause of Hayashi Kaede's disappearance this time.
"Gardevoir..." (What kind of Pokémon was it?)
"Yes..."
"Sorry for worrying you..."
Hayashi Kaede rubbed his head, looking at Gardevoir's relieved expression. "I should have mentioned it to you all earlier."
He explained again the origins of Giratina and the Reverse World.
Then he added, "These past few days, wasn't I placing wine-filled chocolates on the Grepa Berry Wine barrels? It was to lure it out to talk to me."
"Gardevoir?" (So, you were putting fewer and fewer wine-filled chocolates each time?)
Hearing Hayashi Kaede's description of Giratina, Gardevoir's expression didn't change much. But when it heard he was using progressively fewer chocolates to bait Giratina into confronting him, Gardevoir's expression turned peculiar.
Then, it seemed to realize something belatedly. "Gardevoir..." (Since you said it's so powerful, on the same level as that Rayquaza from before, weren't you afraid of making it angry by doing this?)
Its tone carried a hint of reproach.
To use such methods to lure out a Pokémon of that caliber...
What if it had a bad temper? Dragging Hayashi Kaede into the Reverse World, then it could do whatever it wanted, couldn't it?
They wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.
"Ahem... It wouldn't, right? Look, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"
Hayashi Kaede had, of course, considered this issue.
But when he saw Giratina's Friendship level, he decided to give it a try.
After all, he couldn't just let it keep coming and taking the Grepa Berry Wine openly, could he?
"Gardevoir!" (But what if?)
Gardevoir tapped his head, speaking in an admonishing tone. "Gardevoir..." (You should at least wait until both Mewtwo and Mew are home before making such a decision, right?)
It knew about Mew's ability to transform. If Hayashi Kaede really got stuck in the Reverse World, they could ask Mew to transform into Giratina and see if it could pull him out.
Hayashi Kaede nodded like a pecking chick. "Mmhmm, next time for sure!"
"Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir looked at him helplessly.
It felt it was probably the first Pokémon to worry so much about its Trainer.
Serperior, listening to the conversation between Hayashi Kaede and Gardevoir, remained silent beside them.
It turned and slithered towards the plantation.
In front of Gardevoir, it already felt very weak.
Not to mention the Giratina and Rayquaza they were talking about...
*'I need to get stronger. I need to become as strong as Alolan Ninetales! Once I'm strong, things like this won't happen anymore!'*
"Gardevoir..."
Gardevoir glanced at Hayashi Kaede, who was already looking evasive with his "hehe" smile, then at the departing Serperior.
It couldn't help but say, "Gardevoir..." (Go on, go on...)
Hayashi Kaede didn't say anything more and scampered off.
He first went to the Breeding House, rummaged through the utility room, quickly found several flower pots, took them to the plantation to rinse them out, then took out a Capsule.
He slowly filled them with the soil he brought back from the Reverse World.
Soon, several large flower pots were filled with the soil.
"Reversed ingredients... What should I plant in them?"
Looking at the purplish-brown soil in the pots, Hayashi Kaede fell into thought.
The soil from the Reverse World wasn't permanently effective.
In the real world, its reversed planting effect would gradually fade.
But the fading time was quite long.
Plus, now that he had an agreement with Giratina to enter the Reverse World anytime, he wasn't worried about that.
"If I plant Pinap Berry trees, would eating them cause poisoning? And Micle Berries would reduce neural reaction... Looks like they're all stuff full of side effects..."
Staring at the flower pots before him, Hayashi Kaede fell into deep thought.
But he didn't ponder for too long.
"Whatever! Let's try planting some vegetables first!"
Hayashi Kaede planted different seasonal vegetables in each pot.
Like red and white radishes, cabbage, bok choy...
Then he hurriedly prepared to return to the small house to look for Serperior and see if it was asleep.
But after searching around, he found Serperior wasn't in the small house.
Using his Aura power, he realized Serperior was still in the new plantation area, and was even using Grassy Terrain.
"Huh?"
Hayashi Kaede found it strange.
Because the weather had turned cooler, usually by this time, Serperior would have returned to its nest to sleep.
Not just Serperior; even Dragonite and the other two Dragon-type Pokémon often returned to their Poké Balls to sleep now.
He called out, "Serperior?"
"Serperior?"
Serperior turned its head.
"Not going to sleep today?"
Hayashi Kaede asked, puzzled.
"Serperior..." (No...)
Serperior lowered its head, looking at the approaching Hayashi Kaede.
"These trees will grow big by next spring even without hastening them."
Hayashi Kaede looked around at the plantation full of saplings. In just over ten days of growth, these fruit trees had already grown to about half a person's height, just as he had hoped.
At this rate, they would definitely become large trees by next spring, bearing fruit in their due season.
*'Something's wrong.'*
Looking at Serperior's lowered head, Hayashi Kaede quickly and keenly sensed that something was off with Serperior this time.
But he thought it would take some effort to get Serperior to tell him what was bothering it.
However, the next second,
Serperior spoke up. "Serperior..." (I want to get stronger...)
"Want to get stronger?"
Hayashi Kaede was taken aback. He looked at the vibrant saplings around them, then at the bowed head of Serperior.
Only then did he understand why Serperior hadn't gone to sleep after lunch today.
Hayashi Kaede inquired, "Is it because you saw how Alolan Ninetales and Blaziken suddenly became much stronger?"
"Serperior..."
Serperior uttered something ambiguous.