Chapter 288:
"..."
Watching Serperior leave, Kaede slowly stood up. Looking at the Growlithe under the lamplight, he could only sigh helplessly.
"Let's head back too, Growlithe."
"Woof~ Woof~" Growlithe barked happily, following closely within Kaede's shadow under the streetlamp.
When they reached the room, Kaede noticed that Alolan Ninetales had also shrunk and was rolling around on the bed.
After shrinking, it became even more amusing.
Its originally well-proportioned figure became even more slender after shrinking.
Its nine tails were still very fluffy, so it looked like a skinny dog.
"Pfft... Hahaha..." Kaede couldn't help but laugh out loud.
It would have been fine if he hadn't laughed, but this laugh drew the attention of all the Pokémon in the room.
"Ninetales~?" Alolan Ninetales looked at Kaede puzzled, unsure why he was laughing at it.
It checked itself over; besides being smaller, it wasn't dirty or anything?
"It's nothing, nothing." Kaede replied, then looked at Serperior coiled on the carpet.
After Serperior also shrank, the space inside the room seemed much more spacious.
"Alright~ Everyone, play a little longer, then it's time for bed." With a wave of Kaede's hand, the room was filled only with the sounds of Pokémon.
"Ninetales..."
"Eevee..."
"Alcreamie..."
Kaede fetched some hot water, washed his face, soaked his feet, and then climbed into bed. Just as he was about to get under the covers, a sound made him pause.
"Eevee, Eevee...." (Didn't take a bath, stinky...)
Turning his head, he saw it was Little Nine beside him.
He laughed in mock anger, scooped up Little Nine, "So what if I didn't take a bath? I'll stink you out! You guys run around outside every day, bathing only every few days, and I haven't complained about you, yet you're disgusted with me now?"
As he spoke, he directly grabbed Little Nine, placed his hand on its belly, and started rubbing vigorously.
Σ(っ °Д °;)っ: "Eevee! Eevee..." Little Nine immediately panicked, trying to escape, but was held firmly by the scruff of its neck by Kaede's merciless hands, unable to resist at all.
"I'll give you a bath tomorrow! No, starting tomorrow, I'll bathe you every day, three times a day!" Kaede declared loudly.
┌(.Д.)┐: "Eevee..."
o(＞＜;)oo: "Eevee Eevee..." (No, no...)
"Protest denied! Hahaha..." Watching Little Nine's reaction, Kaede couldn't help but let out a gleeful chuckle.
The little Eevee, along with Blaziken and Sprigatito, didn't like baths.
Sprigatito was fine; it stayed in the room all day and basically didn't get dirty.
The Eevee ran around outside every day, so their fur inevitably secreted oils. It was okay in summer; one bath a day.
Sometimes Kaede helped, but most of the time, they only finished under the supervision of the Indeedee siblings.
The Indeedee sister was responsible for Little Nine and Little Three, the Indeedee brother for Little Five.
In winter, Kaede knew it was cold, so he set the rule: as long as their fur didn't get dirty, they'd bathe about once every three days.
Because of this, Little Five had decided on its evolution direction.
It would be an Umbreon.
Otherwise, evolving into a Flareon and still getting dragged off for baths would be too miserable.
"Eevee..." Little Nine cast a pleading for help look at its other two companions.
But Little Five and Little Three turned their heads away, completely ignoring it.
If Kaede added them to the list too, that would be terrible.
"Eevee!" (You guys!) Little Nine looked at its two companions in disbelief.
They once promised to defeat Rayquaza together, but now, faced with the issue of baths, they were avoiding it faster than anyone.
With no other choice, it could only compromise and appease Kaede: "Eevee... Eevee..." (Wahh, I was wrong, Kaede...)
"Hmph~" Only then did Kaede put it down.
But less than a second after being put down,
Little Nine shot off like a rocket, getting outside a one-meter radius around Kaede, sticking out its tongue and making faces at him.
(￣┰￣*): "Eevee!" (Bad Kaede! Stinky Kaede!)
"You little actor!" Kaede, angered into laughter again, climbed out of the covers to catch it...
"Serperior..." Below, watching Kaede having fun with the Eevee, Serperior shook its head, lay on the carpet, and stared blankly at the warm glow from the electric heater.
...
November 16th
It seemed the first cold wave had passed, so today was sunny.
The temperature had also risen—9–14 degrees Celsius.
Winter sunlight was different from summer's; it was gentle, not harsh, warm rays shining down.
Growlithe lay by the door—the post Kaede had assigned it.
Sprigatito had somehow climbed onto the roof and was sleeping in the sunlight.
Kaede, having just finished breakfast, was about to go check on the new house.
But his phone received a message at that moment.
He opened it.
It was from a contact with an anime girl avatar.
[Larvitar's Trainer: Mr. Hayashi, my dad agreed!]
"Huh?" Kaede let out an exclamation, his eyes lighting up.
This was great.
Dad agreeing meant that a Happiny would soon come to the plantation. Then, there would be an endless supply of Chansey/Blissey eggs!
[Hayashi Kaede: Great! Please ask your dad for me, how much for one Happiny?]
[Larvitar's Trainer: No charge! Dad said the Moomoo Milk from your place has already been a huge help for us. So when spring comes, he'll personally bring a Happiny to visit.]
[Larvitar's Trainer: (Larvitar serious face.pig)]
[Hayashi Kaede: Thank you so much.]
[Larvitar's Trainer: Hahaha, after the New Year, I'll be setting off on my journey again. When the time comes, I'll come to your breeding house to challenge the Pidgeots!]
[Hayashi Kaede: You're more than welcome.]
"Whew..." Putting down his phone, Kaede was in high spirits.
He planned to go check on the villa, but halfway there, his attention was caught by the bustling activity at the challenge site.
Today's challenges seemed particularly lively.
There were actually four Pidgeot flying in the sky, constantly dodging and attacking.
Accompanied by occasional cheers.
This made Kaede's eyebrow twitch.
Was someone challenging the third stage?
Kaede couldn't resist going over to look. In the center of the challenge area, a Charizard stood proudly, and beside it was a young man with dyed red hair.
"Huh?" Seeing this person, Kaede's mouth twitched.