Theo felt both exasperated and amused. He raised his hand and gently patted the sparkling Shiny Beldum in his arms.
"Alright, alright, I get it. I won't expose you. Now go eat something. You were ramming heads with such enthusiasm earlier—you must be starving."
He set Beldum down and pointed toward the table, where a skewer of Electric Cotton Candy was still faintly crackling with tiny sparks.
Tyrunt, still wobbling from dizziness, also staggered over. It seemed that it had already tossed aside the entire "headbutting feud" from earlier, acting as if none of it ever happened.
It stared curiously at Beldum, wanting to see how this shiny little creature, one that had no mouth, was supposed to eat anything.
Beldum floated in front of the Electric Cotton Candy using its psychic power. The black energy opening beneath its red eye slowly widened, and it began swallowing the cotton candy bit by bit.
Tyrunt watched, its eyes round as marbles and its mouth hanging open so wide that it forgot to close it.
On the other side, Feebas also squirmed over to the table. It leaned forward and gently pecked the cotton candy with its tiny mouth.
But the moment it tasted the sweetness, its entire body trembled violently. Its body stiffened at once, and even the water flow it was controlling faltered. With a loud plop, it fell onto the floor and flopped around like a fish out of water.
The faint electric current inside the Electric Cotton Candy was indeed a bit too stimulating for a Water-type like Feebas.
After regaining its senses, Feebas manipulated the water again to support itself and slid backward with obvious caution—it clearly didn't dare touch that "electrified dessert" anymore.
Seeing Feebas react like that, Tyrunt immediately froze its movement toward the cotton candy. It hurried to the other side of the table instead, grabbed a piece of Thunder Tater Tots, and shoved it straight into its mouth.
The potato ball was sweet, sticky, and fragrant, completely perfect for its tastes.
The little fellow devoured it at lightning speed, stuffing piece after piece into its cheeks until they bulged, letting out muffled, satisfied growls of "tyrr—mrrf—tyrr."
Theo chuckled at the sight. He scooped Feebas gently into his arms and pulled out a cup of sweet Berry Slush from the food bag, placing it by Feebas's mouth.
"Here, try this."
The slush was icy cold and refreshingly sweet. As soon as Feebas tasted it, its eyes brightened, and it began happily licking the surface with its small mouth. Its previously tense body finally relaxed.
The room gradually quieted down with only the soft sounds of Pokémon munching and slurping remained.
Theo leaned back on the sofa, watching the three little ones eat with a warm, contented smile on his face.
After eating two bites of cotton candy, Beldum suddenly remembered its good friend Tyrunt. Controlling its psychic power, it nudged the remaining fluffy cotton candy toward Tyrunt, its red eye glowing with expectation.
Tyrunt still remembered how Feebas reacted earlier. It pouted and turned its head away, clearly uninterested in this "dangerous sweet."
But Beldum kept gently rubbing against it, insistently acting like, "You just have to try it."
Unable to withstand its partner's persistent enthusiasm, Tyrunt finally stuck out its tongue and gave the cotton candy a tentative lick.
The soft sweetness mixed with a mild tingling instantly exploded across its taste buds. Tyrunt's eyes lit up, and it immediately began devouring the rest in huge bites.
While eating, it even frowned and shot a glare at Feebas, as if saying:
"You little liar! It's delicious! And you scared me away from trying it!"
After finishing the cotton candy, Tyrunt pushed its remaining Thunder Tater Tots toward Beldum. The two little ones happily swapped snacks, sharing their food with great excitement.
Feebas, meanwhile, stayed in Theo's arms enjoying its slush. Every now and then, it tilted its head to look at the other two Pokémon. Occasionally, it would even nudge another serving of slush across the table toward them with its tail, as though sharing its own treat.
Watching the three little Pokémon eat together—each taking a bite, exchanging food, and "commenting" through their expressions—Theo couldn't help but smile warmly.
He took out his phone, opened the camera, and recorded the heartwarming interaction.
He planned to use this footage as promotional material for his upcoming livestream, hoping to draw more viewers when he challenged the Mauville Gym.
After filming, Theo put the phone away and opened the system panel in his mind.
He saw that he had about ten thousand popularity points left. After a moment of thought, he decided to use the Basic Draw, planning to draw some beginner-level energy orbs for Beldum.
Although beginner-grade orbs didn't contain much energy and would eventually become useless as the Pokémon grew stronger, for the newly hatched Beldum, they were perfectly adequate.
More importantly, the Basic Draw consumed very few popularity points—it was extremely cost-effective.
As for the Intermediate Draw, Theo temporarily ignored it.
All of his popularity points needed to be saved for the Advanced Draw, specifically for the vitamins.
In the support program he had signed with the Devon Corporation, they would provide him with several advanced pokeblocks every month to help his Pokémon grow stronger.
Theo had already inspected them earlier. Although the energy they contained was comparable to his intermediate-level energy orbs, their purity was far inferior, and they took much longer to fully absorb.
Therefore, Theo had already made up his mind regarding his future training plan:
System Energy Orbs as the main resource
Devon Pokeblocks as supplementary aid
Using both together, he would quickly increase his Pokémon's internal energy reserves and speed up their growth.
After the three little Pokémon finished eating, they happily ran to Theo's side. Theo took out some wet wipes and cleaned each of their faces one by one.
Beldum behaved exceptionally well. It even used its gentle psychic power to gather up the food wrappers and wooden skewers scattered on the table, pulling them together and pushing them neatly into the trash can.
With its psychic help, cleaning up became far easier. Theo stroked its head fondly.
"Good job. You're such a good little one."
Tyrunt also trotted over, wanting to help.
But unfortunately, the more the little guy tried, the messier things got. Its short arms couldn't even reach the tabletop, so it used its head to push things instead, only to knock everything everywhere.
Theo could only laugh, give it a small compliment, and gently nudge it aside to let it play by itself.
After finishing the cleanup, Theo let Beldum begin absorbing energy orbs.
He opened his palm, and a glowing green orb slowly floated above it, radiating gentle waves of energy.
Seeing this, Tyrunt and Feebas both lowered their little heads and nudged Beldum forward, encouraging it to approach the energy orb.
Beldum was confused at first, tilting its small body as it inspected the green, glowing sphere.
But when Theo guided the orb forward and allowed it to slowly merge into Beldum's body—
Beldum immediately shivered with comfort.
The gentle energy flowed through its entire being, like warm water washing across its metallic frame. It couldn't help swaying lightly, its red eye shining as brilliantly as a polished ruby.
Theo then shifted his gaze to the system's storage space, where a skill orb was floating quietly—
Zen Headbutt.
Since Beldum already possessed the move, this would allow it to improve its mastery. Theo didn't hesitate and chose to use it.
Another white orb flew out and merged cleanly into Beldum's head.
The little Pokémon's body stiffened for a moment. Then a flash of understanding lit up in its red eye.
Information about the move—how to channel its psychic force, how to combine spiritual focus with momentum—all of it etched itself into Beldum's mind like an instinctive imprint.
Beldum stayed obediently in place, absorbing the move's intricacies.
Meanwhile, Theo turned toward Feebas and Tyrunt.
He had already discussed this with Feebas beforehand—during this period, the high-grade energy resources would be prioritized for Tyrunt so it could reach its evolution requirements as quickly as possible.
Once Tyrunt evolved, Feebas would then receive a greater share of the resources.
Back then, Feebas had gently tapped Theo's hand with its tail, expressing its understanding.
Theo had always treated all of his Pokémon equally. Everything was divided as evenly as possible.
Even when temporary needs arose, he always made sure to discuss it with them first, to avoid making any of his little partners feel neglected or unfairly treated.
(End of Chapter)
(TN: It was supposed to be Devon Energy Orbs but I don't know what energy orbs are in the anime or in the game. I supposed it can be the rare candy but too little to become a food.)