After lunch, Lin Feng helped Eldegoss wash the dishes.
Over the past few days, neither he nor Gardevoir had been home. Relying solely on Indeedee and Latias, it would have been impossible to keep the breeding ranch running normally every day.
Yet customers had still continued to arrive, and Latias had continued her "work."
Pokéblocks were still being produced daily, so Eldegoss had come up with a compromise. The ranch would open one day and close the next.
Even so, there was no way to satisfy everyone's demand.
As a result, whenever the ranch was open, Pidgeot's delivery service remained suspended.
"Inde~"
(These are the berries we've harvested recently...)
After cleaning up, Eldegoss rolled over with dozens of storage Poké Balls.
"That many?"
Lin Feng immediately felt a headache coming on.
These were the largest-capacity storage balls available, and dozens of them were completely full!
That meant he would have to process all these berries into Pokéblocks over the next few days.
Good grief.
Or maybe...
He could turn some of them into berry wine.
Lin Feng readily admitted that he could be quite lazy.
"Inde-dee..."
(Because Pokémon come every day to gather flowers. Some of them even asked to stay and help take care of the gardens, so I let them remain here.)
Eldegoss explained.
"Oh? They even brought new Pokémon with them?"
Lin Feng looked surprised.
"Then I'll have to go take a look later."
Seeing Eldegoss's serious expression, he imagined how much responsibility it had carried during the past week.
Unable to help himself, he reached out and gently patted its head.
"You've worked really hard."
"Inde?"
Eldegoss froze for a moment.
Then it lowered its head quietly, its voice softening.
"Inde... inde..."
(It was my responsibility.)
"Haha..."
Lin Feng laughed.
Just as he was about to say something else, Indeedee walked in and happened to witness the scene.
Her lips immediately puffed out.
"Inde!"
"Inde?"
"Hm?"
Following the sound, Lin Feng turned around in surprise.
Indeedee was using Psychic to return the Alcremie one by one to their bowls.
"Alcremie..."
(●'◡'●): "Alcremie~"
The thirteen Alcremie spotted him, and instantly the entire room filled with their sweet, cheerful voices.
"What's wrong, Indeedee?"
Lin Feng withdrew his hand from Eldegoss's head and watched as Indeedee pouted while placing each cream Pokémon back into place.
Then realization dawned on him.
"Oh."
"You've worked hard these past few days too."
He walked over and gently patted Indeedee's head as well.
Immediately, her expression softened.
"Inde-dee~"
The truth was simple.
Seeing Eldegoss receive praise and head pats while she received nothing had made her feel a little wronged.
After all, she had worked just as hard.
After spending so much time with Pokémon, Lin Feng felt he was no longer the complete beginner he once was when it came to understanding their emotions.
He believed every Pokémon deserved equal emotional care.
Though admittedly, he still wasn't perfect at it.
"Inde-dee, inde-dee..."
(Also, these were traded by some Pokémon in exchange for berries. They seem to be bamboo shoots.)
Indeedee produced another storage ball and handed it over.
"Bamboo shoots?"
Lin Feng accepted it, surprised.
After lightly tapping the ball, several fresh brown-green bamboo shoots appeared, releasing a clean, earthy fragrance.
They hadn't even been peeled yet, and judging from their freshness, they had probably been harvested within the last couple of days.
What Pokémon had brought these?
Lin Feng became curious.
Indeedee tilted her head.
"Inde?"
(It looked like a panda. Skwovet brought it here. It didn't want to work, so it asked if it could trade bamboo shoots for berries instead.)
"A panda? Pancham?"
Lin Feng looked puzzled as he poured out all the bamboo shoots.
That was strange.
He'd never heard of Pangoro or Pancham living in the wild areas around Wutong Forest before.
It seemed more and more wild Pokémon had migrated here this year.
He wondered why.
"Well then, tonight we'll make stir-fried pork with bamboo shoots."
Lin Feng rubbed his forehead.
"Did anything else happen while I was away?"
Being gone for eight days, combined with the constant messages from impatient customers, there was one thing he had been particularly curious about.
Happiny.
Around this time, the Luck Incense should have already taken effect.
Had a Happiny finally been born?
Indeedee immediately answered.
"Inde-dee..."
(Yes. On the twenty-first, a human came to challenge you. She said she was the Ice-type Elite Four.)
That wasn't unusual.
Ever since Lin Feng won the Horizon League Championship, people frequently came looking for battles.
Of course, he couldn't accept every challenge.
So he had established a simple requirement.
Anyone who wanted to battle him first had to clear the Sky Challenge.
The result had been remarkably effective.
Everyone's attention shifted from challenging Lin Feng to conquering the Sky Challenge itself.
Many arrived full of confidence, only to lose.
Eventually, people realized Lin Feng simply wasn't interested in battling every challenger.
And honestly, it made sense.
If they couldn't even defeat the Pidgeot used for deliveries, how could they hope to face his official battle team?
Indeedee understood that as well.
But this so-called Ice-type Elite Four member had actually cleared the final stage of the Sky Challenge.
"Ah... I see."
Lin Feng rubbed his temples.
"What did you tell her?"
"Inde-dee..."
(I told her you weren't home and asked whether she'd like to schedule another time after you returned.)
"Good. We'll discuss it when she comes back."
Lin Feng hadn't expected another Elite Four member to challenge him personally.
Not for the Sky Challenge.
For him.
Didn't Elite Four members have jobs to do?
Or was the League simply giving them too much free time?
Champion Feng Yang ought to learn from Larry in the Paldea region and bury them under mountains of paperwork.
"Then..."
Lin Feng looked hopefully toward Indeedee.
"Did the trainer with Larvitar come looking for me?"
A Chansey evolved from Happiny.
And a Blissey evolved from Chansey.
Eggs produced by Chansey and Blissey were famous for bringing happiness and good fortune.
As long as his future Happiny evolved, they'd never run out of delicious eggs again!
"Inde?"
"Inde?"
Indeedee shook her head.
Clearly, she hadn't heard anything.
"That's alright. I'll check myself."
Lin Feng wasn't surprised.
After all, Indeedee handled internal affairs while Eldegoss managed the ranch and daily operations.
It was normal for her not to know.
Besides, communication technology in Kanto was still relatively outdated.
There was no equivalent to Green Bubble messaging there yet.
People still relied on Pokémon Centers to call friends far away.
That was exactly why Lin Feng hadn't been able to contact his Pokémon during the trip.
Leaving the kitchen, he headed toward the stairs to retrieve his phone.
Then he noticed his Rotom Phone sitting peacefully on the table in front of the television, tiny sparks crackling around it as it slept.
Heh.
Without him around, Rotom had probably been living comfortably these past few days.
It didn't even need food.
Just electricity.
Although he could check messages himself, Rotom was currently asleep.
Lin Feng tried sneaking upstairs.
Unfortunately, before he could take two steps, several figures squeezed through the doorway.
Alolan Ninetales, Sylveon, and several other Pokémon surrounded him immediately.
"Huh?"
Before he could understand what was happening, they rushed over and trapped him in the middle.
Several large canine Pokémon formed a living wall around him, making escape impossible.
At the same time, the commotion woke Rotom.
"Roto?"
It blinked sleepily and looked around.
At first it only saw a crowd of colorful Pokémon.
It was about to ask why they weren't outside playing when it floated upward and finally spotted Lin Feng standing among them.
"Roto?! Master?!"
"Uh... you're awake. Sorry, Rotom."
Lin Feng glanced at all the shining eyes surrounding him before apologizing.
But Rotom seemed even more shocked than he was.
"Roto! Roto! Lin Feng's back! Lin Feng's back!"
It immediately tried to notify all the Pokémon that were still waiting elsewhere.
"Woof!"
Alolan Ninetales barked sharply.
"Roto?"
Rotom paused.
"Yeah, yeah. Everyone already knows. I came back around noon."
"Roto?"
"So... I'm the last one to find out?"
The poor Rotom looked utterly stunned.
Hadn't it only been sleeping?
"Roto..."
Its excitement instantly crashed.
It had imagined being the first to announce the news and seeing everyone's surprised reactions.
Instead, it had somehow become the very last one informed.
"Alright, Rotom. Any important news while I was gone?"
Lin Feng couldn't help laughing.
"Roto~"
"Yes!"
Rotom immediately recovered and adopted a professional expression.
"Champion Feng Yang called. He said the Ice-type Elite Four wants to challenge you."
"Also, Larvitar's trainer has been looking for you. The latest update is that the lucky Pokémon has already been born. When would Master like to choose one?"
"Really?!"
Lin Feng's eyes lit up.
"Haha! It's finally born?"
"Please tell them I'll visit in two days. I need to handle things at the ranch first."
"Okay, Roto~"
Rotom responded energetically.
Lin Feng checked the messages on Green Bubble himself and confirmed everything Rotom had said.
Satisfied, he moved on.
Next, he opened the private messages on the short-video app.
Lin Feng! Where did you disappear to?! It's been eight days! Today is the eighth day! My Sceptile is about to go on a hunger strike in protest!
Come baaaack~
I'm dying... absolutely dying... you heartless man...
Lin Feng couldn't help chuckling.
He didn't reply immediately.
Instead, he turned toward Indeedee with interest.
"Alright. Take me to see these new Pokémon that moved into the garden."
Halfway through speaking, he suddenly remembered something.
Wait.
There had been one Pokémon missing during lunch.
"Huh? Where's Arcanine? I didn't see him at lunch. Did he go out to play?"
Before Indeedee could answer, Sylveon immediately started making noise.
"Sylveon! Sylveon~!"
(I know! I know~!)
"It stays near the town entrance lately! There's also a Ninetales there! Every day they eat delicious food together, then go into the wild area for what it calls training!"
"Sylveon, Sylveon..."
(But mostly it just runs around. I don't really understand it...)
Sylveon shook her ribbons while speaking seriously.
Lin Feng blinked.
"Really? Then Officer Jenny hasn't come looking for me?"
"Sylveon..."
This time, Sylveon shook her head.
"Haha. That sounds promising."
The town was small, leaving little room for Arcanine to stretch his legs.
Officer Jenny often took her own Arcanine into Wutong Forest for training.
Many fallen trees blocked paths there, creating natural obstacle courses.
Growlithe frequently practiced there.
Since Officer Jenny hadn't complained, she was probably fine with Lin Feng's Arcanine joining in.
At this rate, things seemed to be progressing quite nicely.
Though...
Even a dog had found a companion now.
Lin Feng sighed inwardly as he walked toward the berry fields.
Naturally, several Pokémon followed behind him.
He had a feeling they would all stick close to him today.
At that moment, Serperior had already activated Grassy Terrain in the fields.
Among the berry trees, several Pokémon busily moved back and forth.
Two Ambipom.
Several Furret.
A Meowth.
A Greedent.
All of them were harvesting berries.
Along the pathways between the fields, Ponyta trotted back and forth carrying freshly picked berries toward the kitchen.
Everything looked familiar.
One of the Sentret had evolved, though unfortunately it wasn't the shiny one.
Still, that would probably happen soon enough.
The new Pokémon Eldegoss mentioned clearly weren't among them.
Pokémon helping in the flower gardens...
Could they have been attracted by the Fresh Lilies?
Lin Feng grew curious.
For now, however, he raised his voice.
"Serperior!"
"Serp?"
Serperior lifted its head from the berry fields.
"Did you miss me?"
"Serp?"
Serperior tilted its head.
Then it calmly turned away.
As for missing him...
Of course it had.
Before Lin Feng returned, everyone had missed him terribly.
But now that he was back?
Well.
Not quite as much anymore.
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