Chapter 61:
The moment the reward arrived, the same sensation he felt when Veridian energy was added spread through Hayashi Kaede's body. The only difference this time was that the new power felt more tangible.
His mind sharpened. The extra energy seemed to extend from him like extra limbs—flexible, responsive, ready to act.
Intermediate Psychic Power?
Kaede had the impulse to test the new ability at once, but when he looked at Gardevoir before him he held back.
He chuckled softly. "How is it? Feels good, right?"
Gardevoir's uncontrolled output had calmed. Her eyes, complex and hungry, settled on the empty bottle in Kaede's hand.
"Gardevoir," she replied—approval threaded with longing.
Kaede laughed and put the bottle away. "This is the best cube I've made so far. Of course it works."
Being offered such a valuable reward deepened Kaede's determination to keep Gardevoir at the plantation—even if it meant using a little bait to ensure she stayed.
Gardevoir opened her mouth to ask how she could exchange work for such cubes, then paused. She hesitated because Kaede had called the cube precious.
Kaede, reading her hesitation, set his chin in his hand. "I have two types of jobs here. One is long-term: you work weekly and receive ten bottles of the standard cube like yesterday every week, plus an occasional S+ cube like the one you just ate.
"The other is short-term: you work day by day and receive one bottle of the standard cube per day. If there's a heavier task that day, you'll receive an S+ cube like the one you just ate. Today—using your power to help widen the water diversion channel—counts as a heavier task.
"Both long-term and short-term shifts are seven hours: three hours in the morning and four in the afternoon."
As soon as he laid out the plan, Kaede inwardly winced—wasn't this nudging her toward the long-term option? It felt awkward, but the arrangement made practical sense for protecting the plantation and reservoir.
Gardevoir considered the choices carefully. After feeling how the cube had altered the curse's balance inside her, she finally nodded: long-term.
When Kaede heard that, he couldn't hide his relief. Securing her help would make the rest easier.
"Oh, and if you have a Ralts, you can bring it here," he added. "Ralts will be safer on the plantation than alone in the wild. If it evolves into another Gardevoir later, it could even help with Energy Cube preparation."
He allowed himself a small hope: Metagross was impossible to obtain, but a trusted Gardevoir could be trained into something invaluable.
Gardevoir's expression clouded for a moment. "Gardevoir," she replied quietly. "I do not have a child."
Kaede accepted that without pressing. She'd known him too briefly to reveal everything.
Soon the Fujita Goro construction team arrived with several Fighting-type Pokémon. After hearing Kaede's plan, their foreman sketched the job: "To let Milotic swim and turn smoothly, we'll need to expand the channel to at least three times its current width and deepen it. This is a major job—the ground sand and cement blocks we remove will need constant transport. Ground sand is easy; the cement blocks are the main problem. It'll probably take a week."
"What if we add assistance for transport?" Kaede asked, pointing to Gardevoir.
"If she helps with transport, it could be done in a day or two," the foreman said, surprised. Word of a differently colored Gardevoir had spread through Aogiri Town; many claimed to have glimpsed one that vanished moments later. The idea that the plantation owner had tamed such a Pokémon left the crew awed and skeptical.
Gardevoir nodded and, after placing a mental barrier at the connection between the diversion channel and the reservoir, followed the construction team to the worksite.
Hammering and pounding began almost immediately. Kaede took advantage of the downtime and called Rotom, which was already testing ground moisture from above. "Let's go check the construction site," he told it.
By then it was nearly bright and customers had started arriving in town to buy Energy Cubes. The noise of the construction drew attention quickly.
From the shore people watched as the crew inside the diversion channel broke up cement blocks and dug to widen it. On the bank, Gardevoir used telekinesis to move cement blocks onto a truck while piles of ground sand were tossed into an open area.
The sight stunned the first watchers. "Gardevoir?" someone murmured, rubbing his eyes.
When the image persisted, astonishment replaced doubt. "A differently colored Gardevoir—this is the one everyone's been talking about! Why is it moving bricks? Are construction teams really using Gardevoir now?"
"Wow… I'll move bricks too—maybe I can capture a shiny Gardevoir!"
As more townspeople gathered, excitement swelled and phones came out to record the scene. The Fujita Goro foreman stepped forward and called out to the crowd. "Don't get the wrong idea—this Gardevoir isn't from our company. She is together with Hayashi kaede from the breeding house" he explained, nodding toward Kaede. The clarification calmed some speculation, though whispers and camera shutters continued as the unlikely work went on.