Chapter 256:
Gardevoir: "..."
She couldn't shake the feeling that her Trainer had just added more work to her already full schedule.
Still, seeing the little Alcremie's hopeful eyes, Gardevoir couldn't bring herself to refuse. Floating forward, she gently took the small Pokémon from Hayashi Kaede's hands.
"Gardevoir~" (Of course—anytime I'm free.)
"Alcremie…"
The strawberry Alcremie smiled brightly in her arms.
Watching the heartwarming scene, Hayashi Kaede nodded in satisfaction, then quietly slipped out of the breeding house and made his way toward the Berry Plantation.
---
It was now the depth of winter.
Some of the fruit trees in the plantation had already taken on shades of autumn yellow, and the rate at which old leaves withered far outpaced the growth of new buds. As a result, the once-lush plantation now appeared sparse and bare.
"Eevee!"
"Vulpix!"
Bounding toward him was Alolan Vulpix at the head of her Eevee squad, with Goodra trailing not far behind.
Alolan Vulpix ran at full speed along the special bluestone path connecting the plantation to the barn and the garden. The Eevee followed close behind, while the slowest of the group—Goodra—struggled to keep up.
"Goodra…" (Wait for me! Wait for me…)
Compared to the nimble, canine Pokémon like Alolan Vulpix and Eevee, Goodra's bulky body made it considerably slower.
Fortunately, the playful Alolan Vulpix and her Eevee companions often stopped to wait for their gooey friend, never letting her fall too far behind.
"Vulpix…"
Spotting Hayashi Kaede, Alolan Vulpix tilted her head. "Vulpix?" (Kaede, are you going to plant trees?)
"Not this time…" Kaede replied, smiling.
As the weather grew colder, Pokémon like Salamence and Serperior had become noticeably less active, preferring to bask in the warmth of their dens. Only Alolan Vulpix seemed to thrive in the chill.
Being an Ice-type, she adored this kind of weather—often dragging along the cold-sensitive Goodra for her wintry escapades.
It reminded Kaede of children playing in the snow: even those who feared the cold couldn't resist the fun of it.
He couldn't help but imagine what would happen once real snow fell. Would Vulpix start making snowballs with Goodra?
"Alright, alright—go on and play. I've got something to do," Kaede said, stepping aside to let them pass.
As the group bounded away, Kaede continued down the path toward the barn.
However, he paused briefly when he reached the reservoir.
"Milotic?" he called softly.
Ripples spread gently across the water's surface. A moment later, a smooth, elegant head crowned with two long, flowing feelers rose from beneath the water.
A pair of crimson eyes blinked up at him. "Milotic?"
Milotic swam gracefully to the shore and stretched its neck toward him, resting its head beside Kaede as he crouched down.
Seeing her gesture, Kaede smiled and patted her gently.
"I wanted to ask if you've noticed anything unusual in the water lately."
The easiest places for the Reverse World to connect with reality were through reflective surfaces—especially water and mirrors.
In this case, that meant the water channels and the reservoir.
The channel extended all the way from the river by the forest, through the new plantation and garden, along the edge of the barn, and finally into this reservoir.
"Milotic?"
Milotic flicked her tail lightly, swam a small circle in the water, then returned to him, shaking her head. "Milotic…"
"Nothing strange, huh?" Kaede nodded, stroking her head again before standing up.
Then he continued toward the barn.
Even so, he couldn't hide the tension in his chest.
He'd met his fair share of Legendary Pokémon—Mew, Victini, Jirachi, Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Moltres…
But the thought of Giratina taking an interest in his wine barrels was something else entirely.
From what he remembered in the movies, Giratina was nowhere near as calm or tolerant as Rayquaza.
If anything, its temperament could be described as downright volatile.
When the battle between Dialga and Palkia had disturbed the Reverse World, Giratina had quietly hunted them down, waiting for the perfect moment to drag Dialga into its realm for a good beating.
Yet, for all that effort, it ended up being trapped in a time loop instead.
Kaede had always thought of Giratina as a stealthy ambush predator.
Now, though—now that it might actually be involved—he could hardly keep describing it that way.
It wasn't cowardice. It was self-preservation.
"Thank goodness it drank the Grepa Berry Wine…" Kaede muttered.
Arriving at the barn, he looked over the rows of barrels filled with Grepa Berry Wine and finally exhaled in relief.
After all, the wine's special property—Heartening—nurtured bonds of goodwill between those who shared it.
Every Pokémon in the plantation had drunk Grepa Berry Wine.
Fortunately, it wasn't rice wine. If it were rice wine, intoxication would cause a "truth-telling" effect. In that case, perhaps all the wine in his barn would be taken away. (While being drunk)
Kaede opened his system interface, reviewing the recent reward logs.
From the end of October until now, there hadn't been any "Happiness Rewards" linked to Giratina.
Apparently, the satisfaction threshold of a Legendary Dragon of antimatter wasn't easy to meet.
"Should I… try to please it?" Kaede murmured, frowning.
That was not a question to take lightly.
For one, he didn't really know Giratina's personality.
And based on its movie depiction, he worried that one wrong move could easily provoke its fury.
Still, he recalled how that same Giratina had remembered its "savior," Ash, and stopped its attacks mid-fight.
That meant it wasn't unreasonable—it could distinguish friend from foe.
"Ugh… this is giving me a headache…" Kaede muttered, rubbing his temples.
But before he could think any further—
The shadows beside the stacked wine barrels began to ripple.
The darkness deepened, swirling like liquid ink.
Then, from within that inky pool, a massive head with gold crown like object and piercing red eyes emerged.
Just the head alone was taller than Kaede.
From the faint distortions in the shadows, he could make out ghostly black wings shifting restlessly behind it.
Unbothered by his presence, Giratina casually leaned forward, clamped its jaws around a full barrel of Grepa Berry Wine—
—and vanished back into the darkness.
The entire act was smooth, silent, and terrifyingly fast.
It hadn't even taken three seconds.
The only pause came when Giratina turned slightly to glance at Kaede.
Then, as though nothing had happened, it disappeared completely into the shadow.
For a long moment, Kaede stood frozen.
"???"
Stealing it right in front of me?
Was there no justice in this world? No sense of order at all?!