Chapter 387:
"Evolve?"
Hayashi Kaede's hand, which was rubbing its fur, paused.
Seeing Little Nine's expectant, gem-like eyes, he roughly guessed the reason.
These past few days, the Eevees had been following Alolan Ninetales outside, watching its battles with Salamence, and they must have become envious.
That's why they were looking forward to evolving and becoming stronger.
But as for evolving into Sylveon...
Although it hadn't worked last time, they could still give it a try now.
"Let's try tonight. Everyone can try tonight."
As for why it had to be at night, it was because only at night would Little Five evolve into Umbreon, while Little Three only needed a Grass-type Leaf Stone to evolve.
Hearing Hayashi Kaede say this, the three Eevees immediately became excited, their faces filled with even more anticipation.
"Eevee!"
"Don't go running around outside today, understand?"
"Eevee~" (Okay, okay...)
...
Just after finishing the Eevees' bath, checking the time, Hayashi Kaede was about to go with Gardevoir and Latias to the kitchen to turn today's berries into Energy Cubes and also prepare dinner for everyone.
But as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, and entered the living room, he saw the shrunken Salamence and Dragonite approaching.
Salamence hid behind, while Dragonite walked in front.
Salamence seemed somewhat awkward, but Dragonite was quite familiar.
In its shrunken state, it couldn't hug Hayashi Kaede, but it could fly up and snuggle into his arms.
"What's up?"
Hayashi Kaede looked at Dragonite flying in front of him and couldn't help but ask.
Dragonite wasn't as clingy as Alolan Ninetales or the Eevees; it only occasionally came to him seeking hugs.
After all, converted to Dragonite's age, it was still a young teenage dragon.
"Dragonite~" Dragonite waved its claws, thinking about how to broach the subject. Finding it difficult, it simply stretched out its short forelimbs, flexed the muscles on its arms, and then made a growing larger motion.
"Uh... muscles getting bigger, you want to get stronger, right?" Hayashi Kaede quickly understood its meaning.
But what he understood even faster was that this probably wasn't Dragonite's idea, but rather Salamence's behind it.
Because in his impression, Dragonite had a peaceful personality; eating, drinking, and sleeping, and the day would pass.
It only showed sadness when Jirachi fell asleep.
But soon, that sadness disappeared without a trace.
Can't say it yourself, so you got Dragonite to bring it up?
Hayashi Kaede felt amused inside, but said, "Get stronger for what? Aren't you strong enough now? At the Pokémon League Conference, no Pokémon could stand against you."
"Dragonite?"
That one sentence immediately made Dragonite hem and haw; everything Salamence had taught it was instantly forgotten.
It couldn't come up with a reason at all.
In the end, it simply headbutted him and burrowed into Hayashi Kaede's arms.
"Alright then..."
Hayashi Kaede patted Dragonite's head and looked at Salamence behind it.
Salamence whistled innocently, turning its head to look elsewhere.
[Pokémon: Salamence]
[Gender: Male]
[Type: Dragon, Flying]
[Ability: Moxie]
[Aptitude: Red]
[IVs: HP (29) Attack (30) Sp. Atk (29) Defense (20) Sp. Def (17) Speed (28)]
[Strength: 81-83]
[Moves: Roost, Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Dragon Tail, Dual Wingbeat, Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Double-Edge, Earthquake...]
[Description: A powerful Salamence.]
[Friendship: 84]
[Happiness: 40]
When he saw the friendship value at 84, Hayashi Kaede couldn't help but sigh with emotion. Salamence's friendship had been as low as -50 initially.
But it had been here for a while now.
Its energy level, however, hadn't skyrocketed from the 70s directly to the 90s like Gardevoir's did.
On one hand, it was because Salamence's Aptitude was Red, and it hadn't consumed any Rare Candies.
Hayashi Kaede then looked at Dragonite.
[Pokémon: Dragonite]
[Gender: Female]
[Type: Dragon, Flying]
[Ability: Multiscale]
[Aptitude: Red]
[IVs: HP (27) Attack (30) Sp. Atk (27) Defense (26) Sp. Def (27) Speed (24)]
[Strength: 76-78]
[Moves: Roost, Extreme Speed, Twister, Thunder Wave, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Dragon Tail, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, Hyper Beam...]
[Friendship: 93]
[Happiness: 70]
Dragonite's situation was quite similar.
"Want to get stronger to seek revenge?"
Holding Dragonite, Hayashi Kaede turned his gaze to Salamence.
The meaning in his eyes was clear:
The simple-minded Dragonite might be easily fooled, but he wasn't. This was definitely your idea.
"Salamence..."
Salamence seemed conflicted, but finally nodded.
"Then why not tell me directly? Or are you planning to leave after getting your revenge?"
Hayashi Kaede released Dragonite and looked straight at Salamence.
Salamence had always had its own little schemes.
Hayashi Kaede knew this.
It had initially planned to put on an act for him and then leave this place.
Now it was conspiring with Dragonite to approach him about wanting to get stronger.
He didn't mind these little schemes aimed at self-improvement, but he didn't appreciate it being done by manipulating Dragonite to speak for it.
He didn't like that.
"Salamence!?"
Perhaps because Hayashi Kaede's tone was quite serious, Salamence's expression immediately became flustered.
It hurriedly shook its head to prove that wasn't what it thought.
It flapped its wings, its usually fierce face now showing a trace of bewilderment.
This made Hayashi Kaede pause, his heart also twinging.
He crouched down, reached out his hand, and held it above Salamence's head. Seeing that Salamence, who rarely allowed touching before, showed no resistance this time, he placed his hand on it.
He also felt a bit remorseful. "I'm sorry, Salamence. What I said earlier was wrong."
When it came down to it, Salamence just wanted to get stronger for revenge and was too embarrassed to tell him directly, so it used Dragonite as a front.
And he had used the word "leave."
The look in Salamence's eyes in that instant reminded him of a story he'd once heard.
It was about a monkey who became a disciple to learn martial arts.
After the monkey mastered its skills, it became playful and showed off the techniques it learned in front of its senior brothers.
But when the master found out, the master expelled it from the mountain.
When you thought about it, a monkey is just a monkey; being active, playful, and showing off is its nature. And the master didn't expel it solely because of that nature.
Even if the monkey had been diligent, dutiful, and law-abiding, it would still have been expelled for various reasons in the end.
Was that how Salamence felt too?