Chapter 1: The Clingy Gardevoir
"Mmm..."
At daybreak, Noah White stirred from a warm dream and felt heat rush through him.
"So sweet..."
Blinking awake, he caught a glimpse of a pale teal silhouette kneeling at the foot of the bed. Gardevoir lifted her head, cheeks pink, eyes hazy with devotion.
The room finally settled into quiet. Noah chuckled, pinched her soft cheek, and sighed. "Gardevoir, your sweet tooth is acting up again."
"It is only because my Trainer refuses to get out of bed when I call," she murmured in a playful grumble, swallowing and averting her gaze.
After a while, Gardevoir's face was still flushed. She used psychic power to whisk the damp bedding outside to dry, then floated back as if nothing had happened.
Noah dressed. In his ear, the system chimed.
[Interaction with farm Pokémon: Gardevoir +1]
[Note: Repeated interactions with the same target reduce both drop rate and quality]
[Ding. Trait detected. Claim now]
"Claim."
Noah agreed without hesitation.
[Obtained Trait: Psychic Amplifier (White)]
[Psychic Amplifier (White): Enhances the holder's mental strength. If equipped to a Pokémon, increases the power of all Psychic-type moves by 10%. If equipped to the host, post-interaction recovery time is reduced by 10%.]
Noah was not a local. He was a full-blown transmigrator.
He had assumed he would follow the usual veteran routes: enroll in a university and grind through tournaments, or start with a chosen partner and sweep the Gyms. He even planned to head to Rainbow University to study competitive battling. Then a letter from the mayor of Hiyori Town arrived by Dragonite Post.
"Kid, your grandfather's farm is now yours."
Right on cue, a mechanical voice rang in his ear.
"Interaction Trait System booting."
Clutching the Wingull-stamped stationery, Noah's heart pounded.
Good news. He had inherited a farm.
Even better news. The long-awaited cheat had finally awakened.
Now, back to the present. Noah silently called up the system. A translucent status panel unfolded.
[Host: Noah White]
[Species: Human]
[Bound Farm Level: 1 (Effect: You and each farm Pokémon can equip up to 2 Traits)]
Equipped Traits
[Body of Restoration (Purple): Rapid recovery from severe mental or physical fatigue]
[Psychic Amplifier (Purple): Enhanced mental strength. Post-interaction recovery reduced by 30%]
Admiring the gleam of his panel, Noah nodded with satisfaction.
Traits came in six tiers: White, Blue, Purple, Red, Gold, and Rainbow. Each tier granted distinct effects to him or to a farm Pokémon. The higher the tier, the stronger the effect.
To upgrade a chosen trait, he needed either ten traits of the same tier or three of the next tier up. For example, to promote a White to Blue, he could use ten Whites or three Blues.
As for how traits were obtained...
Noah had just entered the kitchen to prepare breakfast when warm breath brushed the back of his neck. A faint, elegant fragrance wrapped around him. Pale arms slipped from behind and embraced him.
"Trainer," Gardevoir whispered.
He found himself pulled into a plush, enveloping softness as she leaned forward. Heat rose to his cheeks.
"Gardevoir, easy. Breakfast isn't done."
He tried to gently pry her off, but she only nuzzled closer, turning his mild struggle into a sheepish defeat.
"Trainer, you still want breakfast? Maybe I am not trying hard enough," she teased, face crimson and gaze unfocused.
Noah tapped her forehead with his chopsticks. "Stop staring and eat."
"Ow." Gardevoir clasped her head and gave him a watery look.
"I didn't even use strength," he muttered, then popped a crackling Senbei from Cramorant's pan into her mouth to distract her.
"Mmm... so big. I am going to burst," she said around the snack, muffled.
Noah bowed his head and resumed slurping noodles.
After this morning's exertion, he was mostly immune to the little temptress's antics.
The Interaction Trait System worked exactly as it sounded. Whenever Noah engaged in deep, mutually satisfying bonding with a female partner, a corresponding trait could drop. Partners included women Trainers and female Pokémon.
What shocked him was that, once his cheat activated, his Pokémon gained the ability to take on humanlike forms. They could switch back and forth at will.
On the very night Gardevoir first transformed, the clingy partner who had accompanied Noah for over ten years finally lost her restraint and, under the cover of night, took the initiative.
For more than half a month, Noah finally understood what it meant to never make the morning court.
If not for the drops Body of Restoration and Psychic Amplifier, he suspected he would have collapsed long ago.
"Trainer."
Noah had barely finished his noodles when Gardevoir, who had been quiet for mere minutes, flushed again.
"Do not look at me like that," she said, voice shaking. "I cannot hold back."
Sometimes a single glance from Noah was enough to turn her pupils into ripples of spring water. Her whole body trembled with overflowing delight she could not suppress. Ever since she learned to transform, the feeling only grew stronger.
In the next heartbeat, she forgot everything and flashed into his arms.
Teleport.
Pressed against him, she was already warm with a faint sheen of sweat. She guided his hand to her racing heartbeat and looked up, cheeks aglow.
"It feels like it is going to catch fire."
A breathy sound escaped her throat.
"Alright, alright. If this keeps up, I will never finish building the farm."
Noah steadied her by the waist and rubbed her hair.
"Understood," she murmured, dazed and happy.
Still blushing, Gardevoir absently patted her flat little belly and giggled to herself like a fool.
Finally satisfied.