Seeing the Gardevoirs' reaction, the Granbull tribe was instantly dumbfounded.
The leading, towering Granbull stood up, hands on hips, and began yelling at the Gallade leader.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
'Damn it, you guys cheated!'
Gallade crossed his arms, pouting and ignoring the Granbull's accusation, 'What, just because I am handsome, that's cheating now?'
'If you've got the guts, why don't you pink mutts go up there too?'
'Let's see if you don't just get kicked aside.'
"Huff… huff~"
The Granbull leader's nostrils flared with steam, and even his pink body changed color.
No, it wasn't turning shiny.
It was heating up.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!", the Granbull cursed again, his body suddenly radiating a pink glow. His limbs began vibrating at high frequency, he looked ready to fight at any moment.
Gallade wasn't scared in the slightest. Psychic energy gathered on his arm blades, the crescent-shaped edges emitting a sharp aura.
As the two largest fairy-type tribes in the temple, they had long been each other's rivals.
Over countless ages, both tribes had taken turns winning and losing, each alternately holding the Fairy Plate.
However, since both tribes were fundamentally kindhearted, there had never been an incident where one destroyed the other after gaining the upper hand.
In this generation, by sheer coincidence, the two tribes' power was almost perfectly balanced, which was why the Fairy Plate had yet to reappear.
Neither leader feared the other in the slightest.
"Wait... I have something to say!"
On the other side, Axel finally broke free from the circle of Gardevoirs, squeezing his way out from between a pair of long, slender legs.
He set the now completely empty seasoning box on the ground, panting as he shot the Gardevoir a sideways glance.
"Good job, Gardevoir. You ran off without even thinking to bring me along, huh?"
Gardevoir's lips curved upward slightly, ["Relax, Master. Their minds are pure, they just wanted something to eat. It's not like you're short on food."]
["And besides~",] she dragged her tone teasingly, ["what if you were expecting something like this?"]
Axel's mouth twitched, he felt an ache somewhere indescribable.
"The other Gardevoirs are nothing like you, alright…"
After saying that, he ignored her smirk, which now curved into a Nike logo shape, and pulled her toward the middle, between Gallade and Granbull.
Looking at the way these Pokémon were all yearning for fairy food, he felt there was still hope of helping Gardevoir secure the Fairy Plate.
As long as he was careful with his negotiation skills and sensitive to their moods, it shouldn't be too big a problem.
Thinking this, Axel began to organize his words.
But before he could even speak, he suddenly felt something strange under his right hand.
Whatever it was, it felt a little rough, dry to the touch, and had a boing boing bouncy feel to it.
It turned out to be… a small Snubbull.
"Huh?", Axel looked at the Granbull chieftain, utterly confused, "Why are you giving me this?"
"Bru!", Granbull pushed the little Snubbull forward, gesturing for Axel to hold it in his arms.
Gardevoir's expression turned peculiar, ["Master, he says that since you're my Trainer, that makes you the little Snubbull's godfather now."]
["Also, he's agreed to give me the Fairy Plate…"]
Axel: "..."
'Wait a sec, these wild Pokémon have started selling their kids for favor now?'
He wasn't that kind of person.
Yet his body acted before his mind, he reached into his backpack, took out more Pokéblocks, fairy gems, and crystal honey, then pulled out a big pot.
"Relax, everyone eats their fill today!"
Gallade blinked in confusion, staring at Granbull.
'Bro, that's our tribe's Trainer, why are you acting so friendly?'
'Oh right… forgot, you're a dog.'
Realizing this, the Gallade chieftain vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, there was now a cute, squishy Ralts in his arms.
"?", Axel turned to Gardevoir.
["Gallade says he wants you to be his godfather too…"], Gardevoir blinked and felt a sudden tightness in her chest.
She hadn't expected Axel to have this much charm even among Pokémon. For no reason at all, she suddenly felt like she'd gained a ton of rivals, and it gave her a headache.
Axel quickly figured out what was going on.
Thanks to the Breeder tag he possessed, he had practically become a walking breeding machine.
Even if it didn't show all the time, the influence was real.
For normal Trainers, raising even three Gym Leader–level Pokémon would take half a lifetime, like Ishida, the Pokémon Center director, who'd poured years into it.
But him?
With this tag's support, in less than a year, he'd built a team averaging over level 50.
And most of them could even battle far above their level.
Even top-tier Pokémon like Gardenia's and Raihan's couldn't resist the appeal of his food, so how could these wild fairy-types possibly do so?
The Fairy Plate was powerful, sure, but it could only strengthen a single Pokémon.
For these wild Pokémon, his cooking might actually be an even greater "treasure", something that could enhance the strength of their entire tribe.
Axel scanned the area using his system panel and saw that most of the Gardevoir and Granbull tribe members were around level 30, with only a dozen or so at Gym Leader level. That immediately gave him confidence.
"No need for this godfather thing for now… You can see, my team's already got plenty of Pokémon."
Gallade and Granbull exchanged glances, both showing faint disappointment in their eyes.
But the next words out of Axel's mouth reignited their hope.
"However!"
"Since Gardevoir brought me here, that means it's fate. How about I make some food that's easy to preserve and leave it for your tribes?"
Gallade and Granbull looked at each other again. And this time, their eyes shone with delight.
Perfect! After fighting for so many years, they were honestly tired.
They didn't even want to leave the mountains anymore, what use was great power, anyway?
After so many years of battle, all their fun had vanished. Their kin woke up every day just to train, eyes locked constantly on that one Plate.
Uh, getting off track… But that Plate was still too precious to just hand over to outsiders.
Now, though, the outsider was a Gardevoir, and her Trainer had even managed to win over the Granbull tribe.
Giving the Plate to a Gardevoir, without it harming their tribe's balance, that was clearly the best outcome.
Gardevoir passed the thoughts of both Pokémon to Axel's mind, and he immediately felt relieved.
Being able to obtain the Fairy Plate without disrupting the local balance, that was the best possible result.
And he had no intention of letting these Pokémon suffer losses, either.
More importantly, as his cooking skill improved, a bold idea had already taken root in his mind.
Especially after seeing the thick, rich energy within Mount Coronet, that idea had only grown stronger and clearer.
If he could succeed, he might be able to give these two tribes something as precious and lasting as the Fairy Plate itself. A true treasure they could pass on for generations.
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