Chapter 419:
"I need a lift~"
The Pidgeot in the tree all turned their gazes toward Kaede when they saw him approach, though their eyes lacked the usual sharpness from patrol duty.
Upon hearing his request, they immediately scrambled to fly down, each vying to be chosen.
"Alright, alright, I choose this one who reacted the fastest."
With so many Pidgeot, Kaede naturally didn't want them competing. He simply pointed and chose the one that flew down the quickest.
The other Pidgeot, seeing this, didn't say much and flew back up into the tall tree.
"Meowscarada, you'll need to go into your Poké Ball first."
There wasn't enough room on Pidgeot's back for both him and Meowscarada.
But Meowscarada seemed to have its own solution. "Meowscarada~" (I can shrink~)
"Huh... but after shrinking, you can't come out later, right?"
Where they were going later would definitely have people around. A shrunken Meowscarada shouldn't be out then.
"Meowscarada~" (Then I'll just eat two of them~)
But the clever cat clearly had its own plan, paws on its hips.
Kaede: "???"
"How are you this smart?"
He facepalmed, resigned, and could only take out two Size Shifting Energy Cubes. "Fine."
(￣▽￣)": "Meowscarada~"
Watching Meowscarada eat one Energy Cube and shrink, Kaede scooped it up, jumped onto Pidgeot's back, and they soared into the sky.
He actually quite liked holding Meowscarada.
It's just that he couldn't really hold it after it grew big.
Now that it was willing to shrink, that was even better.
But even so, perched on Pidgeot, Kaede couldn't help but tease it while rubbing the pads on its paws. "Who taught you to be this clever?"
"Meowscarada?"
"Meowscarada..."
Meowscarada lay contentedly in his arms, stretching comfortably.
Did this need to be taught?
"Meowscarada..."
....
Nagisuna City.
Happiness Town.
Rosalie, as usual, prepared Energy Cubes for Delphox and then poured a mix of mineral ore and Moomoo Milk into her Larvitar's bowl.
"Larvitar..."
The Larvitar, with a pointed horn on its head, quickly toddled over on small feet toward its food bowl.
Then it dug in heartily.
After finishing completely, it let out a satisfied burp, patted its belly, and gave its Trainer a silly, happy grin.
Rosalie was about to smile back.
But at that moment, a white light burst forth from Larvitar's body.
It quickly spread out. Within the light, its body rapidly extended and grew larger, like a Bug-type Pokémon spinning a cocoon. It became longer and rounder, with only the upper part having two pairs of dark, hollow holes. Various angular protrusions grew all over its body.
As the white light faded, its originally green and brown appearance turned to light grayish blue.
Rosalie froze for a second, then a wide smile spread across her face. "Hahaha, Larvitar, you evolved?!"
"Pupitar..."
A pair of bright eyes peered out from the dark holes. Feeling the changes in its body, Pupitar wiggled slightly, as if responding to its Trainer.
"That's fantastic, Pupitar! Now, we only have the breeding house owner Kaede's Happiny egg left to deliver. Once that's done, we can go on our journey!"
Overjoyed, Rosalie hugged Pupitar, trying to lift it. But after a tug, she realized the already heavy Larvitar had become even heavier after evolving. A small girl like her couldn't lift it at all.
Really, they should have started their journey much earlier.
But Larvitar hadn't evolved until now, so Rosalie had stayed home.
Because Larvitar's diet almost entirely depended on Kaede's Miltank's Moomoo Milk. If they went traveling, it would probably be hard for Kaede's Pidgeot to deliver it.
Rather than that, it was better to wait until Larvitar evolved.
That was Rosalie's plan.
Unable to lift Pupitar, Rosalie didn't force it. She took out her phone, her smile growing even brighter.
"Hehehe, perfect timing! Kaede said today he'd come choose a Happiny~"
She called Pupitar and Delphox, about to head to the backyard to check on this year's Happiny eggs.
But a cry of "Pidgeot, pidgeot!" from the sky made her instinctively look up.
A Pidgeot descended slowly, finally landing in front of the yard gate. The first to dismount wasn't Kaede, but Meowscarada, which had already grown back to size mid-air.
It hopped into the yard, curiously looking around.
Unlike Pokémon that often traveled, most of Kaede's Pokémon, aside from Pidgeot and Gardevoir, spent most of their time at home. So their whole world was just Aogiri Town, Aogiri Forest, and the surrounding fields.
That's why, when coming out, they'd be curious about the scenery elsewhere.
This was also why Kaede brought Meowscarada along.
Those who love the wild should be taken out for walks more often.
Next to descend was Kaede.
He recalled Pidgeot, then looked through the gate into the yard, his eyes lighting up.
Looked like Rosalie was right in the yard.
"Hello~?"
"Hello, hello!"
When Pidgeot descended, Rosalie already knew it was Kaede. But what caught her attention more was the Meowscarada.
With Delphox and Pupitar, she ran over to open the gate for Kaede, then immediately fixed her gaze on Meowscarada.
Her eyes sparkled.
For a Trainer, the desire to explore is undoubtedly the strongest.
Every Trainer gets excited when seeing a Pokémon they've never encountered before.
"Meowscarada? Is this the Meowscarada from the first match?"
"Meowscarada?"
Looking at the girl almost too close in front of it, and then at the Delphox following her, Meowscarada was also curious.
This was the first Trainer other than Kaede it had encountered up close.
"Yep, that's the one," Kaede nodded.
"Wow, wow! The one that evolved into Meowscarada not long after being born and defeated a Lucario in the Pokémon League Conference?"
Rosalie's eyes widened as she circled around Meowscarada.
She was a loyal follower of Kaede's account and a Trainer herself.
When she saw Meowscarada standing on the Conference battlefield, her eyes nearly popped out. She couldn't believe there would be... a baby Pokémon competing in such a tournament?
Kaede nodded again.
"You're amazing, Meowscarada!" the girl exclaimed excitedly.
"Meowscarada?"
(✿◡‿◡): "Meowscarada~"
Meowscarada's mouth didn't smile, but its paws couldn't help but rise.
*It's nothing, really, it's all thanks to my Trainer...*