?
Victor looked at Gary, then at Shana, and nodded.
It was a good idea. With Gary along, Victor would be much more at ease.
"Alright then. You can go with Shana. Thank you for your hard work."
Gary nodded, then went to the backyard to get his Arcanine.
Victor tied the bag of herbal tea and slung it over Arcanine's back. He then lifted Shana up, and Gary mounted the Arcanine as well, positioning Shana safely in front of him.
"We're heading out, Owner."
"Okay. Be safe."
"Bye-bye, uncle!" Shana, wearing her little hat, waved at Victor.
Victor smiled and waved back.
"Do your best, Shana! Bye-bye!"
Watching the Arcanine's retreating figure, Victor looked up at the Staravia preening its feathers on the roof and nodded.
The Staravia then spread its wings, launched into the sky, and followed in Shana's direction.
Victor, meanwhile, returned to the backyard with Gengar, observed the Aipom watering the plants in an orderly fashion, and then went back to the front desk, satisfied.
Sitting at the counter, Victor took out a piece of wood and slowly began to carve, making a new name tag for Gothita.
He called Gothita over and put the tag on it.
Gothita smiled and said thank you, then looked at the small wooden tag on its chest, unable to take its eyes off it.
Finally, Victor began carving a toy for Shana.
...
Out on the road, Shana was riding on the Arcanine.
Feeling the Arcanine's speed, she reached up to hold down her little hat.
The wind on her face felt wonderful.
The Chingling in her arms chimed, "Ching, ching~"
Hearing the sound, Shana couldn't help but giggle.
Gary, listening to the little girl's laughter, also felt the corners of his mouth turn up.
They continued until the outline of Twinleaf Town came into view.
Shana looked at the order list and saw that only two were first-time customers; the rest were all regulars.
So, she decided to follow the map to the new customers first.
Following Shana's directions, the Arcanine brought them to a house.
Shana skillfully climbed down from Arcanine's back, checked the order for the house, and took the correct bottle of tea from the bag.
She then took out an order form.
She ran over on her short legs and rang the doorbell.
"Hello, Breeding House herbal tea."
This was a line she had come up with herself.
She had seen other delivery people announce who they were, so she had learned from them and made up her own.
Her voice was crisp and clear.
A moment later, the door opened, and a middle-aged woman appeared.
She was a bit surprised to see that the delivery person was a little girl.
"Hello, Breeding House herbal tea," Shana said again, handing the woman the bottle and the order form.
"This is the list of herbal teas our Breeding House sells. The effects are written on it. You can take a look."
The woman was initially worried about a little girl coming all this way, but then she saw Gary on the Arcanine not far away and relaxed.
It's fine as long as she has a trainer with her.
"You're doing a great job, little one. Wait here a moment, I'll go get the money," the woman said with a smile, then went back inside.
Shana stood at the door, whispering to the Tinkerbell on her shoulder.
"Tinkerbell, I think we're getting better and better at this."
"Ching~"
"See? We're not as scared to talk to people anymore."
"Ching~"
"If we were scared, we wouldn't be able to help uncle deliver the tea."
"Ching~"
"Right. So we have to work even harder and get even better."
"Ching~"
Gary, watching from a distance, had originally wanted to go up to the door with Shana, but she had refused.
She said she wanted to complete this task by herself.
Gary had agreed.
Just then, he heard the sound of flapping wings.
He looked up and saw the Staravia from the Breeding House land on a fence. It glanced at him and the Arcanine, then turned its focus to Shana, all while continuing to preen its feathers.
Gary recognized it immediately.
He smiled.
He was growing more and more fond of the atmosphere at the Breeding House.
Shana took the money from the woman, counted it twice, and seeing that it was correct, she then accepted the candy the woman offered her.
"Thank you, ma'am. I have to go now. Goodbye, ma'am," Shana said clearly, tucking the money into her small pouch.
She then turned and ran back to the Arcanine.
The woman watched her go, her heart melting.
Back on the Arcanine, Shana tore a piece of candy for herself, popped it in her mouth, put the wrapper in her pocket, and then offered a piece to Gary.
"Big Brother Gary, here. The nice lady just gave it to me."
Hearing her, and seeing her little cheek puffed out with the candy, Gary's heart skipped a beat. He took the candy, unwrapped it, and tossed it into his mouth.
It was very sweet.
He had always had a weakness for pretty girls; otherwise, he wouldn't have started his journey driving a convertible surrounded by them.
Now, looking at the adorable Shana, his gaze softened.
Maybe having a little sister wouldn't be so bad?
Shana directed the Arcanine to the next stop.
They arrived at the last house, which belonged to the very first customers of the herbal tea business.
The seed shop's grandpa and grandma.
Ding-dong~
"Hello, Breeding House herbal tea."
The moment she spoke, the door opened.
"Oh my, it's little Shana delivering the tea again!" the grandmother exclaimed, surprised and delighted to see her.
"Mhm, Grandma. This is the herbal tea you ordered today," Shana said, handing her the bottle.
The grandmother took it and called into the house, "Old man, hurry and bring the money and the snacks! Little Shana is here with your tea!"
"Coming, coming!"
The grandfather came out with the money and a large pile of snacks.
He handed the money to Shana, and while she was counting it, he stuffed all the snacks into her small bag.
"I can't take this. Uncle will scold me if he finds out."
"He'd dare! These are for our little Shana to eat. If he scolds you, you tell me, and I'll go stand up for you," the grandfather said.
"Don't listen to your grandpa. Just eat a little after your meals, and you won't get scolded," the grandmother said, patting her husband's arm, then speaking kindly to Shana.
Shana nodded.
Just as she was about to leave, the grandfather suddenly said, "By the way, little Shana, does your Breeding House have any Pokémon that are good for keeping an old man company?"
"Huh?!" Shana turned, looking at him, confused.
"It's for your grandpa's neighbor. He lives all by himself and seems awfully lonely, so we were wondering if there are any good companion Pokémon," the grandmother explained.
Shana furrowed her small brow, looking utterly adorable.
Finally, she gave up. She was too little; she didn't know what Pokémon would be a good companion for a grandpa.
But she knew someone who would.
She took out her watch communicator and called Victor.
"Hello, uncle."
"What's wrong, Shana? Did something happen?" Victor's voice came through, and he immediately stopped what he was doing and asked.
"No, uncle, it's... Grandpa and Grandma need to ask you something."
She didn't know how to explain it, so she just handed the watch to the elderly couple.
...
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