After sleeping all the way until three in the morning the next day, the one in Silas's arms had changed from Rowlet to Cinccino.
The little one's sleeping posture was adorably cute. It hugged its own fluffy tail, curling up like a soft ball of fur in the crook of Silas's arm.
Such a cute little mouse, anyone who does not pet it is clearly missing out.
Silas had absolutely no resistance to small rodents. He slowly adjusted his position, extending his hand gently and carefully stroking downward.
Cinccino, which had a bit of a cleanliness obsession, kept its fur impeccably neat and tidy.
The touch felt like a warm bundle of cotton, especially the soft fur on its belly, which was the most pleasant to touch. Once Silas started, he found it hard to stop.
Even in its sleep, Cinccino seemed to sense something. It subconsciously burrowed deeper into his arms, letting go of its tail and instead wrapping its small hands around his large hand, letting out a soft and delicate "Cinno" sound.
At that moment, Silas did not dare to move.
After waiting for a while and seeing that Cinccino had fallen into a deeper sleep, Silas tried to withdraw his hand.
As soon as he moved, Cinccino held on even tighter.
That sense of attachment instantly melted Silas's heart.
What else could he do, he could only continue sleeping.
He adjusted his posture again so that Cinccino could nestle more comfortably in his arms. With his other hand, he gently patted its back like soothing a child, and before long, he lulled himself back to sleep first.
After about three or four hours, Silas vaguely sensed soft whispering chatter near his ear and slowly opened his eyes in a daze.
The first thing he saw was a fluffy tail and a mischievous little hand.
"Cin~"
"Mom said people should not sleep too long. If you sleep too long, you will get rusty. Big brother has already slept a whole day, we have to wake him up."
The girl and the Pokémon reached an agreement. So Silas watched as Cinccino used its fluffy tail to brush across his cheek, the fine fur tickling him.
"Achoo!"
He had originally intended to pretend to stay asleep to see what they would do, but he could not hold back a loud sneeze.
Just as Cinccino and Serena were about to run, Silas grabbed one with each hand.
"Big brother~" Serena looked at him with sparkling, adorable eyes.
"Cinn~?"
Silas first placed Cinccino back onto the bed, then used his free hand to tickle Serena.
"Hahaha, stop tickling me! Big brother, I was wrong, hahaha!"
Serena twisted around from laughter, her giggles ringing like silver bells throughout the room. She flailed helplessly as she begged for mercy, her cheeks flushed red after losing their baby fat, making her look especially endearing.
"What were you wrong about?"
Silas paused for a moment and asked gently.
Cinccino sat on the bed, hugging its tail and watching with great interest, completely unaware that it would be next.
Serena's eyes darted around, and taking advantage of Silas's moment of distraction, she broke free and ran off, her playful "bleh bleh bleh" echoing from afar.
"Cin! Cin!"
Seeing this, Cinccino froze for a second before stamping its feet in annoyance.
It was just about to jump off the bed to chase after her when Silas intercepted it midair.
Grabbing it by its large ears, he pulled it into his arms and pressed his face against the little mouse, taking a deep breath. Today, it smelled faintly of jasmine.
"Hehe, cute little cake like you is destined to be eaten."
Silas pressed his face against Cinccino's soft belly, his hands alternating between scratching under its chin, tickling its sides, and squeezing its tiny feet.
Cinccino squirmed all over the bed, clutching onto Silas while letting out continuous "Cinno, cinno" pleas for mercy.
After playing around with Cinccino for a while, Silas changed into a thick, padded work outfit. He picked up the little mouse and did not forget to give its bouncy little backside a gentle pat, causing it to shyly burrow deeper into his arms.
When he came downstairs, the two girls and the Pokémon were gathered around the dining table eating breakfast.
Looking at the crowded scene, it seemed that expanding the dining area needed to be put on the agenda. Fortunately, he had already planned ahead.
The dining room in the four story villa would be spacious enough to accommodate everyone eating together, and he had even thoughtfully prepared seats for each Pokémon.
After finishing breakfast together, with Morpeko and Korrina around, there was not a single bit of food left.
While helping the Indeedee siblings clean up the dishes, Silas chatted and asked, "Did anyone come looking for me yesterday?"
"Indee!" (Diantha called!) the younger sister replied.
"Got it." He would return the call later. Silas gently touched the horns of the Indeedee siblings, passing along a full day's worth of good mood to them.
Just as he was about to head out, Silas suddenly thought of something and turned back. "Did Pyroar come to take the Litleo cubs back?"
"Indee!"
"I thought it was going to abandon them and drive them out of the territory to fend for themselves."
As lion Pokémon, Litleo would be driven out of the group once they matured or were able to hunt independently.
They would survive on their own outside, striving to evolve into Pyroar and eventually find their own grassland and pride.
A Pyroar pride was usually a large family consisting of one male Pyroar and multiple female Pyroar, rather than a small family like that of the Totem Pyroar.
Logically speaking, given Pyroar's strength, it should have sought multiple female Pyroar to spread its powerful lineage.
Yet that one was devoted to a single mate, making it quite an oddity among its kind.
A true romantic warrior.
The term popped into Silas's mind, quite literally meaning a pure love warrior.
Before he realized it, Silas had arrived at the mushroom house. Based on the timing, the mushrooms should be ready for their first harvest within these few days.
From outside, it was not too noticeable, but the moment he pushed open the door and stepped inside, a rich, earthy mushroom aroma rushed toward him.
Looking up, he saw small clusters of white dots sprouting from the cultivation racks. The mushrooms had begun to grow.
"Scool!" (Silas, you're here!)
"You didn't go out to play?" Silas was a bit surprised. At this time, the Toedscool usually ran freely across the grassland.
"Since you're not out, that's perfect. Help me pick some mushrooms. I'll make something delicious for you at noon."
The Toedscool had no objections and led Silas to the cultivation rack they had been carefully tending.
Only the mushrooms on this particular rack were ready to be harvested. The others were still in their growth phase.
The sight of a full rack of mushrooms filled Silas with delight.
There were densely packed enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms with light brown patterns, and oyster mushrooms with flat, rounded caps.
There was quite a large quantity of all three types, enough for a full meal with plenty left over.
Silas had no intention of wasting them. Later, he would have Cyclizar and Dragonite make a trip to deliver portions to John, Gario, and Gym Leader Gurkinn.
Oh right, he could also take the opportunity to ask about how the Dragonite Postal Service was running and the progress of Dragon Island Town's construction.
With Diancie and Magearna helping with the planning, there should not be any problems, but he still wanted to check in.
While thinking about what to do later, Silas's hands did not slow down at all.
Working together with the Toedscool, they harvested the mushrooms carefully, trying not to damage the substrate below.
For clustered mushrooms like oyster mushrooms and shiitake, they used scissors to cut at the base. If they felt lazy, they could also just grab the base and pull upward like the Toedscool did.
As for dense varieties like enoki mushrooms, they gently pulled upward along a horizontal direction, harvesting an entire cluster at once.
They tried to keep each cluster intact, then trimmed off the aged stems and sticky substrate at the bottom.
With seamless cooperation between one human and three jellyfish like Pokémon, the entire harvest was completed in less than thirty minutes, filling three large baskets, enough to last for quite some time.
Decision made, lunch would be Mushroom Three Delicacies Soup.
(End of Chapter)