Chapter 394:
Ten minutes later.
Hayashi Kaede looked at the Skwovet brought over by Pidgeot, lost in thought.
Although he had guessed that wild Pokémon would eventually be unable to resist sneaking into the berry orchard to pick berries, seeing one refuse to spit out the Oran Berries in its mouth even while caught by Pidgeot still made him want to laugh.
It truly lived up to its species name, as a cheeky and greedy Pokémon.
"Alright, Pidgeot, put it down."
He waved his hand, signaling the Pidgeot to release it.
But Pidgeot didn't leave; it just stared intently at the Skwovet.
This made the Skwovet shiver and stay frozen on the spot.
Helpless, Hayashi Kaede had to add, "Go on, Pidgeot, it's fine."
Only after Pidgeot flew away did the Skwovet's eyes start darting around, quickly locking onto an escape route.
It planned to leap through the orchard's berry trees and make its getaway.
Without a second's hesitation, once Pidgeot was completely out of sight, it sprang into action.
It leaped, aiming for the nearest tree.
But halfway through the jump, the Skwovet quickly realized that the trunk, which had seemed so close, now appeared suspended in mid-air.
And its own body was also floating.
'Can I fly now?'
That was Skwovet's first thought.
But as its body was rapidly pulled back, it saw the human's face again.
"Goodness, running off the moment Pidgeot leaves. Good thing I still have some psychic abilities," Hayashi Kaede said cheerfully.
His psychic power might not compare to Gardevoir's, but it was at least at the level of a top-tier Psychic-type Pokémon.
Dealing with a little Skwovet was as easy as pie.
"Skwovet..."
With its escape plan foiled, the Skwovet's expression turned utterly despaired.
When Pidgeot was bringing it over, it had seen not just one Pidgeot.
There was also a huge, bluish-green snake, a very large dragon... each one looked fiercer than the last.
This human raised so many Pokémon!
Now that it was caught, it would probably be turned into dried rodent meat and eaten.
Thinking this, the Skwovet felt its life as a rodent was surely over.
At the end of its life, it remembered its conversation with its friend Meowth back on the tree branch.
And the Ponyta that said it would come to rescue it.
What a pity, it would never see its friends again.
But if you asked if it regretted it, the Skwovet's answer would definitely be no.
Because it knew that faced with such a large berry orchard, if it wasn't tempted today, it would be tomorrow.
If not tomorrow, then the day after.
Sooner or later, it would have crossed that line...
Hayashi Kaede naturally caught all these shifting expressions.
And that's precisely why he found it amusing.
Although he didn't know exactly what the Skwovet was thinking, he knew it probably wasn't anything good.
He suddenly spoke loudly, "Hey, Skwovet?"
This startled the already anxious Skwovet, making its whole body tremble.
"Skwovet!?"
"Aren't you going to spit out the Oran Berries in your mouth?"
Hayashi Kaede felt a sudden urge to tease the Skwovet. He widened his eyes, making the little rodent's eyelashes flutter nervously.
Its whole body shook again.
But the berries in its mouth remained firmly lodged there; it had no intention of spitting them out at all.
*If I'm going to die, there's no way I'm giving you these berries!*
The Skwovet closed its eyes, curled into a ball, and refused to look at Hayashi Kaede.
"Well, I'll be."
Seeing the Skwovet like this, Hayashi Kaede didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He poked it. Hmm, the Skwovet didn't budge at all.
He lost the urge to tease it further and simply picked it up. "Hey, Skwovet, do you want to eat my berries?"
The Skwovet didn't emerge, still curled up.
"Alright, alright, I won't eat you, and I won't sell you either," Hayashi Kaede could only continue reassuring it.
Although he didn't have Aura Power or Veridian Power to sense and soothe the Skwovet, just from its behavior, he could guess what it was feeling.
"Skwovet?"
The Skwovet peeked out, looking at Hayashi Kaede with confusion.
"I said I won't eat you. And you can take these berries home with you," Hayashi Kaede said, putting on what he thought was a gentle smile.
He tried to convey the meaning of his words to the Skwovet.
This time, the Skwovet's eyes lit up slightly. It leaned out to look at Hayashi Kaede.
It had mainly caught the keyword "berries."
"Skwovet?" (Really?)
Hayashi Kaede nodded affirmatively. "Of course."
The orchard had so many berries now that ripe ones often couldn't all be picked daily, leaving some hanging on the branches. So, letting the Skwovet take some back didn't matter.
In fact, he welcomed more wild Pokémon to come pick some berries when in need.
Of course, Hayashi Kaede wouldn't just give them away for free.
Giving them away for free would gradually make these wild Pokémon lose their sensitivity to foraging for food.
So, if they wanted to eat the berries, or even take some home, they definitely had to complete tasks!
"But the prerequisite is, you have to help me with some work~" Hayashi Kaede gently tapped its forehead.
"Skwovet?" (What kind of work?)
The Skwovet became interested.
Mainly because it heard the human say it could eat the berries here.
"It's like this. Look, there are so many berries here that I need some workers to help pick them. If you're willing, I can pay you with the berries from the tree—two berries from that tree as payment. Of course, it's limited to the area I designate. How about that?" Hayashi Kaede laid out the terms.
The berries in the grove grew daily. If Gardevoir and the little sister Indeedee had to pick them every day, although they could do it quickly, it would still consume a lot of their time.
Because the grove was large now; even psychic power couldn't harvest everything instantly.
If he could find some Pokémon to help with the harvest, it would reduce Gardevoir and the little sister Indeedee's workload!
But... are two berries too few?
Hayashi Kaede wondered.
Each berry tree yielded about a hundred ripe berries per day.
And the berries were large. For a Pokémon like Skwovet, picking all the berries from one tree without damaging them would probably take about twenty minutes?
Hayashi Kaede wasn't sure.
But the Skwovet's eyes were already shining.
╰(*°▽°*)╯: "Skwovet?" (Really?!)