Chapter 396:
March 3rd.
The weather remained clear.
After setting the terms with Skwovet yesterday, Hayashi Kaede waited in the berry orchard early in the morning.
Right around sunrise, his Aura senses detected it... them?
"Skwovet, Ponyta, Lechonk, Meowth, Furret...?"
Hayashi Kaede was a bit stunned.
Unexpectedly, Skwovet had quite a wide circle of friends.
The Pokémon it knew were quite a mix.
Meowth and Furret were acceptable, but where did this Lechonk and Ponyta come from?
Were these Pokémon normally found in this forest?
But there was a Furret, which made Hayashi Kaede's eyes light up.
Such a fluffy weasel... it looked very pleasing to the eye~
Using his Aura perception, Hayashi Kaede stayed quietly in place, waiting for the group of Pokémon to arrive.
...
On the other side, Skwovet led the group of Pokémon. This time, they walked openly across the bridge towards the town.
It was full of courage, seemingly completely unafraid.
Even when they saw Uncle Genmu fishing on the bridge, sighing heavily.
For some reason, even though it was spring, the fish were becoming harder and harder to catch.
Because of this, that Alolan Ninetales was no longer willing to come play.
"Lechonk..." (Is it really okay?)
The slightly timid Lechonk looked at the confident Skwovet ahead and asked worriedly.
There was a boundary between the human and Pokémon worlds.
If large numbers of Pokémon approached the edges of human towns, they would be driven away.
"Skwovet~" (It's fine, it's fine~)
But Skwovet showed no fear. The human yesterday had told it that when they came tomorrow, they just needed to cross here.
The Meowth beside it couldn't help but peek at the water's surface.
It wouldn't have been a problem if it didn't look, but upon looking, under the reflection of the sunlight, a blue shadow seemed to flicker faintly beneath the water's surface.
When it saw it a bit more clearly, Meowth realized this blue shadow was as long as the bridge itself!
This gave it a huge fright. It didn't dare look at the water again and obediently stayed close to Skwovet.
Ponyta was much more active, its hooves stepping freshly on the concrete pavement, an experience it had never had before.
Furret sat on its back, not moving at all.
After crossing the bridge and stepping onto the bluestone path, they started encountering people.
Because it was a Challenge Day, a crowd had gathered on the other side of the orchard, either watching or participating in challenges.
The noisy sounds naturally made these wild Pokémon nervous.
The sight of the Pidgeot they had encountered up close yesterday, now swooping down, made even the relatively brave Skwovet feel a bit apprehensive.
"Skwovet..." (We're here, we're here...)
But soon, it saw the human waiting for it in front of the berry orchard and let out an exclamation, quickly running over.
Although they had only interacted for one day, Skwovet had already sensed that this human was definitely a good person~!
The other Pokémon, seeing Skwovet suddenly accelerate, froze for a moment, instantly splitting into two factions.
Ponyta also quickened its pace, following Skwovet towards Hayashi Kaede.
Meanwhile, the more timid Lechonk, startled by the sudden movement, actually turned around and ran back towards the forest.
"Lechonk....!"
Σ(っ °Д °;): (I'm not eating, not eating! I'm going back!)
(Rooting in the mud is fine too.)
(This place looks way too scary.)
Meowth stayed put, momentarily confused. It looked back at the fleeing Lechonk, then at Ponyta and Skwovet ahead. Finally, gritting its teeth, it followed Skwovet forward.
"Skwovet~!" (I brought my friends!)
Skwovet happily pointed at the other Pokémon behind it. When it looked back, it realized that what was originally four friends had somehow become three.
"Lechonk left, huh."
Hayashi Kaede watched the Lechonk scamper away and couldn't help but shake his head in amusement.
He had actually just been thinking about what tasks these Pokémon could do.
Although Lechonk was a bit short and couldn't climb trees, Hayashi Kaede had thought of a job for it: loosening the soil in the berry orchard would be good.
Wasn't rooting in the earth its specialty?
But since it ran off mid-way, there was nothing to be done. Hayashi Kaede looked at the remaining Pokémon.
"Skwovet..."
Skwovet was still muttering, wondering why Lechonk would leave at the last moment.
"Three friends, so I'll give you six Oran Berries later!" Hayashi Kaede patted Skwovet's head. While the other Pokémon still looked a bit dazed, he led them into the orchard.
Among these Pokémon, except for Ponyta, who wasn't suited for picking berries, the others—Meowth, Furret, and Skwovet—were all capable.
But since Hayashi Kaede had accepted Ponyta, he naturally had a job it could help with: transportation.
The berries they picked were placed on cloth strips. These smaller Pokémon weren't very strong, so the task of collecting them still fell to the little sister Indeedee.
Hayashi Kaede had originally considered asking Alolan Ninetales to do it.
But thinking about how obsessed Alolan Ninetales was with training lately, he felt it was better not to disturb it.
It had even recruited Blaziken...
But now that they had Ponyta, putting Ponyta on the job was perfect.
Skwovet had learned the picking method yesterday, so it quickly taught the other Pokémon.
Watching from the side, Hayashi Kaede nodded in satisfaction.
Comparatively, Skwovet's picking speed was average. If it worked here all day, it could handle the berries from over ten trees.
Then there was Furret. It had been huddled on Ponyta's back earlier, making Hayashi Kaede think it might be shy.
But now, watching it work, it was both fast and precise.
Its slender body weaved through the berry trees, quickly clearing the berries from one tree.
Ponyta was also full of enthusiasm, tying the picked berries into bundles with the cloth strips and delivering them to the yard.
Hayashi Kaede had initially thought about offering extra rewards to whoever picked the most, but after consideration, he decided against it.
Because he hadn't set any quotas for the Pokémon.
As long as they picked, even just from one tree, Hayashi Kaede would give them the corresponding berries.
This way, they could work when they felt like it and leave freely when they didn't.
After all, they were all wild Pokémon...
And the reward system he mentioned to Skwovet for "recruiting" other Pokémon was still temporarily in place~