[Spicy Giant Oysters (C): A dish made from deep-sea giant oysters, possessing special effects.
Dish Effect: Dragon-vigorous, tiger-fierce—no further explanation needed.]
"Did it really work?"
Silas blinked, already confident that Pyroar would love it.
He first carried the freshly made Poffins into the living room and clapped his hands toward the gathered Pokémon.
"Everyone, take a break and come eat something."
"Morpe~"
Morpeko caught the scent and was the first to run over.
Silas gave Morpeko a piece, then placed the rest on the dining table, letting the Pokémon help themselves.
Carrying over the spicy giant oysters and a few pieces of rich, spicy Poffins, Silas went to find Pyroar and set everything down in front of it, speaking with meaningful emphasis:
"Pyroar, this is all I can do for you. Whether you can improve your position in the family's 'hierarchy' depends on you now."
With that, Silas turned and walked away.
He didn't forget to call out to Litten on the roof, beckoning it to come inside and eat something too.
"Meow!"
Litten replied and followed him into the house.
On the grass outside the ranch cottage, Pyroar sniffed at the food on the plate.
The enticing aroma of the spicy Poffins made it swallow involuntarily.
After gulping down one piece, its eyes lit up instantly—the flavor was perfectly to its liking.
In just a few bites, Pyroar finished all the Poffins. Nourished by Fire-type energy, its reddish-brown fur became more flowing and vibrant.
Handsomeness +1 +1…
Satisfied with the Poffins, Pyroar set its sights on the giant oysters beside them.
It swallowed all three large pieces of oyster meat in one go. The fiery heat made it feel exhilarated, brimming with vitality.
Power surged through its body. Letting out a loud roar, it sprinted toward the grasslands, disappearing into the ranch in the blink of an eye.
Right now, it was overflowing with strength—it was going to battle its mate three hundred rounds and make it clear who the real boss was.
Standing by the window while feeding Litten, Silas noticed Pyroar's hurried retreat.
If even this couldn't help Pyroar pin down the female Pyroar, then Silas really had no other ideas left!
Seeing Litten finish its Poffins and about to run off, Silas quickly called out to stop it.
"Litten, wait a moment."
"Meow?"
A moment later, Silas took out a fur-care spray and explained, "This is a spray I bought recently. It helps you better control the oiliness of your fur."
"Don't move around, okay? Let's give it a try."
He gently placed a hand on Litten and stroked along the direction of its fur.
Litten's body stiffened at first, but as Silas continued the rhythmic strokes, it gradually relaxed, a low purring sound rumbling in its throat.
At that moment, Silas picked up a small comb specially made for grooming Pokémon and gently brushed through Litten's fur, removing all the loose undercoat.
Only after finishing that did Silas take the spray and apply it evenly over Litten's body, spraying from top to bottom in a full circle before stopping.
He combed it once more, then put away the tools and let Litten go.
"All done."
Litten shook itself and looked itself over.
The greasy feeling it used to have was gone. It extended its small tongue with tiny barbs, gave Silas's hand a quick lick, then dashed away shyly at top speed and hid on the roof.
Silas smiled, his mood exceptionally good, even humming a little tune.
The distance between him and Litten had narrowed just a bit more. Litten was gradually accepting his presence—sooner or later, he'd be able to hold it in his arms and give it a good cuddle.
Just thinking about it made him happy.
After putting the tools away, Silas went up to the second floor, washed Smoliv's special flowerpot, and refilled it with fresh nutrient soil.
Smoliv couldn't wait to sit back inside and chirped happily toward Silas.
"Smol!"
"As long as you like it," Silas said with a smile, teasing Smoliv with his finger. "Tomorrow I'll take you to visit Gym Leader Ramos."
"Smol~"
Smoliv's mood drooped slightly. If it couldn't evolve, it couldn't produce delicious olive oil for Silas.
"Don't worry. Gym Leader Ramos is an expert in Grass-type Pokémon. He'll definitely be able to solve your evolution problem."
Silas comforted it, giving his assurance.
Only then did Smoliv feel better. Facing the sunlight, the green leaves atop its head swayed gently as it began photosynthesizing.
After settling Smoliv, Silas called Cyclizar over and asked it to help take all the bedding outside to air them out and get rid of the musty smell.
Once they were done, Cyclizar eagerly pawed at Silas, standing up with its forelegs on him and looking up expectantly.
"Cyc!"
(Little red flower!)
"So that's why you didn't go play, huh!"
Rubbing Cyclizar's big head, Silas took out the prepared little red flower.
"Don't lose it."
"Cyc~"
(I won't, Silas. I'll treasure it properly.)
With the little red flower in hand, Cyclizar ran off happily, returning to the cottage to hide it away. It now had three in total.
Watching Cyclizar leave, Silas smiled and shook his head, patting the bedding and knocking out quite a bit of dust.
While Silas was busy, Noivern flew over and landed beside him.
"Noi~"
"Perfect timing!"
With Noivern's help, they cleaned the roads one by one. Noivern used wind-based moves to blow dust and dirt high into the air and out of the ranch.
After clearing the roads, Silas had Noivern help tidy up the grasslands as well, cutting down the wild, overgrown weeds.
Using Air Slash, everything was cut cleanly at the base.
Only when things were neat and orderly did it truly look like a proper ranch.
"All right, the work's done. You can go play now."
Silas patted Noivern as praise.
Noivern lowered its big head into his arms, leaning against him and rubbing affectionately.
Having just returned to the ranch, there was a lot to do. Without pause, Silas changed into work clothes and headed to the five newly reclaimed fields.
The Meowth and the Mudsdale were already hard at work there.
The Meowth helped pull out all the weeds, while Mudsdale used rototiller to loosen the compacted soil.
The Pokémon worked together with perfect coordination—there was no need for Silas to intervene at all.
When they noticed him approaching, both Meowth and Mudsdale greeted him.
The eldest Mudsdale trotted over first. Silas rested a hand on it and rubbed its big head.
"Mud! Mud~"
(Silas, leave this place to us! We guarantee the task will be completed.)
Alolan Meowth chimed in, "Meowrr!"
(Don't worry, Silas. Leave it to us.)
Since they all said so and there were no issues, Silas nodded. "All right, I'll leave this area to you."
"Meow!" ×3
"Mud~" ×3
(Task guaranteed to be completed!!) ×6
Leaving the fields behind, Silas turned toward the orchard.
The berry trees hadn't been damaged by wild Pokémon—well, not exactly. A small number of leaves had been nibbled away by Bug-type Pokémon.
The Noibat duo were helping here, pulling out the Bug Pokémon hiding in the treetops one by one. After giving them a scare, they tossed them back into the back mountain, ensuring they wouldn't dare enter the ranch again.
There were quite a few Bug Pokémon that had snuck into the orchard—mostly Scatterbug, Caterpie, and a small number of Burmy.
The first two were easy to spot at a glance, but Burmy, disguised in its plant cloak, wasn't so easy to find.
Their exquisite camouflage had slipped past the Noibat's carpet-search efforts.
As for finding them, Silas had a solution—he asked the Noibat to call Phione over.
(End of Chapter)