While petting the little cat in his arms, Silas wandered leisurely around the ranch.
There was nothing unusual in either the berry orchard or the fruit grove, so he continued walking toward the cave not far away.
On top of a small hill formed from countless glittering stones, the three Noivern were lying lazily. They were enjoying the attentive service of the Carbink, recovering from the fatigue of their recent battle with the Dragonite.
It was unclear whether it was because of their termpered transformation or simply because they had spent so much time with the Carbink.
In addition to loving fresh ripe fruit, the Noivern had recently developed a strange hobby for collecting gemstones. Only when lying atop a pile of sparkling gems did they display expressions of true peace and relaxation.
When they saw Silas approaching, the three of them barely moved at all. They merely lifted their eyelids slightly as a greeting.
They had been quite exhausted over the past few days.
Silas called over a Carbink and asked it to guide him for a walk through the underground Diamond Domain.
The underground kingdom was constantly changing. The tunnels that branched out in all directions could easily confuse anyone who was not a Carbink. Humans or other Pokémon would quickly lose their way.
The changes in the Diamond Domain were quite significant.
The first was the presence of different Pokémon.
It was no longer inhabited solely by Carbink.
For example, the enormous tunnel before them, tall enough for three people to stand upright, had been excavated by Steelix, the evolved form of Onix.
Its massive body simply moved through the rock and instantly formed a wide passage.
Tempered by the intense pressure and heat deep underground, its body was harder than any metal.
In addition to Steelix, there were also signs of Geodude and Roggenrola moving through the tunnels.
After speaking with the elder Carbink and the Carbink Minister, Silas learned about Diancie's recent progress in her studies.
Only then did Silas leave the Diamond Domain and return to the surface.
"As expected, compared to the underground environment, the surface is far more comfortable."
Breathing in the scent of soil and grass carried by the air, Silas sighed contentedly.
"Meow!"
The little cat in his arms nodded in agreement.
Without stopping his steps, Silas continued toward the garden and the lake.
He checked on the condition of Veluza. Although its broken fin spike had not regrown, its body had already recovered.
"Has Clawitzer been coming back these past few days?"
"Vel!"
Veluza answered that it had seen Clawitzer both at sunrise and sunset every day.
"That is good."
Silas smiled in relief. Clawitzer was indeed quite obedient.
After saying goodbye to Veluza, Silas walked toward the farmland.
From a distance he could already see three large figures lying beside the pumpkin patch. As expected, the Mudsdale brothers were there.
"Mud!"
The leader, the eldest Mudsdale lightly tapped the ground with its hoof in front of him.
"I know, I know. I did not forget about the pumpkin pies."
Three large heads immediately crowded toward him, pushing Litten aside.
The little cat grew quite angry and began swatting at them with its paws.
However, its strength was so small that hitting the Mudsdale felt no different from scratching an itch.
It did not hurt at all. In fact, the youngest Mudsdale even hummed happily as if enjoying it.
It took quite a while before Silas managed to calm them down, but by then his entire body was inevitably covered in dust and dirt.
"You three really are something."
He tapped them helplessly, completely unable to deal with their enthusiasm.
"Later I will give you a bath. You are all filthy."
"Mud!" (No!) x3
The three Mudsdale stepped back together, their faces full of fear. They hated bathing more than anything.
Ignoring the three large followers behind him, Silas first checked the growth conditions of the pumpkins, yams, sugar beets, peanuts, and cranberries.
Among them, the pumpkins and yams were almost ripe. Some of the peanuts and cranberries could already be harvested, while the sugar beets were entering a full harvest period.
"Not bad," Silas commented.
"How is Dolliv doing now?"
"Mud~"
From the Mudsdale he learned that the use of the Rotottiler move had been somewhat effective. Dolliv's growth speed had clearly accelerated and its evolution seemed likely to happen soon.
After being covered in dust, even Litten kept a little distance from him.
Looking at his muddy condition, Silas decided that he would deal with the beach greenhouse later.
Before leaving he reminded the Mudsdale to get ready, then he began walking back toward the house.
After only a few steps, Silas suddenly heard an urgent voice calling from behind.
Turning around, he saw Cinccino sprinting toward him.
"Cin?! Cin!" (Silas, why are you covered in mud? So dirty!)
Its eyes burned with anger as it stomped its foot and immediately began cleaning Silas with its large fluffy tail.
"I was just with the Mudsdale brothers. They did this."
Silas spread his arms naturally and let Cinccino work.
Cinccino glared at him fiercely and scolded him in a lecturing tone.
"Cin! Cin! Cin!" (You are already an adult. Do not play in mud with them. It is disgusting and makes you filthy.)
Silas scratched his nose awkwardly. What else could he do except accept the scolding?
Cinccino cleaned him with great seriousness. From his shoulders to the hem of his pants, not a single speck of dirt remained.
More than ten minutes passed before the job was completely finished.
Exhausted, Cinccino collapsed into Silas's arms.
A clean and good smelling Silas was the best.
Cinccino snuggled deeper into his chest.
Silas lovingly squeezed its big ears and began giving it a gentle massage.
Sitting cross legged on the grass in front of the house, Pokémon gradually gathered around him.
"Morpe!"
Morpeko rolled closer and pulled out some snacks from its cheek pouches.
"You can eat them yourself. I am not hungry right now."
"Morpeko!"
It was obvious that Silas had misunderstood.
Morpeko opened its empty pouches to show him that the snacks were already gone.
Silas laughed and flicked its forehead lightly, then reached into the spatial waist pouch he carried and grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds, filling Morpeko's pouches again.
"This should be enough. Do not eat too much or you might get a sore throat."
"Morpe!"
Morpeko cried happily, covering its pouches with both hands before running away.
With a cracking sound from its teeth, it split open a sunflower seed and tossed it into its mouth.
Suddenly, Popplio leaped out and snatched the seed away in a single bite.
Everything else could be stolen, but Silas and snacks were absolutely not allowed.
Morpeko immediately chased after Popplio. The two Pokémon ran circles around everyone while playing and fighting.
Baby Kangaskhan that had been resting quietly in its mother's pouch grew excited when it saw this. It climbed out of the pouch, shouting happily, and began wobbling after them.
Kangaskhan watched with a loving smile.
Silas leaned comfortably against her.
Phione floated down into his arms and enjoyed his gentle petting.
Looking around, Silas suddenly noticed something missing.
"Hm? Where is Jigglypuff? It is not with you all?"
"Kang Kang!" (Jigglypuff is at the beach, singing a new song it just learned for the Heliolisk.)
"I see."
Silas understood and decided not to go to the beach for now.
"What about the Meowth?"
He had not seen the three of them in the farmland earlier.
"Kang Kang… Kang Kang!"
(Alolan Meowth is in the greenhouse. Meowth and Galarian Meowth just went to the garden to help.)
It seemed they had perfectly missed each other.
Holding the cool and refreshing Phione in his arms, Silas listened to the playful laughter of the Pokémon nearby. A smile slowly appeared on his face.
The warm autumn sunlight shone down gently. Unlike the intense heat of summer, it created a pleasant warmth that made one feel relaxed and unwilling to move.
Silas tickled Phione's tiny belly, making the little one twist and giggle.
The laughter attracted baby Kangaskhan.
It spread its tiny arms wide, shouted happily, and leaped straight into Silas's arms.
Silas showed a painful expression but forced himself to keep smiling.
The exhausted Morpeko and Popplio soon climbed onto him as well.
Everyone quietly enjoyed this peaceful moment together.
(End of Chapter)