Silas broke the large honey pancake into many small crumbs and fed them to Fletchinder, while also remembering to give a few pieces to Meganium and Litten.
After the bird Pokémon finished eating and their relationship grew a little closer, Silas finally asked the question that had been lingering in his mind.
"Fletchinder, why do you help other Pokémon incubate their eggs?"
Fletchinder lifted its head and shook its body slightly as it replied.
"Fletch, fletch!"
The sound of this Fletchinder's voice was different from the two others Silas had encountered earlier. Their cries had been rough and sharp, but this one carried a faint softness, like a bronze bell lightly stirred by the wind. The tone sounded unusually gentle and pleasant.
Unfortunately, it spoke too much at once and Silas could not understand everything.
So he poked Rowlet beside him and asked it to help translate.
Rowlet tilted its head while listening carefully for a moment, then flapped its wings lightly.
"Rowl Rowl!"
(Fletchinder says it cannot defeat other members of its own species, and the food in its territory is very limited.)
After hearing Rowlet's explanation, Silas once again noticed the differences in the Fletchinder standing before him.
Compared to the usual size, this Fletchinder was much smaller.
"Fletch fletch!"
"Rowl~"
It turned out that Fletchinder had evolved earlier than normal, which caused its growth to become stunted. This natural disadvantage meant it frequently lost when competing against other Fletchinder.
Its territory in the back mountain was one of the poorest areas, where food was extremely scarce.
Later, when it tried to enter other Fletchinder territories in search of food, it was mercilessly driven away.
After many failed attempts, the Fletchinder had no choice but to change its survival strategy.
It began using its special ability to help wild Pokémon incubate their eggs in exchange for food. Only by doing this had it been able to survive.
"Mega~"
Meganium cried softly, its voice filled with sympathy. It lowered its head and gently rubbed against the small, thin body of the Fletchinder as if trying to comfort it.
Fletchinder chirped quietly and lightly pecked Meganium in return.
Seeing that the two Pokémon were getting along well, Silas stepped forward and made a suggestion.
"Fletchinder, I would like to hire you to work at the ranch."
"Fletch?"
Fletchinder lowered its head and looked at its own small body. It was not good at fighting and felt it could not help much with work.
"Don't reject the idea yet. Please listen to me first."
"Mega!"
Meganium stretched out its vine and gently pulled the Fletchinder back when it seemed ready to leave.
Silas crouched down so that he was nearly at eye level with the bird Pokémon, then explained very seriously.
"What I value is not your battle strength. What I admire is your gentleness toward Pokémon eggs. I want you to come to the ranch and help incubate eggs. These eggs belong to Meganium's children."
"Mega~~"
Meganium nodded and also issued its own invitation.
Fletchinder clearly began to waver, although it still hesitated.
"Fletch… fletch?"
"Of course you can," Silas replied with a nod. "When you have free time, you can still return to the back mountain to help other Pokémon incubate eggs. I can let Rowlet protect you."
"Rowl!"
Being mentioned by name, Rowlet immediately puffed out its chest proudly and struck a strong pose to show how capable it was.
At that moment Litten suddenly interrupted with a dissatisfied meow.
It could protect Fletchinder too.
The little cat Pokémon extended its sharp claws and bared its pointed teeth. In its mind it had already decided that it would visit the back mountain every day to teach those troublesome Pokémon a lesson.
They needed to clearly understand one thing.
Fletchinder was under the protection of this cat now.
"Fletch!"
With all of its worries gone, and with Meganium continuing to invite it enthusiastically, Fletchinder looked into Silas's hopeful eyes.
Finally it nodded gently.
It was willing to go to the ranch with them.
Fletchinder did not really have anything it needed to bring along. Before leaving, it simply informed the nearby Pokémon that occasionally needed help incubating eggs.
Along the way, Rowlet and Litten worked together to deal with every Fletchinder they encountered.
Their strategy was simple but extremely effective.
First came intimidation upon meeting.
Then a quick double strike using Peck and Shadow Sneak.
If the opponent still refused to submit, they would follow up with Razor Leaf and Heat Wave.
After such a full combo of attacks, not a single Fletchinder remained standing without lumps on its head.
On that day, the Fletchinder of the back mountain experienced the terrifying dominance of a cat Pokémon.
In this way the group finally returned to the ranch.
Silas sent the owl and the cat Pokémon off to play, while he brought Fletchinder to the small house near the berry orchard.
"Here. These five Pokémon eggs are Meganium's children."
"Fletch!"
The Fletchinder flew down from Silas's shoulder.
However, it did not approach the eggs immediately.
Instead it first asked Meganium and Tropius for permission. Only after Meganium firmly nudged Tropius aside and gave its approval did Fletchinder finally approach the Chikorita eggs.
It spread its wings and carefully wrapped one egg within them.
The temperature of its body gradually increased.
Its Flame Body ability activated, accelerating the incubation time of the Pokémon egg.
The description on the Pokémon interface panel changed.
[Chikorita Egg (Accelerated Incubation): The Pokémon egg just shook slightly. It seems very happy.]
Fletchinder repeated the process five times.
After finishing, it flew back to Silas's shoulder looking slightly exhausted.
When Silas placed his hand on its body, he could still feel the warmth lingering from its feathers.
"Thank you for your hard work, Fletchinder."
"Fletch!"
Fletchinder shook its head.
This was its job. It did not feel that it was particularly difficult.
Still, Silas took two Oran Berries from his pocket to help the bird Pokémon recover some energy.
While Meganium and Tropius carefully examined the eggs, Silas used the time to build a small bird nest for Fletchinder beneath the roof of the berry orchard house.
The nest was placed above the little house where the group of little apple Pokémon lived, so they could become neighbors.
Afterward Silas brought Fletchinder around to meet the other Pokémon at the ranch, and at the same time he arranged its responsibilities.
"You only need to use Flame Body on the Chikorita eggs once each day. The rest of the time is completely yours to use as you wish. But whenever you leave the ranch, remember to tell Indeedee first."
"Fletch!"
Fletchinder nodded in agreement.
Life at the ranch was already far better than surviving in the wild, so it felt extremely satisfied.
After explaining everything, Silas waved toward Cinccino and asked the little Pokémon to take Fletchinder around the ranch to play.
Meanwhile, he asked Giant Dragonite to stay behind.
"Dra?"
Giant Dragonite tilted its head in confusion.
Did Silas need its help with something? Dragonite was confident it could handle anything.
"How about coming with me tomorrow to challenge a gym?"
Silas wanted to test Giant Dragonite's true strength.
Especially how powerful it was after shrinking its body while also using Mega Evolution.
This would also be a good opportunity to reveal Super Dragonite to the world.
"Draa!" (Don't worry. Leave it to me!)
Giant Dragonite pounded its chest loudly with confidence.
"So confident? Then tomorrow I'll only bring you as my single Pokémon."
Dragonite immediately hugged Silas tightly and buried its large head against his chest.
Silas trusted it so much.
There was absolutely no way it would disappoint him.
Tomorrow it would fight with all of its strength.
Giant Dragonite instantly put on an extremely serious expression, the same fierce determined face that Iris's Dragonite often showed.
At the same time, inside the Snowbelle Gym.
"ACHOO!"
The gym leader suddenly sneezed loudly and looked around in confusion.
For some reason he felt a strange sense of unease, as if countless eyes were staring at him from behind, making the hair on his back stand up.
"Mr. Wulfric, a very strong trainer will be coming tomorrow to challenge the gym."
A staff member approached to report the information.
Wulfric wore a coat over his shoulders, revealing his muscular arms. He looked over the challenger's information.
This trainer was indeed very impressive.
He had already obtained six special gym badges.
"Oh, that one," Wulfric said with a confident grin. "Tomorrow's battle is going to be intense. Abomasnow and the others will not hold back at all."
"Achoo!"
At the ranch, Giant Dragonite rubbed its nose as it sneezed again.
Cinccino and the other Pokémon looked at it with concerned expressions.
(End of Chapter)