Chương 76: C076 - The Comfey Fields
After the tournament was over and with all the interviews done, Pete teleported home with a group of women that would and did make him the envy of most people.
Valerie dragged him to his house to prepare for the evolution of Spritzee. The rest of the girls followed Iris to the loud sounds she heard echoing rhythmically in the meadow.
Courtney went with the group of girls after she saw them arrive back from the trip and congratulated Jasmine on yet another victory. Sophie was currently not at the farm.
When they reached the source of the sound, Jasmine, Courtney, Clair, Whitney, and Iris watched Pete's pokemon play some weird combination of tennis and baseball. Two giant Conkeldurr were using pillars to swat a melon sized ball back and forth, each standing between two posts acting as goals.
There was a net between them and ten pokemon on each side. The rules were simple and a little unrefined, but it served as a great pastime for a lot of his pokemon.
Once one of the Conkeldurr missed, the team behind him had to bring the ball back to the 'batter' while the other side would set one pokemon forward to run around the net. Each successful lap around the net gave a point while getting hit by the ball before turning back to the team behind the goal posts meant the pokemon is out, and the team loses three points.
The two Conkeldurr, who were the two original Timburr Pete hatched ages ago, were the main-batters for this sport. Under Pete's tips and encouragement, the two had developed this sport, Pete jokingly called Poke Ball into a fun team sport that even younger pokemon would have fun participating in. Though nobody ever had fun if either of the Conkeldurr played against another batter.
Only the Farfetch'd came close, but they had technique over sheer power going for them, and the playstyle and field was only truly fair if two Farfetch'd took on one Conkeldurr.
"This house is even prettier than the video of the interview suggested," Valerie said in wonder as she watched Pete prepare some snacks for the guests in the big, open kitchen of his farm house.
Pete looked up with a warm smile and found the young fairy pokemon trainer smitten with his two Cinccinos who were at the side mixing flour for some kind of dough.
"Thanks, Jasmine and her twin sister Sophie probably have the biggest share in the beauty of this place. I barely decided what it would look like when I drew up some plans for the construction company. Most decorations are put up by those two."
"They have great taste then."
Pete finished up a sort of pink shake with the blender and handed it to Valerie for taste testing, "Here, try this."
"Mmmh, I mean, I saw you put in some kind of berries, but I don't recognise the taste. It's amazing!"
Pete took a sip as well before answering, "Usually, I like it a little sour, but Mago Berry juice has that fairy typing pink hue that would fit well with you, I thought. It's just Moomoo Milk, Alcremie Cream, two sliced Mago Berries, a dash of dried vanilla, and a drop of Combee honey. If it's too sweet, just tell me, and I'll make something else. The recipe is like that for Courtney's sake. She has a bit of a sweet tooth."
"No, it's lovely. Thank you," Valerie quickly denied and drank even more of the shake. "Uh, what's Alcremie Cream?"
"Hmm? I thought you read all my papers? Milcery's evolution Alcremie. A pure fairy pokemon discovered in Galar. Can produce a sweet cream similarly to a Miltank's milk. Courtney and Sophie constantly pester me and my pokemon to make desserts for them since they found out. Wait, I didn't release that paper on the different forms of Alcremie now that I think about it," Pete explained and looked outside, "It's getting dark. If we want to try it out today, we'll have to be quick about it."
He placed a few tall glasses for the shakes on a tray and called out to his shiny Reuniclus mentally, 'hey girl, mind delivering some refreshments while I head out to the flower patch near the hydrocultures?'
A good twenty minutes later, Pete, Valerie, her three pokemon Spritzee, Mawile, and Sylveon reached Pete's field for hydrocultures near the river and just before reaching Spice Island. Valerie asked nonstop questions about this Alcremie and its different forms, but so far Pete only had two Alcremie and two different forms, vanilla and salted which prompted his newest research paper. His singular other Milcery wasn't yet ready to evolve.
The hydrocultures in this field were mostly for the seeds Ludicolo had gifted him back on his first Hoenn trip. They pretty much grew and behaved just like rice plants, so he made a sort of rice field with actual rice and the gifted seeds. Once he grew one seed into a plant carrying several, he could finally test out what he had gotten.
One of them was likely the Energy Seed because it behaved much like an Oran and Leppa Berry combination, aiding in wound and stamina recovery. Yet another was highly likely a Joy Seed and came closest to what Pete would assume is a Rare Candy in this world.
Once eaten, it helped pokemon grow at astonishing rates. But nothing came for free. The fast growth meant having to put twice as much effort into training a pokemon's own coordination, and it did nothing to help with typing energy training. So, while it might help them grow up faster, it did not really increase their power by a lot.
Something Pete didn't yet test was the long-term consequences of prolonged consumption. He feared the results a bit and didn't want to find a guinea pig for testing.
Yet another seed was something he sometimes put in the diet of himself and the girls living on the farm. It was either the Life Seed or the Tiny Reviver Seed based on the fact that it energizes the person or pokemon by a good margin and provides an endless well of stamina for a short while. Pete found out its boon for the bedroom by accident.
The last seed was like a mythical carrot on crack. Once eaten in large enough quantities, it permanently increased his already good eyesight by quite a lot. It was the seed he cultivated the most and planned to have sold through Jasmine's family company in the near future to permanently cure bad eyesight for people and pokemon alike.
Pete wasn't quite sure what it was because from his vague recollection of the Mystery Dungeon games. There should have been a few seeds that cured eye-related status effects.
Next to this field for the miracle seeds and rice, Pete had planted a field of flowers with Courtney's help. He called it the Comfey Fields endearingly because his Comfey enjoyed floating around here and picking flowers for their... vines? that made up the flower filled ring of a healthy Comfey.
Valerie looked at the various fairy pokemon flittering about here and there with shining eyes and mumbled, "Wow, this is heaven..."
At the river's bank next to the flower field, a few Marill and Azurill were currently playing around under the watchful eyes of a few Azumarill, the two original parents who were grandparents by now included.
Two Cottonee were playfully dodging a few non-threatening water attacks while three Whimsicott were playing hide and seek in the flower bed. While two Comfey cheered the one searching on.
Three pokemon, a Dedenne, a Ralts, and an Igglybuff came close to Pete and made cute, pleading sounds. With a bright smile, he bent down to pick them up and place them on his shoulders for a ride-along. The Dedenne chose to sit on his head instead, and his hair softly started floating up from the static charge.
Clearly, the electric/fairy pokemon knew what it was doing based on its mischievous giggle, but Pete knew how to counter this prank by circulating his ground type energy to get rid of the static charge.
"Alright, Spritzee. Point us to some flowers you think smell really nice and we'll gather you a beautiful bouquet. How about it?"
Spritzee looked around in wonder at the countless different fairy pokemon and just like her trainer felt like she had arrived in heaven. When she heard Pete's suggestion, she snapped toward him and eagerly nodded.
Valerie followed Pete's example, took off her shoes, and slowly walked behind the trainer who greeted all the pokemon he came across. With one Comfey floating down to give him a pokemon flower necklace, the fairy pokemon riding on his head and shoulders and the group of Whimiscotts taking a break from their game to hug his legs and dance around him, Pete really did look like the god of fairy pokemon.
The romantic, flattering lighting of the sunset in the distance, the pink ethereal energies of the combined fairy moves Misty Terrain, and the Togetic that came barreling down to land in his arms from out of nowhere only cemented that image in Valerie's heart.
While Valerie soaked the image of the beautiful scenery in her mind and gained inspiration for a few new outfits, Pete gathered a big handful of flowers for Spritzee.
Pete held the flowers up for the approval of the Comfey around his neck. When the little fairy pokemon happily rotated in place around his neck, Pete handed over the flowers to Spritzee.
Just like he suspected, the pokemon did not evolve right at this instant. Spritzee looked a little down because of it. She heard from Valerie how Pete knew about how she could get stronger.
Pete saw the sad expression and reassured the pokemon, "No worries. This is just our first try. We'll find out the 'how' in no time. I don't know how to make perfume, but we'll find out what it is."
Spritzee didn't look too convinced, so Pete continued in a whisper, "I'll hop into my hot spring later. We'll use these flowers to make you a fragrant bath if your trainer decides to stay."
Then he looked back to Valerie but concentrated on Mawile. The pokemon had relatively low stats, so it wouldn't be too crazy if it had an evolution, but instead, it had a confirmed mega evolution that wasn't yet known to the world.
Was there more? Were there more evolutions of Comfey? Dedenne? Klefki? There were quite a few 'weak' fairy pokemon that had low-ish base stats and would deserve some love.
Just as he mused over hidden evolutions that weren't part of the games and their possibility, a voice was heard that wasn't Valerie's.
"Pete, I came over to hear about mega evolutions from you," a visibly uncomfortable Clair asked. For a woman with such a powerful dragon affinity, this field filled with fairy pokemon must induce a migraine.
Chương 77: C077 - Dragons at his farm
Pete was once more in his kitchen. Courtney had taken Valerie to the hot spring to relax and even invited her over to stay. Jasmine was outside talking things through with her pokemon with Whitney watching, and Iris and Clair were currently watching Pete cook.
"So you wanted to talk about mega evolutions? Did you get a stone and want to figure out who to give it to?"
Clair looked at his back and admitted with a sigh, "Yeah, Lance recently found three stones in a raid and is on his way to Kalos to discuss their prospects with Professor Sycamore. We both owned Keystones for a long time, but finding the appropriate stone for your pokemon is simply too hard."
"He gave you one to keep? What are its typings?"
"Flying and water," Clair answered as she took out a stone slightly bigger than her fist.
"Hmm, that's certainly a nice stone for your lineup. First of all, it probably screams Gyarados. For Flying, you probably have way too many options in Charizard, Aerodactyl, Altaria... do you have a Salamence?"
Clair narrowed her eyes at Pete and asked in suspicion, "And I have a Dragonite and a Kingdra. Why would you leave them out? Is this your way of telling me they don't have mega evolutions?"
Pete stilled for a moment. It was true. They didn't have mega evolutions... in the games. They could have mega evolutions after all in this world.
"Uh, how would I know? I'm not consciously thinking about your lineup day by day. Just telling you what came to mind, haha."
"Ugh, anyway. Lance sent me a picture of his new mega Salamance that evolved thanks to a dragon/fire mega stone, and I don't want to lag behind. I've thought about Gyarados, too. My Charizard declined the opportunity. It was my grandfather's pokemon he started training at the end of his career and is getting too old. He would rather have me use this precious stone on one of my younger pokemon."
While Clair kept weighing her options, Pete thought about the known mega evolutions that could induce dragon typing.
'I'm already way too knowledgeable about a lot of stuff. Can I really come out and tell people about undocumented mega evolutions like Ampharos, who turns into electric/dragon Mega Ampharos? Or Mega Sceptile, the grass/dragon pokemon? The hidden evo-conditions I could explain with educated guesses, rumors, and hidden myths... I probably shouldn't even mention that Altaria changes into the only known dragon/fairy pokemon upon mega evolution. With it getting the Pixilate ability, Clair would be undefeated among dragon trainers, most likely...'
"Your Altaria was very young yet very eager last we met. Right? I have a few Swablu flittering around my pokemon's newest breeding ground, 'Dragon's Peak', next to where the lake meets the ocean's bay. So I'll be biased and say I would want to see Altaria mega evolve. Did Professor Sycamore have data about a Mega Altaria yet?"
Clair didn't think much about Pete's potentially hidden info anymore and mused that trying her luck with Altaria was as good as whatever she came up with. But before she could respond, Iris chimed in rather aggresively.
"You have a Dragon's Peak here? Point me to it! I want to challenge the peak's master with my Hydreigon and become their queen!"
Pete finally turned around to give Iris a concerned look, "Uh... I'd appreciate it if you didn't destroy the peak. I won't tell you how to behave because those living there are dragon pokemon, you are more knowledgeable about them. Oh, and don't hurt the Swablu. They are too cute, and my Cinccino are great friends with all of them. They'd be quite upset with me if their cleaning playmates were injured."
Both Cinccino, who were helping out in the kitchen swiftly and eagerly nodded, fearing for the wellbeing of their newest friends.
Iris swiftly ran outside before running back in, "Tell one of your pokemon to take me there!"
Pete shook his head and called out for his Metagross. The Beldum he had received from Steven took much longer to evolve than any other pokemon in his team and only evolved into its final form four weeks ago. He called out to Metagross because it was one of the few pokemon not intimidated by the aura of the pokemon present there.
'Hey buddy. Could you drop off Iris near the peak after dinner and bring her back once she's done with whatever she's doing? And please help me keep an eye on the Swablu and the eggs. I don't want the Dragonites to get angry.'
Metagross hummed in agreement, and Pete turned to Iris, who had shining eyes while looking at the giant steel pokemon. She could likely feel the sheer power Pete's rare pokemon emitted.
"Metagross here will take you once you've eaten. Food's almost done anyway."
With the help of two Miltank, two Cinccino, an Arcanine and a Klinklang, who moved knives and pots with his steel type energy, Pete prepared two giant pots of curry for some of his pokemon and all his guests.
He had to stop feeding all of his pokemon self-made food quite a while ago and only cooked on special occasions like guests coming over. Some pokemon still regularly ate with him and the girls, but it simply wasn't feasible to cook for over a hundred pokemon on a daily basis.
Instead, Pete let them eat berries or other plants straight from the source or they would eat Pokeblocks that Pete regularly mass produced with a device Devon Corp made for him some time ago that was three times as large as the regular portable Pokeblock Kit he bought in Hoenn on his trip.
Sophie came back from her dayjob and joined them outside for dinner. She recently had Herbert and Isabelle create a company in Olivine City that imports and exports fabrics, and she started designing unique, one of a kind dresses and suits with them. She chose Olivine based on the fact that her sister would likely become the gym leader there, and she didn't want to be too far apart from her twin sister.
"Hey, isn't that that obscure dragon pokemon Uncle Drayden told me about? Flapple?"
While they were sitting outside to enjoy their food while the area near the house was lit up in torches, Iris pointed to a small lizard frantically flapping its wings made of red apple shell. The small pokemon barely as tall or big as a watermelon landed near Pete's shiny Jumpluff and placed two berries next to her.
"Yep, that's my Flapple. He eats nothing but berries, and mostly just Leppa Berries, but he usually brings something over for his mate Jumpluff when we eat. He's probably unconvinced that my food is nutritious or tasty enough," Pete explained with a grin. Flapple really had a lot of character, but it was still much more sociable than his other dragon pokemon. The Dragonair he hatched from Milotic's egg had quite the attitude, for example. Only his Flygon, the matriarch of Dragon's Peak, was on the more friendly side.
She also surprised Pete immensely when she laid eggs that didn't have Yanmega as the father. Apparently, this world had some mild changes to the egg pools and made Flygon part of the dragon egg pool like it rightfully should.
Clair looked intrigued and thought now was as good a time as any to bring up the second reason she came today.
"Hey, Pete. Do you have any Applin eggs you would trade with me? You would honestly do me a favor more than I do you, but there's a Drampa who lost a wing and can't make the daily trip down from the mountains near Blackthorn City anymore. He's a gentle soul among dragon pokemon, and I'd want him to stay here in this peaceful environment."
"Huh, that's intriguing. I would agree, but you have to ask Jumpluff and Flapple over there. They only have two eggs between them so far, and from what I have seen, Flapple didn't spread his apple seeds anywhere else," Pete suggested with a wink. "Or do you know if Flapple has another mate, Courtney?"
Clair just groaned, but Iris gained an appalled blush at Pete's crude words. Courtney tilted her head to think for a moment. She sat next to Valerie at the table. Those two immediately clicked when they met earlier.
"No, Flapple is a one-gal-guy from what I've seen. He was smitten with your shiny Jumpluff from day one. Took him a while to woo her," Courtney answered.
Pete nodded in thanks and turned back to Clair, "There you have it. Get their permission, and you can take an egg. His ability Ripen is a bit of a cheat on this farm, but honestly, our berry orchard is gigantic. I'm already feeding quite a few wild pokemon with excess berries."
Valerie, Iris, and Clair stopped what they were doing and looked at Pete as if he was a madman. Whitney just shook her head with an exasperated sigh and murmured, 'what did I expect' under her breath.
Iris eventually spoke up while changing her expression and looking at Pete as if he is an idiot, "Why not sell them?"
"Hmm, I know Celebi probably couldn't care less. But when I ended that decade old war between the Vileplume and Ariados tribes, it asked me to nurture new, diverse life in the meadow and by extension the forest. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to live here, so I'm doing it for more brownie points, if I'm honest. And what would I need more money for? I already have way more than I would ever need thanks to my publications, and let's not talk about the 3% shares in Devon Corp that would mean I couldn't spend all my money in one lifetime."
Clair lifted an eyebrow and curiously asked, "How did that happen? Mr Stone didn't need any investors because he built up the company from ground up on his own. Only his son Steven, that weird nerd Bill and Oak ever received any shares from that man."
"Remember the Devon Corp mass terminations in Unova and Hoenn some time ago? Right around the time that Team Aqua leader managed to get away in Hoenn? I, uh, helped out in identifying some corporate spies. Joseph, Steven's dad, wanted to thank me with the position of CTO in the company or some other outrageous positions like Head of R&D, and when I declined them all, he handed me the shares. The contract was already finalized and didn't need my signature, so I had to accept. Even though he knew his son had already rewarded me plenty with my Metagross, Swampert, Blaziken, and some super rare TMs," Pete sheepishly answered while scratching his left ear.
Iris and Clair didn't really know what to say to that. Valerie, on her end, didn't care much. Her parents were just as rich as Pete, so it didn't faze her, and Whitney had heard the story some time ago.
The youngest trainer at the table eventually couldn't take the silence that followed anymore and stood up abruptly, "It's already night. I want to fight before midnight if possible, so please have your pokemon escort me to this Dragon's Peak!"
Pete called out to Metagross, who was resting near the house, and the pokemon complied by teleporting the young lady away just as abruptly as she stood up before.
"I'll see if my Altaria is compatible with my mega stone. She deserves the opportunity most," Clair said as she stood up and walked toward the lake. She had asked Flapple and Jumpluff for an egg moments before and received an okay on the condition that she makes their offspring strong and cared for.
"Courtney's showing me the hotspring, so that's what I'll do," Valerie chimed in as she grabbed Pete's assistant's hands and dragged her inside. "We'll make a flowery bath for my Spritzee, too, and make her the best smelling Spritzee in the world!"
"I'll see what all the fuss is about with mega evolutions if you would allow me," Whitney added as she stood next to Clair with a grin. Jasmine and Sophie wanted to tag along, too. One because of the pokemon and the other to stay at the lake during the night.
'Hmm, Kangashkan with that ridiculous mega evo where the baby in its pouch grows up a little and Pidgeot. Were there any other normal type mega evolutions for Whitney? Lopunny who gains fighting and Audino who gains fairy secondary typing, right? I could see Whitney using a mega Lopunny to great effect... but would she want to mega evolve anything that isn't her Miltank or her Lickilicky? I did gift her that Buneary a while ago, but she never told me about her progress in training it.'
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Nuclide
Nuclide
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