"Chuu!"
Pichu wobbled as it stood up and waddled forward, only to plop down on the ground with a soft thump after a misstep.
It didn't need any help, the little Pichu quickly scrambled back to its feet and ran toward the patch of flowers ahead, its face full of innocent curiosity.
Sato stood by watching, and for once, the typically stoic expression on his face softened into a faint smile, making his whole deanor "gentler".
"Pii~chu!"
In the flower bed, little Pichu found what it thought was the prettiest flower, and after much effort, managed to yank it out... flipping over in the process.
Then, clutching the plucked flower, it ran back toward Sato and held it up like a treasured gift.
"Chuu~ Piichu~"
"For ? Thank you!"
Sato bent down and took the flower, then gently rubbed the little Pichu's head.
'Mm, very soft... with a slight tingling zap.'
"Chuu~ Chuu!"
Pichu bounced excitedly, pointing at the flower, then plucked a leaf and placed it on its own head. But the leaf quickly slipped off.
Seeing this, Sato figured Pichu wanted him to tuck the flower behind its ear. However, as he reached out, he was gently pushed away.
"Uh, you want to wear it?" Sato blinked and asked with a helpless smile.
"Pichu!"
Pichu nodded enthusiastically and looked at Sato with expectant eyes.
Looking at the small pink flower in his hand, Sato hesitated briefly, then slowly tucked it behind his own ear.
"Pichu!"
Pichu was overjoyed, throwing itself into Sato's arms and rubbing against him nonstop.
Not far away, Mark was pretending to help Joseph prepare lunch, but his full attention was clearly on Sato.
"Why do I feel like the boss is starting to act... off?"
Joseph glanced up at Sato playing with Pichu, then lowered his head and kept busy while saying, "Why don't you go ask him?"
"Haha, well... What's for lunch today?"
Mark chickened out instantly.
Ever since little Pichu was born, their journey had begun to change bit by bit.
Their trip to Sand Arc Forest had been put on hold. First, they went to the nearest Pokémon Center to have Nurse Joy run a full post-hatch checkup on Pichu.
Because Pichu was still so young, it couldn't properly control the electricity inside its body.
To avoid it hurting itself, Sato specifically asked Nurse Joy for plenty of Cell Battery packs to help Pichu absorb the excess electricity when needed.
Joseph took charge of preparing food for Pichu's infancy, mixing up nutritious als using Moomoo Milk, Chansey eggs, and Sweet Honey, changing it up every day.
Even Sato, who used to rarely smile, now had a constant gentle expression, which both Joseph and Mark found deeply unsettling... as if he had awakened so unknown hidden trait.
And the reason? It could only be blad on how absurdly cute Pichu was.
So Pokémon are born to live off their cuteness. And Pichu was one of them.
Those big round eyes seed to sparkle with stars, and its oversized diamond-shaped ears twitched constantly. Each cheek had a pink circle.
Its head was round, its body was round, and it had a black tail with four stubby little legs barely enough to get it moving.
Everything about it scread one thing: adorable!
Pichu wasn't the first baby Pokémon Sato had raised... he had also watched a Spinarak hatch with his own eyes.
Sato had dodged Spinarak's blank stare, but he had no escape from Pichu's overwhelming cuteness.
"Lunchti!"
At the table, Mark kept sneaking glances at Sato while he ate, clearly wanting to say sothing but hesitating hard.
"Is sothing wrong?" Sato finally couldn't hold it in and asked.
"Boss, I just wanted to ask... when are we leaving? We've been staying at the Pokémon Center for three days now."
Sato didn't answer Mark directly, instead turning to glance at Pichu, who was happily enjoying his al.
'Hmm, good appetite, healthy body... shouldn't be any problem.'
"We'll leave tomorrow."
"Yay!" Mark nodded excitedly, clearly unable to stay in this place a mont longer.
They were still in a Pokémon Center within the forest. Aside from basic food and lodging, there really wasn't anything fun to do.
After the al, Sato carried Pichu over to the video phone and made a call to Lilian Joy.
"Sato? Where are you now?" It was around noon, and Lilian seed to have just woken up. Judging by her lifestyle, she was clearly a shut-in.
"Still near Mt. Pyre. I want to transfer a few Pokémon," Sato said succinctly, teasing Pichu as he spoke.
"Wow, Pichu! How could you catch such an adorable Pokémon... wait, you didn't transfer any other Pokémon back?"
With her glasses on, Lilian noticed the Pichu perched on Sato's shoulder, and her eyes instantly lit up.
"Pichu is too young. I'm not planning to officially catch him for now."
"Alright... got it," Lilian gave him a look as if she'd seen right through him.
'You just want to carry one more Pokémon, huh?' As long as no one reports you in a city, it usually isn't a big deal.
Besides, most of the current Pokémon transfer systems were installed in Pokémon Centers. And in these places, the Joy family called the shots.
If Sato wanted to pull strings to carry three or four extra Pokémon, that might be difficult. But one or two? Totally.
Sato knew Lilian had misunderstood. He really hadn't caught Pichu in a Poké Ball. If danger ca, well, Pichu was so small, he could just toss him in sowhere.
And even if he did want to carry extra Poké Balls, Sato wasn't planning to use the Joy family's resources to do it.
There were official ways to handle it. Why owe soone a favor over sothing so small?
"By the way, Pupitar just woke up recently. It's preparing for its first shedding phase. Should I transfer it over?"
"So soon?" Sato was a bit surprised. Pupitar was supposed to go through four shedding phases, each one boosting its level, eventually allowing it to break through to pseudo-Elite Four.
But based on previous training experience, that first shedding should still take more ti. Looks like the money spent each month on the mimicry space had paid off.
"Of course, it's the effect of a high-grade mimicry space. And your Pupitar has excellent potential. That's another factor," Lilian said.
"Alright, send Pupitar over this ti too. Thanks for the help."
"No need to be so polite."
After adjusting his team lineup, Sato hung up. From start to finish, the two never brought up the topic of the ga Stones.
However, Sato had been following the latest announcents from the Joy family. The ga Evolutions of tagross, Salance, and Tyranitar had already been discovered.
Clearly, after so early bumps in the road, their research was now making significant progress.
Currently, the Pokémon Sato carried were Zoroark, Gengar, Sharpedo, Pupitar, Umbreon, and Weavile. And of course, the not-yet-in-a-ball Pichu.
Reviews
All reviews (0)