Without a doubt, the blue figure was Gardevoir.
"Hm?"
Lin Feng was a little surprised. He'd expected Gardevoir to show up eventually, but he hadn't thought it would be this soon.
"Garde?" (I've accepted the work you offered me. But… it doesn't seem like there's any fruit that needs picking today?)
Gardevoir floated effortlessly in mid-air, held aloft by invisible psychic power. Even the faint breeze of dawn couldn't lift the hem of her dress.
After a night of waiting, hearing this positive answer made Lin Feng's eyes light up. "That's perfect! Don't worry, I've definitely got something for you to do today!"
He began explaining animatedly, "Today, I'm planning to widen the water channel for Milotic. But human construction always stirs up the water and makes it muddy. So I need your help to create a psychic barrier, temporarily separating the irrigation channel from the reservoir so we don't dirty the reservoir water."
"Garde?"
Gardevoir blinked, a little taken aback by how naturally this human seemed to order her around.
Yesterday, she'd taken back some Pokéblocks and berries. The Pokéblocks had already been devoured by the three little ones. Only the berries remained, but it was obvious the berries weren't nearly as popular.
So in the end, she'd returned to this orchard.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng was already dialing his phone, calling the same construction crew from the other day.
Once the crew heard that the request was coming from Wutong Town's orchard, they agreed happily and without hesitation.
"Just wait a bit. They'll be here soon." Hanging up, Lin Feng looked at the floating Gardevoir and couldn't resist using his Insight Eye to check her stats again.
Apart from her affection level of 5, he grew more satisfied the longer he looked.
This Gardevoir was simply incredible…
"Garde…"
Gardevoir paused, surveying the area around her. Seeing nowhere suitable to stand, she simply continued floating in the air.
Faced with this situation, Lin Feng decided to get straight to the point. "Gardevoir, are you carrying some sort of curse?"
The moment the words left his mouth, Gardevoir's delicate form suddenly tensed. Invisible psychic energy surged around Lin Feng like a rising tide.
"Garde!" (How did you know!?)
This curse had been attached to her since birth. By now, it was etched deeply into every strand of her psychic power.
Anyone who fell asleep within a kilometer of her would inevitably become the target of her psychic influence, acting as a medium for transmitting the curse.
That was why she constantly had to keep moving.
She needed to find a quiet place, somewhere with as few creatures nearby as possible, to avoid inflicting the curse on others.
"I'm a Pokémon Breeder, and on top of that, I possess the power of Verdant Aura. That's how I noticed it…" Lin Feng didn't try to hide anything. He shared all the thoughts he'd been pondering the night before. "But there's no need to be overly worried. This curse isn't entirely unsolvable."
"Or rather, it might not even be accurate to call it a curse. It's more like a gift from the Pokémon who granted it to you. The only problem is that your current strength isn't enough to fully control it yet."
Was this Gardevoir strong?
Absolutely.
At over level 70, she was without question the strongest non-Legendary Pokémon Lin Feng had encountered so far.
But compared to the Nightmare Pokémon Darkrai, Lin Feng suspected there was still a considerable gap.
"Garde!?"
Gardevoir stared at the human who had, in just a few sentences, revealed her entire secret. Her red eyes glowed with a mix of surprise and suspicion. "Garde?" (You have a way to fix it?)
"Well… not exactly 'fix,'" Lin Feng said with a soft chuckle. "You probably already know the possible solutions. One is to find the Pokémon who gave you this so-called curse and ask them to lift it. The other is to find a Pokémon whose energy nature directly counters it and have them bestow a blessing on you instead. Those two energies would cancel each other out. But that's much harder, since your curse has deeply embedded itself into your power."
"What I'm saying is… you can absolutely learn to control it."
"If I'm not mistaken, when you were younger, the range of the curse extended much farther. As you've grown stronger, you've gradually managed to restrain it more and more with your psychic abilities."
Gardevoir fell silent for a moment, then nodded slowly.
That was true.
This so-called "curse" had granted her immense power, talent, and intuition from a young age.
But it had also brought endless torment.
At first, the curse's range had been a full three kilometers.
Only through years of growing stronger had she managed to shrink it to about one kilometer.
But being able to wield the curse freely…
Gardevoir estimated she'd need to surpass "Their" power before that would ever become possible.
And that hope was so faint as to seem nearly impossible.
At this point, though, she was starting to believe in Lin Feng's identity as a Breeder.
Still, she had once sought help from human Breeders before, even some who were highly renowned. None of them had been able to solve her problem.
Could this human… really help her?
"Here. Try this."
Lin Feng pulled out a bottle of milky-white Pokéblocks. Carefully, he picked one out and tossed it toward Gardevoir.
S+ Grade Assimilation Pokéblock – A special Sp. Atk enhancement Pokéblock crafted with a small amount of A-grade Moomoo Milk and mid-tier Mystic Scale Berries. Upon consumption, temporarily boosts Sp. Atk by 15-50%. Long-term consumption can permanently raise a Pokémon's Sp. Atk.
Note: Extremely potent. Not suitable for Pokémon below Gym Leader level.
Cooking Effect 1: Increases a Pokémon's resistance to status conditions.
Cooking Effect 2: Enhances the chance of inflicting status conditions with the user's moves.
Cooking Effect 3 (Assimilation): With prolonged use, helps Pokémon more easily resist damage from countering types and improves control over external energy sources.
An S-grade Pokéblock and not just S, but S+.
This was a special variety Lin Feng had developed while experimenting with Pokéblocks to help Pidgeotto improve its Flying-type skill proficiency.
Because the batch was so small and the Pokéblock so powerful Lin Feng hadn't given any to his own Pokémon yet.
But for the sake of keeping this Gardevoir…
He was willing to go all out.
"Garde?"
Gardevoir levitated the Pokéblock with psychic power, staring at it uncertainly. But curiosity soon overcame her hesitation, and she popped it into her mouth.
The instant she swallowed it, energy surged through her entire body. Gardevoir's eyes momentarily went vacant. But the next second, her crimson gaze blazed with astonished joy and disbelief.
She had just tried channeling her energy and for the first time, she could clearly feel that the curse's power was more firmly under her own control.
Congratulations, Host! You've raised Gardevoir's happiness value from 0% to 75%. You have been rewarded with 10 bags of Advanced Golden Fertilizer, 10 Advanced Rare Candies, and Intermediate Psychic Power.
"Huh?"
When this notification echoed in Lin Feng's mind, he practically felt his brain cramp.
Did the system just say…?
Intermediate Psychic Power?
Lin Feng stared again at the system's message in disbelief.
At last, he managed to read it clearly.
The reward truly was Psychic Power…
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