Dinner was over.
After finishing up tomorrow's plans with Gardevoir, Lin Feng finally lay down on his bed. Beside him, Alolan Vulpix held a phone between her paws, surrounded by a small group of Eevees as they watched anime together.
The little room was completely full. The bed already had Vulpix and the Eevee squad piled on top; underneath, Serperior was coiled up comfortably; and the desk was occupied by several Milcery, their creamy bodies wobbling as they chatted softly among themselves.
There was simply no room left for any more Pokémon.
Otherwise, Lin Feng would have invited Goodra inside too.
Still, there was just enough space for Jirachi, who floated near Vulpix, equally focused on the anime. Though it had lived for countless years, most of that time was spent asleep, so mentally, it was still very much like a child. To it, the cheerful, slapstick humor of the show was irresistible.
The room filled with laughter bubbling, sincere, and light.
Lin Feng leaned against the wall, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he watched Jirachi giggle uncontrollably. That warmth in his chest, however, soon turned to quiet reflection.
Earlier that evening, Vulpix had looked up at him with concern.
"Vul?" (It's so pitiful… Can't you help it somehow?)
Help it…
Help Jirachi escape from that endless thousand-year sleep. Help it stay awake for more than seven short days.
But how?
Lin Feng frowned, deep in thought.
According to the lore, Jirachi needed a thousand years of rest to accumulate enough energy to stay awake for seven days. In theory, if it gathered two thousand years of energy, it could remain awake for fourteen.
But what kind of energy was that, exactly? And how much was required?
No matter how he tried to calculate it, the time frame itself a thousand years was almost laughably long.
"Could this even work?" he murmured.
Reaching into his storage case, he pulled out the item Jirachi had rewarded him with earlier: the Wishing Fruit.
It was about the size of a fist, dull gray-brown, with a rough, bumpy texture. According to his system's description, the shell was just the outer layer inside was the edible fruit.
[SSS-Grade Ingredient: Wishing Fruit A mysterious fruit said to have fallen from outer space, rumored to possess strange effects.]
"Strange effects," huh? Lin Feng snorted. That was about as vague as descriptions got.
Still, the idea of energy lingered in his mind. Maybe there was something else he could try.
"Jirachi, want some candy?"
He held up a piece of Rare Candy.
"Ji?"
Jirachi turned away from the anime for a second, saw the candy, and nodded eagerly. "Jira!"
It took the candy in one gulp, then quickly turned back toward the screen, afraid of missing the next funny scene.
Lin Feng opened his system interface and watched closely.
[Pokémon: Jirachi]
Gender: Genderless
Ability: Serene Grace
Potential: Divine
Skills: Psychic, Wish, Swift, Life Dew, Zen Headbutt, Gravity, Psychic Pulse, etc.
Friendship: 70 (It thinks you're wonderful.)
Happiness: 70 (Hahaha! That Lycanroc said he'll be back again!)
Description: Sleeps for a thousand years to gather energy. This is the second day of its seven-day awakening period. Remaining time: (25h32m / 168h05m)
The number flickered and then increased by five minutes.
Lin Feng's eyes widened.
The Rare Candy had worked.
But almost immediately, his expression fell again.
That had been just a basic Rare Candy. He had plenty thousands of them, in fact but if one only added five minutes, even all of them combined would barely add up to three and a half extra days.
Three days… that was nothing.
He tested again, feeding Jirachi one mid-tier candy, then one high-tier. Jirachi glanced back at him, puzzled by his insistence, and Lin Feng stopped before it got suspicious.
The results were clear. Even if he used every Rare Candy he owned, Jirachi's awakening would extend by only about a week.
Seven extra days.
Impressive, yes but nowhere near enough.
He sighed, rubbing his forehead, frustration clouding his mind.
That was when something brushed lightly against his hand.
A smooth, cool, leafy tail.
Lin Feng blinked and looked down. Serperior had lifted its tail up onto the bed, its long body still coiled neatly on the rug.
"Serp…" (Here… you can play with my tail.)
Its tone was shy, uncertain.
Lin Feng froze for a moment, surprised.
Serperior's emerald eyes flicked away, embarrassed.
It had noticed Lin Feng's frown, his long silence. The last time it had seen him like this was back when that trainer, Leon, had visited the breeding house. Back then, Lin Feng had locked himself in the kitchen for hours, endlessly experimenting with new recipes, late into the night.
Serperior hadn't known how to comfort him then.
But now, seeing that same expression again, it wanted to help. It remembered how Alolan Vulpix liked to bat at its tail whenever she was bored and how she always looked so happy afterward. Maybe… maybe that could work for Lin Feng too.
It was awkward, yes, but it was the only comfort it could offer.
Lin Feng couldn't help but laugh softly.
Serperior's face turned red instantly.
After evolving, it had grown more elegant, more composed but apparently, not immune to embarrassment.
"Serp!" (A-Are you going to play or not? If not, I'm taking it back!)
"Okay, okay! I'll play, don't be mad," Lin Feng chuckled.
He reached out and gently ran his hand along Serperior's tail.
The surface was smooth and cool, like touching polished jade but soft, with a faint elasticity. The leaf-shaped extensions brushed against his fingers, silky and delicate.
It reminded him of how he used to massage his Blaziken's legs after training runs. The muscles back then were so firm and springy that he'd once jokingly thought they'd make great braised meat.
Of course, that was just a stray, ridiculous thought.
Now, as he pressed lightly along Serperior's tail, he could feel the tension under its scales.
"Relax," he said quietly. "Don't be nervous."
"Serp…"
Serperior murmured softly, its head lowering as its body coiled more loosely.
At first, it had been stiff, tense from embarrassment. But seeing Vulpix and the others quietly watching anime, it relaxed bit by bit.
Its muscles softened under Lin Feng's touch.
The mood in the room shifted gentle, peaceful, almost intimate in its quietness.
Then Lin Feng whispered, "Thank you, Serperior."
The serpent froze.
Its heart gave a small, painful squeeze.
"Serp…" (You don't need to thank me…)
It blinked hard, its vision blurring.
For reasons it didn't fully understand, tears welled up behind its eyes.
It just wanted its trainer to smile again.
And now that he had why did it suddenly feel like crying?