Chapter 379:
The lively atmosphere of the Spring Festival goes with—firecrackers, cheers, the dazzling Coordinators' contests, elegant songs, the delighted shouts of children, and words of praise...
It is a time for visiting and receiving guests. In between, Mew who returned from who-knows-where, grabbed some food and left again.
The entire Spring Festival period was simple yet warm.
But for Hayashi Kaede, the only company he had was his Pokémon.
Time flowed by like water, and soon the festival period ended, arriving at February 9th.
Early morning.
Today was the first day after the festival.
But in reality, within two or three days after the Spring Festival, Hayashi Kaede's video channel had already blown up.
The comments section was filled with fans, both new and old, urging him to reopen his shop.
To be honest, once people get used to a life of comfort, they don't really feel like putting in more effort.
But seeing the berries in the Berry Plantation growing larger and gradually showing signs of ripening, Hayashi Kaede had no choice but to get up, start picking the already ripe berries, and turn them into Energy Cubes to store for now.
However, a new problem arose.
Looking at the orchard full of berry trees, Hayashi Kaede felt a bit troubled.
"Oh no, Gardevoir, I feel like we won't be able to keep up like this!"
When it came down to it, in the plantation, only he and Gardevoir could make Energy Cubes.
There was also the little sister Indeedee, but she was mainly in charge of other household matters. Lately, her brother had been helping out a lot too.
But... once the Breeding House opens, her brother will have his own responsibilities.
"Gardevoir..."
Seeing Hayashi Kaede so overwhelmed, Gardevoir couldn't help but feel amused, but still said, "Gardevoir~" (Then, why don't we hire some help?)
"I don't want to hire anyone..." Hayashi Kaede looked at the storage capsules still sitting in front of him, feeling disheartened.
There were about ten storage capsules, all filled with various fast-ripening berries.
"Gardevoir..." (Then... find others of my kind?)
"No, no, actually, what we need is a Metagross..." Hayashi Kaede shook his head, his gaze firm.
Gardevoir wasn't really ideal for this kind of work.
Among Psychic-type Pokémon, Gardevoir isn't the most precise when it comes to energy control.
Among non-Legendary Pokémon, the most precise is Metagross.
His own Gardevoir could control energy so precisely entirely because of its strength and... perhaps its experience?
If he were to catch another Gardevoir, who knows how long it would take to train it to his Gardevoir's level.
But Metagross was different. As soon as it evolves into Metagross, it gains immense computational power, making it perfectly suited for this kind of work!
You could say it's born for this job!
So, the question was:
Where could he find a Metagross?
This was a serious problem.
It wasn't like starter Pokémon or Eevees, which you could easily find in multiple Breeding Houses.
A fully evolved Metagross was usually only seen with Elite Four members or Champions.
Like Steven!
"Oh... doesn the Psychic-type Elite Four member have one too?"
Hayashi Kaede suddenly remembered the Metagross he'd seen at the Pokémon League Conference.
Didn't the Psychic-type Elite Four member have one?
With a target in mind, the rest became easier.
Although he didn't know the Psychic-type Elite Four member personally, he knew someone who did.
Thinking this, Hayashi Kaede immediately picked up his phone with great enthusiasm, found his chat history with Kazephyr.
[Hayashi Kaede: You there?]
No reply.
Hayashi Kaede wasn't in a hurry. After all, the other person was very busy; it was normal not to get an immediate reply.
He needed to go with Gardevoir and turn all these berries into Energy Cubes first.
"Let's go, Gardevoir, we'll deal with these berries first."
Gardevoir, who had been watching the changing expressions on Hayashi Kaede's face, wore a soft smile all along.
Hearing Hayashi Kaede call her, she gave a slight nod and followed him to the kitchen.
This was a time-consuming task. It was already noon by the time they barely managed to turn the berries from four storage capsules into Energy Cubes.
It wasn't until noon that Hayashi Kaede and Gardevoir emerged from the kitchen.
This was also because his psychic abilities had improved recently.
Otherwise, he really wouldn't have been able to handle the Energy Cubes that required special attention.
Checking his phone after coming out, Hayashi Kaede's eyes lit up.
[Kazephyr: What's up? Something wrong? Don't tell me there's another mess to clean up?]
Hayashi Kaede: "??"
He was a bit embarrassed.
When did his image in Kazephyr's eyes become someone who only seeks him out for cleanup jobs?
[Hayashi Kaede: I wanted to ask you something.]
This time, the reply came quickly.
[Kazephyr: Speak.]
Hayashi Kaede didn't beat around the bush.
[Hayashi Kaede: I wanted to ask, do you know how to contact the Psychic-type Elite Four member?]
[Kazephyr: Why?]
[Hayashi Kaede: Well, I want a Metagross.]
[Kazephyr: ?]
[Kazephyr: I'm not a wishing well.]
[Hayashi Kaede: No, I meant to ask if that Metagross the Psychic Elite Four has... has any offspring... well...]
[Kazephyr: As far as I know, probably not. But you can ask her yourself.]
After sending this, a contact quickly came through from the other side.
The profile picture was of a woman in a red cheongsam holding a fan, looking very elegant.
Information about the Psychic-type Elite Four member quickly surfaced in Hayashi Kaede's mind.
As one of the only two female members among the six Eastova League Elite Four level, her pursuits differed from the others. (TSL note: there are 6 of them at the elite four level. Just to clarify, the elite four term is a more familiar term compared to elite six)
She focused more on Contests, researching how to make Pokémon moves look beautiful!
She was also a long-established Top Coordinator.
Within the Eastova League, she had countless fans.
Her status was somewhat similar to Kalos's Champion, Diantha.
"Feels a bit intimidating to ask."
Hayashi Kaede felt his question was rather bold.
But after thinking about his future workload, he boldly sent the friend request.
The other side didn't accept immediately either.
Hayashi Kaede wasn't particularly anxious.
He was just trying anyway.
Even if added, there might not be an opportunity.
Still, he felt like he remembered something about a Metagross somewhere...
But he forgot where.