Before lunchtime had even arrived, a sneaky little figure crawled out from the irrigation channel.
Its eyes sparkled as it looked at the nearby Sealeo and Milotic, giving them a polite, if nervous, greeting.
Then it glanced up at the Braviary circling overhead, straightening its attitude.
Squirtle knew that even before it entered, it had already been noticed by the Braviary.
Why hadn't it been caught? The reasons were simple: first, the plantation's owner had tacitly allowed it, and second, Squirtle had been around long enough to be considered a veteran of the garden.
The aroma of food wafting through the air made Squirtle swallow hard. Looking up, it saw a small pink cat arriving, accompanied by Jirachi.
Jealousy welled up instantly.
It was so much easier when you had someone you knew bringing you in you didn't need to sneak in and could enjoy the food freely. Poor Squirtle still had to crawl through the water channel.
At that moment, Gardevoir and the younger Audino emerged from the kitchen.
Instantly, the plantation's Pokémon realized it was time to eat and hurriedly ran toward the garden. Squirtle's eyes lit up, and without a second thought, it followed.
By the time they reached the garden, Gardevoir and the Audino were already portioning out food for each Pokémon. Lin Feng, at that time, had just delivered lunch to the Diglett construction team and returned with the Digletts.
He glanced at Squirtle and smiled silently, saying nothing.
"All right, everyone, dig in."
At his call, all the Pokémon cheered.
The meal passed quickly, but during lunch, Jirachi shared the stuffed toys it had won using Qin Shu's money.
The scene was lively and cheerful. Alcremie examined the toy that looked exactly like itself, and one particularly fond Alcremie even licked it, only to find no flavor at all.
Blue Gardevoir, unlike the Shiny Gardevoir it wasn't, watched the toy that resembled it and couldn't help but smile slightly.
Dragonite enjoyed its toy, though Salamence seemed indifferent, yawning as it continued eating its energy block.
Jirachi, slightly disappointed, said, "I just didn't find a Mew… so strange."
Lin Feng didn't interrupt Jirachi's joy and instead turned his attention to Shaymin.
Shaymin had received its very own stuffed toy too, slightly larger than itself, and it stared at the toy in stunned silence.
Lin Feng gently picked it up.
"Shaymin?"
Shaymin looked up at him in surprise.
"Do you think this toy looks like you?" Lin Feng asked, holding up the toy that Shaymin couldn't lift.
The toy was slightly bigger than Shaymin, so naturally it couldn't pick it up.
"Shaymin…" (It looks a lot like me, but… it's a little bigger.)
Shaymin hesitated, noticing that all the other Pokémon could easily handle their toys.
Lin Feng didn't beat around the bush. "Do you want to evolve, little one? Once you evolve, you'll be even bigger than this toy."
"Shaymin?"
Shaymin froze at his words, eyes flicking away, unsure how to face him.
It wanted to evolve, but it was embarrassed to say so.
And it worried Lin Feng might like it less afterward.
"Shaymin…" (I promised not to evolve before…)
"Ha! What if I want you to evolve now?" Lin Feng said, taking responsibility for that old promise.
"Shaymin?!" Its little eyes lit up instantly.
Lin Feng held up the toy gently. "It's true. If we want to evolve, we just give the Everstone to this toy. That way, it will stay unevolved forever."
"Someone will be taking your place staying unevolved~"
Shaymin looked at the toy, then at the Everstone it was holding. The doubt vanished, and it nodded happily, a bright smile lighting up its face again. "Shaymin!" (Yes!)
Lin Feng took the Everstone from its strap and folded it gently.
The moment the stone was removed, energy surged through Shaymin.
Its energy had long been ready for evolution; it just hadn't evolved because of the Everstone.
Now, freed, a brilliant white light enveloped it.
Shaymin's once-round form began changing, gradually becoming more humanoid.
The leaves on its head elongated, while the red stem in the center remained unchanged. Its height slowly increased, finally stabilizing around 0.8 meters.
When the white light faded, Shaymin had disappeared, replaced by Shaymin (Sky Forme).
Its small yellow eyes became large and pink. Its face, once set in the red fruit shell, turned white like soft fruit flesh, looking absolutely delicious.
Its waist appeared as if wearing a purple skirt, with legs supporting the fluffy fruit-like dress.
A pair of delicate white hands completed its new form.
"Shaymin?"
It instinctively closed its eyes, then opened them again, feeling the changes to its body. Excited, it picked up the toy it hadn't been able to lift before and laughed with joy.
Pokémon: Shaymin (Sky Forme)
Gender: Female
Ability: Natural Cure
Quality: Blue
Level: 24 26
Stats: …
Moves: Jump, Harmony, Sweet Scent, Leaf Blade, Harmony, Sweet Scent, Magical Leaf, Leech Kiss, Charm
Friendship: 94
Happiness: 80 (So high… it evolved…)
"Congratulations, Shaymin~" Lin Feng said beside her.
"Shaymin~"
Hearing Lin Feng's congratulations, Shaymin could no longer contain its emotions and flopped into his arms.
At 0.8 meters, it fit perfectly in his arms, neither too big nor too small, like holding a baby.
Most importantly, after evolving, Shaymin's natural fruit aroma was stronger than ever. Nestling into Lin Feng's arms, he instinctively licked his lips.
"All right, all right…"
After holding it for a while, Lin Feng gently set it down.
Shaymin explored its new body on the table, discovering how much easier it was to move compared to its former self, and let out a joyful cry.
"Shaymin~"
But then it turned and realized everyone's gaze had been on it during its evolution.
"Shaymin?"
Its voice thickened with emotion, and the once-fruit-colored white face blushed slightly.