One year ago, Cyclizar hatched from an egg.
What would a freshly hatched Cyclizar look like?
Thinking back to the baby forms of the Indeedee Sibling he had seen before, an image gradually emerged in Naoki's mind of a small Cyclizar wobbling and balancing an eggshell as it crawled out of the Pokemon Egg.
Unfortunately, he didn't get to witness Cyclizar's birth.
The baby Cyclizar began to grow, reaching the normal size, and then it left its parents, brought here by Mayor Thomas, who entrusted Cyclizar to his care.
At this thought, Naoki sincerely wished Cyclizar a life filled with health and happiness, with everything going smoothly and joyfully.
With these emotions, he placed the cake he had prepared into a mold and put it in the oven.
After some time, the fragrant cake base was freshly out. Naoki split it in half, placed diced Berry pieces inside, and finally, together with Alcremie, evenly spread fresh cream on top.
Thus, an intricately prepared birthday cake was freshly completed.
Looking down, the details of the cake appeared in Naoki's mind.
[Birthday Cake (S): A cake made with rich cream and carefully baked cake base, decorated with Berries, and contains a celebratory meaning.
Cooking Effect: Birthday gift, when given to a Pokemon on its birthday, it grants a blessing, permanently boosting Hp, Attack, Special Attack, Speed, Defense, and Special Defense.
Review: Gift it to a Pokemon as a present—it might bring unexpected surprises!]
"Wow!"
Staring at the freshly made birthday cake, a thought of 'just as expected' filled Naoki's mind.
"The cooking level soared from B directly to S, and the effect changed from boosting one attribute to boosting all of them, so exaggerated!" exclaimed Naoki, taking a cold breath.
But then, a new problem presented itself.
The six attributes boosted by the birthday gift—are they species strength, effort values, or individual values?
If they're effort values, then it's a bit mediocre; Naoki thought the lower limit of S-level cooking shouldn't be that low.
Then, what about species strength?
If it's that, then it's indeed exaggerated!
Cyclizar's species strength is 501; if it continued eating like this for several years, its upper limit could surpass those of Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard, the Starter Pokemon.
If it ate like this for decades, centuries, surpassing the Legendary Pokemon wouldn't be a dream!
But here's another issue: reality world isn't a game; humans can't visibly see the increase in Pokemon's species strength.
And even a higher species strength doesn't guarantee anything, as this world has seen cases where Pokemon with lower species strength defeated those with higher species strength.
Naoki couldn't figure it out, and after a brief moment of pondering, he decided to cast all these concerns aside.
After all, he's not a Trainer, and there's no need to battle. What's most important now is to celebrate Cyclizar's birthday.
At this moment, Butterfree flew in from the window to notify that Cyclizar was on its way back.
Upon hearing this, Naoki hurriedly carried the cake back to the living room with Alcremie and Dolliv.
The setup was already complete; the living room was brightly lit with decorations, and various gift boxes were piled on the sofa and wooden floor as decorations.
At this moment, most of the Pokemon from the ranch had already gathered here.
The Naclstack crowded in the corner, Miltank stood by, and Dragonite and Dragonair squeezed together by the fireplace.
These Pokemon were notified earlier by Naoki to come celebrate Cyclizar's birthday together.
Naoki asked the Indeedee sibling to pull the curtains, and suddenly, the room fell into darkness.
Everyone stared collectively at the direction of the door, waiting for Cyclizar to enter.
At this very moment, Cyclizar was walking along the wooden path laid out by Naoki.
It held several flowers in its hand, flowers it deemed the most beautiful.
With a focused mind, Cyclizar walked the route holding the flowers, but suddenly, it sensed something amiss.
The once lively ranch was now unusually quiet, devoid of any sound.
"Gah-oh?!"
Cyclizar was startled, looking around to find even the Gogoat usually staying in the sheep pen were nowhere to be seen!
Cyclizar panicked, thinking what might have happened while picking flowers.
Thinking of this, Cyclizar quickened its pace, wanting to get home to see Naoki.
Upon reaching the house and pushing the door, it heard the sound of fireworks exploding, colorful streamers falling like snowflakes from its head.
Indeedee sibling clapped enthusiastically,
standing on Naclstack, Alcremie boldly posed with hands on hips: "Ma-ma!"
"Mee-ah!" Gogoat expressed joy, showing a fondness for the Pokemon that often fed them Grassy Seed.
Seeing the room full of Pokemon, Cyclizar was dumbfounded, just standing there dazed.
"Cyclizar, happy birthday!" Naoki smiled and walked up, pulling the stunned Cyclizar forward.
Even upon reaching the cream cake with a single candle, Cyclizar still hadn't processed what was happening.
Seeing this, Naoki helplessly said, "Did you forget? Today is your birthday; on this day last year, you hatched from a Pokemon Egg."