League Calendar Year 198, August 20th, Autumn.
Early in the morning, Naoki received some woolen warm clothes and a scarf from Mrs. Dante.
This lovely elderly woman handed the items in a tote bag to Naoki, while her gaze drifted to Cyclizar stretching lazily nearby.
"That kid still doesn't know you prepared a gift for it, right?" she asked.
"Of course not." Naoki smiled, "If it found out beforehand, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."
Mrs. Dante nodded gently, her tone warm as she said, "Since you've got everything ready, I won't disturb you both. Please say happy birthday to Cyclizar for me."
"Alright."
With that, Mrs. Dante turned and left.
After watching her figure disappear, Naoki carried the tote bag back into the house.
He looked at the Indeedee Sibling with a grin and asked, "Have you got everything ready?"
"Indeedee~"
"Indeedee."
The siblings nodded in unison.
Seeing this, Naoki said, "Then let's start decorating! Koraidon, I'll leave Cyclizar to you. Take it outside to play and come back when the sun rises."
"Graaa..."
Koraidon thought to itself that today was its birthday too, even though it had already gone through one before.
At that time, it was also taken out to play by Koraidon. Later, that Koraidon left it behind and ran off alone.
While obediently walking outside, Koraidon recalled what happened next.
What happened afterwards?
Logically, being left behind by Koraidon, it should have been upset, but at that time it didn't seem very bright, didn't think much, and just happily carried a few flowers back home.
Because Koraidon told it that Naoki had bought a vase and wanted to put the prettiest flowers in it.
When it pushed open the door with the flowers, it saw the surprise Naoki had prepared for it...
Now that it had turned from an insider to an outsider, Koraidon felt a twinge of nostalgia.
It came outside and found Cyclizar rolling on the grass, saying to it, "Graaa." (Let's go find some flowers.)
Cyclizar looked adorable and clueless: "Gao?"
Then it seemed to realize that Koraidon wanted to play with it, and its eyes immediately lit up, happily exclaiming, "Gao!"
Koraidon: "..."
It made up a serious excuse saying, "Gra, graaa?" (Naoki bought a vase and wants to pick some flowers to put in it. Do you know where there might be some?)
The excuse was full of holes. If anyone on the ranch knew where the prettiest flowers bloomed, it would be Naoki.
But Cyclizar at the moment didn't think about that much and was so happy it was about to jump with joy, turning around to start leading the way for Koraidon: "Gao!"
Koraidon quietly followed behind, and soon they came upon the flower field in the southeast of the ranch.
Mid-autumn was just the right time for these seasonal flowers to bloom in full.
These flowers were blooming so vigorously thanks to the diligence of the Combee and the Butterfree.
As soon as Cyclizar arrived, it plunged into the flower bushes, rolling around inside, then poked its head out of the flowers, looking at Koraidon behind it.
"Gao!" Cyclizar tilted its head in confusion: "Gao?"
Weren't they here to play together? Why was Koraidon still standing there not moving?
"So silly." Koraidon thought, rolling in flowers—this was behavior only childish Pokemon would do.
It sighed quietly, shaking its head, rejecting Cyclizar's invitation: "Graaa."
"Gao."
Cyclizar looked adorably at Koraidon; seeing that Koraidon really wasn't coming to play, it didn't mind too much and continued playing on its own.
The only thing that made Cyclizar feel a bit disappointed was that there were no butterflies in the fall, so it couldn't pounce on them.
Koraidon watched for a while, and contemplating Cyclizar's exposed belly, couldn't bear it anymore and sneaked away while Cyclizar was distracted.
After a while, Cyclizar noticed that Koraidon had already left.
Shaking off the petals from its head, it didn't think too much of it, preparing to play by itself, when it suddenly remembered something.
"Gao..."
Koraidon seemed to have said that Naoki wanted to put the prettiest flowers in the house.
So in that case, it would take a good look for them!
Cyclizar turned and dived into the depths of the flower bed, searching for what it thought were the most beautiful flowers.
*
In the living room, Naoki and the Indeedee Sibling were setting up the room.
They hung streamers and light globes on the walls, and for places out of their reach, they left it to the flying Pawmot.
In the Cream Workshop, Alcremie was vigorously making delicious fresh cream.
Even Dolliv, who was usually lazy, had been invited over by Naoki to present fresh olive oil for Cyclizar.
Seeing the Pokemon doing their part diligently, Naoki entrusted the task of setting up the venue entirely to them.
He himself went back to the Cream Workshop to start making today's birthday cake.
The process of making the birthday cake was something Naoki had long memorized by heart.
Eggs, milk, oven...
And adding just a touch of emotion.
This was a conclusion Naoki had discovered before—putting affection into cooking made the result much better.
This time, he didn't need to deliberately stir his emotions, because his feelings with Cyclizar had long been woven into the daily bits and pieces of life.
Just thinking back on these brought forth those emotions naturally and effortlessly.