For the sake of the four Ultra-Fragrant Sweet Poffins, Celebi activated what could only be described as its super brain. Behind it, an imaginary counterclockwise clock and a clockwise clock seemed to tick in perfect synchronization.
Silas: !!!
That posture, that expression.
Silas was genuinely worried that Celebi would suddenly shout something strange and dramatic.
A full ten seconds passed before a flash of golden light burst from Celebi's eyes. It had come up with a way to obtain all of the Ultra-Fragrant Sweet Poffins at once.
With a light flutter of its small wings, Celebi leaped in front of Silas, waving its tiny hands around as it chirped, "Celebi, Celebi!"
Although they had not met many times, Silas could more or less understand what Celebi meant.
"You are saying that somewhere on this region beneath our feet, there is an extremely powerful blue frog."
"Celebi…"
Celebi nodded vigorously, its little eyes fixed firmly on the poffins.
Silas had no choice but to hand one over first. Celebi happily hugged it, taking small bites as it savored the taste, its entire expression filled with pure enjoyment.
After finishing the entire Ultra-Fragrant Sweet Poffin, Celebi licked its lips, still unsatisfied.
"Do not just eat. Tell me about that Pokémon."
Silas poked its round little belly with a finger while lightly shaking the Poffins in his hand.
From Celebi, Silas learned that the blue frog had reached a bottleneck in its training and was eager to find an opponent worthy of matching it.
A long red scarf, elusive movements, and a mastery of shuriken based attacks all pointed clearly to its identity.
One of the Kalos region's Water type starter evolutions, the ninja Pokémon, Greninja.
With its outstanding appearance and unique battle style, Greninja was also highly favored by trainers.
Silas even had a Greninjite Mega Stone in his possession. Capturing a Greninja had always been part of his team planning.
At present, his team's water based combat power was somewhat lacking, barely amounting to one and a half members.
Veluza that had been strengthened several times through its flesh shedding psychic abilities counted as one, while the high powered Clawitzer with its enhanced targeting capability could only count as half, as it had not fully matured yet.
Therefore, capturing a Greninja to expand his water type strength was necessary. Moreover, Greninja's Dark typing was excellent for countering Psychic and Ghost types, two notoriously troublesome categories.
"Then where is this Greninja training?"
"Celebi!"
Celebi spread its arms wide in an exaggerated gesture, indicating that the last time it saw the Pokémon, it was beneath a massive waterfall.
"A great waterfall, huh…"
Such a terrain difference could only exist in the mountainous regions in the eastern part of the Kalos region.
Coincidentally, in a few days he was planning to take Cinccino and the others to Couriway Town to attend a concert. He could take the opportunity to search the nearby area.
Seeing Silas lost in thought, Celebi stomped its little foot, snatched the remaining three Poffins, and disappeared into ripples of time. No one knew in which moment Celebi would appear next.
"This little guy…"
Silas shook his head with a helpless smile. That action had clearly been out of fear that Silas might go back on his word, leaving without even saying goodbye.
Not paying it much mind, Silas walked to the front of the house. The Mudsdale leader, now clean and refreshed, was enjoying Diantha's care as she gently brushed its coat. The Mudsdale let out a comfortable snort.
"Let's go. We will visit the nearby ranchers together and deliver this month's grass dumplings while we are at it."
Taking Diantha's hand, he felt how cool her small hand was and instinctively held it a bit tighter.
"Alright."
Diantha responded sweetly.
They loaded two large bags of grass dumplings onto Mudsdale's back, and Silas helped Diantha climb up.
Riding a horse was something Diantha had not experienced before, as she usually rode Tyrantrum. With the saddle and without running, the ride was still quite steady.
Before leaving, Silas asked Diantha to wait for a moment. He quickly went to the mushroom house to call over the two Charcadet.
Inside the mushroom house, the cultivation racks were neatly arranged with substrate bags and growth mediums. White mycelium had already begun to spread.
It would not be long before the first batch of oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms could be harvested, which was truly something to look forward to.
This was all thanks to the Toedscool trio, which had been a tremendous help.
Holding the two Charcadet in his arms, Silas returned and mounted Mudsdale again. He handed shiny Charcadet to Diantha.
"Hold it. It will keep you warm."
"Char!"
Shiny Charcadet glanced at Silas and nervously extended its small hand.
…
The first people they visited were John and Penny. The couple was busy working on the ranch when they heard the barking of their Stoutland. Upon seeing the girl beside Silas, both of them were visibly surprised.
"Silas, this is…?"
"Sister Penny, John, this is my girlfriend, Diantha."
Silas helped Diantha down from Mudsdale while casually rubbing the shiny Charcadet's head.
"Today is the day to deliver grass dumplings, so I brought her along to meet everyone."
"Welcome, welcome. Come inside and sit for a while."
Penny warmly took Diantha's hand and led her into the house. Silas stayed behind to help John unload the dumplings.
"This batch came just in time. Winter is coming soon, and the Skiddo have been eating a lot lately."
While carrying the goods, John could not openly gossip, so he kept giving Silas meaningful looks.
Silas pretended not to notice. After finishing, he went inside and immediately heard the laughter of the two women.
"Sister Penny, Diantha and I still need to visit the next place."
Penny tried to keep them a bit longer, but they agreed to gather together after everyone finished their busy period.
"Well, what do you think? Sister Penny is a very nice person, right? When I first came here, I relied on their care quite a lot."
Following the order of distance, the two of them visited the other ranchers along Route 12, sitting for a short while at each place.
After delivering all the grass dumplings, the two of them and their three Pokémon headed back.
"There is not enough time today. Tomorrow we will visit Gym Leader Ramos. After we visit Gym Leader Gurkinn later, we will go home."
Diantha rested her chin on his shoulder and softly responded with a gentle "Mm." In her arms were the two sleeping Charcadet.
This was what it meant to truly love someone. There was no hiding it. One would announce the other's existence to the people around them, introducing them to everyone they knew, wishing the whole world could know that they were together.
They would let the other person integrate into their life, becoming a part of it, because only in this way could their days last long and steadily.
When they went to visit Gym Leader Gurkinn, the one who was most excited was not him, but the little girl Korrina.
As a modern elementary school student, she was extremely skilled at using the internet. Just a few hours earlier, she had been discussing the online situation with Nemona and Serena.
Now that she had met the two main characters in person, Korrina chattered endlessly with questions.
Especially after getting confirmation from Silas that he would soon challenge the Kalos Champion, the admiration in Korrina's eyes was almost overflowing.
"I am so jealous of Serena. She is about to have a Champion big brother."
"Korrina, you trust me that much? You really think I will win?"
"Of course."
Korrina looked even more confident than him, waving her small fist.
"Big Brother Silas is the strongest trainer I have ever seen. Even Grandpa says you are just too lazy, otherwise you would already be the Kalos Champion."
Silas ruffled Korrina's hair with a big hand and rubbed his nose.
"When the time comes, Korrina, you have to cheer for me."
"Mm, mm, mm. I will call Nemona and Serena to cheer together."
"If Big Brother becomes the Kalos Champion, then I will take Big Brother's first…"
In the next instant, Silas felt a chill run down his back.
"You brat, do not stop at such a weird place. Finish your sentence properly."
(End of Chapter)