Chapter 97: A Birthday Gift
Chapter 97: A Birthday Gift
Compared to the latter horrible possibilities, Naoki would much prefer the first option, where Baby Bear gets caught by another passing trainer. At least that way, Baby Bear would be safe and wouldn't have to worry about going hungry or getting sick.
"I hope it will be alright," Naoki sincerely wished at that moment.
Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside and turned back towards the house. Coincidentally, Golem, Aerodragon, and Motolizard, attracted by the aroma, made their way over, and Naoki shared the freshly baked honey buns with them.
The three Pokemon immediately sat on the floor and devoured the treats. Golbat and Motostrike assumed their bipedal stances, joining Aerodactyl in a circle on the wooden floor.
Between them was a picnic basket lined with a checked tablecloth, piled high with fragrant, freshly baked buns.
The three Pokemon ate just like humans, using their claws to pick up the buns, tossing them into their mouths, and happily chewing before swallowing.
Watching them eat, Naoki truly felt like he was caring for three big, adorable babies.
"Carry on!"
"Mama~"
Naoki turned and continued making desserts with Frost the Cream Fairy.
With her help, they soon crafted a delicious cream cake. Naoki cut up some Tree Fruit to use as decoration and even used cutlery to create a few crude lace patterns on the cake.
Once everything was done, information about the cream cake also surfaced in his mind.
[Birthday Cake (B)
: A cake made from a rich cream and finely baked cake base, decorated with Tree Fruit. It embodies a celebratory spirit.
Dish Effect: Birthday Gift - Feed this to a Pokemon on its birthday, and it will receive a blessing that permanently enhances one of the following: HP, Attack, Special Attack, Speed, Defense, or Special Defense.
Evaluation: A wonderful gift for your Pokemon! It may bring them an unexpected surprise.]
Hmm? A birthday gift?
This effect is quite interesting.
I wonder if it boosts individual values or base stats. If it's the former, that's fine, but if it affects the latter, that would be incredible.
But then again, you can only boost one stat per year, and it seems the boost won't be too significant, so the effect might not be as dramatic as it seems.
Especially considering he's not a trainer.
Pondering for a moment, Naoki thought, "It's better than nothing, I suppose."
However, the cake's effect reminded him of something.
With that in mind, Naoki washed his hands, cut the cake into several pieces, shared them with the Pokemon, and then went to his desk. He pulled out a piece of paper and wrote a letter.
Most of the Pokemon on the ranch had unknown birthdays.
Based on the guidelines, I would translate these terms as follows:
Pokemon didn't understand dates, and they couldn't remember the day they were born, so it was challenging to pinpoint their birthdays.
As far as he knew, Moltres was the only Pokemon whose birth date could be traced.
Thus, in this letter addressed to Thomas Town, Naoki primarily inquired about Moto's lizard's birth date and included the ranch's phone number at the end so they could contact him.
After finishing the letter, Naoki called the town's postal worker, Evan.
About twenty minutes later, Evan arrived on his Moto Lizard and took the letter.
The postage cost 200 League Coins, equivalent to half a bottle of MooMoo milk.
"Rest assured, Mayor Thomas will receive this letter soon!" Evan assured him.
And so, at 5:50 in the evening, Naoki received a call from Mayor Thomas.
As the call connected, Mayor Thomas's voice came through the receiver, "Is this Naoki?
Naoki nodded and replied, "Yes, good evening, Mayor Thomas."
"Good evening!" After the initial greeting, Thomas proceeded to answer the inquiry from the letter. "Let me think... Motolizard was born on the 20th of August last year, yes, that's the day!"
20th of August? That would mean Motolizard is only six months old and not even a year yet.
Naoki looked over at Motolizard, who was not far away, munching on cake with cream all over its mouth.
After a moment's thought, he nodded and said, "Alright, thank you so much."
Mayor Thomas laughed heartily. "Haha, it's no problem at all. Keep up the good work with your ranch! Motolizard will surely become a great help to you."
After hanging up the phone, Naoki took out a pen and jotted down Motolizard's birthday in a visible spot. He planned to feed the lizard the birthday cake on that day.
---
Time flew by, and soon it was the 24th of February, springtime.
Today was the day of the Cattle and Sheep Appraisal Contest.
At seven in the morning, as Naoki was grooming his riding goat, getting ready to take it to town for the contest, a long-unseen figure appeared at the ranch.
Seeing the tattered and dirty Baby Bear, Naoki felt both surprised and relieved.
"Yimeow~"
Baby Bear scampered over to him and extended its tiny paw, palm facing up.
Naoki looked down and saw a clear blue stone resting in its palm.
It was a Water Stone.
Naoki was taken aback, but before he could say anything, he heard Baby Bear's stomach growl loudly.
Baby Bear looked down at its belly and then held up one finger. "Yimeow~!"
Its eyes shone with anticipation, and it couldn't help but drool at the thought of honey.
Naoki: "..."
It seemed there was no problem.
He put down his work reluctantly and led Baby Bear back to the wooden house. He took out a pudding from the fridge and two honey buns from the cabinet, placing them in front of Baby Bear.
Baby Bear devoured the food eagerly, indicating that it had been hungry for quite some time.
Naoki patiently waited for it to finish and then asked, "Where have you been all this time? I haven't seen you for so long."
"Yimeow~"
Recalling its experiences over the past days, Baby Bear felt both excited and frightened.
After leaving the ranch that day, it had thought a lot about what Naoki said.
To test Naoki's words, it left that mountain and headed for a new ranch, wondering if humans there would also offer it food if it didn't disguise itself.
However, things took an unexpected turn, and it accidentally stumbled into a human city full of tall buildings.
There, Baby Bear witnessed a whole new world and realized how vast this world was, with many sights unseen in the mountains.
But its exploration didn't last long. Soon after arriving in the city, it was attacked by a group of local Pokemon.
They were a gang of Meowth, living off scavenging from trash bins in the alleys.
Baby Bear was seen as an intruder and surrounded from all sides.
Just as things looked dire, a mysterious Pokemon calling itself a "hero" came to its rescue.
(End of Chapter)
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