Chapter 88:
[Letter to Hayashi Kaede, Aogiri Town Plantation Owner:]
Hello, Kaede — I'm Inoue Shūko, owner of the Budō Town orchard. I heard you want to bring Combee to my place to make honey.
If so, please bring the flowers you plan to plant so I can see whether they're suitable for Combee honey production.
Also — on August 28 Budō Town will release its first batch of fermented fruit wine. Many orchard owners will come to swap saplings and seedlings; we'll also invite well-known Trainers from nearby to hold a battle competition and use orchard produce as prizes. If you're interested, you're welcome to join.
If you do come, please pick that date — it's honey-grape harvest season here and I may be too busy otherwise.
I look forward to meeting a young orchardist like you.
— Inoue Shūko, Budō Orchard Owner
Kaede's face registered surprise as he finished reading.
Kusano Genmu had already told the Budō Town orchard owner about him? That was fast — but actually it was a relief. At least the visit wouldn't be so sudden, and the owner had given a time window, which saved Kaede from scrambling.
He turned to the Pigeotto that had delivered the letter. "Did you fly this envelope from Budō Town?"
The Pigeotto shook its head and instead looked toward Aogiri City — it had come from there. Pidgeotto in Aogiri were the city's courier birds, mostly used to deliver notes for elderly folks who didn't use phones; they rarely brought mail to younger people.
Kaede nodded, pocketed the letter, handed the bird an energy block, and fell into thought. Looks like he needed to plant flowers first before heading to Budō Town.
"Berry-tree blossoms might work, though…" he muttered, thinking of the Petaya Berry tree's tight little buds. Then he shook his head — no. One bud might later become a Petaya Berry; those fruits were valuable. He wouldn't waste one.
"Plant the flowers, then." He'd already planned to do it anyway.
Back inside the Breeding House he asked Rotom casually, "How much did we make today?"
"Rotom~ Calculating now~"
Rotom answered quickly. "Today's revenue: 375,200. Master's current balance: 6,450,000."
Kaede nodded, unsurprised. He wasn't the nervous new shopkeeper anymore; seeing that sum no longer rattled him. Still, he wondered whether the money could help him fix a twenty-kilometer stretch of road — at least enough to make the highway a little better.
"Rotom — Master, the energy blocks we stocked today don't seem to match the takings," Rotom said from midair, sounding puzzled.
"Huh?" Kaede blinked. "Not match? By how much?"
"Rotom? It looks like three thousand is missing."
Rotom hesitated. It counted the blocks whenever Kaede put them on the counter and estimated the day's revenue. Usually, the stock sold out.
"Three thousand?" Kaede fell into thought. It wasn't only that three thousand was a chunk of money — it was the idea that something could have been taken right under his and Gardevoir's noses. Or maybe Gardevoir had been out training the Pidgeotto and Pidgey and simply didn't notice.
"No big deal. Tomorrow morning set up surveillance and check — maybe a customer forgot to pay," Kaede said, shaking his head. He made a mental note to have Rotom watch more closely; if the discrepancy repeated and Rotom couldn't find a cause, he'd call on Gardevoir or Yanagi-ojii-san's Lucario.
"Rotom~ Understood."
Kaede went to bed. The next morning he woke early and, while tidying, noticed something on the register counter — a small stone.
"Huh?"
He levitated a Alcremie up to the counter, climbed onto the surface, and picked the stone up.
[Everstone — a mysterious stone that, when carried, can suppress changes in a Pokémon's genes (evolution).]
"Did Gardevoir bring this?" he wondered, then shook his head. If she had, she would have told him once it was fully light. It was still dawn; most of the town slept.
He tucked the Everstone away. When Takagi Megumi arrived for work, Kaede headed to the Plantation to feed and milk. Before long Gardevoir appeared — just as she was about to call the Pidgeotto and Pidgey down from the pine for training, Kaede called after her.
"Gardevoir?"
Gardevoir shot him a mildly aggrieved look. Her psychic powers were invaluable in the Plantation, but she didn't want to be used like a workhorse.
"Cough… this isn't another job" Kaede said, embarrassed, producing the Everstone. "I just wanted to ask — did you bring this?"
Gardevoir had been very busy these days.
She floated over, examined the stone, and shook her head.
"Not you? That's odd… so some Pokémon must have slipped in quietly" Kaede said, and then told her about the missing money and the sudden stone.
"Gardevoir?" (It appeared this morning?)
Gardevoir looked surprised. She'd been keeping watch on the road between Aogiri City and the town last night; if anything unusual had come in she should have felt it.
They stared at each other and found no answer.
Gardevoir sighed softly. "Gardevoir…" (I'll keep watch more closely.)
Kaede felt touched. "You're the best."
A few energy blocks and a top-grade Rare Candy had bought him Gardevoir's loyalty — he thought it might be the best bargain of his life.
Gardevoir floated above him and ruffled his hair with a gentle, slightly wistful thought.
"Gardevoir…" (When I first took in those three Pokémon I thought they needed care. Now it looks like you need care too — maybe even more.)
Kaede blinked. No wonder she liked to mess with his hair — did she see him like a child? He protested half-joking, "There are still some differences, though."
Gardevoir turned her gaze soft and comforting. "Gardevoir…" (There are differences… but you make me feel like I have someone to rely on.)