Chapter 336:
January 12th
Evening
Hayashi Kaede lay on his bed.
A shrunken Alolan Ninetales was curled up beside him, while Serperior had also minimized itself, resting on the nightstand.
The Eevees and Growlithe were nestled in their own beds, only their heads peeking out of the blankets.
Growlithe had already fallen asleep, its head drooping to the side, eyes closed, emitting soft snores.
This made the Eevees sleeping next to it feel helpless as its sleeping posture look very unglamorous.
Especially Little Nine, who even wanted to paw at Growlithe to wake it up and make it sleep again with a better posture.
But after Hayashi Kaede showed it a photo of its own sleeping posture, Little Nine immediately hid inside the blanket in embarrassment.
Its sleeping pose was particularly outrageous, belly completely turned up and exposed.
The other Eevees couldn't help but laugh when they saw it.
After evolving, Meowscarada had grown larger. But as a humanoid Pokémon, it didn't really like staying in the small bed anymore.
So, Hayashi Kaede bought it a larger bed.
It was then placed right at the edge of his bed.
Fortunately, their newly built house was spacious enough. Hayashi Kaede estimated that his house, including the yard, was at least five hundred square meters.
Not far away Meowscarada curled up in its own bed, watched Hayashi Kaede teased Alolan Ninetales with a hint of longing in its eyes.
After a moment's thought, it walked out and climbed onto Kaede bed too.
"Myaah..."
It tried to nuzzle up to Hayashi Kaede.
"What's up, Meowscarada?"
Floragato was so big now; Hayashi Kaede noticed its movement immediately.
"Myaah."
Meowscarada lay on the bed, wanting to rub its head against Hayashi Kaede's hand, but its current size made that rather awkward.
It glanced at Alolan Ninetales, then at Serperior over there.
"Mewling" softly.
"You want to shrink too?" Hayashi Kaede was somewhat surprised.
But indeed, if Meowscarada didn't shrink, it was a bit too big for the bed.
"Okay, wait a moment, I'll get you a Shape Shifting Pecha Berry Energy Cube."
Hayashi Kaede didn't ask further.
He patted Meowscarada's head, got off the bed, went to the storage capsule, took out an Energy Cube, and handed it to Meowscarada.
Thanks to that mutated Pecha Berry tree still bearing fruit, they could afford to use these Energy Cubes daily at home.
"Myaah?"
Floragato ate the Energy Cube in one bite, then curiosity flashed in its eyes.
It could feel that it could now control its body size.
It then adjusted its body size.
Its body immediately began to shrink, then it quickly looked at Hayashi Kaede. Once its perspective matched what it remembered from when it was a Sprigatito looking up at him, it stopped changing.
After reaching this size, Meowscarada ceased shrinking.
Meowscarada instinctively tried to walk on all fours, but as soon as it lowered its front paws, it felt awkward, realizing it had evolved now.
So it walked directly towards Hayashi Kaede.
Unbeknownst to it, seeing this made Hayashi Kaede's eyes shine even brighter.
Before it could reach him, he scooped it up into a hug, grinning goofily. "Hehe, a tiny Meowscarada is super cute too."
Actually, ever since Meowscarada evolved, Hayashi Kaede had been itching to touch its paws.
But after evolution, Meowscarada had gotten so big.
He felt a bit embarrassed to ask directly.
But now that it was small again, it was different.
He held Meowscarada's hands, placed it on his lap, and immediately looked at its paws.
Those pink, pudgy paw pads felt soft when pressed, smooth to the touch, with an excellent texture.
Seeing Hayashi Kaede's interest in its paw pads, Meowscarada retracted its claws.
It snuggled into Hayashi Kaede's embrace.
Enjoying this moment of peace.
This was the spot it most wanted to be.
Ever since it was just an egg, it felt like it was drifting in a warm space.
And after hatching, the first thing it saw was Hayashi Kaede.
It quickly realized that his embrace was that warm place.
This hadn't changed, even after evolution.
"Meowscarada~"
Floragato let out a contented meow, gradually calming down.
Hayashi Kaede, playing with the little cat's paw pads, started to feel a bit drowsy.
But suddenly, as if remembering something, he immediately grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
Then started tapping away on it.
Hayashi Kaede suddenly remembered.
He still hadn't checked this year's venue for the Pokémon League Conference.
Although he'd watched the conference matches before,
Back then, his focus was mostly on the battles themselves.
He never paid attention to the location.
A quick search now soon made it clear.
"This year's Pokémon League Conference is held in Kyōka City, in the Eastova region. It's the central city of the Eastova League..."
"Ooh, I heard that two years ago, Leon from the Galar region even came for a collaborative drink advertisement."
Looking at the information searched on his phone, Hayashi Kaede found it interesting.
He didn't expect that in this parallel Pokémon world, Leon's endorsements had reached even the Eastova region.
Kyōka City was quite a distance from Aogiri Town.
The competition started tomorrow.
If participants didn't sign in on time, they would be disqualified.
This was to arrange the tournament schedule for the following days.
At such a crucial time, people generally wouldn't be late.
After all, everyone had earned eight badges.
Logically, those living far away should arrive early; some from even farther might come two or three days in advance.
Especially since it was a major event.
Someone like Hayashi Kaede, who was still checking the venue the day before the competition, was truly a rare case.
However, If it was Dragonite flying him, it probably wouldn't be a problem.
Hayashi Kaede thought to himself.
At most, he'd just have to wake up a bit earlier tomorrow morning.
"Alright, time for sleep!"
Once his thoughts were settled, Hayashi Kaede didn't dwell on it further.
He grabbed Alolan Ninetales, ignoring its protests, and placed it inside its designated bed.
It was winter. Having an Alolan Ninetales in the bed meant the blankets wouldn't warm up all night.
He'd rather have Meowscarada, Growlithe, or the Eevees in the bed with him.
But to avoid hurting Alolan Ninetales' feelings, and to not play favorites, Hayashi Kaede could only reluctantly choose to sleep alone.
After turning off the lights, Hayashi Kaede thought, *When summer comes, I'm putting all the fluffy Pokémon on the bed...*