Pokémon Cottage

Absorbed in the work in front of him, Tong Hua never noticed the exchange between the Pokémon. Before long, the second log had also been cut into even planks.

"These should be about enough..."

It was already past three in the afternoon. Tong Hua counted the planks stacked nearby and decided he could go repair one of the Pokémon Cottages.

"Heave-ho!"

Tong Hua picked up a stack of planks and headed straight for the Pasture.

Seeing Tong Hua set off, the Pokémon quietly followed behind him.

Out in the Pasture, Miltank had eaten her fill and was leisurely rolling around.

"Milu?"

Seeing everyone coming her way, Miltank quickly rolled over to Tong Hua's feet.

She tilted her head up curiously, her damp nose gently sniffing the planks in Tong Hua's arms.

"Careful now. These are for fixing the cottage." Tong Hua smiled and gently nudged Miltank's round body with his knee.

Miltank gave a contented "Milu~" and rolled away.

Tong Hua walked up to the row of old Pokémon Cottages and gently set the planks on the ground.

From the outside, these old-fashioned Pokémon Cottages looked little different from the ordinary chicken coops and cattle sheds nearby.

They had the same three-by-four-meter footprint and an interior height of two and a half meters. As for the biggest difference between these and the shelters for ordinary animals...

"A private mansion. Not bad."

If he hadn't been short on energy and urgently needed a quick solution, Tong Hua really would have preferred to tear these cottages down first and use the salvaged planks to rebuild them according to Xiang Shi's blueprints.

For now, though, he would have to make do.

"I choose you-the one in the best shape." Tong Hua murmured to himself, tapping a finger against a post of the cottage at the end of the row. It gave a dull thud.

At some point, Miltank had rolled back and lined up behind Tong Hua with the other Pokémon, watching him work curiously.

Tong Hua picked up his tools and deftly removed a damaged plank.

Wood chips danced in the sunlight, giving off a faint pine scent.

Suddenly, Tong Hua felt something touch his back.

He turned to find Miltank holding a plank in her hoof, blinking her round eyes.

"Thank you." Tong Hua took it with a smile and found that it was exactly the right size.

Only then did he notice that the other Pokémon had already started dividing up the work on their own.

Turtwig and the Celebi selected planks, while Minccino swept debris off the ground with its tail. Even Bounsweet, who usually drew the least attention, hopped over with a plank balanced on its head.

Watching the scene before him, Tong Hua couldn't help smiling.

"You're all such a big help," he said softly, his voice filled with unmistakable warmth.

Bounsweet hopped over to deliver its plank, and as Tong Hua took it, he gave its little head a rub, making it spin around happily.

Tong Hua hammered the new planks into place one by one. With each new patch, the old, dilapidated cottage gradually took on a new life.

Tong Hua carefully inspected the cottage walls, running his fingers over the old planks cracked by wind and rain.

He selected several of the most badly damaged sections and carefully removed them with a crowbar. The wood gave faint groans, and splinters pattered down, stirring up golden dust in the sunlight.

"Next, I'll need to reach the higher spots..."

He looked around, his gaze settling on the wooden ladder leaning against Granary. Bits of hay still clung to the old ladder's rungs.

Tong Hua and Turtwig worked together to carry the wooden ladder over.

Once they had set it up, Minccino suddenly darted over, its fluffy tail curled around several nails.

"Thanks." Tong Hua took the nails and held them between his lips, the taste of rust spreading over his tongue.

He climbed halfway up the ladder, braced his knees against a rung to keep his balance, and began replacing the rotten planks beneath the eaves.

The Celebi hovered nearby, helping pass him tools. They watched nervously as Tong Hua carried out the dangerous work, quietly using Confusion to help everyone keep the ladder steady.

Repairing the roof was the most nerve-racking part.

With nowhere else to put his feet, Tong Hua had to stand right at the top of the ladder, his tense thigh muscles trembling slightly.

He gripped the eaves with one hand and swung his hammer with the other, nailing the cut planks into place at an angle.

The afternoon sun had heated the hammer until it was hot to the touch. Sweat dripped from his jaw onto the planks, where the wood immediately soaked it up.

When the final new plank fitted snugly into place, Tong Hua let out a long breath.

He climbed down the ladder and stepped back to admire the results with the Pokémon.

The once-weathered walls were now covered in wood grain of varying shades, like a carefully stitched patchwork quilt.

The sloping roof was covered in brand-new wooden shingles, gleaming golden in the sunlight.

Inside, warm, comfortable hay covered the floor. The lack of glass windows preserved the cottage's rustic character. Only the split gate door swayed gently in the breeze, revealing the rough mortise-and-tenon joints on its inner side.

"All done!"

[Small Pokémon Cottage: Quality C. An old-fashioned building with a modular design and good potential for expansion. Though the repairs have left it looking brand-new, it still retains traces of the years.]

[Effect: Optical illusion · medium. Makes those inside feel as though the space has grown larger.]

[Evaluation: Home, sweet home.]

[Recommended processing method (alchemy).]

Tong Hua couldn't wait to step inside the cottage. The moment he pushed open the gate door, a strange sensation suddenly enveloped him.

The walls around him were actually moving away from him!

It was as though he had shrunk. Walls he should have been able to touch in just a few steps seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

"So this is the effect of optical illusion · medium? It's even more obvious than it was at Miltank Ranch!"

Meanwhile, all the Pokémon watching from outside saw was Tong Hua repeatedly lifting his legs and marching in place. He looked possessed, endlessly stepping without moving forward.

"Milu?"

While the Pokémon were puzzling over this, a curious Miltank nudged the gate door open and squeezed inside to take a look...

The number of those going in circles had increased by one.

No, going in circles wasn't quite right. Miltank was rolling in place.

Well, that looked even stranger...

A few minutes later, Tong Hua came out of the cottage

again.

"That's amazing! Do you want to go in and try it too?"

Tong Hua looked at the row of Pokémon standing outside with strange expressions. At their prompting, he turned to look back inside.

"Uh..."

Watching Miltank roll in place as though she were possessed, Tong Hua couldn't help feeling embarrassed.

Apparently, it looked that strange to an onlooker, even though it had felt perfectly normal when he was inside.

"Try going in yourselves, and you'll understand."

"Ama?"

At Tong Hua's enthusiastic recommendation, the ever-innocent Bounsweet was the first to enter.

Turtwig, Minccino, and the two Celebi followed into the Pokémon Cottage one after another.

Bounsweet hopped over the threshold, then suddenly stopped. It tilted its little head, its two beady eyes full of confusion.

"Ama?" It tentatively hopped forward, only to find that it seemed to be farther from the opposite wall.

Turtwig cautiously extended its Vine Whip, but no matter how far it stretched, it couldn't touch the wall.

Minccino had the same problem. It darted nimbly toward a corner, only to discover that no matter how much it ran, all four corners remained the same distance away.

The two Celebi hovered in the air, looking around curiously. They tried moving in different directions, only to find that no matter where they flew, their distance from the walls stayed unchanged.

"Milu~" Miltank finally stopped rolling. She blinked her large eyes, watching the other Pokémon undergo the same wondrous experience.

Standing outside the door, Tong Hua couldn't help chuckling at the sight.

The Pokémon on the floor were clearly so close that they were almost touching, yet from their own perspectives, everyone else seemed very far away.

This advanced Visual Illusion Effect worked almost like hypnosis, making them firmly believe that the Pokémon Cottage was bigger on the inside than on the outside!

Stay long enough, and they would even begin to feel lonely.

For Miltank, who liked being alone and loved rolling around, it truly was the best possible home.