Someone by your side

Back at the Pokémon Day Care, Fang Yan carried the seeds toward the herb garden and vegetable patch.

After planting the seeds according to his grandmother's instructions, Fang Yan said to Dali, "I'll be counting on you all to look after the herbs and vegetables here from now on. Keep bird Pokémon from eating them."

Dali and the others widened their eyes, their expressions serious. They understood how important these seeds were.

Then they looked around, searching for any Pokémon that might threaten this place.

Seeing them like that, Fang Yan couldn't help laughing before saying, "You don't have to worry so much. Just make sure bird Pokémon don't eat them. Gengar will handle the watering, right, Gengar?"

He turned to Gengar beside him, only to find that Gengar had already pulled the Blastoise watering can out of its extradimensional stomach and was itching to try it.

After teaching Gengar how to water the plants, Fang Yan went to fetch Petilil and carried it over.

"Petilil, you can come here when you have time, too. The soil here is very rich as well. You can try gathering your Grass-type Energy here to help them grow faster."

Hearing Fang Yan's words, Petilil looked at the soil before it with an equally serious expression.

"Lili."

Seeing that they seemed to enjoy this, Fang Yan said nothing more and simply clapped his hands. "Thanks for your hard work, everyone."

"Ni-ke."

"Geng."

"Lili."

By the time everything was done, the food he had bought had arrived as well. Fang Yan went to put it in the freezer, then took some out to make a lavish lunch. After lunch, Gengar washed the cookware as usual, while Fang Yan went to the Pokémon Day Care, opened its doors, hung out the open sign, and sat quietly behind the counter to wait for customers.

He held a book about making Pokéblocks in his hands, reading it with keen interest.

After a long while, two customers arrived at the Pokémon Day Care.

The white-haired elderly woman led a listless elderly man to the entrance, looking at the Day Care's introduction and its open doors.

"Dear, this place really is open."

The elderly man spoke.

"Why would that young man lie to us? Come on, let's go in."

With that, the elderly woman tugged him into the Pokémon Day Care.

"Dear, will this really wor..."

Before he could finish, he saw a purple Pokémon float up in front of them.

"Geng?"

Is there anything you need?

Looking at the well-behaved Gengar before him, the elderly man fell into a daze.

"Ma'am, you're here."

Fang Yan put down his book, came over to Gengar, and spoke.

"So you really do run this place. Didn't you mention an herbal tea this morning? I brought my husband over to have a look."

The elderly woman looked at Fang Yan. Though her kindly face wore a smile, worry was still clearly visible on it.

Seeing this, Fang Yan nodded and showed the elderly woman and her husband to some chairs. He asked Gengar to look after them, then turned and entered the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Fang Yan took out the dried Petilil leaves and a clay pot. He put the leaves into the pot, added water, covered it, and turned on the heat to bring it to a boil.

In the main room, the elderly woman looked at Gengar and asked gently, "Child, you're his Pokémon, aren't you? How long have you known each other?"

Gengar nodded, then held up one hand.

"Geng."

"Only five days? It looks like you really like him."

Hearing her words, Gengar broke into a grin, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"Geng."

Fang Yan really likes Gengar, too.

Sensing the feelings radiating from Gengar, the elderly woman's worries eased considerably.

Then the woman and the Pokémon began chatting freely.

The elderly man dozed in his chair, listening to the voices of his wife and Gengar in a slight daze. He didn't know how long it had been since he had seen his wife talk to a Pokémon for so long. Listening to their voices as they continued on and off, he slowly fell sound asleep.

In his dream, he dreamed of when he had first met his wife. Back then, he had lofty ambitions and wanted to become a great breeder. Later, a Pokémon had brought him and his wife into a deep bond, and they had finally decided to spend their lives together...

Immersed in his dreams, the elderly man felt someone shaking him. He slowly opened his eyes, and the face of the girl in his dream came into view. Now, however, her hair was already covered in silver, and wrinkles lined her face.

Yet she was still beautiful.

"Dear, you're so pretty."

The elderly man spoke as he gazed at that familiar face.

"You old fool, what nonsense are you spouting?"

His wife raised her hand and gently pinched his arm.

Watching the elderly couple flirt, Fang Yan felt warmed by their display of affection, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help lifting.

The love of lifelong companionship was always beautiful and precious.

"Hurry and get up. The young man has finished brewing the herbal tea."

At his wife's urging, the elderly man finally looked toward Fang Yan and saw him holding a steaming bowl of herbal tea.

The elderly woman took the bowl from Fang Yan and brought it to her lips, blowing gently on it.

In fact, when bringing it out, Fang Yan had already poured it back and forth between two bowls to cool it faster.

But now he stood beside Gengar, quietly watching the elderly woman blow the herbal tea cool before handing it to her husband.

Sure enough, this was the Pokémon world I'd dreamed of.

He glanced at Gengar beside him, then tugged at the corners of its mouth.

"Good thing I have Gengar with me."

Fang Yan was sincerely grateful. Gengar had given him the most important thing he needed to run a Pokémon Day Care here: companionship.

That was also why Fang Yan had made up his mind to renovate the Pokémon Day Care. Part of it was because of his great-aunt, and the other part was Gengar.

"Geng."

The corners of Gengar's mouth were pulled wide. It didn't dislike this; rather, it loved having Fang Yan play with it like this. It stuck out its scarlet tongue and laughed heartily.

The elderly man took the herbal tea his wife handed him, tested its temperature, then drank it all in one go.

Both Fang Yan and the elderly woman focused their attention on him.

"So bitter..."

No sooner had he spoken than he felt something almost unbelievable. His eyes widened, and he stood up.

"I haven't felt this energetic in ages."

The elderly man straightened up. His body was still quite healthy; it was only his poor spirits that had made him look somewhat listless. But after drinking the Petilil herbal tea Fang Yan had brewed, everything had improved.

"It looks like it worked."

Fang Yan smiled as he spoke.

"Yes. I don't even know how long it's been since I last saw him this energetic," the elderly woman said, tears brimming in her eyes as she watched her husband moving about.

He was brimming with energy, just as he had been when they first met.

"Thank you, young man."

The elderly man came up to Fang Yan and thanked him sincerely.

His wife did the same.

Fang Yan accepted their thanks with an easy conscience.

"But what does this 'herbal tea' mean? I've never heard of it before."

The elderly man was a little puzzled. This was his first time hearing the term "herbal tea."

"Herbal tea is what we call it in the Donghuang League. It's similar to traditional Chinese medicine, but there are some differences."

Fang Yan answered with a smile, then continued, "My great-aunt taught me this, too."

Thinking they might know his great-aunt, Fang Yan specifically added, "She was the previous owner of this Pokémon Day Care."

"Oh, Moli is your great-aunt?"

The elderly woman exclaimed in surprise.

Fang Yan nodded with a smile.

Afterward, he learned a few more things about his great-aunt from the elderly couple.

Just as Xia Lan and the others had said, his great-aunt was someone everyone admired, according to the elderly couple.

Fang Yan returned to the kitchen, poured the remaining Petilil herbal tea into a bottle, and packed it together with a few Petilil leaves before handing it to the elderly woman.

He also taught her how to brew Petilil herbal tea from the leaves. There were enough leaves for four days, making five days in total including today. Each serving cost 500 League dollars, but Fang Yan only charged her 2,000 League dollars.

After seeing the elderly couple off, Fang Yan handed the money to Gengar as spending money, while he looked at the notifications before him.

[Breeder 2: A breeder must always pay attention to a Pokémon's mood and condition. Of course, a truly outstanding breeder should not stop at Pokémon alone.]

[A girl and a boy met through Pokémon, came to know each other, and spent their lives together. Thank you for resolving the problem that had troubled them all this time. The journeys they took together in their youth left them with beautiful, happy memories. Now, they have left that happiness and beauty to you.]

[Received the elderly couple's joint blessing: For the next week, your luck seems to have improved somewhat.]

[The elderly couple also left you a gift. Come take a look: Lucky Egg.]

[Lucky Egg: An egg filled with happiness. A Pokémon holding it will gain slightly more experience points.]

Looking at the notifications one after another, Fang Yan couldn't help letting out a sigh.

By then, Gengar had put the money away as well. It passed through the wall and came to Fang Yan's side.

"Gengar, I think I'm starting to understand what kind of breeder suits me."

Before Gengar could speak, Fang Yan continued, "It looks like herbal tea would be a good choice as a service at the Pokémon Day Care."

"Geng?"

Gengar was a little puzzled, but soon put those questions out of its mind.

"Geng~"

Whatever Fang Yan does, I'll be by his side~