Gifts of love

Gently pushing the little swing in front of him, Fang Yan was distracted by the text that popped up again.

[Our home: Pokémon always return their Trainer's love. Receive gifts from all the Pokémon at the Pokémon Day Care.]

[Gift one: Pokémon Day Care family bundle (Toxic Orb, Soothe Bell, Black Belt, Black Glasses, Expert Belt).]

[Gift two: The Pokémon at the Pokémon Day Care will share your workload, caring for the Pokémon boarded here and keeping them happy; they will tend the plants you grow, allowing them to grow, develop, and mature faster.]

[Gift three: Learning never ends. The Pokémon at the Pokémon Day Care have learned to teach other Pokémon the moves they excel at, expanding the Pokémon Day Care's range of services.]

[Currently teachable moves: Gengar (Shadow Ball); Machamp (Protect, Endure, Bulk Up); Petilil (Stun Spore).]

[Toxic Orb: A mysterious orb that releases poison when touched. Holding it causes the holder to become badly poisoned.]

[Soothe Bell: A bell with a beautiful tone. Pokémon holding it become closer to their Trainers more easily.]

[Black Belt: A belt that invigorates the spirit. Holding it boosts the power of Fighting-type moves.]

[Black Glasses: Strange-looking glasses. Holding them boosts the power of Dark-type moves.]

[Expert Belt: A well-worn black belt. Holding it slightly boosts the power of super-effective moves.]

"...Wow."

Fang Yan stared at the lines of text, utterly stunned.

What a giveaway!

Was it New Year's? Or was his cheat about to kick the bucket?

[Gift four:](garbled, crossed out.)

...So stingy. I can't even make a couple of comments about you.

Fang Yan grumbled inwardly, but he was already very satisfied with the first three gifts. Every one was precious.

Now his Pokémon Day Care could sell items, the herbs' growth cycle would accelerate, giving his herbal tea business a nice boost, and with move tutoring, his Pokémon Day Care could start taking on tutoring jobs too.

According to his cheat, this tutoring worked just like a Technical Machine, guaranteeing that the move would be learned, with only the time required varying.

Of course, there was one prerequisite: the Pokémon had to be capable of learning that move.

Reading this, Fang Yan sighed. The flightless one had completely lost any chance of learning Fly.

Fang Yan kept pushing the swing as he thought, until his phone rang.

He answered. It was someone ordering herbal tea for today.

After letting Cynthia and the others know, he turned and headed for the kitchen.

He packed the herbal tea and returned to the counter, where Shauna was already waiting, fully equipped.

Fang Yan nodded, went to his room to get a custom-made Petilil water bottle, filled it with drinking water for Shauna, and hung both the backpack of herbal tea and the little bag containing the water bottle around Dali's neck.

He also brought along the items from the family bundle.

He tied the Black Belt around Dali's arm, then nodded.

Dali looked at the Black Belt on his arm as a powerful force flowed through his body, then looked at Fang Yan, gave him a thumbs-up, and grinned.

Fang Yan patted his arm and lifted Shauna onto his neck.

"Stay safe out there. Come back soon."

"Bye, Uncle! Bye, Cynthia!"

"Mime~"

Fang Yan looked down at the remaining items, then asked Gengar whether he needed any.

Gengar floated over, picked out the Black Glasses, put them on, and flashed a peace sign.

"What about this? Don't you need it?"

Fang Yan pointed at the Toxic Orb in the box and asked.

"Gengar?"

Gengar looked at the Toxic Orb in the box and licked it, unsure what he could do with it.

Seeing this, Fang Yan could only give up and prepare to list it for sale.

Just then, Cynthia spoke beside him. "You can give it to Gengar and let him get a good feel for the energy inside. It would be better to put it up for sale after he's mastered it."

"After all, Gengar is a Poison-type Pokémon too. As long as he doesn't absorb the energy inside and only uses it to practice controlling Poison-type energy, its value won't change, and you can still sell it."

Cynthia raised a finger and continued, "It'll also be a big help when Gengar learns new moves."

Understanding dawned on Fang Yan. He hadn't known a Toxic Orb could be used that way.

Seeing his reaction, Cynthia was a little puzzled. "The energy contained in orbs like these is released automatically upon contact. Pokémon of the same type can absorb it to strengthen their moves of that type, while those of a different type will be inflicted with a specific effect. But Pokémon can also try absorbing the energy it releases and then feeding it back, improving their control over the power within their bodies."

"You didn't know?"

"I'm not a Trainer. Isn't it perfectly normal for me not to know?"

Fang Yan blinked as he spoke.

"But..."

Cynthia was even more puzzled. He had raised Gengar and the others so well, and their control over their energy was excellent. They had also grasped everything immediately when she instructed them that morning. Surely that meant Fang Yan was an excellent Trainer too.

She couldn't make sense of it.

Unaware of Cynthia's thoughts, Fang Yan handed the Toxic Orb to Gengar, then picked up the Soothe Bell and Expert Belt and placed them in the item display on the wall.

There were still major differences between games and reality. In reality, there were far too many things that could be used flexibly.

He patted Gengar's backside. Gengar nodded, curled his tongue around the Toxic Orb, swallowed it whole, and floated toward the door.

"Just watch from a distance."

"Gengar-"

I know the drill better than you do.

After pondering it, Cynthia decided to give up thinking about it. Coming back to her senses, she saw Gengar sneak out after Shauna.

"What's Gengar doing?"

"Oh, we're all worried about Shauna, so we have Gengar secretly follow her, just in case."

Cynthia nodded. "How about I follow them and keep watch too?"

"If you're not worried about causing a traffic jam, I have no objection."

Hearing that, Cynthia sighed regretfully. True, the moment she appeared, a huge crowd would gather around her.

Fang Yan finished sanding the wooden tags in his hands and blew on them. Looking up and seeing her regretful expression, he smiled.

"Want to get some afternoon tea ready?"

"Hmm..."

"How about ice cream for our afternoon treat?"

"Sure."

Cynthia's eyes lit up, and she nodded without hesitation.

Fang Yan handed her the wooden tags so she could put them on Garchomp and the others herself, then took out his great-aunt's recipe book.

"What would you like for dinner? You can order something."

He handed Cynthia the recipe book, then returned to the kitchen to start making ice cream.

When Fang Yan came out of the kitchen, he found her flipping through the recipe book with Gengar, who had returned at some point. He had no idea what they were discussing.

"Well? Have you decided what to eat?"

Fang Yan placed a spoon on the ice cream and handed it to Cynthia.

Behind him, Mime Jr. carried a small tray in each little hand, with several portions of ice cream on them. Mime Jr. handed them out to Gengar, Garchomp, and the others, then ran back to the kitchen.

Cynthia scooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. The icy sensation burst across her tongue, and she narrowed her eyes before pointing at the recipe book along with Gengar.

"This."

"Gengar-"

"Knife-cut noodles? Coming right up, bosses!"

Fang Yan nodded, lifted Shauna down from Dali's neck as they returned to the Pokémon Day Care, and wiped away her sweat. Then he asked Gengar to watch the counter in case any customers arrived and returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Shauna took Chingling to the backyard to help Mime Jr. hand out ice cream.

Cynthia returned to the backyard, secretly had Mime Jr. serve her a second helping of ice cream, and lay back on a lounge chair to savor it.

Before long, she saw Gengar rush out of the kitchen with Garchomp, Lucario, and the others in a panic, as though they had done something wrong.

Since the kitchen window still hadn't been repaired, Cynthia could clearly hear Fang Yan shouting.

"Gengar, where's that huge bowl of cooked braised-meat topping?! Tell me the truth!"

"Gengar!"

I don't know! I didn't sneak any! Don't ask me!

"Garchomp!"

I didn't eat any either! Lucario ate it all!

"Lucario?"

Me?!

Watching Fang Yan stand in the doorway with his hands on his hips and a helpless expression, Cynthia tasted the sweetness of the ice cream in her hand and laughed softly.

Next time, I could bring Diantha and the others here to relax.

Cynthia nodded at the thought.