August 26.

After planting mint seeds he'd just bought from Wutong City in the garden and milking Miltank, Lin Feng returned to his room.

But when he noticed no signs of activity from the nearby treehouse, he tilted his head in confusion.

"Hm? Still not up yet?"

He glanced at the time.

9:25 a.m.

By Snivy's usual habits, it would've woken up around 7:00.

"Don't tell me it's hungover?"

Lin Feng didn't dwell on it. He turned to check if Combusken had returned yet.

Last night's barbecue feast had clearly hit hard. According to Combusken, it fell asleep really late and then dashed out for its morning run first thing.

When Lin Feng arrived at the plantation, Combusken had already returned. Though it was a little out of breath, its spirit and energy were vibrant, so he wasn't too worried.

Since Snivy was still sleeping, Lin Feng used his Verdant Aura to nourish the plants in the plantation.

That was… until…

By the time the sun hung overhead, near noon, Lin Feng began to find it strange.

Snivy still hadn't come out.

At that point, he knew it was awake, just refusing to leave its room.

He walked up to the treehouse and knocked on the roof. No response.

"Snivy?" he called.

A faint rustling came from inside, but the little Pokémon still didn't come out.

Lin Feng chuckled. "It's already noon. Planning to stay in there forever?"

Silence.

"Well, if you won't come out, I'm coming in."

Lin Feng carefully poked his head into the treehouse, which was about as tall as he was.

The space inside wasn't dark, but despite the large window in the back, the curtain had been drawn tightly shut.

The floor was layered with soft bedding.

A faint shadow huddled beneath the curtain.

"Snivy?"

"…Sni…"

Through the curtain, Snivy could see the shadow of its Trainer entering, but right now, it just couldn't bring itself to face him.

This morning, after waking up, memories of last night's drunken antics came flooding back.

Instantly, its mind went blank, and then came a wave of embarrassment, heat, and discomfort it didn't know how to face Lin Feng or the other Pokémon.

"You're really not coming out? Even if you're hungry?"

Lin Feng bent down and reached for the curtain. There was a light resistance.

But it wasn't strong. With a small tug, the curtain slid open.

Behind it, Snivy sat uncomfortably, fidgeting.

"Sni… vy…"

Seeing Snivy's awkward little face, Lin Feng smiled.

"Alright, come on out. Vulpix is worried about you."

"…Sni…" Snivy shook its head, clearly unsure how to face its Trainer. It waved its hand weakly.

"Sni… Sni…" (Yesterday… yesterday…)

"Yesterday? Did something happen yesterday?" Lin Feng raised a brow. "Didn't you just get drunk and fall asleep? I had to carry you back to the treehouse, remember?"

"Snivy?"

Snivy blinked in surprise.

Lin Feng gave it a teasing grin.

"What? Do you want me to carry you out again?"

"Sni-sni!" (No! I'll walk myself!)

Snivy instinctively shook its head, but before it could react, Lin Feng had already picked it up. It twitched in surprise, vines flinching out but it didn't resist. The vines drooped and retracted.

It could never bring itself to hurt its Trainer.

Besides… there was no one else here to see them.

A little indulgence wouldn't hurt…

"…Sni…" Snivy rested its head on Lin Feng's shoulder and closed its eyes.

Unfortunately, its Trainer only carried it out of the treehouse, then gently set it down.

"Alright, go get some food. It's an important time right now don't skip meals."

With that, Lin Feng returned to the plantation.

He knew very well

If Snivy was awake, too much attention would only make it uncomfortable.

Expecting it to act like that clingy Ice Vulpix was unrealistic.

"…Sni…" (Got it…)

Snivy's eyes sparkled as it nodded.

Then it quietly began planning how to face the rest of the Pokémon.

Of course, the clever Snivy knew full well that its Trainer had "lied." What happened last night had been all too real it couldn't possibly be just a dream.

That terrible Trainer had tricked it into coming out…

Afternoon.

Snivy finally emerged from its room, much to the relief of Milotic, Vulpix, and the others.

Its expression was the same as always calm and composed. It tended to the plants in the plantation like usual, even using Grassy Terrain to boost their growth.

It reminded Milotic to water the trees at scheduled times.

Milotic never argued.

After all, Snivy was the first Grass-type Pokémon Lin Feng had raised in the plantation. It was the one most attuned to the needs of the plants, and its Grassy Terrain could directly enhance their growth.

Not to mention Milotic's gentle nature Snivy just wanted to help the orchard flourish.

Of course, all this was aside from Lin Feng himself.

The Ice Vulpix finally relaxed, then excitedly trotted over to Snivy. In its eyes, Snivy was always cool, capable, and endlessly impressive an idol to look up to.

But for some reason…

The image from last night kept replaying in its mind.

Maybe someday, when it was older, it would understand

No Pokémon is "cool" all the time. They only look that way on the outside.

That evening.

Lin Feng took out his phone, placed the little Alcremies into small bowls, and set them on the bed.

The tiny cream Pokémon looked up at him eagerly.

"Al~ crem~"

He had told them earlier that they'd be calling Cally tonight.

Even though they were happy here, they still missed her.

Once everything was ready, Lin Feng looked up at the Rotom hovering in the air.

"Rotom, help me call Cally Kanto region number."

He'd gotten her contact from a Douyin comment under one of the Alcremie videos.

She had written:

"Milkcream, looks like you're really enjoying it over there."

Lin Feng happened to see it while scrolling the comments.

He immediately knew who she was and reached out.

These Alcremies were affectionately nicknamed "Milkcream" by her. They were the youngest batch from her dessert shop, and she'd always emphasized that they needed extra care.

In their chat, Cally had sounded a little wistful.

She wrote:

"At first, I thought I'd just watch from afar. But seeing how happy they were after just one day… I couldn't help it. I had to leave a comment."

Lin Feng had replied,

"Haha, jealous? "

He even added a dog emoji to show he was just joking.

Later, she said:

"Maybe. But as long as they're happy, that's what matters. I was right you're a good caretaker. Sorry for butting in, I didn't mean to… but I just couldn't resist leaving that comment. And now you found me..."

…

"Roto~ Connecting, Boss!"

Rotom quickly connected the call.

On the virtual screen, Cally smiled the moment she saw the eager little faces of the Alcremies.

"Al~ crem~" (Cally! Cally!)

"Alcrem…" (Our new boss is great. We really like him!)

The little cream Pokémon waved happily at her through the screen.

"That's wonderful! Make sure you behave and listen to your new caretaker, okay? Don't be too mischievous…"

—————————————————————————————————————————————————

Love the story? Show your support and unlock early access to new chapters by joining me on Patreon! and if we hit every 250 Power Stones, a bonus chapter drops!

[email protected]/_tey

Change @ to a.