Chapter 461: 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Though he wanted them very much, Kaede kept his eyes on Mew, waiting for its response.

"Mew ~~!" (Then, which ones do you want?)

Mew picked up the Rainbow Feather, then the Lunar Feather, twirling the two feathers in its hands along with many other remaining items.

It could tell Kaede really wanted these things, but giving them all away at once made it a bit reluctant.

Regardless of whether these items were useful to it, they were, after all, things it had painstakingly collected over a long time.

"I want that glowing antler fragment."

What Kaede had his eye on was Xerneas’s antler fragment.

Because the description mentioned it contained a large amount of Fairy-type energy and could be made into related Fairy-type dishes, which would be very useful for him.

Or rather, very useful for Alolan Ninetales’s team.

Their "Dragon Slayer" goal was giving Kaede quite a headache by now.

As for the others, of course he wanted them too, but asking for too much might upset Mew, and that would be disastrous.

"Mew~?"

Taking out the item Kaede wanted, Mew handed it to him. But when Kaede didn’t continue speaking, Mew asked curiously, "Mew?" (Just this one? Don’t you want the others?)

"Of course, I like the others too, but since they’re things you collected, it’s up to you whether to give the rest."

Taking Xerneas’s "antler fragment," Kaede didn’t beat around the bush and stated his thoughts directly.

"Mew?"

(●’◡’●).: "Mew~"

Mew felt relieved inwardly, and then a happy smile spread across its face.

"Mew~" (Alright, alright.)

It turned and pounced onto the box, looking over the items it had collected for so long, picking and choosing, and finally took out a few more things.

The two feathers on top.

The Lunar Feather and Ho-Oh’s Rainbow Feather.

The Lunar Feather reminded Kaede of something else he had once obtained from Mew—a stone imbued with Darkrai’s curse energy.

That thing, if left exposed, would bring nightmares to surrounding creatures until its energy dissipated. Left with no choice, Kaede had to keep it submerged in water. By now, he had accumulated several bottles of water from changing it regularly, but the nightmare-energy stone itself remained unprocessed.

He didn’t know where that Darkrai was now.

But Kaede didn’t have high hopes for its culinary effects, so he never tried to use it.

Now, with the Lunar Feather, perhaps he could give it a try.

And the Rainbow Feather.

Come to think of it, he seemed to have a Silver Feather too. Since he didn’t currently know which Pokémon needed it, Kaede had chosen to save it for now.

Better to avoid scrambling for a substitute when it was needed in the future.

Although he didn’t know what to do with this Rainbow Feather either, it was, after all, a Legendary ingredient.

"Mew~" (These two for you, and also...)

After handing the two feathers to Kaede, Mew looked back at its box, feeling conflicted.

It felt what it had given was a bit too little, but looking at the remaining items in the box, it didn’t know how to choose what to part with.

So, it turned to Kaede with a tangled expression and said, "Mew, Mew...." (Choose... one more! I don’t know what *not* to give.)

"Can I really choose one more?"

Kaede found it amusing.

The remaining items were clearly things Mew still wanted to keep, but it thought Kaede might like them, hence offering to let him choose one more.

"Mew, Mew!" (Of course, of course...)

Mew nodded.

Kaede didn’t stand on ceremony either, just reached into the box to rummage around while also keeping an eye on Mew’s expression.

It said Kaede could choose one more, but when Kaede’s hand hovered over Diancie’s Sacred Diamond, Mew’s face showed clear tension. Obviously, it didn’t want to part with what Kaede was eyeing.

With its emotions so plainly written on its face, it was easy for Kaede to proceed.

He tested based on Mew’s expressions.

In the end, only three items in the box elicited a relatively relaxed expression from Mew when he considered choosing them.

One was a shed scale from Rayquaza, one was magma that fell from Groudon while it slept, and the last was a stone fragment from Regirock.

The third one, Kaede instinctively disregarded.

After all, compared to the first two, the third one wasn’t quite in the same league.

Between the first and second, Kaede pondered briefly and quickly chose the first.

Rayquaza’s shed scale, and a black one at that—clearly, this should be from that Shiny Rayquaza that once visited the plantation.

Groudon’s magma would also be very useful for Fire-type Pokémon, but he only had Blaziken as a Fire-type, and he wasn’t sure how to process a rock like that. If handled poorly, the energy leakage might be too severe and attract both the "big fish" and its true form, which would be a disaster.

Those two would definitely fight if they met.

In comparison, there were more ways to handle a Dragon Scale.

Moreover, that Rayquaza had visited the plantation before and seemed quite reasonable.

Perhaps this could even attract it to visit again.

"Mew~" (For you, for you~)

Sure enough, seeing Kaede choose the Dragon Scale, Mew handed it over without any hesitation.

"Mew, Mew~!"

After everything seemed settled, Mew puffed out its chest, a proud expression on its face.

The meaning was clear: *I handled this well, right?*

*Didn’t shortchange you, right?*

"Good, good, very good."

Though Kaede’s face held an amused smile, inwardly he felt he hadn’t misjudged this Pokémon, and he was even somewhat touched.

Just the items he received from Mew today would be worth who-knows-how-much in the human world.

All he had to do in return was be responsible for Mew’s meals... and Victini’s, and now it seemed Lugia’s too... and Jirachi when it awakened in half a year.

Seeing Kaede’s acknowledgment, the entire Tree of Beginning soon filled with the sound of Mew’s merry laughter...

~~~///(^v^)\\\~~~: "Mew~"

Kaede smiled at Mew, then stored the two feathers, the antler fragment, and the Dragon Scale into his storage capsule.

However, as he put away the feathers, one of them faintly flickered.

And at the boundary between light and shadow, the shadows seemed to ripple... shifting ever so slightly.