Chapter 481:

"Ninetales!"

Before his thoughts could fully form, the sound of Alolan Ninetales came from beside him.

Its presence was announced by its voice first, but soon, Alolan Ninetales came running over with the Eeveelutions in tow.

"Ninetales~!" *(We cleared the first stage!)*

"Oh? Cleared the first stage?"

Kaede raised an eyebrow.

The first stage he set for the little ones included the Ice-type Elite Four’s Mr. Rime, the Fire-type Elite Four’s Charizard, the Grass-type Elite Four’s Venusaur, and the Psychic-type Elite Four’s...

Although he hadn’t seen some of these Pokémon, he could find battle videos online and estimate their approximate stats from various matches.

The Ice-type Elite Four’s Mr. Rime—while Alolan Ninetales had defeated it last time, that was actually after Blaziken had dealt damage first and under the element of surprise.

This time, Kaede had even increased the difficulty for their challenge team.

The rule was that all four Pokémon had to challenge together, and during the challenge, none of the three Eeveelutions could faint.

After all, as a team, they should each have their roles and protect each other’s safety!

This was essential training!

So, this wasn’t 1+3 > 4, but rather 1+3 < 1.

For Alolan Ninetales, the Eeveelutions were indeed still too weak right now.

"Ninetales~" *(Yes, yes!)*

"Sylveon..."

Alolan Ninetales quickly affirmed.

The Eeveelutions also nodded, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.

It had to be said, the stages Trainer Kaede set up were very interesting. They could set up various forms of challenges in the dream, record data, and through prolonged practice in the dreamscape, they could retain these battle instincts in their daily lives.

"Mr. Rime?" Kaede asked again for confirmation.

"Ninetales!"

Once he got the definite answer, he gave the corresponding praise, "You did really well!"

But Alolan Ninetales bringing the Eeveelutions over clearly wasn’t just for this bit of praise. They were looking at Kaede with eager eyes.

"Alright, alright, I know. Wait for it. I’ll make you something delicious tonight."

Kaede smiled and patted the Pokémon’s heads, simultaneously checking the Eevees’ stats panels.

[Pokémon: Umbreon]

[Ability: Synchronize]

[Potential: Red]

[IVs: ....]

[Level: 51–53]*

...

[Pokémon: Leafeon]

[Ability: Leaf Guard]

[Potential: Gold]

[IVs: HP (30) Attack (30) Sp. Atk (31) Defense (31) Sp. Def (30) Speed (31)]

[Level: 54–57]

...

[Pokémon: Sylveon]

[Potential: Gold]

[IVs: ....]

[Level: 53–54]

The three Eeveelutions had actually made significant progress recently, especially after the liquor chocolate made from Ho-Oh’s Sacred Feather appeared. The Pokémon in the plantation saw a qualitative leap in both their IVs and energy levels.

Look at Leafeon—its IVs were now just one point shy of perfect 6V.

After sending the little ones off, Kaede pondered what dish to make for them tonight.

Especially for the Eeveelutions—they couldn’t stay too far behind Alolan Ninetales forever.

Umbreon was Dark-type. Coincidentally, the nightmare energy in Darkrai’s Nightmare Stone was almost depleted, but it still contained Dark-type energy. The stone itself wasn’t edible, but it could be directly added to seasoning to stir-fry a dish he’d heard of before—"Savor and Toss." (Referring to the stir fry stone dish)

As the name suggests, you’d savor the flavor by ’sipping’ it and then discard it.

Processed by his hands, it would count as squeezing out all the value from this stone.

As for Leafeon...

Little Three’s preferences were similar to Serperior’s—liking sweet things. But regarding a special dish for this, Kaede couldn’t think of one for now.

And Little Nine...

"Hmm? Let’s go check how the new batch of wine is coming along!"

Kaede’s eyes suddenly lit up.

He wasn’t sure if the fruit wine infused with Xerneas’s Antler was ready yet.

The Berries he added were mostly Pecha Berries from the central tree, so the flavor should be predominantly Pecha Berry.

Thinking this, Kaede headed towards the shed with anticipation.

But before he was halfway there, a private call came through.

Kaede was curious.

Who would be calling at this time?

Picking it up, he saw it was... Megumi?

Kaede let out a soft "Huh?"

He was just wondering where this kid had gone, and now she finally decided to call.

Setting aside the thought of checking the wine for now, Kaede answered the video call.

After the video connected, his gaze showed surprise.

The scene on the other side was clearly deep in mountainous old-growth forests. Towering trees reached for the sky, fallen leaves covered the ground beneath them, piling up so thickly that hardly any soil color was visible.

Such dense woodland with such tall trees was clearly not typical of the southern parts of the Eastova region.

Had she traveled that far?

"Alright, the call’s going through. You all behave."

The girl’s voice came through, followed by a deep breath as she tried to suppress a happy, rising smile, looking into the camera and greeting, "Kaede, Kaede~"

"You... where are you now?" Kaede asked hesitantly.

After months apart, the girl’s complexion was noticeably darker. Her once round, slightly chubby cheeks now looked slimmer, showing a healthy tan. By Kaede’s estimation, if not for the built-in whitening effect of video calls, her skin tone would probably be close to Mallow’s from the Alola region.

Her previously long, dark hair, which she liked to wear down, was now tied into a practical short ponytail.

She had lost quite a bit of weight too.

The real world wasn’t like the anime, with well-developed wilderness zones or areas with human activity. In reality, there were many undeveloped wilderness areas like this. Aside from normal mosquitoes and insects, various strange Pokémon also inhabited them.

Beside her were Blastoise and Meowscarada.

The camera shook slightly, showing Noivern, now evolved, perched on a tree branch above, keeping watch all around.

Oh, that little Noibat evolved so quickly?

And next to her was a new Pokémon.

A Farfetch’d... and not just any Farfetch’d—one carrying a massive leek, with robust muscles.

Clearly, it was a Farfetch’d of the Galarian form.

It also saw Kaede... and Blaziken flashing by in the background. Its eyes instantly turned sharp, raising its leek towards the camera as if wanting to compete.