Not long after, near the town's exit by the main road, a simple shelter had been set up, next to a security station still under construction.
Officer Jun Sarah was sitting inside. Occasionally, she would patrol the town accompanied by a majestic Arcanine.
Lin Feng had taken the chance to visit once.
He suddenly noticed that some faces among the town residents seemed unfamiliar. Were new foundations being dug nearby as well? Even a small villa had begun construction.
Several old, long-abandoned buildings were slowly being torn down, with plans for rebuilding.
It wasn't until Lin Feng asked the town mayor that he learned many residents had returned home for the Lunar New Year, and recently, even more people had moved in, planning to build homes along the newly repaired roads.
The land along the roads had previously been abandoned farmland. Now it was perfect for construction.
"Wutong Town is really improving," Lin Feng remarked in admiration.
As population movement increased, Officer Jenny had been drawn to the town, roads were repaired, and he even noticed a restaurant under construction.
This solved a long-standing problem for visitors "Wutong City is so far away that you can only come after a meal or bring your own lunch; otherwise, you'd have to go home."
"Now, all that's left is a Pokémon Gym and a Pokémon Center," Lin Feng murmured.
Unfortunately, the best Gym Leader had gone off to train, so only the Pokémon Center remained.
If Wutong Town had a proper Pokémon Center, trainers traveling through could see on their Pokédex or devices that there was a place to rest for free.
"No rush, no rush," Lin Feng thought calmly.
It was December 6, and his long-awaited holiday was drawing nearer.
Last night, Mew had set off on another journey, this time carrying a new storage ball. Next time it returned, it would not be alone maybe even bringing Latias along?
Lin Feng felt a twinge of anticipation. Could Latias cross the sea if her brother permitted it?
Outside, the wind howled, but the villa was warm, almost like spring.
Lin Feng and most of his Pokémon lounged on the sofa, leisurely sipping World Tea. This weather was perfect for tea indoors.
If only it would snow.
The first-floor living room had floor-to-ceiling windows; with snow outside, everything would be blanketed in white. If Ice Ninetales left tracks in the snow, the scene would be beautiful.
"Meow ha…" Sprigatito, sleeping by the warm stove, suddenly felt a strange premonition.
It felt energy surge within and stood up, pausing for a moment. Then, a dazzling white light enveloped its body.
Lin Feng twitched his eyelids before breaking into a joyful smile.
Sprigatito had evolved!
It was about time. Sprigatito's birthday was October 27, and without any Rare Candy, it had successfully evolved in about a month.
The white light shimmered over Sprigatito as its body stretched into a humanoid form.
When the light faded, the once blue-green cat had transformed into Floragato, about a meter tall, with a dark green mask-like marking on its face and red flowers sprouting from its shoulders.
"Meow?" Floragato blinked at Lin Feng in confusion.
The sudden change made it instinctively examine itself. But one look later, its eyes widened.
"Meow ha?" Who was this ugly creature?
Before Lin Feng could react, it dashed to the bathroom, climbed onto a stool, and saw its full reflection in the mirror.
Its formerly large, round eyes were gone, replaced by slightly slanted ones. Strange dark green fur had grown around its mouth and stomach, with unusual flowers sprouting near its mouth.
It reminded it of an Alolan Vulpix, so immature in appearance.
"Meow ha? Meow ha…" This was awful.
The newly evolved Floragato felt no joy; instead, it was filled with a quiet sadness.
"Meowoo…" Its plaintive cry quickly caught Lin Feng's attention.
"What's wrong? What's wrong?"
"Meow ha…" (So ugly…)
Lin Feng froze, staring at Floragato. Its eyes nearly welled with tears, utterly distraught.
Was it crying because it thought it was ugly?
Though… Lin Feng imagined the evolved Floragato would look cool. But paired with those teary eyes, it did look… strange.
"Pff…" Lin Feng pressed his lips together, unable to hold back a laugh.
But his laughter only made Floragato feel more heartbroken, nearly to the point of despair.
Tears streamed down as it ran upstairs, hiding.
Lin Feng realized his laughter had been a bit rude. Seeing Floragato flee, he quickly stifled his chuckles and followed.
Entering the room, he found Floragato curled up in its wardrobe nest, hiding its face intentionally.
"Too ugly, too ugly," it muttered, not wanting Lin Feng to see it like this.
"Floragato?" Lin Feng crouched in front of the wardrobe and gently patted its exposed head.
"Meow ha…" Floragato curled up silently.
"It's okay, Meow. If we don't want to stay stuck at this stage, we need to move past it quickly, alright?"
He didn't offer empty reassurances like "Floragato looks great now." It didn't want to hear that. Even if Floragato was told it looked fine, it would still remember and resent it.
If Sprigatito had said it didn't want to evolve into the ugly Floragato, Lin Feng would have prepared an Everstone in advance. But now that it had evolved, there was no turning back. The best way was to help Floragato get through this stage quickly and evolve into Meowscarada.
If a problem arises and you only think about avoiding it, the problem remains. But if you seriously consider how to solve it, the problem may vanish quickly.
"Meow?" Floragato peeked out, confusion on its mask-like face. "Meow ha?"
Lin Feng pulled out his phone and looked up Meowscarada's appearance.
"Yes, this is what you will look like after your next evolution."