Most people said that once you got a wife, you forgot your mother.
But in Grandma Chen's case—
Once she got granddaughters-in-law, she forgot her grandson.
Chen Shi had already come to terms with it.
In this household, he had officially fallen out of favor.
Back in the day, he used to be Grandma Chen's precious treasure.
Now…
Better not talk about it.
"Sigh…"
Chen Shi shook his head dramatically, putting on a pitiful act.
Grandpa Chen snorted. "Quit pretending over there."
"What, are you planning to compete with Phoebe and Cynthia for affection?"
That one sentence left Chen Shi speechless.
How was he supposed to argue?
Who was Phoebe?
The granddaughter of his grandparents' old friends—and someone he had long treated like a little sister.
And Cynthia?
That didn't even need explaining.
Barring any surprises, she would become part of the Chen family in the future.
There was no way he could compete with her.
"Fine, fine. You're all the bosses here. I'll keep quiet," Chen Shi said, completely giving up.
Cynthia and Phoebe exchanged a glance and smiled.
Grandpa Chen suddenly thought of something. "Oh right, the Berries at home are ready to be harvested today. Weren't you always saying you wanted to help out?"
"Then you can go pick them today."
Chen Shi paused for a moment, then nodded. "No problem. Leave it to me."
It was already November—time to harvest the family's Berry trees.
He had helped with this plenty of times before, so he was very familiar with the process.
With Psychic-type Pokémon like Gardevoir helping, harvesting Berries was actually quite simple. As long as they were properly sorted and preserved, there wasn't much difficulty.
"Do you need help?" Cynthia asked gently.
"Me too!" Phoebe raised her hand excitedly.
Picking Berries sounded fun—of course she wanted to join!
Chen Shi waved them off. "No need. I'll just have Gardevoir and Metagross handle it."
"If you two go picking them by hand, it'll take days to finish."
"With Gardevoir and Metagross, it'll be done in no time. You two just do your own thing."
Cynthia nodded slightly. She understood—when it came to certain tasks, humans simply couldn't compare to Pokémon.
Phoebe looked a little disappointed, but didn't insist and continued eating quietly.
Grandpa Chen added, "After you're done, send them straight to the lab downstairs. Your grandma and I have made some progress on the top-tier Fairy-type Pokéblocks—we'll need a lot of Berries."
"Huh?!"
Chen Shi was stunned.
He knew his grandparents had been researching top-tier Fairy-type Pokéblocks, but he had assumed it would take a long time.
He hadn't expected them to already make progress.
As expected of veteran top-tier Breeders.
"Got it, Grandpa. I'll send them over right after harvesting."
"Mm." Grandpa Chen nodded. "I'm done eating. I'll head down first. Take your time."
With that, he stood up and returned to the lab.
Grandma Chen followed shortly after.
For a top-tier Breeder, developing a new high-level Pokéblock was incredibly fulfilling. Lately, aside from mealtimes, Chen Shi rarely even saw them.
…
Chen Shi didn't linger with Cynthia and Phoebe. After breakfast, he headed out.
He went into the storage room, grabbed several spatial backpacks, and set off toward the farm's Berry grove with Gardevoir and Metagross.
Looking at the rows of ripened Berries, Chen Shi smiled.
He walked deeper into the grove and stopped in front of a hollow tree.
"Venusaur, Grandpa and Grandma asked me to harvest the Berries."
A moment later, a massive Venusaur emerged from the tree hollow.
It was a large, quadrupedal Pokémon—far bigger than its pre-evolved forms.
Its skin was a bluish-green, with pointed ears lined in red, and orange-red eyes. On its back bloomed a huge flower, fully opened.
This was Grandpa's Pokémon—a Champion-level peak Venusaur that usually guarded the Berry grove.
"Venu~"
Seeing Chen Shi, Venusaur looked pleased.
It had practically watched him grow up. Their bond ran deep.
"I'll take Gardevoir and Metagross to start harvesting, then."
Chen Shi handed it a Pokéblock as he spoke.
"Venu~"
Venusaur nodded gently, extending a vine to take the Pokéblock and pop it into its mouth.
Chen Shi set down the spatial backpacks and took out several specialized Berry bags.
"Gardevoir, Metagross—you two start by harvesting Yache Berries first, then bag them. We'll handle the other types later."
"Metagross, since you haven't done this before, follow Gardevoir's lead."
"Gardevoir~"
"Meta~"
The two Pokémon responded and flew off toward the Yache Berry section.
"Chen Shi, I want to help too~"
Jirachi clung to his arm, acting spoiled.
Chen Shi gently rubbed its head. "Be good, Jirachi. I need to focus right now. Why don't you go back and play with Togekiss?"
"No! No! I want to stay with you!"
Jirachi shook its head vigorously, refusing to leave.
Since waking up, it had already been five days.
Which meant—
In just two more days, it would fall back into its thousand-year slumber.
And during this time, Jirachi had come to understand something—
Chen Shi was human.
He didn't have a lifespan anywhere near that long.
Once they parted this time… they might never meet again.
So right now, Jirachi just wanted to stay by his side.
Every second mattered.
Chen Shi sighed softly, tapping its head with a helpless smile. "Alright, then stay with me—but don't make trouble. Once I finish harvesting, I'll make you some delicious Pokéblocks."
"Okay! Jirachi will be very good!"
Chen Shi chuckled and placed Jirachi on his shoulder. Then he took out a clean cloth from his bag and spread it on the ground to temporarily hold the Berries.
The two Psychic-type Pokémon worked incredibly fast.
Before long, they returned carrying large quantities of Berries.
Having lived with the Chen family for years, Gardevoir was very familiar with the process. It carefully placed the harvested Berries onto the cloth.
Metagross followed suit, mimicking its actions.
Looking at the growing pile, Chen Shi couldn't help but admit—
Having Psychic-type Pokémon help was just too convenient.
If he had to harvest all of this himself, who knew how long it would take?
Yet for them—
It only took minutes.
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