From bright daylight until dusk settled in, Litten searched the orchard over and over again, circling it countless times, yet it still failed to find the sneaky little bug that had slipped in. For a moment, Litten even began to suspect that the culprit had already fled.
The Butterfree had grown tired from flying and wanted to rest on a branch for a while.
Before it could even steady itself, a small ball of fire shot toward it, followed by Litten's threatening cry.
"Free!"
The Butterfree hurriedly flapped back into the air, its antennae swaying as the two of them pushed the responsibility onto each other.
Searching like this was not working. They needed to ask a human for help, but neither of them wanted to be the one to suggest it.
"Meow?"
"Free~"
The Butterfree did not dare to hide their thoughts and told Litten everything they were thinking.
Litten did not get angry. It flicked its tail irritably. After searching for so long without finding anything, it had already tried every method it could think of. The orchard had practically been turned upside down.
And yet, there was not even a shadow of the berry thief. Continuing like this would only waste more time, but Litten was unwilling to give up.
With its head lowered in frustration, Litten walked toward the ranch house to ask Silas for help.
Inside the house, Silas was reading a handbook on autumn crop cultivation. With the arrival of a new season, he had a great deal to learn.
After being busy all day, this was the only time he had to sit down and read.
In the afternoon, after finishing the sowing, he had also gone to the goat enclosure to trim the wool of the little goats.
He had just lifted his teacup to take a sip of water when a loud bang startled him so badly that his hand trembled, spilling water all over his clothes.
The front door had been violently slammed open. The doorframe wobbled precariously. Galarian Meowth shook its body, scattering wood chips from its fur, and dragged an unwilling Litten over to Silas.
Amid a flurry of meowing, Silas roughly understood what had happened.
He reached out and gently stroked Litten's back along the direction of its fur. Litten was still as prideful as ever.
"Little one, if you run into something you do not understand in the future, you can always come to me."
Silas did not scold Litten. Instead, he changed into a new coat, lifted Litten onto his shoulder, and headed toward the orchard with them.
"A lot of Pecha Berries and Oran Berries are missing."
"Meow."
Litten let out a guilty cry, clearly dejected.
While comforting it, Silas explained, "I am not blaming you. I just find it strange."
"If three kinds of berries are planted together, then all three should have suffered losses."
"Unless the Pokémon stealing the berries dislikes the taste of Leppa Berries."
As he spoke, Silas walked beneath an Leppa Berry tree.
He raised his flashlight and shone it upward. Between the branches hung clusters of Leppa Berries.
"Litten, do you think there are more Leppa Berries than before?"
If he remembered correctly, this tree had produced the lowest yield this season.
The reason lay with the Butterfree. They disliked the nectar of Leppa flowers, so they had pollinated them the least.
Silas voiced his doubts. In his arms, Litten's ears twitched.
It struggled free, leaping onto a branch and creeping carefully toward one of the Leppa Berries.
After observing quietly for a moment, the flame orb hanging around its neck suddenly glowed with a crimson light. Litten was about to spit out a fireball.
The surrounding temperature gradually rose with its movement.
Before Litten could release the fireball, that so called Leppa Berry began to shake violently. The fruit skin suddenly split open, revealing the creature hidden inside.
Almost instinctively, the creature hurled a yellow green orb filled with acidic substance at Litten.
Boom!
Litten spat out a fireball that engulfed the acid bomb, igniting it until it burned away completely.
The white fur covering its body bristled as it arched its back.
Before the opponent could prepare a second attack, Litten lunged forward, claws extended.
A rapid scratching assault followed.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of claw marks flashed out, striking the Pokémon disguised as an Leppa Berry.
Each strike carried Litten's anger. After the flurry of scratches, the Pokémon collapsed unconscious.
Silas quickly shone his flashlight on it and clearly saw its appearance.
It looked like a freshly hatched reptile, small in size, about 0.3 meters tall, roughly the same height as little Phione.
What made it special was that its body was wrapped in red fruit skin, and its forelimbs were fused with the peel into wing like structures.
Its eyes were peculiar, thin yellow slits, and beneath them were cheek pouches filled with highly acidic liquid.
It was the Apple Wing Pokémon, a Grass and Dragon type, Flapple.
No wonder Litten had searched the orchard repeatedly without finding it.
If it had not been frightened by the fire and exposed itself, Litten might never have discovered it. As long as it closed its wings tightly around its body, it looked exactly like an Leppa Berry. Finding it would have been extremely difficult.
Especially now that night had fallen and the light was dim, the difficulty was more than doubled.
Litten jumped down from the branch and landed lightly beside Silas's feet. It rubbed its head against his pant leg, complaining that this kind of Pokémon was far too good at hiding. Without Silas, it might never have found it.
The two Butterfree and the Galarian Meowth also approached to take a look. They could smell the sharp scent of apple acid coming from it.
At that moment, the Galarian Meowth suddenly turned its head toward another Leppa Berry tree not far away.
A rustling sound came from there. Silas immediately shone his flashlight in that direction and saw three Flapple of similar size fleeing in panic, their faces showing almost human like terror at being discovered.
"Meow!"
Two cries rang out at the same time, accompanied by two leaping figures.
Litten and Galarian Meowth dashed out together, one to the left and one to the right, chasing after the escaping Flapple with perfect coordination.
The Flapple running in front panicked and crashed headfirst into a tree trunk, staggering dizzily.
Litten seized the opportunity and pounced, pressing a paw lightly onto its back. It then lifted its head and shot out a fireball formed from fallen fur, landing it along the escape path of the other two Flapple, forcing them to halt.
Galarian Meowth swiftly circled behind them and pinned each one down with a claw.
"Four Flapple?"
Silas prodded the Flapple that had curled itself into the shape of an Leppa Berry with a branch. "Do you have any other companions?"
The Leppa Berry trembled in fear and shook its body, indicating that there were only the four of them.
"Really?" Silas gave a faintly sinister smile. "Flapple that lie will be eaten."
His gaze drifted toward the other Leppa Berry trees behind him. If he was not mistaken, there were definitely more Flapple or perhaps Applin hiding inside.
He even suspected that these four Flapple had evolved after eating the sour apples growing at the ranch.
"Meowrrr!"
Litten revealed a fierce expression as its Intimidate ability activated.
In the eyes of the Flapple, the small white cat suddenly transformed into a massive tiger, looking as though it were about to devour them.
The Flapple trembled in fear and quietly revealed all the information they knew.
With Litten and Galarian Meowth guarding Silas on either side, the flashlight beam illuminated one unconscious and three terrified Flapple on the ground. They began persuading the hidden ones to surrender.
At first, the Pokémon still hiding remained unmoved.
But when Litten dangled an Leppa Berry down from a branch, more than a dozen Applin tumbled out of the trees, each carrying its apple.
After counting them roughly, there were five Flapple and twelve Applin in total. They were siblings, all drawn here by the enticing fragrance of sour apples.
(End of Chapter)