Evening.
Kiyomi brought Roy and the others home.
Her grandmother had already prepared dinner, setting a large table.
As soon as Misty entered, she smelled a fragrance—not the kind made from piles of spices in a restaurant, but the natural aroma emanating from the ingredients themselves.
"Grandma, what's this? It smells so good."
"They're all things grown in the mountains, not worth much, but they taste good. Come, come, sit down."
Roy wasn't polite either and sat directly at the table.
Delia sat on his left, and Misty sat on his right.
Kiyomi placed Paras on the table and prepared a special plate for it, filled with special fodder and pokéblocks.
Paras was no longer afraid at all and started eating generously.
The dishes made by the grandmother were indeed delicious.
There was a stewed wild mushroom dish; the broth was rich, the mushrooms were slippery and tender, and every Bite was full of umami.
There was also wild boar meat, stewed until it was soft and flavorful, falling apart with a touch of the chopsticks.
There were also several wild vegetables whose names they didn't know, stir-fried simply, refreshing and cutting through the richness.
The best part was the pot of medicinal soup, containing mountain ginseng, wolfberries, and several things Roy didn't recognize; the soup was golden and clear, making one feel warm all over after a sip.
Roy was eating happily when he suddenly noticed something was wrong with the food in his bowl.
Delia put a piece of wild boar meat into his bowl.
Misty put a chopstick-full of wild vegetables into his bowl.
He took two more Bites, and another piece of stewed wild mushroom appeared in his bowl.
Then another spoonful of medicinal soup.
Then another piece of wild boar meat.
Then another chopstick-full of wild vegetables.
Roy looked down at his bowl; it was piled up like a mountain.
And he discovered a very serious problem—the dishes Delia and Misty were giving him were all for tonifying the kidneys.
Wild boar meat, tonifies the kidneys.
Yam, tonifies the kidneys.
Those unknown wild vegetables were probably for tonifying the kidneys too.
And that pot of medicinal soup, the things inside were clearly for boosting virility.
Roy's mouth twitched.
He looked up, looked at Delia on his left, and then at Misty on his right.
The two women were eating seriously, as if nothing had happened.
But their movements of serving him food never stopped.
Delia put another piece of yam into Roy's bowl, her tone gentle: "Nourish your body more."
Misty immediately followed by stuffing a spoonful of something unknown into his bowl, her mouth never stopping: "This is good too, it's good for your body."
Roy's face turned dark.
He lowered his voice, leaned in between the two, and said in a volume only the three of them could hear: "You two, only serving this kind of food, it's too obvious!"
Delia's face turned slightly red, but she didn't speak, lowering her head to eat.
Misty, on the other hand, was thick-skinned and said righteously: "What 'this kind of food'? I don't know what you're talking about. I just think these dishes are delicious, so I'm giving you more."
Roy narrowed his eyes at her: "Are you sure?"
Misty's eyes darted away: "I'm sure."
"Then why is your face red?"
"Whose face is red! You saw wrong!"
Delia burst out laughing beside them.
Roy sighed and shoveled a few Bites of the food in his bowl into his mouth.
Tonifying the kidneys it is.
It's a good thing anyway.
Kiyomi's grandmother sat opposite them, looking at the three of them, the smile on her face deepening.
The old lady had lived for over half a lifetime; what couldn't she see through?
But the old lady didn't say anything, just smilingly served Roy another bowl of the kidney-tonifying medicinal soup.
"Young man, drink more, I've been simmering this soup all afternoon."
Roy looked at the bowl of soup and then at the old lady's smiling face, always feeling that there was something else hidden in that smile.
But he still took it: "Thank you, Grandma."
"You're welcome, you're welcome." The old lady waved her hand, "Come often in the future, Grandma will make you more delicious food."
"Our Kiyomi is also a very good girl."
Kiyomi, listening nearby, her face suddenly turned red.
"Grandma! What are you saying!"
The old lady looked innocent: "What did I say? I said let him come to eat often, what were you thinking?"
Kiyomi opened her mouth but couldn't speak, so she could only lower her head to eat.
Paras was nibbling on its fodder on the table, and seeing its master's face turning red, it rubbed against her hand with some concern.
Kiyomi touched Paras's mushroom, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
The meal was quite lively.
There was talking and laughing.
The atmosphere was excellent.
Roy put down his chopsticks and let out a long breath.
Full.
And having eaten so many kidney-tonifying things, he felt full of energy.
Misty leaned over and whispered in his ear: "Don't sleep too early tonight."
Roy raised an eyebrow.
Delia, on the other side, spoke even more softly, so softly it was almost inaudible.
Roy glanced at the two of them.
These two women, hehehe, they couldn't be wanting revenge, right!
But...
He looked out the window.
The moon was quite round.
The night was quite beautiful.
It was indeed a night suitable for making things happen.
...
The next morning.
Roy stretched lazily and rubbed his waist; that pot of medicinal soup from Grandma was indeed a great tonic.
Coming to the main room, Dratini's condition today was significantly better; it was listless yesterday, but today it could already lift its head, and its tail was gently wagging.
Seeing Roy come out, Dratini's eyes lit up and it let out a "woo" sound.
Roy walked over, knelt down, and reached out to pat Dratini's head.
Today Dratini still had to take medicine for another day, and Paras hadn't evolved yet.
Roy also struck while the iron was hot, continuing to take Kiyomi to train Paras, with Misty and Delia leisurely following along.
Today's Paras was much more powerful than yesterday's; although Roy was still holding back, today Paras had actual skill changes.
After feeding it some experience.
Roy then took Kiyomi deeper into the forest to find lower-level wild Pokemon.
Roy didn't directly let Pikachu and the others go up to help, but instead let Kiyomi personally command Paras in battle.
"You command."
"You are its master; what it needs is your recognition."
Kiyomi took a deep breath and nodded.
The first wild monster was a Caterpie.
Kiyomi looked at the Caterpie wriggling on the branch, her heart pounding.
She had never dared to actively seek out wild monsters for battle before; it was always when Paras encountered them itself that it was forced to fight.
But now it was different.
"Paras, use Scratch!"
Kiyomi shouted the first battle command of her life.
Hearing its master's voice, Paras's whole body shook.
It had never heard its master command it like this before.
This feeling... was so wonderful.
It was as if someone was standing behind it, giving it infinite strength.
Paras rushed forward, swung its pincers, and scratched the Caterpie hard.
The Caterpie let out a miserable cry, fell from the branch, and then quickly scurried into the grass.
It ran away.
Paras stood there, looking at its pincers.
One hit.
Just one hit.
It had been bullied by Caterpie so many times before, and today it had driven the Caterpie away with just one hit.
Paras turned its head and looked at Kiyomi.
Kiyomi was also looking at it, her eyes red, but the corners of her mouth were turned up.
"Paras! You're amazing!"
The wild Pokemon were all opponents carefully selected by Roy using Aura, so the path of grinding levels was quite smooth.
Paras's evolution level wasn't high to begin with; normally it could evolve at level twenty-something.
The reason it hadn't evolved was because of its poor mental state, combined with a long-term lack of battle experience, so its experience points had been stuck and not increasing.
Having ground so many wild monsters today, the experience points were soaring, and evolution was just one step away.
After grinding a few more wild monsters, the white light on Paras's body became more and more obvious.
Kiyomi noticed it too, her eyes wide.
"Roy! Is it... is it about to evolve?!"
Roy nodded: "Soon, one more fight should do it."
Kiyomi was so excited her hands were shaking.
She had looked forward to this day for who knows how long.
Before, she wouldn't have dared to dream that Paras could evolve, and now that this day was suddenly coming, she actually found it a bit hard to believe.
A blinding white light erupted from Paras's body.
Its whole body began to transform.
Its four legs became thicker and longer, its shell became harder, and the mushrooms on its back began to swell and split.
What were originally two mushrooms became one giant, umbrella-like mushroom.
Paras's body changed from a small crab-like thing into a... Parasect lying on the ground with a giant mushroom on its back.
The white light dissipated.
Parasect opened its eyes and looked at its new body.
"Evolved... it evolved..."
Kiyomi's voice was shaking.
"Parasect... you've evolved..."
Then, before Roy could react, Kiyomi had already thrown herself into his arms.
"Thank you! Roy! Thank you so much!"
Kiyomi buried her face in Roy's chest, her voice muffled and carrying a sob.
"If it weren't for you, Paras might never have evolved in its lifetime..."
"I don't even know how to thank you..."
Roy was stunned for a moment by Kiyomi's sudden hug.
He looked down at Kiyomi in his arms, smelling the faint fragrance on her hair, feeling the temperature and softness of her body.
Paras had evolved, and she was truly overjoyed.
Roy hesitated for a moment, then reached out and patted Kiyomi's back.
"It's nothing. Just a small favor."
His tone was very calm, but the corner of his mouth curved slightly.
Delia and Misty stood not far away, taking in this scene.
The two looked at each other.
Misty raised an eyebrow, her expression as if saying: See, I told you they'd hook up again.
Delia smiled and shrugged, her expression as if saying: I'm used to it.
Kiyomi hugged him for a while before slowly realizing something was wrong.
She looked up and found Roy looking down at her, their faces very close.
Kiyomi's face turned red instantly.
She released him like an electric shock and backed away two steps, almost tripping over her own feet.
"I... I'm sorry! I was too excited!"
Her voice changed pitch.
"I... I didn't do it on purpose... it's just... I was just too happy... so..."
Kiyomi explained incoherently, her face getting redder and redder, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into.
Roy looked at her like this and couldn't help but smile.
"It's okay. You were excited, I understand."
Hearing him say this, Kiyomi relaxed a bit, but her ears were still red enough to bleed.
She stole a glance at Roy and then quickly looked away.
Then she turned around and ran back to hug her Parasect.
Parasect looked bewildered, not knowing what was wrong with its master.
But it could feel that Kiyomi's heart was beating very fast, abnormally fast.
At this time, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded in Roy's mind.
[Ding—Helped Kiyomi's Paras regain confidence and complete its evolution! Mission accomplished!]
[Mission Reward: blooming flower—After a grass-type Pokemon consumes it, it can cleanse all defects of the body and reach a perfect state. Already placed in the System Backpack!]
Roy's eyes lit up.
blooming flower?
Specifically for grass-types?
Cleanse all body defects?
An idea immediately formed in his mind.
The issue with Bulbasaur's flower bud had always been a thorn in his side.
Now this blooming flower might be able to solve this problem.
He opened the System Backpack and looked at the item.
...
After solving the problem, the three of them rested for another night.
On the third morning, Roy packed his things and prepared to set out.
Kiyomi saw him to the door, carrying a cloth bag in her hand.
"This is for you."
Roy took the cloth bag and opened it; inside were bundles of dried herbs and a small porcelain bottle.
"This is a herbal medicine my grandmother taught me to mix; it helps with Pokemon recovery."
"In that small porcelain bottle is a special medicine I researched myself, a simplified version."
"Eating it can improve a Pokemon's stamina."
She paused, her voice getting a bit quieter.
"Thank you for helping Paras regain its confidence."
"It's a small token of my gratitude, please don't mind it."
Roy put away the cloth bag and smiled: "I don't mind. Thanks."
Kiyomi shook her head: "I'm the one who should say thank you."
The two stood at the door, looking at each other for a few seconds.
Kiyomi turned red again, looked away, and whispered: "Take care on the road."
Roy nodded, turned, and left.
After walking a dozen steps, he looked back.
Kiyomi was still standing at the door, holding Parasect, looking at him.
Seeing him look back, Kiyomi waved at him.
Parasect also raised its claw and waved.
Roy smiled, turned, and continued walking.
...
After leaving Kiyomi's house for some distance, the journey of grinding levels began again. After Roy commanded his Pokemon to grind levels on their own, he opened the System Backpack and took out the blooming flower.
A flower emitting a faint green light quietly bloomed in his palm, a soft halo flowing over its petals; it didn't look like an ordinary object.
Roy toyed with it for a bit and then directly called out to Bulbasaur, who was fighting ahead.
"Bulbasaur, come here for a second."
Hearing Roy call it, Bulbasaur whipped a Rattata away with a Vine Whip and came hopping over.
As it ran over, the flower bud on its back bobbed with its steps.
The color of that flower bud was still not quite right, being dark and purplish, and it was small; compared to a normal Bulbasaur's flower bud, it was more than one level lower.
Roy knelt down and handed the blooming flower to Bulbasaur.
"Eat it."
Bulbasaur tilted its head, looking at the glowing seven-colored flower, its eyes full of curiosity.
It sniffed it.
So fragrant.
And in that fragrance, there was an aura that made its whole body feel comfortable.
Bulbasaur opened its mouth and bit the blooming flower in one go.
It chewed twice and swallowed it.
Then, a sudden change occurred.
The flower bud on Bulbasaur's back began to shake violently.
It wasn't a normal shake, but as if something inside was struggling, expanding, trying to break free.
Cracks began to appear on the skin of the flower bud, and a sliver of green light leaked from the cracks.
The light became brighter and brighter, more and more dazzling, illuminating everything within a few meters.