After all, it liked to play who knew? Maybe keeping it entertained would raise its Joy Value and lead to some unexpected rewards.

Exposing it might only provoke its anger. That would be a loss not worth the gain.

"Garde..."

Gardevoir quietly stowed away her energy cube, sighing silently to herself.

Just one sentence from her Trainer had added another twentieth to her workload...

"Hehe... come with me for a moment, Gardevoir~"

Instead of sending her straight off to train Mew, Lin Feng called her into the breeding house.

"Garde?"

Gardevoir looked at Lin Feng with a hint of confusion.

"That new Pidgey that showed up when it's training, it might disappear for a while, maybe take a long time to finish a single task... if that happens, just ignore it. It's not an ordinary Pidgey."

Lin Feng conveyed this to her directly through his Viridian Force to ensure Mew wouldn't somehow eavesdrop using some strange ability.

"Garde?"

Gardevoir still looked puzzled.

Over the past couple of days, it wasn't unusual for some Pidgeys to get lost during training. At times like that, Lin Feng would take Gardevoir and Pidgeot to track them down by scent and bring them back right away.

Though the new Pidgey seemed clever, getting lost wasn't out of the question.

"It's fine. It won't get lost. It just might get a little... playful. Try not to worry too much," Lin Feng added with a smile.

"Garde..." (Alright.)

Gardevoir didn't press further. She returned to the orchard and resumed the day's training with the Pidgey, who had just finished eating.

Meanwhile, Lin Feng set off on his daily morning run with Torchic.

As usual, he dangled the dream of a delicious grilled feast in front of it: "Beat me, and you'll get a mouthwatering barbecue dinner!"

"Let's go, Torchic! The barbecue's right ahead outrun me and it's all yours!"

"Chii chii~!" (Barbecue... barbecue...)

"Chii..." (I can't... go on...)

"How can a little guy like you say 'I can't' after just a few minutes of Quick Attack? Come on, keep going! Don't ruin your reputation as a Speed Boost Torchic!"

Lin Feng laughed and went on, "There's a Blaziken in the Kalos region that became a hero of an entire city. Don't you want to be our town's hero? Protecting Popplio and Bounsweet, earning their admiration?"

"Chii!" (Let's goooo!)

That afternoon, Gardevoir gave her usual report. By now, most of the Pidgey were successfully retrieving the energy cubes four out of five times. As for the Spearow, they still needed more practice.

Lin Feng wasn't disappointed. He casually asked about the "special Pidgey."

"Garde..." (Just like you said.)

She gave him a strange look.

"Garde..." (After its first trip out, it vanished completely. Then right before the last task of the day, it suddenly reappeared.)

"Yep, that's about what I expected. It probably wasn't here for the training in the first place. Just ignore it."

"Garde~" (Alright...)

...

Mew's arrival hadn't disrupted Lin Feng's daily life all that much. The only real change was the occasional missing energy cube from the breeding house during the day.

But come morning, those cubes were replaced at the front desk with either a berry or a stone.

All rare items.

Even stranger...

Every time Lin Feng brought those new items out to the orchard, the "Pidgey" perched in the pine tree would chirp joyfully.

It was almost like it got a thrill from "fooling" Lin Feng, who never figured out where the items came from.

But the truth was...

Lin Feng was delighted, too.

He'd received another Superior Rare Candy and three packs of premium Miracle Fertilizer.

He'd been secretly researching Mew's favorite flavors, hoping to please this mischievous little furball for as long as it stayed.

Time passed quickly, and before long, August 20th arrived.

A rather special day.

During that morning's run with Torchic it finally evolved, glowing bright white as it transformed.

The newly evolved Combusken was immediately pumped with confidence, thinking it could finally outrun its Trainer.

But one trip into the forest with Lin Feng quickly deflated that idea. It came back home looking like a wilted eggplant, quietly trailing behind.

Only then did it realize: it wasn't that it wasn't working hard it was that its Trainer was just too abnormal. He hadn't even been running at full effort.

Combusken was not happy about that.

Pokémon: Combusken

Gender: Male

Ability: Speed Boost

Potential: Red Tier

IVs: HP (20), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (14), Special Defense (13), Speed (31)

Level: 21–25

Moves: Ember, Peck, Quick Attack, Flame Charge, Sand Attack, Aerial Ace, Sucker Punch, Brick Break, Dig, Agility, Detect, Flamethrower

Friendship: 80

Joy Value: 10 (I was tricked... I can't win... there's no way I can beat him... my barbecue dinner... come back...)

"Alright, alright, don't pout now~"

Lin Feng couldn't help but laugh at the sulking look on Combusken's face.

Among all his Pokémon, this one was a bit unusual.

Most of his partners would grow larger than normal after evolution.

But not Combusken.

Maybe it was because of its Speed Boost ability or maybe it was all the daily runs and how Lin Feng constantly "motivated" it to push past its limits.

Its body was only slightly bigger than the average Combusken, around 1.1 meters tall.

But it was lean, all muscle, especially in those powerful thighs well-proportioned and toned.

"Busken..."

Combusken gave Lin Feng a pitiful look still very upset.

And to be fair, from Combusken's point of view, it was heartbreaking.

After looking forward to that barbecue feast for so long, only to find out he'd never catch up and earn it... who wouldn't be sad?

As they left the forest, Lin Feng spotted the harvesting in the Wangwang Valley and his eyes lit up.

"Hey, Combusken see those fields being harvested? Once it's done, I'll use Wangwang rice to brew some rice wine. Then we'll have a proper barbecue feast, how's that?"

"Busken?" (Really? You mean it, Trainer?)

Combusken's eyes instantly lit up, and its Joy Value rose with them.

"Of course~" Lin Feng patted the three little feathers on its head and smiled. "It's your reward for working so hard all these days."

"And besides..."

"It's about time we introduced some new drinks too~"

Maybe treat Mew to something tasty, while we're at it?

"Busken busken~!"

Hearing that, Combusken beamed.

After all, when it came to food, Lin Feng had never let it down.

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