Even after leaving the breeding house and returning to the shed, Gastly still felt somewhat uneasy.
It carried the pile of treats Carver had given it, recalling the words Carver had said when they parted.
[Don't be polite in the future—just treat this place as your own home. We welcome you to come play with us anytime.]
Today's experience felt like a dream.
"Gastly..." Home...
What was home?
Gastly had never had a home and couldn't understand what home meant.
But if it meant wanting to always play with Carver, then it wanted that!
Pushing open the shed door, Gastly immediately met the gazes of Chansey and the others.
Bulbasaur immediately noticed the package hanging on Gastly.
"Bulba bulba?"
"Gastly."
Gastly lowered its head, and Chansey helped remove the package. Upon opening it, everyone saw a backpack full of snacks.
Bulbasaur was somewhat surprised: "Bulba?!"
Gastly explained: "Gastly gastly!"
These were for Carver to bring back and share with everyone!
"Lucky..."
The six Pokémon sat in a circle around the pile of snacks, each with different expressions.
Gastly was very happy, cackling as it told everyone about its recent experience.
Little Abra was still sleeping. Finding Gastly somewhat noisy, it used Teleport in its sleep and moved to a corner to continue sleeping.
Ditto looked at the pile of snacks and kept swallowing.
Ralts was still somewhat afraid of humans. Even though Carver hadn't come over, just the human scent on those treats made it feel involuntarily fearful.
Chansey was somewhat moved inside. Perhaps not all humans in this world were bad people.
There were also many kind-hearted humans like Carver who loved Pokémon in this world.
Bulbasaur murmured even more: "Bulba..."
It used its vine to pick up a small cookie and put it in its mouth. After chewing a bit, its eyes lit up instantly.
"Bulba!" Delicious!
Seeing this scene, Gastly grinned: "Gastly!"
See, Carver was a good person, right?
No, not just simply good—he was the best, kindest person in the world!
Bulbasaur began eating heartily.
Ditto also gently picked up treats with its small hands and put them in its mouth.
Ralts was somewhat afraid to move. Seeing this, Chansey gently picked up a piece of candy and offered it.
"Ralts...?"
Ralts looked up at Chansey.
Chansey responded with a gentle smile.
Ralts was stunned, then carefully reached out to accept it, tasting it in small bites.
Food was the best thing to improve one's mood.
After Bulbasaur filled its stomach, it immediately felt the whole world had become more beautiful.
This human named Carver was really wonderful!
Not only had he taken them in, but he had also prepared such delicious treats for them.
Bulbasaur's heart was filled with gratitude toward Carver.
If only it could do something for him.
Unlike Gastly, Bulbasaur had previously lived in a lively forest.
It lived together with other Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur.
Everyone in that forest was kind and friendly. Bulbasaur's favorite thing to do each day was to run out and help Pokémon in need.
It liked helping Pokémon who couldn't reach berries to pick them down, and also liked reuniting lost cubs with their mothers.
It had even helped injured trainers by finding berries to treat their wounds.
Until one day, it encountered a human disguised as an injured person...
These bad memories surfacing in its mind made Bulbasaur lose its appetite for treats, even though it had already eaten them all.
However, Bulbasaur quickly perked up.
Bad people were bad people, and Carver was Carver!
It wouldn't help bad people, but if it was Carver, it would be happy to do something for him!
But what could it do?
Bulbasaur began secretly and silently observing, watching Carver's daily routine.
It saw Carver would come to the grassland with Castform after waking up, having Castform help water the crops.
After watering, Carver would find the Pokémon called Oddish and teach it to use Grass-type energy to tend to the crops in the fields.
Seeing this scene, Bulbasaur instantly knew what it should do.
So the next morning, when Carver got up early and went to check the crop growth in the farmland as usual, he discovered very obvious signs of care on every plot of land.
This surprised Carver greatly.
He thought it was Oddish's doing, but when he asked Oddish, he got a negative answer.
Oddish looked completely confused—it didn't know what was going on either.
Looking at the farmland before him, Carver narrowed his eyes but made no sound.
To investigate the truth, he deliberately didn't rest that night but hid in the shadows to quietly observe everything near the farmland.
Initially, nothing happened.
Just when Carver thought it was his imagination, the midnight bell quietly chimed twelve times.
It was then that Carver saw a small figure moving in the darkness, carefully approaching the farmland.
It extended its vines, pausing before each crop, then moving to the next one.
That was... Bulbasaur!
Watching this scene, Carver felt very conflicted.
Was this Bulbasaur repaying a debt of gratitude?
He didn't go over to disturb Bulbasaur but stood in place watching.
Time passed minute by minute. Bulbasaur's power was too weak to support infusing all the crops with Grass-type energy.
Therefore, it could only stop and start, tending to one plot then resting for a while, repeating this cycle over and over.
By the time all the crops were cared for, Bulbasaur had collapsed on the ground, too exhausted to get up.
The energy in its body was completely depleted—in gaming terms, its PP was empty.
Seeing this scene, Carver opened the door, wanting to go carry Bulbasaur back.
But before he could stand up, he saw Gastly and Chansey run out from the shed.
Gastly floated to Bulbasaur's side, and Chansey stepped forward, holding the exhausted Bulbasaur in its arms. The three Pokémon walked back toward the shed together.
"..."
At this moment, Carver suddenly felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
No wonder he hadn't seen Bulbasaur active on the grassland during the day these past two days—it must have been secretly hiding in the shed to catch up on sleep.
"Bewear..." Bewear had also come over at some point.
From its appearance, it had obviously also seen the entire process of Bulbasaur becoming the "Snail Girl."
"Sigh..." Carver slowly let out a helpless sigh.
These little Pokémon were really so pure and adorable!