"That's enough for today. Training with toxic potions isn't something that can be mastered in a single day."
Upon hearing Aven's words, Petilil nodded with some reluctance, still wanting more.
Though training the Poison-type move was painful, it could feel the toxic energy surging through its body, giving it a sense of becoming stronger.
It actually wanted to continue training, but also understood that the poison would consume a lot of its potential. If its body were corroded by toxins, that would be a serious problem.
After finishing the Poison training, Aven brought Petilil to the Berry Grove.
By the time the sun had set, Uncle Mike had already cleared out the rotten berries and dried weeds from the farm, piling them in a corner of the orchard.
Perhaps the fertilizer had worked a little too well—the weeds in the grove were now growing rampantly, keeping the orchard workers busier than ever.
As for the occasional rotten berry, he carefully collected them, intending to hand them over to Aven to make that special potion known as "fertilizer."
Coo-coo-coo!
Seeing Aven and Petilil approaching, Starly flapped its wings and flew over.
The Cherubi also gathered around. In all this time, they had never felt so relaxed and at ease.
The berries on their bodies had turned plump and red from constantly absorbing nutrients—just like their moods at the moment.
After checking the Pokémon's growth in the orchard, Aven brought Petilil to the compost mound.
To prevent rotten berries in the grove from contaminating the soil and other berries, they were all buried here.
Under natural conditions, these berries would turn into compost and become natural fertilizer. Although it was basic, it was abundant.
Petilil climbed onto the mound and used Absorb to draw in nutrients hidden in the soil, recovering its strength.
While Petilil was practicing its Absorb move, Aven studied the compost pile.
He felt the orchard's variety of berries was too limited. It might be a good idea to plant other types, and this compost area seemed like the perfect spot.
On the mound, Petilil had already entered a focused training state.
Taking the chance, Aven sat on a nearby rock and began thinking about Petilil's next stage of training.
Right now, Petilil only knew Absorb, along with the Poison move it had just started learning.
But both Absorb and the Poison move required close contact to be used.
For Petilil—who wasn't good at close combat—that was a major problem. Getting close to an enemy would only put it in greater danger.
"Looks like it really needs to learn a control-type move." Aven thought to himself, and soon an idea came to mind.
One of Absorb's advanced moves was Leech Seed. Like Absorb, it was a status move and suited Petilil's current situation well.
Leech Seed could trap an opponent in a parasitic state, draining their energy over time and bypassing defenses.
With further development, Leech Seed could even be used as a form of control.
Sprouted seeds could grow vines and leaves, wrapping around the opponent—almost like using Vine Whip.
Since Petilil already knew Absorb, it should be able to move on to Leech Seed fairly easily.
And because it was a move Petilil would naturally learn as it leveled up, with some guidance, it should be easier to master.
Once it learned Leech Seed, Petilil could chain it with Absorb and Toxic, creating a basic but effective combat system.
In fact, with further refinement, it might even be possible to develop Toxic Leech Seeds!
It was a solid training path—perfect for helping Petilil transition to the next stage. Aven was quite satisfied with the idea.
Time passed quickly after that.
Once Petilil finished its Absorb training, Aven immediately explained the Leech Seed training plan and gave it the freedom to choose.
Petilil had no objections at all. At this point, its trust in Aven came straight from the heart.
Several days passed.
Petilil felt its life was very fulfilling.
Each morning, it trained the Poison move.
After Poison training, it switched to Absorb to recover the energy it had consumed.
And in the afternoons, it practiced Leech Seed. It had started to get a faint sense of the move, but still couldn't fully form the energy seed.
Finally, night was the most relaxing time of the day—curling up in a warm flowerpot, soaking in the fertilizer, and falling asleep beside its trainer.
At dawn, the sky barely lit, Petilil stretched after checking that its trainer was still asleep, planning to go back to bed.
Knock knock knock. Knock knock knock.
But just then, a sudden tapping sound on the window startled Petilil.
It turned its gaze to the window and saw Starly flying outside, tapping the glass with its beak in clear urgency.
In bed, Aven opened his eyes and looked toward the window.
"Starly, what's going on?"
Realizing something was wrong, Aven rushed over and opened the window to let Starly in.
Coo coo coo!
Starly let out a few anxious cries, then flew toward the direction of the orchard. Mid-flight, it turned and chirped again.
'Something's happened in the Berry Grove…' Aven's heart sank. He didn't hesitate, even though he was on the second floor—he rushed to the window, grabbed Starly's legs, and jumped down.
Starly flapped its wings with all its might, preventing a straight fall and allowing Aven to land safely.
At the same time, Petilil jumped down as well, and Aven caught it securely.
Seeing this, Starly quickly flew ahead to guide them. Aven hugged Petilil and followed in quick pursuit.
Before long, they arrived at the grove and spotted the three Cherubi playing in the distance.
When the little ones saw Aven, they happily ran up to him. By now, they had completely let their guard down around him.
Coo coo coo!
Starly looked at the Cherubi and chirped urgently.
But the three Cherubi looked confused and shook their heads slightly, as if saying, "No, nothing's wrong."
Aven walked up and focused on one particular Cherubi—its berry had shriveled.
"Starly, did you come to get me because you saw this Cherubi's berry had shriveled?" Aven asked, smiling.
Coo coo coo!
Starly nodded repeatedly—yes, that's exactly why it had come.
"Don't worry. This is actually a good thing for Cherubi."
Aven stroked Starly's head, making it tilt to the side with a confused look.
Cherubi store the energy they need to evolve inside their berries. When the little berry starts to shrivel, it's a sign that evolution is near.
And in this case, it was quite obvious. This Cherubi was already showing clear signs—it wouldn't be long before it evolved.
Upon hearing Aven's explanation, all the Pokémon's eyes lit up, including the Cherubi itself.
Although it had been feeling great recently, it didn't realize that it meant it was about to evolve.
Once it understood, all the Pokémon gathered to celebrate with the Cherubi. Evolution was something they all deeply yearned for.
'Didn't expect it to evolve this quickly... Must've absorbed enough growth fertilizer.' Aven nodded in satisfaction.
To help the Oran trees grow better, he'd been fertilizing them regularly—and some of that fertilizer had been absorbed by the Cherubi in the grove.
Of course, that had been part of his plan all along.
When he'd stopped Uncle Mike and the others from picking berries off the Cherubi, he had already made up his mind.
Just like Petilil, Cherubi suffered when the berries they used to store evolution energy were constantly picked—weakening their foundation.
So, he hadn't given them any training recently, wanting them to focus solely on absorbing enough energy to recover and evolve properly.
(End of Chapter)