Chapter 50: New Information

Pokémon: Taillow

[Gender: Male]

[Ability: Scrappy]

[Moves: Peck, Growl, Focus Energy, Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Thief, Swagger]

[Status: Healthy]

[Mood: Delighted]

[Happiness: 20]

[Friendliness: 20 (Pretty decent trainer!)]

[Notes: Let me see if this human's got what it takes! - Taillow]

Kawaki: "..."

He immediately noticed the word "Thief" listed among Taillow's moves.

A Taillow that knows Thief...?

What had this Taillow been through during this time that it had learned both Swagger and Thief...?

Kawaki felt his emotions mix together in confusion.

The Taillow on the windowsill's eyes locked onto the new food held in the human's hands, and its gaze suddenly sharpened. It stared unblinking at the small cube-shaped treats that looked like sugar cubes.

The scent smelled... surprisingly good!

Kawaki naturally caught the Taillow's look. He glanced down at the ability capsule in his hand, then asked, "Want some?"

Taillow stared at him.

"If you want it, fly over," Kawaki said with a smile. He paused, then added, "I made these specially for you. It's just that you haven't been around in forever, so I've been saving them for you. Come on, dig in!"

Hearing this, Taillow felt a sudden pang of guilt.

It had been going around to other humans, scrounging meals and free food...

Because the food from those other humans tasted better.

Today that family had gone somewhere, so Taillow had come back here, planning to mooch just enough to get by for a couple of bites.

It never expected this human had been waiting for it to come, keeping food set aside just for it.

"Chirp..." A wave of complicated feelings washed over Taillow.

But if this human wanted it to visit, then it could swing by a few more times from now on.

With that thought, Taillow's body didn't hesitate. It flew forward, grabbed one of the ability capsules with its beak, and popped it in its mouth.

A burst of delicious flavor erupted across its tongue, far more delicious than any berries it had eaten before!

So good!

Taillow dove in, eating with single-minded focus.

Kawaki stood to the side, watching the scene without a trace of guilt, while keeping a close eye on Taillow's emotional state.

Sure enough, after hearing what he'd said, Taillow's emotions began to shift.

Its friendliness started climbing, rising from 20 to 50.

Its happiness also began to rise, especially when eating the ability capsules, the increase was most rapid and dramatic, jumping straight from 20 to 80.

It was clear the little guy had never had good food before.

Just regular-quality ability capsules were enough to make it this happy.

At the same time, a familiar message appeared before Kawaki's eyes.

[Taillow's mood improved. Happiness +60. Received gift from Taillow: "Information 3".]

[Taillow revealed Information 3: That Pokémon loves eating apple pie. It and its older brother often appear quietly at places with apple pie, eat the pie, and sneak away. If you can make Taillow even happier, it might reveal more information about that Pokémon to you.]

Information about the legendary Pokémon Latias and Latios had appeared again!

Kawaki immediately focused his attention and carefully reviewed this new information.

Loves apple pie...

Latias loves apple pie? And it and its older brother Latios often show up silently at places with apple pie to steal some?

So the question became, if he made a batch of apple pie, could he attract Latias and Latios?

The difficulty probably wouldn't be low.

So far, Kawaki had gathered three pieces of information.

Information 1: In the northern region of Hoenn, there's a Pokémon that can transform into a human roaming around.

Information 2: That Pokémon lives with its older brother. They have no fixed home and spend their days soaring across the skies of Hoenn.

Plus this Information 3...

While it sounded like a lot, it didn't actually reveal that much information in practice.

Hoenn was vast. The odds of Latios and Latias catching the scent of apple pie and coming to the Daycare were about as good as hooking a Kyogre while fishing.

Still, new information was better than nothing.

At least he now knew what Latias liked. If he ever got the chance to meet it, he could whip out a huge pile of delicious apple pies and have Latias eating out of his hand, right?

Thinking about this, Kawaki looked at the Taillow in front of him. Clearly, this Taillow had seen Latias and Latios before.

At this moment, Taillow had finished eating the ability capsules and was using its beak to groom the feathers on its wings.

The little sun floating above its head represented its current state of pure joy.

That expression was like saying: Hey trainer, I'm very satisfied with today's meal!

Kawaki smiled at Taillow and asked, "Will you come back tomorrow? I've got plenty more ability capsules here."

"Chirp!"

Taillow let out a clear cry. Of course it was coming back!

"Then we've got ourselves a deal," Kawaki said with a slight smile.

Taillow thought to itself that this human was actually looking forward to it visiting!

It watched Kawaki for a moment, then turned around and flew away, flapping its wings.

Kawaki watched Taillow disappear into the distance, thinking to himself that, as it turned out, a well-intentioned white lie had its place sometimes.

Though it was a lie, it hadn't caused any harm to Taillow.

He'd gotten information about a legendary Pokémon, and Taillow got ability capsules. A perfect arrangement all around!

The Daycare didn't have any apples at the moment, and there was no way to make apple pie anyway.

But Kawaki wasn't in any hurry. Down the road, he'd definitely be able to squeeze more information about Latias and Latios out of this Taillow.

"Excuse me!"

Just then, a timid voice came from behind him.

Kawaki turned around to see a girl who looked disheveled and grimy, staring at him hopefully.

"Um, can I get a room here?" she asked.

A guest looking for lodging?

"Of course," Kawaki said, ushering her inside. "Come on in. Let's get you checked in."

The girl looked around, her gaze stopping on the small blackboard on the wall. Then she pulled out several bills from her pocket and placed them on the table, saying, "I'd like a room for three days."

"Three days?" Kawaki raised his eyebrows slightly. She wanted to stay that long?

Since the Daycare had opened, no guest had ever stayed longer than two days!

Most of the guests who came here were trainers passing through. They'd spend one night and head out for the next town at the crack of dawn.

The girl looked like she wanted to say something but held back. Instead, she simply nodded. "Yeah, three days."

"Alright, your room is 201. Head upstairs and turn left. We also provide meals here, so if you need anything, just let me know," Kawaki said, launching into his usual check-in spiel without asking too many questions.

"O-okay!"

As Kawaki watched the girl head upstairs, he couldn't help but mutter to himself, "What an odd character."