"What spa day?" Cheng Meng rolled her eyes and released her Pokémon from its ball. "This is my partner. She took care of me." She gestured to the Indeedee, whose name she'd just learned.
"Indeedee?" The Pokémon curtsied politely to Su Feng, its gentle eyes and braid-like horns marking it as female.
"Ah, an Indeedee!" Su Feng raised an eyebrow. "Rare to see one in these woods. And a female at that."
"So it's called 'Indeedee'…" Cheng Meng nodded. Fitting, given how insistently it had cared for her.
[Live Chat Reactions]
[Looks like a Victorian maid!]
[Battle butler? Battle maid?]
[Nah, read the room—she's a walking therapy session.]
"Not quite," Su Feng corrected. "Female Indeedee dislike combat. They'll toss objects psychically to break up fights in their territory. They thrive on gratitude and positive emotions—like emotional batteries. Males avoid conflict too, but they're more like dutiful stewards. Both genders use their horns to sense their trainer's moods."
[So Basically Pokémon Housekeepers]
[I need one. My laundry's piling up.]
[Lazy much? Just say you want free labor!]
[FACTS HURT, OKAY?]
As Cheng Meng studied her Indeedee—now dutifully brushing leaves off her coat—Su Feng smirked. "Congrats. You've adopted a mom."
The other trainees trickled back into camp, led by Blaziken. Xiao Die and Xiao Da arrived last, sheepishly admitting they'd gotten lost. "Snorlax-sized" directions, as Xiao Da put it.
All four partnerless trainees had succeeded: a Tinkatink, a Tandemaus pair, a curious Skwovet, and a timid Wooloo. Only Cheng Meng's "accidental adoption" stood out.
"Where's Jin?" Su Feng frowned.
As if on cue, rustling foliage announced Jin's return. He cradled a bandaged Scorbunny. "Sorry! Took my Rapidash for a gallop. Found this little guy pinned under a… flying boulder?"
Xiao Da choked on her soup.
"A boulder?" Su Feng applied Potion to the Scorbunny's sprained ankle.
"Yeah! Smashed a tree outta nowhere. Weirdest—"
THUD.
Xiao Da's spoon clattered into her bowl. Everyone turned.
"…What?" She stared at the Scorbunny's bandages, face paling. "Snorlax may have… lightly… launched a rock earlier."
Silence.
Then, laughter erupted. Even the Indeedee facepalmed.