At three in the afternoon, while Carver was reading breeding books behind the counter, the Zigzagoon that Bewear had brought back to the breeding house woke up.
It opened its eyes and looked around at everything with some confusion.
What had happened to it?
Zigzagoon's memory stopped at the scene after it was attacked by a terrifying wild Pokémon.
At that time, it had desperately escaped from the attacker, and with wounds all over its body, it had hidden in a tree hollow and fainted.
In its hazy memories, it had been taken out by a Pokémon, and dimly, it seemed someone had been helping treat its injuries.
A figure suddenly surfaced in Zigzagoon's mind.
That was the last scene it saw before completely losing consciousness.
A human, gently feeding healing herbs into its mouth.
Before completely fainting, Zigzagoon had heard the person say to it:
"Don't worry, Zigzagoon. You're safe now."
So it had closed its eyes with peace of mind.
So, had it been saved by that human?
Zigzagoon looked around somewhat frantically, and soon spotted a human figure behind a counter.
That was clearly the same human it had seen last before completely losing consciousness!
The next second, their eyes met.
"Oh? You're awake?" Carver put down the book in his hands and looked at Zigzagoon.
"Zigza..." Zigzagoon was somewhat at a loss.
Carver noticed it seemed a bit afraid. After thinking for a moment, he got up and took some snacks from the refrigerator, placing them in front of Zigzagoon while comforting it:
"Don't worry, everything's fine. You're safe now. This is my breeding house—no Pokémon will hurt you."
Just then, footsteps came from upstairs.
Carver looked up and saw that the girl staying at the inn had finished washing up and was standing at the stairs, looking this way.
Zigzagoon lowered its head to sniff the bowl of milk in front of it, as well as the reassuring scent from the human before it. Finally, Zigzagoon relaxed.
It lowered its head to take a sip of milk, then looked at the human in front of it.
"Zigza~!"
Zigzagoon's eyes were full of gratitude, and its previously low mood from severe injuries completely turned around at this moment.
"Zigza!"
The next second, the small dark cloud above Zigzagoon's head began to clear at a visible rate until a small sun appeared.
Carver casually checked Zigzagoon's physical condition.
[Pokémon: Zigzagoon]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Pickup]
[Moves: Tackle, Growl, Tail Whip]
[Status: Healthy]
[Mood: Happy, Joyful]
[Joy Level: 90]
[Friendship: 50 (Its heart is full of gratitude)]
[Description: My lifesaver! —Zigzagoon]
Good, it seemed Zigzagoon had recovered completely.
Just then, a line of information appeared before Carver's eyes.
[Zigzagoon's mood improved. Joy Level +140! Received Zigzagoon's gift: Forest's Gift]
[Forest's Gift: You selflessly helped a wild Pokémon living in this forest and gained the forest's attention. Nature, to thank you for rescuing its children, has bestowed upon you a gift "Viridian Power Fragment x1". Help more wild Pokémon and gain the forest's attention—perhaps it will give you more gifts.]
[Viridian Power Fragment: A gift containing the power of nature. Legend says those who obtain this power receive the forest's blessing, can sense Pokémon's inner thoughts, communicate with them, and borrow nature's power to heal their injuries. Collect 100 fragments to synthesize complete Viridian Power.]
Seeing this information, Carver was stunned in place.
This was... Viridian Power?
So, just by helping wild Pokémon in the forest, he could receive the forest's blessing?
If that was the case, then as long as he helped more wild Pokémon like Zigzagoon, couldn't he quickly obtain Viridian Power?
If he had this power, he could communicate with the Pokémon at the breeding house!
Carver was quite excited. He hadn't expected that his unconscious act of rescuing Zigzagoon would bring him such an unexpected joy.
"Zigza!" Zigzagoon finished the milk, then looked at Carver and turned to run toward the door.
Halfway there, Zigzagoon stopped and looked back.
Carver was stunned and asked: "Are you leaving?"
"Zigza!" Zigzagoon nodded its little head.
Zigzagoon was preparing to leave because this wasn't its home after all.
Moreover, it currently had nothing on it and had no way to thank this human.
But in its nest, it stored many of its treasures.
Those were things it had slowly picked up and collected over the years.
Since this human had helped it, it should give its treasures as gifts to thank him for saving its life.
Zigzagoon didn't stay long at the breeding house. It looked at Carver a couple times, then turned around and quickly ran away.
That small figure soon disappeared into the bushes.
"Really... isn't that running a bit too fast?"
Carver was somewhat helpless.
He had originally wanted to keep Zigzagoon at the breeding house!
Moreover, this Zigzagoon's ability was Pickup. Pokémon with this ability naturally liked to pick up and collect things.
Whether precious gems or broken glass marbles, they wouldn't let anything pass.
With a Pickup ability Pokémon to supplement the household income, the breeding house's Pokémon items might gradually increase!
But if Zigzagoon didn't want to stay, Carver had no choice.
He couldn't forcibly capture Zigzagoon in a Poké Ball, could he?
Oh well, he respected Zigzagoon's choice.
On the stairs, the girl quietly observed everything.
She returned to her room and opened her backpack's zipper, immediately revealing a small, hard head.
"Bagon!"
"Be good, Long! I can't take you away right now because the bad people who captured you are still chasing me. If I leave with you, we'll both be caught." The girl was very reluctant.
"Bagon..." Hearing this, the small dragon Pokémon lowered its head with a dejected expression.
"But!" The girl, thinking of the scene she had just observed, said: "I found a very good person for you! Let's observe for a few more days. If he's still good, you'll stay here, okay?"
"Bagon?!" The small dragon Pokémon was somewhat anxious.
"Me? Don't worry, if they catch me and find you're not with me, they won't hurt me!" the girl said.
She had encountered those Pokémon hunters a week ago.
They had captured many rare Pokémon and locked them in cages. Those who didn't obey would be whipped.
When the Pokémon hunters weren't paying attention, she secretly released these Pokémon.
However, probably because Long was rare and precious, those Pokémon hunters had directly abandoned the other Pokémon and kept tracking them.
Now, the best solution she could think of was to secretly entrust Long to someone else's care while she led those Pokémon hunters away.