Parting Ways

Ash didn't bother explaining further to Larvavine.

Instead, she retracted her hand, picked up the bag beside her, and stood up, preparing to leave.

The relationship between her and this Larvanine wasn't bound by a contract.

So, communication was largely guesswork on her part.

Even if she tried to explain, it wasn't guaranteed Larvavine would understand her words.

Besides, Ash had other matters to attend to today.

She couldn't linger like she usually did to play with it and didn't want to waste more time.

Although Ash had been feeding this Larvavine daily, she had never once considered taming it to become her own Spirit Beast.

The reason was simple: the potential of Larvavine as Spirit Beasts was abysmally low!

Setting aside issues like lifespan, even just looking at the resources required to train a Spirit Beast into a battle-type Spirit Beast, a creature like Larvavine—with such a low starting point—was simply not worth the investment.

With the same amount of resources, trying to bring a Larvavine to the level of combat capability seen in other Spirit Beasts was practically impossible.

There's an old saying: "There are no useless Pokémon, only useless Trainers." Or rather, in this world, it would be: "There are no useless Spirit Beasts, only useless Beast Master."

But realistically, given the choice, how many people would willingly choose a Spirit Beast like Larvavine—one with not only a low starting point but an equally dismal potential ceiling—as their critically important initial Spirit Beast?

Almost none.

In all the time Ash had spent in Gaia since her transmigration, she had never seen anyone in Solvale Town who used an Insectum Spirit Beast as their first partner.

Even Insectum Spirit Beasts kept as household pets were a rarity in Solvale Town, let alone a Spirit Beast like Larvavine, which occupied the very bottom tier among all Insectum Spirit Beasts.

Not only did the majority of people on Gaia have no interest in such Spirit Beast, but even Ash, who typically upheld the philosophy that "There are no useless Pokémon, only useless Trainers," had no intention of forming a contract with Larvavine as her initial Spirit Beast.

Her circumstances were already challenging enough—a hellish starting point of limited resources, scant financial means, weak spiritual energy, and lackluster talent.

If she were to burden herself with a Spirit Beast whose effort-to-reward ratio was utterly skewed, how would she ever manage to live a decent life?

Her life was hard enough as it was—why should she subject herself to additional suffering?

After bidding farewell to Larvavine, Ash carried her groceries and slowly made her way home.

Meanwhile, behind her, Larvavine who is still sprawled across the cabbage, wiggled its antennae as it gazed at Ash retreating figure.

It didn't fully understand Ash's words.

The world of humans was far too complex for it to comprehend.

However, it did understand one thing: Ash was planning to leave for a few days and wouldn't be returning here anytime soon.

Larvavine lowered its head to glance at the cabbage, now riddled with uneven bite marks.

Then it looked again at Ash's figure as she disappeared around the corner of the stairs.

In the end, it decided not to continue eating.

Instead, it carefully shifted its body and used its antennae to drag all the cabbage that Ash had left for it into its safe hideout in the grass.