Pokémon: Breeding Simulator [52]

[That night, you brought Feebas home.]

[When Latias found out that your first Pokémon was a Feebas, her expression became strangely conflicted.]

Beside the fish tank, Latias gazed at the Feebas inside, her expression unreadable.

The good news was that Elias had chosen his first Pokémon.

That meant he truly did have specific criteria for choosing Pokémon, and he hadn't been lying to her before.

But the bad news was… she still had no idea what Elias's selection criteria were.

Was it for looks?

Latias glanced at Feebas and immediately dismissed the idea.

A name carries weight, and Feebas' name was certainly fitting.

Then was it for strength?

Latias observed the dull, sluggish Feebas and crossed that theory out as well.

After running through all sorts of analyses and still failing to arrive at a satisfactory answer, Latias couldn't help feeling a little dejected.

Just then, a damp hand suddenly grabbed hers.

"Aren't you going to bed?"

Fresh from his bath, Elias radiated warmth.

The moment he stepped out of the bathroom, he saw Tias staring intently at Feebas with a scrutinizing look.

To prevent her from doing anything strange to his Pokémon, he had to come up with a more enticing offer to divert her attention.

Sure enough, after sniffing the lingering scent of his body wash, Tias licked her lips.

"Let's go to bed!"

Without hesitation, she set aside her curiosity and pulled Elias toward the bedroom.

As long as her identity remained hidden, she believed everything would continue to progress beautifully, just as it was now.

---

[July 8th, the day Latias found you when you were just a babe—she had declared it your birthday.]

"Elias, happy birthday!"

Latias carefully placed a cake she had prepared onto the table.

Baking was a new skill she had learned over the past few months, but perhaps due to her lack of talent, despite all her effort, the cake's appearance left much to be desired.

Even the sweet scent of the frosting carried a faint burnt smell.

It seemed she couldn't bear to look at it herself either—Latias cleared her throat and reached out to take the cake away.

"You can just look at the cake; you really don't need to eat something like this..."

As she spoke, she grasped the tray holding the cake.

However, just as she was about to remove it, another hand suddenly appeared, stopping her.

"A birthday without a cake isn't complete."

Elias took the tray and, using psychic energy, formed a cake knife to cut himself a triangular slice.

"Wait—"

Latias, snapping out of her daze, immediately tried to stop him.

But before she could snatch the fork away, Elias had already bitten into the cake like a hungry little creature.

The charred, clumped-together texture exploded in his mouth, mingling with an overwhelming burnt taste that sent shockwaves through his taste buds.

After careful analysis, Elias was fairly certain his foolish mother had not only burned the cake but had also mistaken salt for sugar.

His entire mouth now felt like it had been hit by a [Salt Cure] move.

But remembering how this was the result of months of early-morning practice, he forced himself to swallow.

"If it tastes bad, just spit it out."

Latias, fully aware of her own abilities, spoke cautiously.

She was genuinely afraid she might poison Elias.

Seeing Tias leaning in close, watching him with concern, Elias forced a smile.

"It just looks bad, that's all. The taste is actually pretty good."

He gently pinched her soft cheeks and reassured her in a soothing tone.

"Really?"

Latias eyed him skeptically and reached out to take a piece of cake for herself.

The moment she made a move, Elias, in alarm, grabbed her hand.

This was the kind of cake only a Garganacl would enjoy—he didn't even want to imagine what would happen if Tias actually took a bite.

Looking at the hand wrapped around her fingers, Latias narrowed her eyes.

She wasn't foolish; she could clearly see that Elias's words were just to comfort her.

A warm feeling welled up inside her, but at the same time, a mischievous thought surfaced.

Under Elias's anxious gaze—

She withdrew her hand, then picked up the tray and sliced an even bigger, thicker piece of cake.

After thoughtfully cutting it into smaller portions, she stabbed one with a fork and brought it to Elias's lips.

"If it's really delicious, then let Mommy feed you everything, okay?"

"So? What do you say?"

As her words fell, Latias had the pleasure of witnessing Elias's face go from pale to utterly despairing.

Satisfied with her prank, she let out a chuckle.

Setting the cake back down, she cupped Elias's cheeks with both hands.

"If you dare lie to Mommy again, the punishment next time won't be this simple."

She threatened with mock fierceness.

Watching Elias obediently nod, Latias felt a deep, unparalleled satisfaction.

She truly enjoyed the way he took care of her and indulged her.

This sudden, heart-racing sensation—she had never felt it with her brother before.

Latias couldn't understand why there was such a difference.

Unfortunately, even human books didn't explain why a mother and child would experience this kind of feeling while spending time together.

Perhaps… it was simply proof of the deep bond she and Elias shared.

---

[Your birthday quickly passed, and life returned to its usual routine—dividing time between school and home.]

[Due to family matters, Steven had to accompany his father on a trip to the Kalos region, making your already dull life feel even more monotonous.]

[At the same time, as you grew older, your obsessive tendencies became more apparent.]

[You often stayed up late, poring over materials to understand obscure Pokémon knowledge.]

[Perhaps the only time you felt truly at ease was when you lay in Tias' soft embrace each night.]

[But life still held surprises. On the last day of the year, the Feebas you had carefully nurtured for a year finally evolved.]

At home, in front of the fish tank—

Elias carefully crumbled a homemade Pokéblock into fine powder and sprinkled it into the water.

This was a ritual he had performed daily for the past year.

Feebas might not have had any battle prowess, but unlike some trainers who simply abandoned theirs in a pond, Elias had devoted himself to its care.

He had specially developed Pokéblocks suited to Feebas' taste and often whispered words of praise to it.

It was said that doing so could increase the chances of Feebas evolving.

"Oh, right."

Elias retrieved a necklace-like iridescent scale and carefully placed it on Feebas' back fin.

This was the [Prism Scale] he had asked Steven to help him find.

With Steven's family wealth, obtaining an evolution item had been easy.

However, just as Elias withdrew his hand from the water, the Feebas inside the tank suddenly began to glow white.

---

T/N: someone call officer jenny! please!

oh yeah if you're new you probably don't know that after chapter 50 it becomes 2 chaps updates, here's my patreon >:) [patreon.com/WiseTL]