In the days that followed, Aven continued training his Pokémon in an orderly manner.
Aside from that, the farm now had eight additional Oddish.
Once the villagers learned there would be a reward for capturing and delivering Oddish to Mike's Farm, their enthusiasm clearly increased.
Upon receiving the Oddish, Aven released them directly into the grassy fields. Without needing to say anything, his companions would explain the situation to them.
"There are more and more Oddish. Looks like I need to make a trip to the Black Forest soon," Aven thought to himself. With winter approaching, he had to ensure that the Oddish learned the three powder moves before then.
However, he decided to wait a little longer—at least until Cherubi evolved into Cherrim.
Another day passed.
Just as Aven had predicted, on that very day, Cherubi finally finished absorbing all the evolutionary energy stored within the berries.
Suddenly, Cherubi began to glow with a brilliant white light.
It was evolving.
Aven stood still at a distance, quietly watching the radiant glow before him.
Within the light, he could vaguely see Cherubi's form constantly changing, evolving toward a higher level of life.
As the evolution light gradually faded, a Pokémon appeared wearing a pink cherry blossom skirt, with pink petals adorning her head.
Cherrim.
Seeing the newly evolved Pokémon before him, Aven smiled. Another piece of the farming puzzle was now complete.
After evolving, Cherrim began inspecting her new body. When she noticed Aven looking her way, she immediately smiled brightly, a smile so contagious it made others smile too.
In that instant, Aven felt all the frustration he had been carrying completely melt away. Smiling, he walked over to the little one. From his arms, Petilil jumped down and hopped toward Cherrim, eager to share the joy of evolution.
Finally, Cherrim approached Aven and gave him a heartfelt smile with her eyes squinting in gratitude. If not for Aven's promise back then and all his help along the way, she never would've been able to evolve.
"Congratulations, Cherrim," Aven said warmly, patting the little one's head. Watching the joyful Pokémon, his heart softened—it felt like a return to that world where humans and Pokémon coexisted in harmony.
That evening…
Just like always, Mike arrived at the berry orchard to check on the berries' growth.
"This is Cherubi's evolved form?"
Mike looked at the Cherrim in front of him, clearly surprised.
For a Cherubi to evolve into a Cherrim, it needed to store enough evolutionary energy in the berries on its body.
However, since these berries were a rare and nutritious treat for both humans and Pokémon, it was difficult for Cherubi to retain enough energy to evolve. As a result, Cherrim were extremely rare in the wild—and even rarer when raised on farms.
This was Mike's first time seeing a Cherrim, and he instinctively began scanning her up and down, wondering if she'd still be edible post-evolution.
Cherrim suddenly felt a chill all over her body. The petals on her head quickly folded up, turning purple and wrapping completely around her, like a flower bud.
"What's wrong with Cherrim?" Uncle Mike asked, a bit guilty.
Aven chuckled and picked Cherrim up. "That's her Overcast Form."
Uncle Mike still didn't understand, but Aven didn't explain further. He just said that Cherrim would bloom again once the sun came out tomorrow.
…
That night, under the dim glow of an oil lamp,
Aven sat at his desk, planning the next stage of training.
Petilil lay comfortably in a flowerpot, glowing faintly green as it absorbed the nutrients from the growth fertilizer.
After witnessing Cherubi's evolution, Aven could clearly feel Petilil's desire to evolve as well.
The little one believed that simply getting stronger would be enough to evolve, unaware that it actually needed a Sun Stone to trigger its final evolution.
The Sun Stone was a type of evolution stone infused with mysterious power, capable of helping Pokémon undergo transformation and complete their evolution.
'When I go to the Black Forest, I'll see if I can find a Sun Stone too...' Aven made a mental note and wrote "Sun Stone" into his training checklist.
"Now that Cherubi has evolved into Cherrim, part of my plan is complete."
"Even though Cherrim is quite weak in battle, its Flower Gift ability is extremely powerful—it boosts a Pokémon's Attack and Special Defense."
"Rhyhorn's battle ability is already solid, and with Flower Gift, it'll get even stronger. Plus, there's also Starly, who pairs well with Flower Gift too."
"So next, the most important training focus will be Cherrim's Flower Gift ability. But before that, Cherrim needs to learn the move Sunny Day. Only under Sunny weather can Flower Gift's full effect be unleashed."
Aven pulled out his training journal and recorded the condition of all the Pokémon on the farm. Gradually, his next steps in training became clearer.
…
The next morning.
Before the sun had even risen, Aven brought Petilil to the berry orchard.
There, Starly—always the most alert—opened one eye the moment someone approached.
Seeing it was Aven, Starly yawned and went right back to sleep.
Aven whispered a greeting to Starly, then made his way into the orchard where he found Cherrim and the other Cherubi snuggled together, still asleep.
Seeing that it was still early, Aven sat down beneath a tree with Petilil in his arms, his eyes turning eastward. The sun wasn't quite up yet.
For Sunny Day training, the most important aspect was sensing the sun's energy. So, Aven planned to have Cherrim begin training as soon as the sun rose.
Sleepily, Cherrim opened her eyes and immediately perked up upon seeing Aven, her body trembling slightly in joy.
"Cherrim, the sun's about to rise. Next up is your Sunny Day training," Aven reminded her. He had already explained what Sunny Day was about.
Cherrim nodded excitedly. Aven picked her up and held her gently as they both waited for the sun to rise.
Finally, a sliver of light appeared on the horizon. Cherrim focused on sensing the solar energy, and her body began to tremble—an instinctive reaction to the energy of the sun.
As the sun gradually rose, her tremors intensified. The purple petals wrapping her body slowly began to unfold.
At last, when the sun had fully risen, the petals completely opened and turned from purple to pink. A radiant, sun-kissed smile appeared on Cherrim's face.
"Did you feel it? The sun's energy," Aven asked.
Seeing Cherrim's happy expression, a smile naturally formed on Aven's face too.
Cherrim nodded joyfully, her body emitting a soft milky-white glow that made everything feel warm and comforting.
For Cherrim, the transformation from Overcast Form to Sunshine Form was part of the Flower Gift ability. Through this change, Cherrim could begin to harness the power of that ability.
However, the effect of Flower Gift through natural sunlight was still limited. Only under actual Sunny Day weather could the ability truly shine.
In the days to come, Cherrim's training would focus clearly on one thing—absorbing more solar energy and deepening her understanding of Flower Gift, paving the way to mastering Sunny Day.
(End of Chapter)