Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 181: Mei Chooses to Temporarily Believe It Was Just Drunken Nonsense

Chapter 181 - 181: Mei Chooses to Temporarily Believe It Was Just Drunken Nonsense

Early the next morning, Natsume groggily climbed out of bed, feeling a little dazed.

His head throbbed, as if he had blacked out at some point.

But... did he even drink last night?

Natsume tried hard to recall what had happened.

If memory served, he hadn't prepared any alcohol.

But somehow, that little rascal Mew had fished out two bottles of red wine from who-knows-where and had poured glasses for both him and Mei without giving them a chance to refuse.

Something about not wasting food—red wine was made from food, therefore it was liquid food and couldn't be wasted.

Natsume didn't know much about winemaking, so he just went along with it.

They were adults, after all. Even if he wasn't in the habit of drinking, there were still times when the temptation to have a taste would sneak up on him.

Mei, for her part, happily agreed.

One glass after another, the sharp clarity of the world around him began to blur.

His brain started running slower and slower.

And after that... what happened again?

Natsume couldn't remember at all.

He just vaguely recalled hugging Mei tightly.

And his lips... they felt a little swollen?

Propping up his chin, Natsume sank deep into thought.

After checking himself over, he was relieved to find that nothing further seemed to have happened.

He let out a sigh of relief.

It wasn't that Natsume had any strange hang-ups.

He simply didn't want their relationship to cross that invisible line in a muddled, unclear way.

Somehow, it just didn't feel fair to Mei.

...Fine, Natsume admitted he might have a bit of a compulsion, maybe even a kind of mental cleanliness when it came to these things.

A stubbornness that didn't always make sense.

Whether that was good or bad, he couldn't say.

"Mew~"

At some point, Mew had appeared in the room, striking a ridiculously dramatic pose, arms crossed as it leaned against the windowsill.

Its face was full of grave sorrow, and whenever it glanced at Natsume, it was with the expression of a parent watching their kid get single-digit scores on basic math problems: heartbroken and disappointed beyond words.

You idiot, that was such a golden opportunity last night, and you still managed to miss it.

Couldn't you be impulsive just this once?!

Mew was deeply troubled.

At this rate, when would Natsume finally take that crucial step toward becoming a proper adult?

Sad cat sigh.

"Save it for later. Let me freshen up first,"

Natsume muttered, exhaling a breath—and immediately wrinkling his nose.

The taste in his mouth was awful.

The kind of awful that could probably knock someone out if you kissed them.

Honestly, even Natsume himself couldn't stand it.

There was plenty he wanted to say to Mew, but first things first: he needed to clean up.

Glancing down at his clothes—

Good. He was still in his pajamas.

It looked like the Lopunny and the others had helped change him last night.

Another sigh of relief.

At least he hadn't woken up in some horribly embarrassing, hungover state.

He knew himself well enough.

Even though he didn't drink much, Natsume was painfully aware of his poor alcohol tolerance.

He wasn't the worst lightweight around, maybe,

but he was definitely one of the first to fold at any drinking party.

Basically just there to make up the numbers and keep the atmosphere lively. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"Mew."

Still lounging on the windowsill, Mew shifted its position, now hanging its head over the edge, looking for all the world like a puddle of liquid cat.

The morning sunlight bathed Mew's small body, filling it with a deep, lazy warmth.

Sunlight... it had been around for hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of years.

For every living thing, sunlight had always been there since the very beginning.

Scorching. Bright.

And somehow, beside certain people, even sunlight could take on a new feeling.

It didn't just warm the skin—it loosened every fiber of tension inside you.

Made you want to just lie there, floppy and useless, and melt into a lazy puddle of nothingness.

"Fuuuh—"

Natsume emerged from the bathroom, toweling the droplets of water from his hair.

At first, he had only intended to wash his face.

But in the end, he couldn't resist—he ended up taking a full shower.

There had been a faint, unpleasant smell clinging to his body.

If he didn't wash it off, he felt like he wouldn't be able to function properly for the rest of the day.

"Mew~"

I took a lot of cute pictures last night, Natsume! Wanna see?

The moment Natsume stepped out, the drowsy Mew instantly perked up, springing into the air.

It fished a phone out from somewhere behind its back and waved it in front of him.

"What kind of pictures?"

Natsume asked casually as he took the phone from Mew.

It was a bit of a redundant question—he could already see the photos on the screen.

"Mew~"

Pictures of you and everyone else!

Mew said with a giggle, floating lazily to Natsume's side.

Seeing Natsume's damp hair, Mew thought for a moment, then puffed out its cheeks and inhaled deeply, ballooning up like a little drum.

The next second, a blast of dry, hot air shot from its mouth.

Under Mew's precise control, the air was violent but harmless—

Well, aside from making Natsume's hair stick out in every possible direction.

Satisfied with its handiwork, Mew gave an approving nod and then flopped onto Natsume's head.

Its long tail curled loosely around Natsume's neck, occasionally giving little affectionate rubs.

"Quit it."

Natsume lightly patted Mew's tail and started flipping through the photos.

The first batch of photos were mostly funny.

Like Phiona being robbed of her donut by Manaphy.

Or the shiny Furret stuffing its cheeks until its face puffed out like a balloon.

Or Corviknight and Ting-Lu drunkenly bonding over "juice"—

From the looks of it, the two were just one step away from becoming blood brothers.

In the background, you could even see a pitiful-looking Chi-Yu and Pecharunt watching them longingly from afar.

Gradually, Natsume's own pictures started showing up.

Photos of him making desserts.

Bathing the shiny Furret.

And the dinner he shared with Mei last night.

Surrounded by all the Pokémon, the whole scene felt incredibly warm and homey.

It looked just like the kind of heartwarming, family-style montage you'd see roll during a movie's end credits.

Just an ordinary meal... yet somehow, it carried the soft, glowing feeling of a candlelit dinner.

He wasn't sure if Mew had ever studied photography.

But whether it was the composition or the lighting, the photos it took were truly outstanding. Some even had the feel of shots taken by a professional photographer.

The atmosphere was spot-on.

"Mew?"

How is it?

Perched atop Natsume's head, Mew admired its own work and asked proudly.

It couldn't wait to hear Natsume's praise!

Praise me, praise me, praise me!

"They turned out great. You can be the new Ho-Oh from now on."

Natsume reached up and ruffled Mew's head as he "praised" it.

He genuinely thought Mew's photography skills were impressive.

No problem at all if it wanted to moonlight as a professional photographer.

"Mew?"

The heck?

Mew tilted its head in confusion.

'Be the new Ho-Oh? What's that supposed to mean?'

'Well, whatever.'

'I'll just take it as a compliment.'

Mew poked at Natsume's hair a couple of times, then settled back down contentedly.

Natsume was so comfortable to lie on.

Twitching its little nose, Mew felt like it could catch the faintest whiff of something pleasant.

It smelled a bit like nature itself.

Mew had actually asked Natsume about it once, and Natsume had immediately replied that it was just the scent of shampoo.

Which made Mew a little upset.

"Mew?"

Suddenly, Mew seemed to have thought of something.

It leaned in close and sniffed at Natsume's hair. After pondering for a moment—

"Mew!"

"Wha—Hey!"

Mew buried its face into Natsume's hair and started rubbing around wildly, making a series of incomprehensible noises.

"What are you doing?!"

Natsume, who had been flipping through the photos, was startled by Mew's sudden antics.

He instinctively reached up, trying to grab the pink cat that had gone completely berserk.

"Mew~"

I'm imitating humans when they snuggle cats!

Mew, still perched atop Natsume's head, declared righteously.

As if to prove its point, it once again plunged into Natsume's hair, nuzzling and inhaling like crazy.

And to be fair, Mew's imitation was... weirdly spot-on.

At least the strange noises and the borderline creep-level expression were perfectly accurate.

"Get down from there!"

Feeling the chaos going on above his head, Natsume's face darkened. Without hesitation, he grabbed Mew and yanked it off.

Don't you go crazy on me here!

Mew, dangling from Natsume's hand, stared up at him with big, wet, innocent eyes.

'What? Natsume didn't like it?'

Its pitiful little face looked as if the next second it might burst into tears from being so wronged.

Unfortunately for Mew, Natsume wasn't falling for it.

You think I'd still get tricked by that look at this point?

Not happening!

Without hesitation, Natsume opened the window and tossed Mew out like he was taking out the trash.

This little troublemaker always tried to get away with things by looking all pitiful.

At first, Natsume had fallen for it a few times.

But over time, he'd built up complete immunity.

Now when Natsume saw that look, his heart didn't even twitch—if anything, he just wanted to smack someone.

"Mew!"

Outside the window, Mew abandoned its pitiful act and glared at Natsume in a huff.

It made a funny face, flicked its tail, and zipped off into the sky.

'Hmph! Rotten Natsume! Refusing to play with me!'

'Fine, the cat will go find Ceruledge and the others to play with!'

Mew was actually quite satisfied with its two little apprentices.

They were obedient, smart, and quick learners.

Whatever skill it taught, they picked up almost instantly.

At first, Mew had only been teaching them for fun, but now it had started passing down real techniques.

It was the start of two completely broken prodigies setting sail!

You ask where the "broken" part comes from?

Let me introduce you to Mew—said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon, capable of learning every move.

If that doesn't qualify as broken, then there aren't many things in the Pokémon world that do.

(Not counting Arceus. That's more like the GM secretly messing with the code. Calling it "broken" would just be disrespectful.)

Clapping the dust off his hands, Natsume shut the window.

"Morning, Natsume!"

Outside the door, Mei, freshly washed and ready, waved at him with a bright smile.

The moment she saw him, though, Mei felt her earlobes heat up uncontrollably.

Truth was, she'd woken up really early that morning.

She had just stayed in bed, hugging her Serperior, refusing to get up.

At first, when her mind was still foggy from sleep, it wasn't so bad. But as she woke up fully and recalled what had happened last night, Mei was completely mortified.

Sitting in Natsume's lap and clinging to him like that...

That wasn't like her at all!

What was I even doing?!

Mei had always looked down on things like blaming bad behavior on being drunk.

Getting drunk doesn't make you do things—you just stop hiding the things you wanted to do anyway.

She'd never seen anyone get drunk and go punch their boss.

Clearly, you could still control yourself if you wanted to.

And as for drunk rambling? Please. Drunk words are sober thoughts!

Most heartfelt confessions were just people using alcohol as an excuse to say what was already in their hearts.

So normally, Mei scoffed at excuses like "I said it because I was drunk."

But right now... she kind of wanted to believe it.

Because otherwise, she really couldn't explain her behavior last night!

"Yes, it must've been the alcohol."

Face slightly flushed, Mei stubbornly pushed all the blame onto the drinks.

It was the alcohol's fault!

Otherwise, there's no way I would've acted like that!

Clutching Serperior even tighter, Mei failed to notice her poor Pokémon was already rolling its eyes in distress.

Back to the present—

Even if her emotions were a little shaky, Mei thought it over and realized: Wait, we're officially a couple now.

A little intimacy between a couple should be totally normal, right?

So last night...

Nothing to freak out about!

Mei nodded vigorously to herself, as if affirming her conclusion.

"Morning, Mei," Natsume said with a warm smile.

He walked over to her, and their hands naturally found each other.

Neither brought up last night's incident.

And honestly, it wasn't a big deal.

They probably just weren't fully used to the idea of having a boyfriend (or girlfriend) yet, which was why it felt a little awkward.

"What's the plan for today, Natsume?"

"I was thinking of checking on Chi-Yu," he said. "And making sure that Pecharunt and the others are actually training properly."

Natsume figured it was about time he checked in on Chi-Yu that had arrived last night and immediately been... left to fend for itself.

Well, technically, it had been thrown to the edge of the farm by Mew, where it had been locked in a stare-off with Pecharunt and the rest.

Natsume thought it might be good to offer the poor thing some "humanitarian care."

At the very least, he needed to crush any dangerous thoughts before they could form—make sure it settled down properly and didn't cause trouble.

(Chi-Yu, who had already been given a very physical "warning" by Mew: Huh? Cause trouble? Me?)

And as for Pecharunt and the others...

Even now, Natsume couldn't exactly say he was fully at ease about them either.

Especially Munkidori.

This guy might have pledged his loyalty quickly and eagerly enough,

but on the flip side, it meant he didn't really have any firm convictions.

If it ever came to harming the farm's interests, he wouldn't even blink.

No guilt, no second thoughts.

If he wanted to do it, he'd just do it.

Honestly, even the ever-unruly Okidogi probably scored higher in Natsume's book than Munkidori did.

Meanwhile, over at the edge of the farm...

Chi-Yu was quietly zoning out, staring into the distance.

'Ahh, so this is what peace feels like?'

'How nice.'

Maybe there was something in the air around here—

Chi-Yu could feel the turmoil inside him settling down almost without realizing it.

"How's it feel?"

A familiar voice drifted over.

Chi-Yu turned his head to look.

There stood that human—the one who had led an entire gang to beat him up—

alone, not a single Pokémon by his side.

'This human... was actually facing me by himself?'

For a moment, Chi-Yu couldn't help but find the whole situation absurd.

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