In the temporary laboratory, Petilil was busy preparing a potion.
Having assisted Aven with potion-making for a long time, it had become quite proficient by now.
Picking up a nearby Sitrus Berry, Petilil, as a Grass-type Pokémon who had mastered life energy, could clearly sense the energy contained within it.
It closed its eyes to quietly feel it out, then began processing the potion ingredients according to the method Aven had taught it.
It added the materials into the potion bottle in order, sensing the energy changes with each addition and adjusting its process step-by-step.
As time passed, the energies within the ingredients fused together perfectly, forming a light blue potion.
Looking at the potion in front of it, Petilil's round eyes squinted in satisfaction, a look of bliss spreading across its face—it was such a wonderful feeling!
It brought the potion up to its nose and took a deep sniff. "It smells amazing! This scent is definitely better than Gloom's Sweet Scent!"
At that thought, it suddenly paused.
Lately, Gloom had been training hard on its Sweet Scent move—and Petilil had been secretly trying to train it as well.
But no matter how much it practiced, the results were never satisfactory.
Gloom had learned Sweet Scent by converting its natural stench into fragrance. But what about Petilil?
It already smelled pleasant—was there anything on it that could be transformed into an aroma?
But now, staring at the potion in front of it, Petilil shook the leaf on its head and suddenly had a new idea.
Could it replicate the same scent as the potion using the fragrance from its Healing Leaf?
Hoo hoo hoo~ Petilil's eyes sparkled. It felt like it had finally discovered the correct way to learn Sweet Scent!
It looked up cautiously toward Aven, who was also busy mixing potions across the room, and quickly lowered its head again, eyes drifting toward the potion in front of it. Should I try...?
...
In the courtyard.
Today's experiment had ended.
The final results were the same as before.
The beast corrupted by the gray mist could temporarily regain clarity, but the mist itself still couldn't be eliminated.
There wasn't much Aven could do about it—he would just have to try brewing a new version of the potion.
As he reentered the lab, Petilil didn't follow this time. Instead, it glanced around.
At the moment, Cherrim was still tucked within its purple petals, and Tangela was using Ingrain to absorb nutrients leisurely from the soil.
As for Gloom, even though it had already mastered Sweet Scent, it was still working diligently—under its control, its usual stench had vanished completely.
Petilil hesitated no longer and approached Gloom once more to ask for advice on Sweet Scent.
Gloom wasn't the type to keep secrets and generously explained everything again. However, it still thought Petilil's efforts were futile—after all, Petilil didn't have a stinky smell to begin with...
Time passed quickly. A few days went by.
During this time, Petilil was busy—either preparing potions or training the Sweet Scent move.
In an attempt to figure out why the potion had that magical fragrance, it even secretly drank two bottles of Aven's potion.
Of course, this was only after it subtly confirmed that potions were safe for Pokémon to consume. Once assured, it drank them with no worries.
Now, in the courtyard, Petilil was recalling its potion-making process while following Aven's method for teaching Gloom.
Gradually, it began to sense energy flowing through its Healing Leaf.
Under its control, the energy swirled and surged. With a sudden jolt of mental focus, the energy burst from its body and spread outward.
In that moment, Petilil felt a bit dizzy—until it caught a whiff of a familiar medicinal scent, bringing its mind back into focus.
It sniffed again.
Its big eyes widened. Had it actually learned Sweet Scent?
Petilil was overjoyed—but when it glanced toward the lab, a trace of guilt crept in. After all, Aven had never told it to learn Sweet Scent.
Creak— Just as it feared... the worst happened.
The wooden door opened, and Aven stepped out.
Petilil panicked and took a step back, waving its chubby little paws in the air—Why does the smell still linger so strongly?
Aven walked into the courtyard and noticed Petilil acting suspiciously, which confused him.
But after a few steps, he suddenly felt his fatigue from days of research vanish.
What just happened... Aven was baffled—he had only looked at Petilil, yet somehow felt completely refreshed?
Then, he noticed something was off—a familiar medicinal fragrance filled the courtyard. This definitely wasn't from any potion.
"Petilil?"
Aven's eyes returned to the little Grass-type Pokémon in front of him.
At the same time, Gloom and Cherrim, who noticed Aven coming out, also gathered around.
Even Gloom noticed the strange fragrance in the courtyard—but it clearly wasn't from itself.
Hearing Aven call its name, Petilil stiffened all over and lowered its head like a child caught misbehaving, leaning against the wall.
"This really was you?" Aven asked. Petilil's reaction said it all.
Petilil nodded, then immediately began to regret secretly training Sweet Scent.
But in the next moment, it suddenly felt itself being picked up and spun around in the air—Aven's smiling face in front of it.
"Petilil, congratulations! You've mastered the move Aromatherapy!" Aven cheered, raising Petilil high above his head in excitement.
Petilil blinked in confusion—Wait, this isn't Sweet Scent?
...
All the Pokémon had gathered around the wooden table in the courtyard.
Aven had finally heard the full story of how Petilil came to learn Aromatherapy.
When he recalled the wronged look Petilil gave him earlier—thinking he had stopped it from learning Sweet Scent—he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
The truth was, he had never taught Petilil to learn Sweet Scent because... it simply couldn't learn Sweet Scent.
So even if Petilil had tried its best to learn it, and Aven had tried to teach it, all of that effort would have been for nothing.
Hearing this, Petilil was stunned. It wanted to say that it did learn it—but then, realizing that it had learned something else entirely, it quietly fell silent.
Still, its heart was a little touched—Aven hadn't stopped it from learning out of spite, but because it was just impossible for it to learn Sweet Scent in the first place.
It had truly misunderstood him.
(End of Chapter)