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Thank you 🙂 ——————– “Cherri Cherrim.” Hello there.
Cherrim took the initiative to greet him.
Coupled with its pinkish appearance and adorable smiling face, it instantly boosted its favorability rating by +50.
“Hello, my name is Chase Red, and I’m the Ranger responsible for this area…” Chase didn’t beat around the bush and straightforwardly told Cherrim the entire purpose of his trip.
“Cherri?” Planting trees?
In this season?
After listening to Chase’s explanation, Cherrim’s pink, beady eyes were filled with confusion.
“Cherri…” Mister Human, please don’t joke about things like this…
You could only say that Cherrim as a species had a really good temper.
If it had been a more hot-tempered Pokemon, they probably would have started chasing him out by now.
“Ahem, you don’t need to worry about that part.
I provide the pay…
Pokeblocks, and you provide the labor.
Plus, I’ll cover room and board.
Why don’t you go back and discuss it with your tribe?” Chase persuaded in a somewhat tempting tone.
“Cherri.” Alright.
Cherrim thought about it and agreed.
Although their tribe was strong enough and had already hoarded plenty of food for the winter, earning some extra income rather than sitting idly in the nest wasn’t a bad idea.
The only issue now was whether the human before them was trustworthy.
Wild Pokemon that managed to survive definitely had stronger vigilance.
Otherwise, no matter how powerful they were, they could easily be wiped out by a single treacherous plot; such incidents were far from uncommon.
Watching Cherrim’s figure disappear into the shrubbery, Chase remained where he was, quietly waiting for its response.
He currently had very little information on Grass-type Pokemon.
Even if Cherrim refused, Chase planned to see if he could trade for some intel regarding other Grass-type Pokemon.
“Woof, woof.” Little Boss, give me some Pokeblocks.
“Hmm?
What do you need those for?
You already had breakfast before we left,” Chase asked, looking at Blaze in confusion.
“Woof, woof.” To show off while eating in front of these guys, of course.
Blaze grinned.
Chase pondered for a moment before grasping its intention.
“Woof, woof.” Make sure Zangoose joins me.
The effect will be even better that way.
“You’re a genius, doggo!” Chase grabbed Blaze’s head and gave it a vigorous rub.
Then, he released Zangoose—who was catching up on sleep in its Poke Ball—and briefly explained the plan.
“Zan Zangoose!” Master really is amazing!
Upon hearing this, Zangoose immediately started sucking up to Blaze, leaving Chase utterly speechless.
However, Blaze seemed to quite enjoy it, thinking that taking on this disciple wasn’t a waste after all.
Finally, Chase, who couldn’t watch anymore, interrupted the master-and-disciple play.
He stuffed their mouths with their respective favorite Pokeblocks and instructed, “Listen, when you two eat, don’t just wolf it down like you usually do.
Chew slowly and make sure to show off how much you’re enjoying the deliciousness, got it?” The spatial backpack had limited capacity, so Chase hadn’t brought an overwhelming amount of Pokeblocks on this trip.
If he let Blaze and Zangoose scarf them down unchecked, they could probably wipe out a quarter of his stock in a single sitting.
How was he supposed to hire Grass-type Pokemon then?
He couldn’t exactly make empty promises, could he?
Nom nom nom…
The dog and cat(?) quickly began their performance, happily munching away at the Pokeblocks placed in front of them.
Chase’s Pokeblocks were all crafted using techniques provided by the system, so their quality went without saying.
Even the highly experienced Pokemon Inspector Jenny Violet had given them high praise.
Therefore, the blissful expressions on Blaze and Zangoose as they savored the treats required absolutely no acting.
They just had to wholeheartedly immerse themselves in the deliciousness and display their genuine emotions.
…
For Pokemon able to survive in the wild, the most crucial traits were either a keen sense for finding food or immense combat prowess.
The former allowed a Pokemon to locate enough food to survive, while the latter never had to worry about a lack of food—summarized perfectly as “While others hoard grain, I hoard guns.” Neither was inherently superior, but if one had to differentiate them, the threshold for the first ability was significantly lower.
Unlike combat power, which rigidly required the accumulation of time and experience, a keen sense for food could be mastered regardless of a Pokemon’s age or strength level.
Thus, one could easily imagine the allure Pokeblocks held for wild Pokemon, being a special food with a higher energy yield than Berries and specifically crafted to cater to a Pokemon’s palate.
Chase’s two “actors” had only eaten three or four blocks before he noticed a rustling sound of footsteps coming from the nearby shrubbery, growing denser as time passed.
The fish were taking the bait!
“Blaze, start scarfing it down now!” Chase instantly decided to alter the plan on the fly.
A standard box contained twenty Pokeblocks.
After about half an hour of putting on a show, the two Pokemon had eaten roughly half of them.
Continuing to chew slowly clearly wasn’t going to stimulate the “fish” any further; he needed to administer a heavy dose.
Receiving the command, Blaze and Zangoose didn’t hold back either.
They directly shoved the remaining Pokeblocks in their boxes into their mouths, chewing audibly and frequently letting out sounds of pure gratification.
Just as Chase predicted, the commotion from the shrubbery became far more pronounced.
Every so often, a pink fruit or petal would peek out from the leaves, exposing their presence.
“Heh heh, time for the finishing blow!” Chase chuckled inwardly, pulling two more boxes of Pokeblocks from his backpack.
“Are you full?
Do you want another box?” Chase said deliberately loudly.
Before Blaze and Zangoose could even nod, the “fish” could no longer hold back and emerged from the shrubbery all at once.
“Cherri Cherrim~~” “Cherri Cherrim Cherrim~~~” Two Cherrim and six Cherubi stared intently at the Pokeblocks in Chase’s hands, their eyes brimming with an immense craving for the delicious food.
Seeing the fish take the bait, Chase suppressed his inner glee and, with a smile, extended an invitation to the Pokemon: “Would you guys like to try some too?” Immediately, he was met with an endless chorus of “Cherri Cherrim Cherrim”s.
“Here you go, one for each of you.” Chase began handing out Pokeblocks right there on the spot.
The moment the little guys got their paws on them, they immediately bit right in.
As the sweet flavor burst within their mouths, another chorus of “Cherri Cherrim” erupted from the front of the shrubbery.
Clearly, a single Pokeblock wasn’t enough to satisfy this flock of pink little creatures.
Very soon, a Cherubi mustered up the courage to approach Chase.
“Cherri Cherrim.” This Cherubi tilted its body, showing off the fruit it had carefully nurtured all autumn long to Chase.
The meaning was obvious: it wanted to trade it for more Pokeblocks.
One had to know that the energy stored within that fruit was what the Cherubi had prepared for its evolution; this just went to show how irresistible the Pokeblocks were to it.
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