Cortondo was a peaceful little town, free from the hustle and bustle of the big cities.
It was already four o’clock in the afternoon, and Michael needed to finish buying everything he needed before six.
This town had no concept of working overtime.
When closing time came, the shops closed and the stalls packed up right on schedule.
Life in Cortondo moved at a leisurely pace, perfectly embodying the saying, “Work at sunrise, rest at sunset.” As a small town, Cortondo didn’t have any large supermarkets.
Instead, it had a single farmers’ market with a respectable amount of foot traffic.
During the time Michael had spent staying at an inn in town, he had already familiarized himself with everything the market had to offer.
Aside from the roadside vendors on the outskirts selling produce grown on their own small plots of land, the inner section of the market catered to merchants and individuals purchasing goods in bulk.
Simply put, it was a wholesale market.
As long as there was steady demand for an item, chances were it could be bought here at wholesale prices.
Passing through the noisy rows of street vendors, Michael didn’t stop despite their enthusiastic calls.
He knew that most of them represented the worst part of the market.
Tampered scales, passing off inferior goods as high-quality merchandise, those kinds of scams were all too common.
When Michael had first arrived in Cortondo, he had once come here to buy apples.
Perhaps because he was a new face, he’d had the misfortune of encountering both a dishonest scale and a vendor who secretly swapped out part of his purchase while he wasn’t looking.
Some of the replacement apples had been overripe.
Some had already begun to rot.
Perhaps because he had never stayed in one place for very long during his year of traveling, he’d never encountered anything like that before.
He had always believed that there couldn’t possibly be dishonest merchants in the Pokémon world.
This farmers’ market had given him a harsh lesson in reality.
Of course, where there were bad people, there were also good ones.
That day, Michael had continued deeper into the market carrying his apples when a kind old grandmother from a nearby shop noticed something was wrong and pointed it out to him.
Only then did he realize he’d been cheated.
Without giving the vendor any chance to slip away, Michael grabbed him on the spot and insisted on taking him straight to the Cortondo Police Station.
Even when the market manager tried to smooth things over, Michael refused to let it go.
After that incident, he became somewhat famous around the market.
The dishonest vendors all started going out of their way to avoid him.
Apparently, though, a month had been enough for them to forget.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been trying so hard to call him over now.
Ignoring them completely, Michael headed straight for the shop he remembered.
-Seed Wholesale- The name was as plain as it could possibly be.
Simple, straightforward, and without any unnecessary flair.
The shop itself wasn’t large, only about thirty square meters.
Most of the space was occupied by neatly organized shelves filled with all kinds of different seeds.
At the entrance sat an old reclining chair.
Resting on it was an elderly woman with silver-white hair and gentle features that naturally inspired affection.
Her eyes were closed as her chest rose and fell slowly, seemingly in a light sleep.
Despite dozing, she remained remarkably aware of her surroundings.
Before Michael even reached the entrance, she opened her eyes and looked toward him.
Seeing that she was awake, Michael smiled and gave a small wave.
“Good afternoon, Grandma Kikuko.
It’s been a while.” “This voice…
you are…” Kikuko slowly took a pair of reading glasses from her pocket and put them on.
After carefully studying Michael for a moment, recognition gradually appeared in her eyes.
A warm smile spread across her wrinkled face.
“So it’s little Michael.
It really has been a long time.
How’s your farm coming along?” Michael replied, “I’ve finished planning out the different areas.
I actually came here today to buy some seeds.” “That’s wonderful.
That’s wonderful.” Kikuko nodded repeatedly, genuinely happy for him.
The smile on her face grew even brighter.
With Michael helping support her, Kikuko slowly stood up before leading him into the shop.
“What crops are you planning to grow?” “You can tell this old lady, and I’ll give you a few suggestions.
After selling seeds for so many years, I do have a bit of experience.” Looking around, Michael noticed there were far more seed varieties than he’d expected.
He listed the crops he had already decided on.
“Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, cabbages, cucumbers…
I’d like one small packet of each.
I’ll try planting them first, and if everything goes well, I’ll buy larger quantities later.” Kikuko nodded as she listened.
It seemed Michael had done his homework.
All of those crops were suitable for the current season, had relatively short growing periods, and as long as they produced vegetables of normal quality, they would certainly make money.
After all, Michael had acquired such a large piece of abandoned land.
Running small-scale trial plantings first was indeed the safest approach and would greatly reduce the risk of losing money.
With practiced precision, Kikuko picked out each variety Michael requested from the countless packets of seeds lining the shelves.
She placed them into small bags, sealed them, and thoughtfully attached labels to each one.
“Potato seeds, 80 Poké Dollars per packet.
Cucumber seeds, 140 Poké Dollars per packet…” Reading from the price list posted on the wall, she went through them one by one.
“Take a look and see if everything seems alright.” Michael nodded slightly.
The prices were actually a little cheaper than what Peter had quoted him.
Naturally, he had no objections.
The seeds for all five crops cost only 600 Poké Dollars in total.
Compared to the overall expense of building a farm, it was practically nothing.
Michael paid immediately before accepting the bags from Kikuko.
Looking at the seeds with curiosity, he realized this was actually the first time he’d ever seen them.
He’d only ever seen what the plants looked like after they had grown.
He examined the potato, cucumber, and tomato seeds one by one.
Then his gaze fell on a sixth bag.
Reading the label, he froze.
-Strawberry Seeds- Michael looked at Kikuko in confusion.
“Grandma…
did you accidentally give me an extra packet?” Seeing that he’d noticed, Kikuko smiled.
“You young people really do have sharp eyes.
A packet of strawberry seeds isn’t worth much.
Just consider it a small gift from this old lady to celebrate your farm officially getting started.” “I couldn’t possibly…” Michael tried to hand the packet back.
If he accepted the strawberry seeds, Kikuko wouldn’t make a single Poké Dollar from this sale.
She might even lose money on it.
“Just keep them.” Kikuko waved her hand, refusing to take them back.
As they politely went back and forth, her eyes happened to land on the Poké Ball hanging from Michael’s waist.
Suddenly remembering something, her eyes lit up.
“Actually…
how about you do this old lady a favor in exchange for those strawberry seeds?” Seeing Michael pause, Kikuko immediately walked to a cabinet at the very back of the shop.
She took out a key, unlocked the small lock, and carefully lifted out an oval-shaped object.
“I remember you’re a Pokémon Trainer, aren’t you?
If that’s the case, would you be willing to look after this Pokémon Egg?” As she spoke, the Pokémon Egg in her arms slowly emerged from the shadows and into the light, revealing its appearance.
It was an unfamiliar Pokémon Egg with a crimson base covered in dark gray stripes.
…
Meanwhile, in Area One, at the Lighthouse Laboratory, After waving goodbye to Dragonite, Arven excitedly sprinted all the way home.
The moment he stepped inside and saw the dark, empty room and the note left on the table, he instantly understood.
His arms slowly fell to his sides.
The corners of his eyes began to redden.
After a long silence, Arven lowered his head and murmured in a voice barely louder than a whisper, “…Liar.”