“Let me take a look.” Michael leaned over and looked into the small hole Arven had dug with the hoe.
The moment he saw it, his brows knitted tightly together.
The potato seeds that had originally been evenly buried in the soil had somehow crumbled into tiny fragments of powder.
Dusting off his hands, Arven accepted the stream of water Swampert sprayed over for him.
As he washed his hands, he said, “I honestly didn’t expect you not to know something this basic, Big Bro.” “Grass-type Pokémon can accelerate the growth of crops and other plants, but that’s only if the crops are capable of absorbing the energy and nutrients in the first place.” “Your Serperior is simply too strong.
Even the tiny amount of nutrients and Grass-type energy it thought it was giving was enough to overwhelm seeds that hadn’t even sprouted yet.” Every word struck home, leaving both Michael and Serperior red-faced with embarrassment.
Swampert was secretly celebrating having escaped blame when Arven turned his attention to it as well.
“The same goes for the Water Gun Swampert used for watering.
Just from washing my hands, I could tell that water was created from highly concentrated Water-type energy.” “The sort of work that an ordinary low-level Pokémon could handle perfectly ends up going wrong precisely because you two are too powerful.” Michael fell silent.
He felt like he was about to lose it as he frantically poked at the Prompt System in his mind.
‘Is that really what happened?’ [Yes, my illiterate Host.
Because Serperior’s and Swampert’s energy levels were too high, the crops couldn’t handle it and literally burst apart from indigestion.] ‘…Then why didn’t you tell me?
Aren’t you a Trainer System?’ [Because you didn’t ask.
You told me to answer whatever you asked, but you never told me to pop up on my own.
Besides, whenever I do pop up unprompted, you complain that I’m annoying.] The floating text twisted around messily, somehow conveying a hint of grievance.
‘…My fault.
I’ll come to you first next time.’ [Hmph.] Ending the brief conversation with the system, Michael turned back to Arven with an awkward smile.
Rubbing his hands together sheepishly, he humbly asked, “So…
does that mean that, aside from watering and fertilizing normally, the best approach is to find some ordinary Grass-type Pokémon and let them cultivate the crops?” Arven nodded in agreement before adding, “There’s actually another way.
It would even let Serperior do it much more efficiently.” Michael’s ears perked up immediately.
His face filled with curiosity.
Arven didn’t keep him waiting.
Although only ten years old, he looked more like a teacher as he explained, “I read in a book that many ranches use Pokémon that know Grassy Terrain to stimulate crop and plant growth.
Your Serperior is so strong, it must know Grassy Terrain, right?” Michael exchanged glances with Serperior.
Seeing Serperior innocently blink at him, Michael could only answer helplessly, “My Serperior…
actually doesn’t know that move.” To be precise, it had tried learning it before but had stubbornly failed every time.
If he told the truth, Serperior would probably whip him with its vines out of sheer embarrassment.
Better to tell a tiny little lie.
Serperior was very pleased with Michael’s tact.
“Ser~” In short, as long as they brought some other Grass-type Pokémon to work on the ranch, everything would be fine.
Since they wouldn’t actually belong to Michael, they certainly wouldn’t steal any of his attention the way a Pokémon Egg would.
Serperior had no objections.
Michael could more or less tell what Serperior was thinking.
Basically, it didn’t believe ordinary Pokémon could ever threaten its position.
That was about all a tsundere like Serperior ever worried about.
Michael could see right through it.
Taking the incubator from Swampert’s arms, Michael glanced inside at the Pokémon Egg.
There was barely any change.
Although a number of Fletchling were active in the surrounding wilderness, their ability hadn’t developed to the point where they could help incubate Pokémon Eggs.
They would still have to wait for Dragonite to bring back the nutrient solution, and for Luxray and the others to find a Pokémon with the Flame Body ability.
Arven leaned over curiously.
“Big Bro, did you buy another Pokémon Egg?” “You could say someone entrusted it to me to take care of.” Michael nodded and briefly explained the Egg’s story before asking Arven if he could speak with Sada and Turo whenever he had the chance to see whether they knew of a solution.
After hearing the story, Arven immediately felt sympathy for the Egg.
Gently stroking the incubator’s shell, he softly said, “You’ve held on for so long already.
Keep it up, okay?
With Big Bro here, I’m sure you won’t have to wait much longer before hatching.” “As for my parents…
I’ll ask them after I get home today.” Although Arven still harbored some resentment toward his parents, he knew how to distinguish priorities.
A life was at stake.
This wasn’t the time to keep sulking.
Seeing Arven agree, Michael let out a sigh of relief before suggesting, “I’m planning to head into the nearby wilderness to see if I can recruit some suitable Grass-type Pokémon for the ranch.
Want to come?” Arven paused for a moment before quickly nodding enthusiastically.
Since the field where they’d planted the bag of potato seeds had already been watered by Swampert, the remaining seeds buried there were probably beyond saving.
Since they were heading out anyway, Michael asked Swampert to stay behind, watch the house, and use its moves to restore the experimental plot.
As for himself…
He returned home, grabbed a canvas bag he’d bought on a whim, mysteriously stuffed a few items into it, then headed out with Serperior, Arven, and Mabosstiff.
The objective of today’s trip, find suitable Grass-type Pokémon, catch them, and recruit them to work on the ranch.
Although it would still be some time before the ranch officially began operating, there was nothing wrong with hiring a few future employees in advance.
The wilderness was full of unpredictable dangers.
That was probably why Granny Kikuko’s explorer son had given up on that Pokémon Egg.
Because of that, Michael left the incubator with Swampert.
Although Swampert looked rather intimidating, it actually had excellent judgment and knew how to exercise restraint.
With Swampert protecting the incubator, Michael had complete peace of mind.
…
Out in the wilderness, A streak of fire shot through the sky like a meteor, darting back and forth at incredible speed.
The surrounding grasslands were littered with charred black scorch marks.
The culprit was undoubtedly whatever was inside that fiery meteor.
Standing protectively in front of Arven, Michael ordered, “Easy.
Catch it with Vine Whip.” Serperior gave a slight nod.
Two emerald-green vines shot forward like bolts of lightning, cracking through the air with explosive force.
What should have been the most basic Vine Whip carried the overwhelming momentum of Frenzy Plant.
The vines showed no fear of the flames.
They quickly caught up to their high-speed target and wrapped tightly around it.
A pained cry rang out from the Fletchinder as Serperior yanked it out of the sky and slammed it onto the ground.
Then, with practiced precision, Serperior tied another knot around the struggling bird before dismissing the vines altogether.
Sheltering behind Michael, Arven watched with eyes full of admiration.
At least a dozen Fletchinder and Fletchling lay scattered across the ground.
Yet Michael and Serperior had defeated them with unbelievable ease.
Michael looked up at the sky.
Seeing that no more members of the flock were diving down to attack, he couldn’t help sighing.
Looks like encountering a Talonflame with the Flame Body Ability really wasn’t going to be that easy.
This flock hadn’t contained a single Talonflame.
Better continue searching for suitable Grass-type Pokémon instead.
Michael led Arven, Serperior, and Mabosstiff farther west.
Suddenly— “Ah-choo!” Arven sneezed.
Looking completely bewildered, he reached into his mouth and pulled out a tiny tuft of white fluff.
The moment Michael noticed it, his eyes lit up.
‘Speak of the devil…’