Beldum stared curiously at the strange herb Shiryu was holding out to him.
A faint energy shimmered around it, and even from a short distance, the herb gave off a cool, soothing sensation.
After a moment, Beldum tucked the Special Herb between his claws.
He seemed to enjoy the refreshing chill it gave off.
Shiryu then turned toward Scyther, who was still pinned beneath the rocks from Aron’s Rock Tomb.
Its eyes were spinning, and it had completely lost consciousness.
Shiryu took out a Luxury Ball, aimed carefully at Scyther’s forehead, and delivered the kind of textbook throw his Pokémon School instructors would’ve approved of.
The ball traced a clean arc through the air and struck Scyther squarely on the head.
Red light flashed.
Scyther was drawn inside.
The Luxury Ball barely shook before giving a crisp click.
Capture successful.
Shiryu walked over, picked up the Luxury Ball, and immediately released Scyther again.
Without the rocks pressing down on it, Scyther looked considerably more comfortable lying on the ground, although the damage it had suffered still left it too weak to move properly.
Shiryu crouched beside it and placed a hand against its body.
A gentle current of Viridian Power flowed into Scyther.
At the same time, Shiryu began sensing the Pokémon’s emotions.
Scyther had apparently been hungry for a long time.
It had searched the forest for food again and again without finding anything substantial.
Then, all of a sudden, it caught an incredibly enticing scent drifting through the air.
A smell it loved.
Scyther followed it out of the forest as quickly as it could…
And promptly got beaten senseless.
“You’ve been starving for that long?”
By the time Scyther regained consciousness, Shiryu was smiling down at it.
“Scy…”
Scyther looked utterly drained.
It was so hungry that it barely seemed to have the energy to respond.
Shiryu stood, walked over to the Wishing Wheat field, and used a sickle to cut down a bundle of ripe stalks.
Then he returned and held them out to Scyther.
“Here.
Eat.
I know you’re hungry.”
Scyther had been looking at Shiryu with obvious discomfort after losing the battle and being caught.
Now, that expression turned into confusion.
Why was this human giving it food?
Shiryu seemed to understand the question.
“Do I really need a reason to feed a hungry Pokémon?”
“Scy…”
Scyther’s gaze softened.
For the first time, it seemed genuinely ashamed of the way it had barged onto the ranch and tried to steal the harvest.
It slowly pushed itself upright and began eating the Wishing Wheat.
Very quickly.
“Hey, slow down.
There’s no need to inhale it.”
Shiryu laughed and patted Scyther gently on the back in case it choked.
“If that’s not enough, I’ve got three hundred square meters of this stuff.”
“Scy, scy, scy…”
After tearing through the entire bundle, Scyther finally looked satisfied.
It had been a very long time since it had eaten until it was full.
And the fact that the meal consisted of exceptionally high-quality Wishing Wheat made the experience even better.
For a moment, Scyther felt as though it had stumbled into paradise.
“Full now?”
“Scy.”
Scyther nodded.
Shiryu smiled.
“Good.”
Then his expression became a little more apologetic.
“Scyther, sorry about catching you without asking first.
But with those rocks pinning you down, I didn’t exactly have another easy way to get you out.”
He pointed toward the boulders Aron had summoned with Rock Tomb.
For such a small Pokémon, Aron was disturbingly good at dropping enormous rocks on things.
“This is my ranch.
You’re welcome to stay if you want.”
Shiryu stood up.
“If you do, I can promise one thing: you’ll never have to go hungry again.
You can eat high-quality Wishing Wheat every day.”
“Scy?”
Scyther stared at him as though asking whether he really meant it.
Shiryu nodded, then immediately added, “There is one condition, though.”
His tone turned serious.
“I’ll provide the food and a safe place to live, but you’ll have to work too.”
He pointed toward the three hundred square meters of ripe grain.
“See all that Wishing Wheat?
Can you help me harvest it?”
“Scy!
Scyther!”
Now that Scyther had eaten its fill, it suddenly looked full of energy.
With Fury Cutter at its disposal, harvesting grain was hardly a challenge.
“Perfect.
Then get to work.”
Shiryu grinned.
“From now on, you’re the ranch’s Harvest Reaper!”
He was extremely pleased with himself.
Catching Scyther had been an unexpected bonus.
Originally, Shiryu had planned to wake Fomantis from her nap upstairs and have her harvest the wheat.
Instead, a perfectly qualified Scyther had practically flown straight onto the ranch and volunteered for the position after one beating and a meal.
Shiryu was more than happy to accept the extra manpower.
From now on, Scyther could handle harvesting and weed-clearing during the day, while the nocturnal Fomantis could take over some of the vegetation work at night.
At this rate, it shouldn’t take long before the ranch’s vast stretches of overgrown land were finally cleared.
“I really need to find another Pokémon that can help cultivate the soil too.
Drilbur’s the captain of the Digging Team, but right now he’s also the entire team.
At this rate, it’ll take forever to open up all this land.”
Shiryu scratched his head.
Then another problem occurred to him.
“Oh, right.
I still need a weather specialist.”
This first batch of premium Wishing Wheat had matured because of the Ranch Crop Growth Accelerator.
Unfortunately, Shiryu had only received three of those items and had already used one.
That left two.
Future crops would need proper irrigation, sunlight, and normal care.
If he could recruit Pokémon capable of using Rain Dance and Sunny Day, managing the fields would become far easier.
…
After taking an afternoon nap, Shiryu woke feeling pleasantly lazy.
Fomantis was still curled up on her high-grade bed on the second-floor balcony, enjoying what little sunlight was filtering through the cloudy sky.
Since she was naturally nocturnal, Shiryu had no intention of disturbing her rest.
He headed downstairs instead.
By then, Scyther had already finished harvesting two hundred square meters of Wishing Wheat and was cutting through the final field.
Shiryu, Aron, and Beldum helped carry the harvested stalks over to the haystacks, where they spread them out in the open to dry.
Freshly cut grain still contained a fair amount of moisture.
Once properly dried, it would be much easier to store without spoiling.
A system notification suddenly appeared.
[Quest Complete: Plant Wishing Wheat and complete the first harvest.]
[Rewards obtained: 3 Adamant Mints and a small quantity of Exp.
Candy.]
…
Shiryu’s eyes immediately brightened.
“Finally finished that one.
Withdraw the Adamant Mints and Exp.
Candy.”
[Rewards successfully withdrawn.]
Three Mints and several pieces of Exp.
Candy appeared in Shiryu’s hand.
Adamant Mints altered the way a Pokémon’s stats developed.
After taking one, a Pokémon would find it easier to improve its Attack, while its Special Attack would become harder to develop.
In that sense, they worked much like a Pokémon’s natural personality did in the games, shifting growth toward one stat at the expense of another.
Among Shiryu’s current Pokémon, Drilbur and Scyther were obvious physical attackers.
Metagross, on the other hand, was more flexible.
It could be built around physical attacks, special attacks, or even a more balanced style thanks to its strong defenses and respectable Speed.
After Mega Evolution, those already impressive attributes would become even more formidable.
Shiryu had already spent some time considering Beldum’s eventual development path.
A physical-focused Metagross was certainly the safest and most conventional choice.
But reality wasn’t a game.
Pokémon weren’t limited to only four moves.
In theory, as long as a Pokémon had enough talent, training, and time, it could learn any move its species was capable of mastering.
Since Metagross was a Steel/Psychic-type, Shiryu had no intention of developing only its physical offense.
He wanted Beldum’s special attacks to become powerful too.
After all, many Psychic-type moves were special attacks.
And Steel Beam, one of Beldum’s strongest new moves, was a special move as well.