After staying on this small island for nearly a month, Jasper discovered that perhaps because of its crystal body, the Crystal Onix’s surface was extremely smooth.
As a result, its speed was unexpectedly fast.
This could be considered a pleasant surprise.
During this period, aside from having the Crystal Onix persistently train its strength and speed every day, Jasper also helped it make great progress in the mastery and power of its other moves.
“All right, take a rest,” Jasper said to the Crystal Onix.
“Roar.”
The Crystal Onix answered, then lay down beside Jasper and looked at its master with an expectant gaze, because next came its favorite time.
After an entire morning of training, Jasper needed to make the Crystal Onix a special Pokémon meal to replenish the energy it had consumed during training.
Raising Pokémon was not an easy thing.
In this world, the price of Pokémon food had always remained high.
Of course, if someone was only keeping Pokémon for fun, there was no need to spend too much money or effort.
But if someone wanted to become an outstanding Trainer and improve their Pokémon’s strength, they had to prepare all kinds of high-energy Pokémon food to nurture them.
First, he took out a Berry case from the Silph-made expandable pouch he had recently gritted his teeth and bought.
Then he took out a Sandscale Berry from inside to use as the main ingredient.
These Sandscale Berries were not cheap.
As a high-grade Berry used for Rock-type and Ground-type Pokémon, they mainly grew in desert regions with long hours of sunlight.
Even when artificially cultivated, the environment had to imitate a barren desert.
Ponkan Island was famous for its glass crafts.
Most of the residents on the island were artisans who made glasswork, and almost every one of these artisans kept a Fire-type Pokémon to help them produce glass crafts.
Because of that, most of the fruit trees planted on the island were Spicy Cherry and Dragonfire Berry trees used to raise Fire-type Pokémon.
Jasper had also learned Berry cultivation from these artisans.
Unlike Spicy Cherries, Dragonfire Berries were high-grade Berries used to raise Fire-type Pokémon, and they were extremely troublesome to grow.
Even Jasper had only managed to plant them successfully after learning how to cultivate fruit trees like Spicy Cherries and Dragonfire Berries from the island’s artisans since he was young, gradually gaining some experience with the fruit trees used to raise Fire-type Pokémon.
After constant effort, he eventually earned a Level 3 Berry-Grower Certification.
This had also improved Jasper’s life over the past few years.
In the backyard of the orphanage, there were rows of Spicy Cherry and Dragonfire Berry trees.
Jasper carefully tended to these fruit trees every day.
By growing these trees, he had also improved the orphanage’s living conditions quite a bit.
Moreover, through planting and cultivating Dragonfire Berries, he had built decent relationships with the island residents and the shopkeeper of the Clover Trading Company.
Because of that, Jasper could buy these Sandscale Berries at a cheaper price than others.
If ordinary people bought them, they would cost five hundred Poké Dollars each.
Even so, he had still spent quite a lot over this past month.
These days, Jasper had been putting the Crystal Onix through high-intensity training every day.
Just in terms of ingredients, he had to spend three Sandscale Berries every day, along with some other supplementary materials.
Fortunately, the Crystal Onix’s strength had also improved greatly during this period.
That could be considered a return on his investment.
But if he did not think of a way to earn money soon, then even though Jasper had saved up a little over the years by relying on his own ability to plant and cultivate various fruit trees, his savings would be gone very quickly.
No wonder people said being a Trainer was a money-burning profession.
Cultivating Berries simply could not keep up with the consumption required to raise Pokémon, unless someone planted many high-grade Berry trees.
But high-grade Berry trees were even more troublesome to care for and required a great deal of effort.
First, Jasper poured clean water into the pot, then chopped up the Sandscale Berry and Pomeg Berry before putting them in and stirring.
He kept heating the mixture.
Then he added Oran Berries to restore the Pokémon’s stamina.
After that, he added some Enigma Berry powder to draw out the Ground-type and Rock-type energy contained within the Berries.
Finally, he added some powder made from grinding crystals he had collected from the cave.
After all, this Crystal Onix’s food in the past had been the crystals and rocks inside the cave.
Adding these things to its diet might bring unexpected benefits.
As the Crystal Onix watched the figure carefully preparing food for it in front of the fire, it deeply felt the changes it had undergone during this period.
A trace of childlike affection gradually appeared in its crystal-clear pupils.
During the heating process, Jasper added some supplementary ingredients one after another.
Half an hour later, a steaming pot of high-energy staple food prepared for the Crystal Onix was finished.
The Crystal Onix had long since been unable to wait.
The pot constantly released an aroma that was fatally tempting to it.
This meal was also the result of Jasper’s many studies of the Crystal Onix over the past month.
If it did not undergo high-intensity training or battle, this portion of food would be enough to cover the Crystal Onix’s energy consumption for two whole days.
“All right, all right. Eat.”
Seeing how impatient the Crystal Onix looked, Jasper quickly brought the prepared food in front of it.
Watching the Crystal Onix happily eat the food he had prepared for it, Jasper once again felt that everything was worth it.
“It’s time to leave this place and head for Pewter Gym. I hope this trip goes a little smoothly,” Jasper thought to himself.