Early the next morning, Lucas was awakened by Kirlia.
This time, she didn’t use Confusion.
Instead, she simply grabbed his blanket with her newly evolved hands and pulled it away.
The cool morning air rushed in, causing Lucas to sit upright with a shiver.
Kirlia stood beside the bed, her crimson eyes peeking out from beneath her green bangs as she stared at him with an expression that clearly said,
“It’s time to get up.”
“You weren’t this strict before,” Lucas muttered as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Kirlia gave a cheerful cry.
Her expression seemed to say,
“That was before.
This is now.”
Lucas chuckled, got dressed, and headed downstairs.
Pidgeot was already outside organizing the flock of Pidgey.
Bulbasaur was, as always, somewhere in the orchard.
Lucas didn’t even need to look.
He knew exactly where it would be.
Beneath the largest Sitrus Berry tree.
It never missed a day.
Meanwhile, Makuhita remained fast asleep in its nest in the living room.
The little Fighting-type rolled over, exposing its round belly without waking.
Over the past three days, it had grown astonishingly quickly.
The tiny “little jar” had become a much larger one.
Its appetite had grown just as rapidly.
Every day it drank well over a dozen bottles of Miltank Milk, and Lucas watched fifty League Credits disappear with every bottle.
After breakfast, Lucas grabbed a notebook and a pen before heading toward the orchard.
Kirlia followed closely behind him.
After only a few steps, however, she apparently decided the uneven ground was too troublesome.
She gracefully hopped onto Lucas’ shoulder.
Now that she had evolved, she was noticeably larger than Ralts had been.
She no longer fit comfortably on his shoulder.
Instead, she quietly used Confusion to stabilize herself, clinging to him like a magnet.
Lucas glanced sideways at her.
He opened his mouth to complain…
Then thought better of it.
After feeding all of the Pokémon, Lucas entered the orchard.
It was even livelier than the last time he had visited.
The Pidgey had already begun their daily patrol.
Gray-and-white birds filled the sky above the orchard.
The constant sound of beating wings blended into a gentle roar, like a distant river flowing through the mountains.
Some Pidgey circled high above the treetops.
Others rested quietly on the branches.
A few bold ones even nudged the stems of ripe Sitrus Berries with their beaks.
However…
Lucas quickly noticed that not a single berry had been pecked open.
Pidgeot’s rules were firmly established.
None of the birds dared to break them.
Standing at the entrance to the orchard, Lucas turned to a fresh page in his notebook.
He wrote down today’s date.
Then…
He began counting.
Starting from the lowest row of trees, he worked his way steadily uphill.
He touched every Sitrus Berry tree as he passed.
Every ten trees, he marked another line in his notebook.
The Sitrus Berry trees were enormous.
Their thick trunks supported broad umbrella-shaped canopies that spread in every direction.
Heavy clusters of golden berries hung from nearly every branch.
Some branches bent so low beneath the weight that Lucas had to duck beneath them.
Several times he nearly bumped his head against the ripe fruit.
The air was filled with a rich, sweet fragrance.
The scent of ripened Sitrus Berries carried both sweetness and a hint of citrus, making his mouth water.
At first, Kirlia enthusiastically helped him count.
But once they passed two hundred trees…
She gave up.
Not because she didn’t want to help.
Simply because there were too many.
Her Confusion could manipulate several objects at once, but continuously counting hundreds of trees turned out to be surprisingly exhausting.
Eventually, she sighed, settled comfortably on Lucas’ shoulder, and quietly watched him continue alone.
Lucas remained completely focused.
As he moved from tree to tree, he carefully checked each one’s health while silently keeping count.
Halfway up the hillside, he arrived beneath an enormous Sitrus Berry tree.
Its trunk was thicker than any other in the orchard.
Its branches stretched in every direction like the arms of a giant.
According to Fujiyama’s notes…
This had been one of the very first trees planted over thirty years ago.
It had grown into the healthiest tree on the farm.
Its harvest increased every single year.
This was also Bulbasaur’s favorite resting place.
And Pidgeot’s home.
Lucas stopped beneath it for a while.
Looking up…
He saw countless berries hanging among the branches.
There were simply too many to count individually.
Fortunately, Fujiyama had already recorded its production.
Last year alone…
The “King Sitrus Tree” had produced approximately 1,100 berries.
Judging by its current condition…
This year’s harvest would likely be even greater.
By the time Lucas finished counting every Sitrus Berry tree, he wrote the final number into his notebook.
1,500 trees.
The number exceeded his expectations.
Even more encouraging…
Every tree appeared healthy.
There were no diseased trees.
None had been abandoned.
Thirty years of Fujiyama’s hard work had truly paid off.
The Pecha Berry trees grew higher up the hillside.
Compared to the towering Sitrus trees, they were much shorter.
Their crowns were denser.
Clusters of bright pink berries hung from every branch like tiny lanterns beneath the morning sunlight.
Lucas walked along the upper ridges, counting carefully.
The final number matched Fujiyama’s records exactly.
500 Pecha Berry trees.
Scattered throughout the orchard were also several smaller groups of local berry trees that Lucas couldn’t identify.
There weren’t many.
Altogether…
Fewer than one hundred.
Most had probably been planted at different times over the years.
Some flourished.
Others struggled.
But since they still produced fruit…
Lucas had no intention of removing them.
After finishing the survey, Lucas sat down beneath a tree and began calculating.
– 1,500 Sitrus Berry trees
– 500 Pecha Berry trees
According to Fujiyama’s records, each tree produced roughly 800 berries on average.
That meant:
2,000 trees × 800 berries = 1,600,000 berries.
Lucas’ pen paused.
One point six million berries…
That number was staggering.
If they all ripened at once…
Allowing even a fraction of them to rot would be an enormous waste.
Of course…
He could store them inside the System Space before processing them into Pokéblocks.
But that would require an unbelievable amount of time.
There were other possibilities.
Fresh fruit sales.
Contract processing.
Long-term supply agreements with companies like Devon Corporation.
Whatever he chose…
The fruit had to be harvested first.
Lucas looked across the orchard thoughtfully.
Pidgeot and its flock simply weren’t enough.
Even with over thirty Pidgey…
Two Pidgeotto…
Pidgeot…
Bulbasaur’s Vine Whip…
And Kirlia’s Confusion…
Their manpower was insignificant compared to over a million berries.
He needed more workers.
More specifically…
More birds.
As he watched the Pidgey circling overhead, an idea suddenly came to him.
The most common Flying-type Pokémon in Hoenn wasn’t Pidgey.
It was Taillow.
While Pidgey dominated the skies of Kanto…
Taillow ruled Hoenn.
They were incredibly fast.
Excellent long-distance fliers.
And highly social.
Once a flock leader accepted someone…
The entire flock usually followed.
If Pidgeot could recruit a group of Taillow…
Harvesting efficiency would increase several times over.
He would discuss the idea later.
At the moment, Pidgeot had flown toward the eastern forest on another “patrol.”
Knowing Pidgeot, Lucas suspected it was actually looking for more recruits.
He could wait until it returned.
Lucas started walking back toward the farmhouse.
Halfway down the hillside…
A rustling sound suddenly came from the grass beside his feet.
He stopped.
A tiny brown creature emerged from beneath the roots of a nearby Sitrus Berry tree.
It held a fallen berry firmly between its teeth.
A large bite had already been taken from it.
A Rattata.
The little Pokémon was completely focused on eating.
It hadn’t even noticed Lucas.
Or perhaps…
It had noticed.
It simply didn’t care.
Several more Rattata sat beneath the nearby bushes.
Behind them stood a much larger Raticate.
The Raticate’s dark brown fur featured a black stripe running from the top of its head to the end of its tail.
Its whiskers twitched gently.
Its sharp black eyes calmly studied Lucas.
There was no fear in its expression.
Only cautious curiosity.
Juice from a Sitrus Berry still stained the corners of its mouth.
Clearly…
It had been eating as well.
Lucas quietly counted.
Five Rattata.
One Raticate.
Six rodents in total.
Every one of them held either a whole or half-eaten Sitrus Berry.
Kirlia immediately leaned forward.
The red horns on her head began glowing.
She was already preparing Thunder Shock.
With Pidgeot away and Bulbasaur elsewhere in the orchard…
She naturally felt responsible for protecting the farm.
Lucas gently lowered her hand.
“Don’t.”
Kirlia looked at him in confusion.
The electricity around her horns faded.
But she remained alert.
Lucas quietly observed the group.
They weren’t eating berries directly from the trees.
Only fruit that had already fallen.
Some berries had become overripe and split open after dropping.
Others had fallen while still partially green.
These fruits couldn’t be sold.
They couldn’t be turned into Pokéblocks.
They were either damaged…
Dirty…
Or already pecked by birds.
Rather than allowing them to rot…
Why not let the Rattata eat them?
Besides…
The fact that they could gather food despite Pidgeot’s patrols suggested they were surprisingly clever.
The Pidgey watched the skies.
Not the ground.
These little rodents had simply discovered a gap in the orchard’s defenses.
Lucas smiled.
“Go ahead.”
“You can eat anything that falls to the ground.”
“But if Pidgeot catches you climbing the trees…”
“You’ll have a hard time escaping.”
The Rattata continued eating happily.
Watching them scramble over the fallen berries…
Lucas couldn’t help finding them rather amusing.
Unlike the noisy birds…
Or the gentle Mareep…
These little rodents were quiet.
Alert.
And remarkably resourceful.
The orchard was enormous.
There would always be more fallen fruit than anyone could collect.
As long as they didn’t chew on tree bark…
Dig around the roots…
Or climb into the trees to steal fresh berries…
Lucas didn’t mind sharing the leftovers.
Dusting off his hands, he continued downhill.
Not far away…
He spotted another group of Pidgey gathered beneath a different Sitrus Berry tree.
They were eating fallen berries as well.
Unlike the cautious Rattata…
These birds were incredibly noisy.
They chirped constantly while eating, sounding like they were throwing a little party.
When they noticed Lucas approaching…
They glanced up briefly.
Then immediately went back to eating.
Lucas simply smiled.
He didn’t disturb them.
The skies belonged to Pidgeot.
The ground belonged to the Pidgey…
The Rattata…
And every other creature that called the orchard home.
It wasn’t a rule Lucas had created.
It was simply the natural order of things.
Before leaving the orchard, he added one final entry to his notebook.
– Sitrus Berry Trees: 1,500 trees × approximately 800 berries = about 1.2 million berries
– Pecha Berry Trees: 500 trees × approximately 800 berries = about 400,000 berries
– King Sitrus Tree: Estimated annual yield of at least 1,000 berries
– Other Berry Trees: Fewer than 100 trees; not included in the current production estimates.
Looking at the figures one last time…
Lucas closed the notebook.
Harvest season was almost here.
And there was still plenty of work to do.