Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 76: The Decision to Head to the Everlasting Forest

Mingyou, who was on vacation, knew nothing about what had happened in Green Town and the Everlasting Forest. At the moment, he was leisurely fishing with Ponpo in the pond in his backyard.

"If we catch a big fish, how about we have fish for lunch today? Let's make iron fish noodles!"

"Mmm~"

Holding the fishing rod, Ponpo stared intently at the water, not daring to lose focus for even a moment.

The giblets sat nearby, clutching their bellies, waiting to eat the fish that had been caught.

Although he knew Mingyou would never catch anything, the other person had fished all afternoon and was almost about to go to the pond to fish, when finally a wild duckling took pity on him and gave him a small carp.

"You're guaranteed to catch a fish today, trust me!"

Mingyou retorted, then adjusted her posture and sat up straight, staring intently at the water.

The pond in the backyard is quite large, and many wild Pokémon live in it. However, this pond does not actually belong to the manor; it is a natural formation, and although it is here, no one will manage it.

Latias usually lives here, but Meiyu's relationship with the wild Pokémon inside is just so-so, because they all live in the pond and rely on the fish in the pond for food. They have enough food and don't need any help from the manor.

He looked at the swan on the water, leading a flock of ducklings, and checked his messages...

[Swan Dance: A white bird Pokémon that enjoys playing with its chicks in the pond and doesn't like being disturbed. It's best not to approach it unnecessarily.]

"They won't even let us get close..."

Mingyou shook her head, still not bothering them, and continued fishing leisurely.

Just then, Pengpeng's fishing rod suddenly shook violently, and he quickly shouted, "Quick, quick, don't let the fish get away!"

"Mmm!"

Ponpo nodded. Although this was its first time fishing, it had already mastered the basics of how to do it thanks to Mingyou's hands-on instruction.

Ponpo is very strong. With a sudden tug, she pulled up a carp that was nearly two meters long and placed it on the shore, where it jumped around with a splash.

"Wow, that's huge! Amazing!"

"Mmm~"

"But we can't eat this. Let's put it back in the pond and try again to catch an even bigger one!"

"Mmm~"

Praised, Ponpo became even more focused, and Mingyou followed suit, sitting back in her seat with anticipation: "Looks like we'll have a good catch today."

Although the idea was good, reality is always cruel. After working hard until noon, Pengpeng had caught enough fish to fill two buckets, mostly edible fish.

And he... only caught a small lobster after half a day, and when he tried to take the line out, his hand got pinched, and even the fishing rod was broken by the other side.

"It must be bad luck today..."

"shark……"

The giblets are used to it; anyway, Ponpon caught a fish, so we'll have fish to eat for lunch today.

Fortunately, Ponpo is very understanding of others. It cut the fish it caught in half and put it in Mingyou's bucket, and that's how it counts as having caught a fish.

"Mmm~"

"There's no need for this..."

Mingyou stroked its head. Although she had long accepted the fact that she was an air force veteran, she was still very touched to see Pengpeng caring about her like this.

"Mmm~"

"Okay, let's go prepare the fish. We'll have a whole fish feast for lunch today!"

"Shark~"

The gible nodded; it liked to eat fish.

They then returned to the backyard and began processing the fish in the pond there. The process was somewhat bloody, so we won't show it here.

Just then, Mingyou grabbed a fish from the bucket and was about to use the back of her knife to slap its head when she suddenly realized that what she was holding was not a fish at all.

The fish in my hand was dark green with three black spots next to its pectoral fins. It had a black stripe on its head that extended to its tail fin, while its pupils and the line between its head and pupils were white. Its dorsal fin was crown-shaped with sharp spikes, and its pectoral fins resembled a sharp blade.

[Wild Bass (white striped): A gentle Pokémon with a docile and timid nature. It is unlikely to survive alone if separated from its companions, and may even die from fright. Releasing it into the wild is recommended.]

"Say something if you get hooked..."

Mingyou was speechless. It was probably because Pengpeng was fishing too fast that they didn't notice the wild bass that had snuck in. Moreover, this guy was really small. Normal wild bass are about a meter long, but this one was only about 30 centimeters long.

Ponpo stood to the side, and when it realized that it had accidentally caught the fish and put it in the bucket, it immediately apologized and asked for forgiveness.

"..."

The savage bass simply kept its eyes open, too terrified to utter a sound.

Mingyou shook his head. To avoid scaring the other person to death, he had no choice but to take the Savage Bass to the edge of the pond and release it: "Why are you so introverted? Be more clever next time, or you'll get caught again~"

"..."

The savage bass sank to the surface without making a sound. Mingyou also withdrew her thoughts, stopped paying attention to it, and continued to process the fish.

Just as he sat back down by the pond, processing the fish and thinking about what dishes to make, his phone suddenly rang.

He had no choice but to stop what he was doing, wipe his hands with a rag, and then take out his phone to answer the call.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Excuse me, do you have a moment now?"

"Xiao Zhao?"

Mingyou was slightly taken aback. Why was the other party calling him all of a sudden? With a hint of doubt, he asked softly, "Is there something you need? I'm not in the North City Center today; I'm not setting up my stall anymore, I'm taking a break."

"It's about the Everlasting Forest..."

"Um?"

Mingyou immediately perked up, remaining silent as she listened to the other person finish explaining everything...

Not long ago, Xiao Zhao and Dan Yu, who entered through the back door of the community center, found that the lobby was blocked, so they sent Zoroya and Morbeco to sneak in and check the situation. Unexpectedly, they discovered a shocking truth.

A tourist has died in the Eternal Forest, and the whole incident remains a mystery. The summer camp's adventure activities have been canceled, and the Eternal Forest has been sealed off. However, Danyu wants to go there to see what's going on.

Just then, Xiao Zhao remembered that the monster that stole Ponpo's mask was in the Eternal Forest, so she planned to contact Mingyou to ask if he wanted to go together.

Moreover, the administrators are now speculating that this was the work of the legendary monster, and they are preparing to gather manpower to go there and take care of the monster.

So a lot of people will be going there this time. Even if the monster is strong, it can't defeat so many people. Then, just seize the opportunity to take back the mask...

After listening to the phone call, Mingyou's expression gradually calmed down, and she murmured, "That sounded really scary..."

After a thick fog dissipated, the body was found hanging upside down from a tree. Is this some kind of video game? Should we then check the television in the early morning rain and gradually trace the killer's identity?

He started to let his mind wander, then pulled himself back to reality. If there was any chance to get the mask back, it was definitely this time.

So, are you going?

They clearly said they didn't need anyone's help, but this shouldn't be considered asking for help. It's more like taking advantage of the chaos. Their goal is to eliminate the monster, while their own goal is the mask in the monster's hand!

He then looked at Ponpo and asked, "Shall we go to the Eternal Forest together tonight to retrieve the mask?"

"Hmm?!"

Shall we go tonight?

Ponpo was a little worried. It knew how powerful that monster was, and that it had no chance of defeating it.

Seeing the worry on its face, Mingyou reached out and patted its head: "Don't worry, this is a punitive expedition. We just need to take advantage of the chaos to retrieve the mask!"

Doing this is as exciting as infringing on Disney's copyright!

Hearing Mingyou's words, Ponpo immediately gained confidence, so let's try again!

Seeing that Ponpo agreed, Mingyou's lips curled up slightly. She picked up her phone again and replied, "Okay, tonight in the Eternal Forest. Wait for me to come and start the group!"

……

(End of this chapter)