Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 8 Planting Potatoes

After taking a flying taxi, Mingyou returned to the manor in no time. After reluctantly paying the fare, he carried the things he had bought and headed towards the villa.

Along the way, he was also thinking about Munchlax and realized a crucial point related to the atmosphere of Kitakami Township.

He's not stupid anymore; he naturally realized that the staff member was being a bit too enthusiastic towards him. Coupled with what they said, it seemed they wanted him to capture Munchlax and help Green Town solve this problem.

After all, a shiny Munchlax is quite attractive to trainers, but there's a trap here... that is, this little Munchlax eats too much, it can even eat your Poké Ball.

Although it was said in a deliberate way, it seemed to imply that this little Snorlax was special and very powerful, making it more likely to attract trainers who sought powerful Pokémon.

But if you think about it carefully, a trainer without any financial means who takes in such a voracious little Snorlax is like inviting a god into their home. If they don't release it and let it run away, they'll just have to wait to be eaten into bankruptcy.

Then, recalling the contents of Grandpa's letter, which mentioned that the villagers in the north disliked outsiders, which led to the manor being built so far away, and that the manager, Yao Qian, tried to coerce him into signing a contract to take back the land, etc...

So, thinking about it this way, the staff probably just wanted tourists to help solve the problem while also taking advantage of them by encouraging them to buy more food for Munchlax in Greentown to boost consumption. It didn't matter if they didn't buy anything, since they wouldn't lose money anyway.

"Poor and remote places breed unruly people... That's certainly true. We should be more careful in the future."

Mingyou shook his head gently, not wanting to think about it anymore. Anyway, since the little Snorlax was staying here, he wouldn't kick it out; he could afford to keep it for a while...

The villa gate wasn't closed. He carried his purchases, walked into the living room, and called out, "I'm home!"

"..."

There was no response. Snorlax was still sleeping on the sofa, but Smokecha was nowhere to be seen. It seemed that there were only these two Pokémon in the villa at the moment, and it was unclear whether there were any others hiding somewhere.

"Oh well……"

He was already used to living alone. He put the seasonings and ingredients he bought back in the kitchen, then went upstairs to find a room with a bed but no one living there and tidied it up to use as his bedroom.

After finishing all that, he couldn't wait any longer. He took a bag of quick-acting fertilizer and yam seeds to the vegetable garden in the backyard and spent more than two hours clearing away the weeds and the spoiled crops.

However, while cleaning, he discovered that several wild boars had dug holes in the vegetable garden and were living in them. If he could get along with them, he might be able to ask the wild boars to help turn the soil in the garden.

He chose a spot near the pond, intending to plant yam beans there, and then took out a handful of yam bean seeds and the Upo card...

The card shattered the moment it touched the seed, turning into light particles that scattered like rain. At that moment, the information about the yam seed also changed.

[Swallow Seed: The growth cycle is 2-3 months. It cannot withstand cold. After planting, the soil needs to be kept moist every day so that the seed can absorb water. When cared for by Ground or Water-type Pokémon, the growth cycle will be shortened. After maturing, Swallow has a chance to learn the move (Mud Throw, Acid Bomb, Mud Shot)]

"Two to three months... The mutant yam bean has a shorter growth cycle than the regular yam bean, which is good news, and it also has a chance to learn additional moves..."

Mingyou nodded slightly, having roughly understood. However, unlike Snorlax, Swampabi allows Pokémon to take care of it, reducing its growth cycle, perhaps corresponding to the attribute on the back of the card.

As for why Sapphire can't... well, look at its name, Sapphire Tree! It made me laugh. Let's evolve the Apple Tree a bit higher, turn it into a Sapphire Tree, and then try again...

Just as he was about to bury the seed in the freshly dug soil, he suddenly discovered that there seemed to be more than one seed that had turned into a yam bean seed. After counting carefully, he found that there were actually ten seeds.

"Is the application method different for seeds and for fruit trees? That makes sense, though. If it's just about mutating individual seeds, I'm afraid I'll go bankrupt."

Little by little, he came to understand his special ability better and better. Then he dug a few more holes next to him and planted all the seeds in them.

In his previous life, when he worked at an orphanage, he grew flowers and plants, and sometimes he would teach some children how to grow vegetables during practical activities at the orphanage, so he has some experience in this area.

After filling the soil, he followed the instructions on the quick fertilizer app and started fertilizing the yam beans. However, since the seeds were in the soil, he couldn't see their current condition and could only observe them every day.

He then looked at the little wild boars living in the vegetable garden and reminded them with a smile, "Don't dig up the seeds. We'll give them to you to eat after the yam beans grow."

"Hmph~"

The little wild boars twitched their noses; the old man used to remind them of this at this time as well.

"Okay, I'll have to ask you guys to take care of it for me, and make sure no other Pokémon dig it up."

"Hmph~"

Looking at the friendly little wild boars, Mingyou understood that these were all left to him by his grandfather, including the Pokémon living in the orchard. They didn't attack him, a stranger, because of his grandfather.

That's why he wants to inherit the manor properly, prove himself through hard work, and carry on their affection for his grandfather!

Returning from the backyard to the orchard in the front yard, he took another bag of quick-acting fertilizer for the fruit trees and also fertilized the apple tree that had been treated with the card at noon.

This time, we can see that the crop information has changed after fertilization.

[Apple tree: An apple tree that is absorbing quick-acting fertilizer. Each time it bears fruit, there is a 5% chance of producing Kapi fruit. There is still one and a half months until the next fruiting period.]

"Wow, that shortened it by half a month!"

Mingyou clenched his fists excitedly; the effect was so unexpected, it was like he had been given a cheat code.

Although the Quick Fat has a one-week cooldown period, he was already very satisfied with shortening the time by so much. If this continues, he could harvest Kabi Fruit as early as the end of this month!

Of course, one cannot rely entirely on the effects of fertilizer without proper management; poor-quality fruit will not sell well. However, he has already begun to look forward to it.

This is just the first step. If it succeeds, he can start looking for sales channels... But the prerequisite is that he must acquire more Pokémon cards!

"I still have one Ponkan card left that I don't know what to do with. I'll check online later to see if they sell Ponkan saplings... I'm so tired and hungry. I wonder if it will come tonight?"

Mingyou looked up at the silvery-gray twilight. She realized that she had been busy until this time. Sure enough, time flies when you get busy.

The ghost mask he bought for Ergui Peng is still in the living room, so he's really looking forward to the other person coming over tonight and liking the gift he prepared.

Back in the living room, Smoothie had already returned to the bookshelf. Mingyou greeted it and was about to go to the kitchen when Snorlax rubbed its eyes and sat up from the sofa, seemingly hungry.

"You're so punctual..."

"Gambit~"

The little Snorlax took a step and immediately ran to him, looking up at him blankly. The meaning was clear: it was hungry and needed to be fed.

"Alright."

Mingyou went upstairs to the bedroom and brought back all the snacks she had bought from Momozawa Store: "Here, take these snacks. Cooking will take a while, so have some snacks to tide you over if you get hungry."

"Gambit~"

The little Snorlax happily opened its arms and grabbed all the snacks, seemingly completely surprised that the other party had actually brought it back.

Watching it sit on the ground, skillfully tear open the packaging bag, and happily start eating potato chips, Mingyou reached out and gently patted its head, a smile appearing on her face.

"You can live here from now on. No one will kick you out. Just treat it like home, just like the other Pokémon that live here..."

"Gambit~"

……

(End of this chapter)