The development of Fruitvale Village had already entered a steady, orderly stage.
To prepare for the upcoming knight selection, a brand-new Pokémon battle arena was built in the village.
Compared to the last time—when a makeshift battlefield had been hastily dug out—this time's battle venue had clearly been carefully designed, with Master Thomas pouring a great deal of thought and effort into it.
The overall structure of the arena followed the style of a gladiatorial coliseum, but the battlefield within was laid out according to the standard Pokémon battle field plans designed by Aven himself.
This time, Aven didn't even need to go out of his way to promote it. The villagers of Fruitvale Village had long been anticipating the event.
Even now, they still felt the excitement from the spectacular battles of last time lingering in their hearts—battles between Pokémon truly had an irresistible appeal.
As word continued to spread, more and more nobles and freemen from other territories learned of Fruitvale Village's upcoming magical beast battle.
Although formal Pokémon battles had yet to appear in this world, magical beast gladiator arenas were by no means rare. However, compared to the expensive tickets for such arenas, the entrance fee for Fruitvale Village's event was incredibly cheap.
As a result, the knight selection tournament was drawing in a huge number of spectators. As Fruitvale Village's trade caravans traveled through various territories, tickets were constantly being sold and delivered to far-off places.
At the same time, the number of commoners visiting the village had also increased greatly in recent days—many accompanied by one or two Pokémon.
These were commoners from other territories who had successfully captured Pokémon. One of their main purposes in coming to Fruitvale Village was to register as apprentice trainers.
They also wanted to try their luck in the knight selection. Even if they failed to pass, participating would still give them invaluable combat experience.
They all remembered a line recorded in the Trainer's Handbook: Only through constant battles can a trainer grow stronger. This was a perfect opportunity to learn.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon Breeding House was noticeably busier than usual as the knight selection drew closer. Large numbers of registered apprentice trainers were arriving to purchase supplies.
"Hello, I'd like to buy some Pokémon food."
A knight clad in armor, bearing the insignia of his territory, stepped into the Breeding House and spoke to the clerk at the counter.
"Pokémon food? How much do you need?" the clerk asked quickly, his tone steady and unflustered.
Although the customer was a knight, he had seen far too many knights over the past few weeks to be intimidated anymore—dealing with them calmly had become second nature.
"Give me two bags to start. My Rhyhorn really likes the food here."
Soon, the knight left the Breeding House carrying two large bags of Pokémon food and made his way quickly toward the market outside Fruitvale Village.
The market was a designated area for merchants to sell their goods, and it also housed many inns for merchants and their attendants to stay in.
The knight returned swiftly to an inn within the market and entered a private courtyard, still holding the Pokémon food. Inside were piles of goods and several ordinary horses.
Because Fruitvale Village prohibited the use of beast gear on magical beasts, merchants could only bring a few of their magical beasts with them—the rest of their goods had to be hauled by ordinary horses.
This was undoubtedly a major inconvenience for the merchants, but Fruitvale Village's potions were so popular that they could only grit their teeth and accept this baffling rule.
Still, upon entering the village and seeing the large number of villagers casually accompanied by magical beasts without any beast equipment, the merchants were left shocked—these magical beasts truly didn't need gear at all!
"You're back? Did you get the Pokémon food?" another knight in armor immediately came forward to greet him.
"Yes, Captain. I've brought it." The knight lowered his head respectfully and handed the bags over.
The middle-aged captain nodded, took the food into the room, and several other knights seated inside turned their eyes toward him.
The captain poured the Pokémon food out onto the table—deep brown, pellet-like pieces spilling across the surface.
"Everyone, study this. Figure out exactly what it's made from."
"By rights, with the number of commoners, serfs, and magical beasts Fruitvale Village is raising, they shouldn't have any surplus grain at all."
The captain's face was grave. According to the Marquis' judgment, without sufficient food, Fruitvale Village should have been forced to reduce the size of its knight order and civilian population.
Yet, from what he had learned over the past days, not only had the village done no such thing—it had been continually taking in more people from outside, and its knight order was steadily growing.
Even more puzzling, their Pokémon food was being sold to other territories at low prices in exchange for those lords' own food supplies.
When it came to feeding magical beasts, this Pokémon food could completely replace grain, greatly reducing the burden on food-scarce lords.
If the magical beasts in a knight order ate Pokémon food, the saved grain could fully meet the needs of the territory's human population. This dramatically reduced the demand for grain among many lords.
As a result, the once sky-high price of grain in Aspiration City had been driven down—now less than half of its peak value!
The knights exchanged glances and began inspecting the food closely. At first glance, it resembled low-quality black bread.
Yet, despite its appearance, Pokémon loved it. According to the Breeding House's introduction, it contained rich nutrients.
"You think this is really made from wheat?" one knight asked doubtfully.
The others shook their heads. They sniffed it, then cautiously bit into a piece.
Immediately, their expressions changed drastically—but for the sake of identifying its ingredients, they forced themselves to chew and swallow.
The captain, watching their changing expressions, wondered aloud, "It can't be poison—Pokémon can eat it just fine."
"Captain, this stuff tastes awful! I really don't know why magical beasts like it so much!"
"As for ingredients… I think there's some berry content in it. Beyond that, I can't tell at all."
The captain frowned, nodding slightly. "I see. In any case, we must report this to the President immediately."
"You keep watching Fruitvale Village. I'll personally travel back with the caravan to Ironblood Fortress and deliver this information."
At his words, every knight in the room rose to their feet, nodding solemnly. They were here for one reason—to keep close watch on Fruitvale Village.
Recently, the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild had suffered repeated losses in both potion and magical beast trade. They could no longer afford to underestimate this village that had struck heavy blows against them.
Outside the market, Peter was patrolling as usual.
As he passed the rear of the market, he spotted a caravan slowly departing.
The caravan leader wasn't riding inside the carriage, but walking beside it, chatting with other leaders and making plans to return in the future.
Two squads of knights followed behind, a clear sign of the caravan's wealth.
At the market gate, the Fruitvale Village knights on guard inspected the caravan's goods with great care.
Once cleared, the wagons rolled out slowly, disappearing from Peter's sight.
"So, they've finally set off?" Peter's eyes narrowed slightly.
As his patrol moved away, a small Oddish quietly trailed after the caravan from the tall grass in the distance.
In the Breeding House's potion lab, Aven was working on a new potion formula.
Beside him, Petilil was also busy preparing ingredients, expertly handling berries.
For Petilil, brewing potions was also a form of training—its sensitivity to energy was honed through such work.
While mixing, it carefully sensed the changes in the potion's energy, a thoughtful look in its eyes.
Before long, the potion was nearly complete, and a special fragrance began to fill the room.
It was during such work that Petilil had once grasped Aromatherapy, learning to simulate the scents of potions to reproduce different effects.
At another table, Ralts was watching over an unhatched Pokémon egg. From within the egg, it could faintly sense emotional energy—growing stronger with each passing day.
This gradual birth of emotion from nothing was a novel experience for Ralts, one that seemed to contain a mysterious power.
It was using telepathy to try to communicate with the Chansey inside, honing its perception and control over emotional energy.
"Lass~"
Suddenly, the room's temperature dropped several degrees.
A Froslass appeared out of nowhere, a pleased smile on her face.
Without pause, she drifted ghostlike to Aven's side, swaying left, right, up, and down.
"Froslass, you're back. You've worked hard again," Aven said with a small smile.
"Lasss~"
Froslass beamed with satisfaction, then turned to Ralts and whispered for it to come over and translate.
Ralts opened its eyes reluctantly, flashing to Aven's side. Blue light appeared in its eyes as it connected Aven and Froslass' minds through telepathy.
In Aven's mind, vivid images appeared—a group of knights gathered in a room, their voices audible and their faces clear.
Moments later, the vision faded. Aven opened his eyes, narrowing them slightly—these people were indeed suspicious.
From their conversation, it was obvious they came from Ironblood Fortress, accompanying the caravan specifically to gather intelligence on Fruitvale Village.
Clearly, the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild, stung by repeated defeats, had begun its next move.
Ralts looked proud—it had been the one to discover these abnormal knights. As long as it was here, no one could harm Aven, his family, or his partners.
"Lass~"
Froslass leaned closer, asking if she should simply deal with the knights right away.
"Not for now. Even if we wanted to hide this, we couldn't. Since they've already set their sights on us, the Guild will surely have other moves prepared. This isn't the time to startle the snake."
Aven shook his head, moving to his desk and taking out a letter from the drawer—sent by Earl Ruize, containing much information on the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild.
It even mentioned a secret assassination unit within the Guild, meant to carry out tasks too shady to be done in the open.
If the Guild couldn't deal with Aven through normal means, they might very well send this unit to eliminate him.
And now, the Guild had already begun acting—who knew if those assassins had already infiltrated the village?
"Assassination, huh? With Froslass here, there aren't many who could succeed."
"But… this could be a perfect chance. If I can draw them all out, I can eliminate the threat for good."
"With Poké Balls, I can carry all my combat power with me—something no one would expect."
"If that's the case, I can give them the opportunity… but I'll still prepare extra defenses and strengthen my forces."
Aven's eyes narrowed further as plans formed in his mind. If the assassins came in full force to ensure his death, then he would ensure none of them left alive—cutting off the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild's hidden hand once and for all.
(End of chapter)