"Amazing," Alan said, the ultimate doting dad, supporting Nemona's every choice 100%. As he patted her on the head, his expression turned a bit troubled. "If that's what you want, we'll need to carefully pick your starter Pokémon."
"The Paldea region's three starters? That's too unoriginal. Oh, I just happen to have some eggs for Gible and Goomy from a friend. How about a late bloomer Pokémon?"
Nemona shook her head firmly. "I want Shroodle as my starter Pokémon!"
Alan froze for a moment. He didn't quite understand his younger daughter's thoughts but was ready to go find a suitable Shroodle egg. Smiling dotingly, he said, "As you wish."
Nemona cheered and added, "Also… I want to wear my hair in a single ponytail from now on. It'll look more capable!"
"No problem."
Alan immediately told the maids to style Nemona's hair in a ponytail from now on, though he privately regretted losing his daughter's twin-tails cuteness.
But… as long as she didn't dye or perm her hair, anything was fine.
…
A week later.
After seeing the construction crew off, Lucas looked at the land that was finally starting to resemble a farm and nodded in satisfaction.
In his previous life, this project would've cost several times as much, not to mention all the little troubles and potential corner-cutting.
Setting aside evil organizations and a few bad apples, most people in the Pokémon world were pretty utopian—very little scheming.
Lucas first checked out the farming (crop) area. It was just a roughly marked-out section, with a built drainage system to prevent roots from being flooded and crops from dying.
But the fields weren't yet cultivated—doing that would have cost extra.
The construction crew could have added irrigation channels and similar services.
Looking at his thinning wallet, Lucas decided to use the labor force he already had (Swampert) to save money.
Watering?
Swampert could just use Water Gun for now.
Of course, he wasn't a slave driver.
When the fields expanded, he'd have Swampert or Luxray take turns with Rain Dance for watering, and Serperior could use Sunny Day when sunlight was needed.
In the Pokémon world, anything is possible!
Nearby, the crew had built a wooden shed for storing crops and even left some iron farm tools as a gift.
A set like that would cost a few hundred at the town market—what a good foreman.
All in all, the farming area was simple, but after clearing weeds and rocks, it could be used.
As for farming knowledge, Lucas only knew this much—he'd grown up in the city.
Still, even though he didn't know what he was doing, he had a plan.
It'd been half a month since he agreed to Geeta's invitation to teach at Naranja Academy.
As one of Paldea's top schools, its library was sure to have good references. He'd just check out the books once he started work.
He could also follow bloggers online.
For example, Milo, the Gym Leader from Turffield in Galar, often posted about his farm on his social media.
Lucas wasn't in a rush to start planting—he knew haste makes waste.
If you rushed in clueless, failure was much more likely than success.
Next, Lucas checked the pasture and lake areas.
Most of the 100,000 PokéDollars went into the wooden fencing for the pasture, since future livestock or Pokémon would be like cows, sheep, or horses.
The pasture took up about a third of his land.
The lake area also took up a third, leaving the crop area with less than half as much space.
Both pasture and farm were weedy and rocky, badly needing clearing. Once he bought some grass seed and planted it, he'd consider bringing in animals or Pokémon.
As for the lake, it was just a patch of wasteland for now. Lucas planned to have Swampert dig it out himself.
Poor Swampert—an ace-level champion Pokémon, reduced to manual labor.
After thinking it over, Lucas decided to clear the weeds and rocks from the farm and pasture areas today.
But doing all that by hand with a hammer and hoe would take over a month.
Time to put his own nearly max-level skills to work.
He looked around, saw no one, then gazed at the sky. Aside from the occasional Fletchling or Pidgey, there was a large shadow—very eye-catching.
"Napping in the sky again, huh? But this works." Lucas instantly recognized his Dragonite and shouted, "Dragonite—!"
After calling three or four times, the shadow dove down—it was his drowsy, chubby Dragonite.
"Bwooo?"
Dragonite rubbed its eyes, looking soft and cute—nothing like the terrifying presence it was in battle.
"Can you get Swampert for me? I need his help."
As he spoke, Lucas couldn't resist poking Dragonite's delightfully squishy belly. It was softer than any high-end pillow—a nap on that was the best, but Dragonite preferred sky naps, so Lucas couldn't force it.
"Bwooo~!"
Dragonite saluted with its arm, gave Lucas his daily hug, and then happily wagged its tail as it flew off to find Swampert.
Watching Dragonite go, Lucas found a big rock to sit on and asked his system, "Hey, is there anything super valuable buried around here? Like evolution stones, or those Arceus plates?"
[…Don't daydream in broad daylight, dear host.]
Lucas clicked his tongue. "How come you haven't been useful since the Tera orb and Professor Sada's experiment?"
[Are you sure you want to ask me that?]
[If you went on adventures, you'd be rich by now. But you laze around on this tiny piece of land, so all my talents are wasted!]
[Oh, and there's a Tandemaus nest on the hillside to your right. If you ever go broke, you can raid their stash.]
"…You're getting a bit mouthy," Lucas muttered, thinking the prompt system was getting weird from boredom.
As he considered exploring the nearby forest, his phone vibrated.
Caller: Professor Sada.