Early the next morning.
Inside the plantation.
"The water's coming out too fast! Slow it down, slow it down, or you're going to wash away all my soil!"
"Water Gun is the most basic move for you right now. If you can't even control that properly, how are you going to win any battles?"
Lin Feng and Snivy sat comfortably in the shade beneath a Pecha tree. Lin Feng was coaching Squirtle while Snivy stretched out its vines, constantly snapping them around Squirtle's feet.
In order to dodge the whipping vines, Squirtle kept having to shuffle around, spraying water in different directions, a look of pure grievance on its face.
Just that morning, its Trainer had told it that she'd found an excellent new teacher someone who guaranteed to teach it well.
Curious, Squirtle had agreed.
At first, seeing it was the same human from yesterday, Squirtle had actually been quite happy.
But now…
All Squirtle felt toward Lin Feng was towering resentment.
This wasn't practice for Water Gun at all!
This was clearly just making it do irrigation work!
And now…
It was completely out of water.
Literally not a single drop left…
After watering yet another section of fields, Squirtle's cheeks were visibly sunken from exhaustion.
"Alright, come over and take a break."
Lin Feng, who'd been monitoring Squirtle's status with his Insight Eye the whole time, finally called it over to rest.
Snivy also withdrew its vines.
Squirtle slunk over, radiating pure resentment.
[Pokémon: Squirtle]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Torrent]
[Potential: Blue]
[IVs: HP (18) Attack (20) Special Attack (21) Defense (25) Special Defense (24) Speed (16)]
[Level: 6–8]
[Moves: Tackle, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Withdraw]
[Note: It does not want to work anymore!!]
[Affection: -20 (It thinks you're even worse than its own Trainer.)]
[Happiness: -25 (A deeply resentful early-rising turtle.)]
"Here, have an Energy Pokéblock."
Lin Feng pulled out a Pokéblock he'd crafted himself, designed to restore stamina.
He'd made it using berries he'd bought the day before.
[C-rank Pokéblock – Crafted from Lum Berries and Clear Spring Water. Consuming it rapidly restores stamina. With prolonged use, it also increases a Pokémon's base stamina stat.
Effect: Enhances a Pokémon's ability to grasp and master moves.]
The description was short and sweet.
But in this world, any Pokéblock that could permanently improve a Pokémon's stats with regular consumption was incredibly valuable.
They were so rare that even having the money didn't guarantee you could buy one.
However, Lin Feng wasn't about to tell Squirtle just how valuable it was.
Instead, he coaxed gently, "Here, try one?"
"Squiiirtle…"
Still muttering resentfully, Squirtle accepted the Pokéblock with trembling paws, and took a bite.
Instantly…
A crisp, refreshing sweetness exploded in its mouth.
Squirtle's eyes lit up like stars.
It gulped down the rest in a frenzy, and those previously dull, empty eyes now sparkled with new life.
"No worries, there's plenty more Pokéblocks where that came from."
After all, when recruiting "employees," Lin Feng had no intention of being stingy.
If Squirtle could eat it, he'd keep feeding it.
[Congratulations! Squirtle's Happiness increased from -20% to 30%. Reward: 20 bags of Golden Fertilizer, 3 Rare Candies, and a portion of Crystal Clear Water (which purifies a Water-type Pokémon's attacks and improves their mastery of Water-type moves).]
Finally…
Having eaten until it couldn't possibly take another bite, Squirtle collapsed flat on its back in the dirt, wearing a thoroughly satisfied expression.
Lin Feng didn't immediately put it back to work.
Instead, he simply stood there watching, a small, contented smile curling his lips.
The scene was so familiar that it triggered a realization in Snivy beside him.
Come to think of it…
Wasn't this pretty much how it had been lured in with Pokéblocks, too?
Snivy let out a silent sigh.
The truth was, it had lingered near human towns because it'd heard from other Pokémon that getting a Trainer could help one grow stronger quickly and came with food and shelter included.
So, it too had wanted to choose a Trainer to grow alongside.
However…
Snivy's pride meant it held extremely high standards for any potential Trainer.
It had always imagined the Trainer it picked would be someone extraordinary brilliant at battling, skilled at breeding, and worthy of its respect.
And yet…
It had ended up utterly captured… all because of a few Pokéblocks.
Life as a snake was so unpredictable.
"Squirtle?"
After a long while, Squirtle finally snapped out of its food coma.
This time, when it looked at Lin Feng, its eyes no longer held quite so much resentment. Instead, there was a flicker of complex, conflicted emotion.
How did this guy manage to make it feel both love and hate at the same time?
"Brother Feng! Brother Feng, I'm here!"
At that moment, Squirtle's Trainer, Qin Shu, came bounding excitedly into the plantation.
Beside her was the familiar Sandshrew.
Compared to Squirtle, Sandshrew looked even more fired up practically bouncing with eager anticipation.
"Thanks for helping out, Sandshrew!"
Seeing such a diligent, hardworking "employee," Lin Feng couldn't help giving a satisfied grin.
"There's a lot of land to cover today. If you don't finish, that's fine. I'll make you some spicy noodles later as a reward."
"Sand! Sand!"
Sandshrew nodded seriously. Without even waiting for instructions, it scurried straight into the fields and started plowing the soil on its own.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng stood there, carefully planning out the plantation.
For the remaining land, he was considering using half of it to grow pasture grass and create a grassy meadow.
But then he hesitated, wondering if such a small area would even count as a "meadow."
It might be enough if he only wanted to raise Miltank.
But if he planned on breeding them in the future, he'd need to bring in Tauros, too.
And Tauros were… notoriously energetic.
Such a tiny patch of land definitely wouldn't be enough for them to run wild.
He was also thinking about planting some birch trees and raising Caterpie.
Those little bugs could spin silk, which could be harvested and sold.
His parents had done exactly that back in the day.
The silk fetched a good price and had plenty of buyers.
After all…
In the Pokémon world…
If your clothes weren't sturdy enough…
It was all too easy to get caught in the shockwaves of a Pokémon battle in the wild and end up embarrassingly exposed.
For guys, it was manageable…
But for girls… well…
Moreover…
Depending on what kind of leaves Caterpie ate, the silk it produced could have special properties.
For example, silk spun by Caterpie that fed on birch leaves had a natural cooling effect, perfect for beating the summer heat.
"Alright, it's decided! Snivy, come on, time to get to work…"
"Oh, and you too, Qin Shu get over here."
One task, one person.
Fertilizing, planting…
Soon enough, Snivy and Qin Shu had both been roped into Lin Feng's grand scheme, reluctantly joining him to scatter seeds for the new pasture grass.