Chapter 48:
[A-level MooMoo Milk – milk freshly squeezed from a King-tier Miltank. Rich in nutrients. Long-term consumption by newly raised Pokémon enhances resistance to abnormal conditions.]
This was the MooMoo Milk that Hayashi Kaede had brought back from Genmu.
What he hadn't expected was that it was actually rated A-level!
"The people my father knows are really amazing."
With a sigh of admiration, Hayashi Kaede didn't go home right away. Instead, he took a taxi to Grand Bloom Foods, Inc.
He had already informed the security guards, so they didn't stop him.
Inside the office, Makoto Akiyama quickly stood up upon seeing him and greeted him warmly.
"Why'd you come alone? Didn't you say the delivery was tomorrow?"
Over the past few days, thanks to the special fruits and vegetables Hayashi Kaede had brought, the markets and supermarkets under Grand Bloom Foods had drawn considerable attention.
However, the supply remained too limited. If that issue could be resolved, Makoto Akiyama was confident they could seize the entire fruit and vegetable market in Aogiri City—and elevate Grand Bloom Foods to a dominant position.
Hayashi Kaede pulled out a storage capsule and smiled wryly.
"I was in the city for something today, so I figured I'd drop off the fruits and vegetables I picked recently. The watermelons are ripe too. Uncle Makoto, do you want a few?"
Makoto Akiyama replied without hesitation, "Absolutely! As long as the quality holds, I'll take them all!"
"Hey, they're sweet."
Hayashi Kaede immediately pulled out a large, striped, round watermelon from the storage ball. He looked around and noticed there wasn't a knife in sight.
"Do you have a knife?"
Makoto's eyes lit up at the watermelon's appearance.
"What kind of knife?" he laughed—and then smashed his fist straight down onto the watermelon.
Bang!
Bright red melon flesh and sweet juice splattered onto both their faces.
Makoto eagerly tore off a piece and took a bite, his expression immediately brightening.
"Excellent. Sweet and dense, no sign of being overripe at all. I'll buy this at 51 PokéDollar per kilo! How many can you supply?"
Hayashi Kaede wiped melon juice off his face, slightly embarrassed.
"Probably a few thousand pounds?"
Watermelon yields were far greater than most fruits and vegetables. Just this one alone weighed over 20 kilograms. And this was only the first harvest batch stored in his capsule—he hadn't even tasted them yet.
Makoto looked even more excited.
After wrapping up the exchange of goods and payment, he couldn't help but add,
"Kaede, are you thinking about expanding your plantation? The current output's too low. If you need support, just ask your uncle!"
Hayashi Kaede's heart stirred—he had indeed been thinking about that lately.
Originally, growing fruits and vegetables was just a short-term side plan. But now, their profit margins weren't all that high.
Take the last few days, for instance—he had only made around 80,000 PokéDollar from produce sales. That wasn't nearly as direct or profitable as the emotional value energy blocks brought to Pokémon.
Perhaps the only real advantage was that a successful fruit and vegetable brand could later help market his local neighborhood breeding house—boosting reputation and influence.
But to grow a company, he couldn't do it alone.
So… the key issue was fertilizer.
He now had nearly a thousand bags. Even though produce grown with it wasn't as perfect as his own harvests, it was still far superior to regular crops.
Unable to decide right away, Hayashi Kaede simply replied,
"I'll think it over, Uncle Makoto. Oh, and I did want to ask you something else."
"Go ahead," Makoto said immediately.
"I've bought a few large milk cans and want to build a cowshed behind the plantation. I was wondering if you know anyone who can handle that kind of work?"
Makoto waved his hand with a laugh.
"No problem. I'll send someone to your plantation tomorrow."
After leaving the company, Hayashi Kaede didn't head home right away. Instead, he made a stop at HappyMart to pick up a few things, then took a Didi back.
The breeding house was closed. After opening the door, Hayashi Kaede headed to his room first.
Inside, Vulpix was asleep—but Servine wasn't there.
He walked to the plantation, and sure enough, Servine was out in the grassy area, using moves to practice on the surrounding fruit trees.
"Servine!"
(It drank some milk and fell asleep. I came out here to stand guard since no one was around.)
Servine stopped attacking once it realized it was Hayashi Kaede.
"Good job," he said gently.
The fruit trees he had planted just a few days ago had already grown nearly as tall as a person.
The Petaya Berry tree planted by the reservoir had also flourished—its fresh green leaves spread out like a cattail fan.
He only gave it a brief glance before moving on. After returning Pidgeot and Milotic to their usual spots in the plantation, he grabbed a sickle and began cutting grass.
"Servine?"
Noticing this, Servine picked up its own little sickle with its Vine Whip and joined him.
"Servine, you don't need to cut too much," Hayashi Kaede said softly. "I'm just trimming a bit to make some grass dumplings for Miltank."
Servine nodded.
Together, they worked for only about two minutes before Hayashi Kaede stopped. He carried the grass to the breeding house kitchen.
The cowshed wasn't built yet, so the newly caught Miltank had to remain in their Poké Balls for now.
Since their living conditions weren't ideal, he needed to treat them better when it came to food.
Grass Dumplings
This was a recipe Hayashi Kaede had learned from his mother.
He blended the grass into fine pulp and liquid. Then, mixing flour and grass residue in a 1:2 ratio, he added the grass liquid until the dough became sticky. A little white sugar went in too, then he kneaded the mixture into dumplings about the size of a baby's fist and steamed them.
To enrich the flavor, he added a dash of pink fragrance and a portion of the A-level MooMoo Milk brought back from Kusano Genmu.
Miltank could also drink its own fresh milk, which greatly aided in stamina recovery.
About half an hour later…
Dozens of fragrant, milky green dumplings emerged from the steamer.
[A+ Grade Grass Dumplings – A multi-ingredient blend crafted with care.
Cooking Effect 1: Boosts power of Grass-type moves for a short time.
Cooking Effect 2: For herbivorous Pokémon, milk produced after consumption may cure certain status conditions. Long-term intake boosts resistance to abnormal conditions.]
A+ grade foods offered two cooking effects—impressive.
Hayashi Kaede nodded in satisfaction. He picked one up to taste and handed another to Servine. After tasting it, the little Grass-type Pokémon gave its verdict:
(╹ڡ╹): "Servine~!"
(It's so good~)
Hayashi Kaede smiled in relief.
"Save some for Vulpix later. As for the rest…"
He poured the dumplings into a bowl and carried them to the plantation.
There, he summoned three young Miltank.
"Miltank?"
As soon as they appeared, the three Miltank looked around curiously before turning to him.
"Miltank?"
Hayashi Kaede pressed his hands together and offered the dumplings with a sincere expression.
"Sorry for keeping you in the Poké Balls—your cowshed isn't ready yet. Here's some food for you in the meantime!"
(〃＾▽＾〃)o: "Miltank!"
The moment they saw the dumplings, the young Miltank completely forgot about everything else. They lowered their heads and began munching away happily.
"Miltank!"
(Delicious!)
[Congratulations! Miltank's happiness has increased...]
As the system reported back, Hayashi Kaede finally breathed a sigh of relief.
A thought crossed his mind.
I really need to get that cowshed built soon...