"It seems the Crafting Power Boost effect has worn off," William mused, looking at the fence he had worked hard to repair, only for it to be rated Quality E. The evaluation on the panel made him feel a bit helpless.
After all, he had absolutely no foundation in carpentry. If it were like building with blocks, he might manage. But starting from scratch and mastering a skill through trial and error was incredibly difficult. Compared to going from 0 to 1, going from 1 to 100 was definitely easier.
"After I finish the spring planting today, I have to go to the carpenter's shop tomorrow!"
With that thought, William stopped wasting time. He took the remaining tools back to the cabin and pulled out the packets of seeds and the planting guide the Mayor had left.
The notebook was thick, with a leather cover that looked aged. According to the Mayor, his granddaughter had written it, probably notes taken when he was teaching her.
As soon as he opened it, William could feel the care the original owner had put into it.
"Grandpa says the land is honest. The more sweat you pour into it, the more it will repay you."
This message was written on the title page in neat, tidy handwriting. The signature at the bottom read "Jessica."
The first page of the notebook clearly had a later addition: a table of contents divided into four seasons. In the very back was an appendix with a blank calendar dated for the current year.
William flipped directly to the spring section and found introductions for many spring crops: Potatoes, Turnips, Parsnips, Cauliflower, Rhubarb...
For each crop, there were detailed illustrations and written descriptions from the seed stage through every growth phase. It felt less like a notebook and more like a beautifully crafted, store-bought illustrated handbook. It even listed the market price for each seed and crop, along with key points and tips for the growing period. It was professional enough to be called a textbook.
"So potato seeds are called seed potatoes... Purchase price 300 Poké per kilo, average yield 20 kilos, market purchase price 150 Poké per kilo. The profit margin is huge!"
A rough calculation showed the principal multiplied by ten! But William understood that the yield data recorded in the notebook was probably only achievable by experienced farmers. For a complete beginner like him, just keeping the potatoes alive would be a victory.
William found a bag of seed potatoes and compared them to the illustration in the notebook. They were identical! The drawing skills were impressive!
"Besides potatoes, I think the Mayor mentioned another crop... Turnips, right?"
William read the introduction for turnips. They could be planted in both spring and winter. Spring turnips were generally smaller but crisp and sweet. Turnip seeds were sold in packets. One packet contained nearly a thousand seeds and cost 500 Poké. Mature turnips had a market price of 50 Poké per kilo.
Based on the germination rate, with good luck about half might survive to harvest. Calculating with an average of one kilo per turnip plant, the approximate profit from one packet of seeds was... 50 times the cost! Even more exaggerated than potatoes!
"Of course, you can't really calculate it like that... The cost of planting isn't just the seeds. Fertilizer, labor during the growing process, and most importantly, the cost of the land itself are the major factors." William kept a clear head. If you factored it all in, the money the original owner spent to buy this ranch should also be counted as a cost of farming. Thinking of it that way, the profit didn't seem so outrageous anymore.
"Still, ultimately, I wasn't the one who paid. I can consider this ranch as having zero cost!" Thinking this, William felt instantly motivated. He grabbed the two bags of seeds and the farming tools and headed outside.
The Pokémon were still busy in the field. Orthworm had woken up after its rest, checked if there was anything else it needed to do, and then went off to clear the ranch's water channel.
The current field size was about half an acre, roughly twelve raised beds. This was pretty much the limit of what William could manage to plant for now. If the area were any larger, never mind planting it well, just watering it daily would take forever. And without running water on the ranch, he'd eventually need a water pump and sprinklers...
"Anyway, let's get planting. The notebook says crops like potatoes can be planted directly even in newly cleared land. In that case, I'll plant more potatoes and fewer turnips."
William got busy immediately, and the little ones came to help.
"Twig!" Turtwig was still the most diligent, using its vines to bury seeds even faster than William could by hand.
Bounsweet was responsible for jumping up and down to make holes, then Turtwig buried the seeds in the holes, and finally Minccino used her tail to cover them with soil. The three Pokémon worked together, forming a perfect assembly line for sowing.
William smiled as he watched the three little ones working in a row. It was a shame he didn't have a phone. In his previous life, he would have definitely filmed this and posted it online for everyone to see.
"Not bad! You're doing great!"
William couldn't help but go over, squat down, pat Turtwig on the head, and gently tap Minccino and Bounsweet. Encouraged by the praise, the three Pokémon worked with even more gusto, especially Bounsweet, who jumped excitedly and nearly fell off the bed.
"Careful there," William said, catching Bounsweet with a laugh.
With the Pokémon's help, the sowing progressed much faster than William had anticipated. In less than two hours, the half-acre field was neatly divided into northern and southern sections. The north was planted with potatoes, and a small section near the cabin in the south was for turnips.
"Next up is watering."
William struggled to draw several buckets of water from the well. Using these, along with the water left from washing the rice at lunchtime, he irrigated the fields.
After a while, the sun began to set in the west, casting its evening glow over the land. Even with the Pokémon's help, the watering had taken a lot out of William... He wiped the sweat from his forehead and straightened his aching back. He knew he had to solve the irrigation problem soon; otherwise, if the fields expanded, just watering them would exhaust him.
"I need to ask about automatic irrigation methods when I go to the carpenter's shop tomorrow..."
Having roughly finished the day's tasks, William had to start thinking about dinner again.
"I can't... I'm just too tired today... Let's make something simple for dinner..."
Considering there was half the rice left from lunch, plus the 20 liters of nutritious MooMoo Milk from the morning, William decided to make a pot of milk-based rice porridge. They would use the porridge as a base for a hot pot!
Rubbing his sore shoulders, William walked into the kitchen and soon had a pot of porridge cooking. The hot pot ingredients were, of course, the various vegetables, fruits, and meats he bought today, plus some Berries picked from the orchard.
However, because the broth contained milk, he had to avoid acidic ingredients like tomatoes to prevent any adverse reactions.
"Speaking of which, I wonder if these Berries will react with the milk? Berries in the Pokémon world can be pretty wild; some can even reduce EVs... Better not risk it. I'll just leave the Berries out. Better to be safe."
After carefully selecting the ingredients and munching on a few Pecha Berries, William carried a basket of food outside to prepare the hot pot.
"Good thing there's an outdoor stove. That saves a lot of trouble."
He simply set the pot on the stove, placed the prepared ingredients nearby, and was almost ready. Finally, William lit a fire under the pot. It really did start to feel like camping.
"Almost time to eat!"
William ran behind the cabin to call back the three Pokémon who were still playing. Even Miltank on the pasture heard William's call and came rolling back.
"Miiil~"
Although Miltank was full from eating grass, the Pokémon shed on the pasture wasn't repaired yet, so she had to stay in the cabin with William and the others for now.
"Huh? Wait, seems like we're missing someone?"
After counting heads and looking around, William realized Orthworm was nowhere to be seen!
"Oh no! Did it get lost underground, just like the old man at Sunshine Ranch said it might?"
William quickly pulled the whistle from his pocket and blew it in every direction!
Wheeeet! Wheeeet! Wheeeet!