Ron greeted him. After exchanging a glance, the two looked at the pockmarked grassland not far away.
"Um... how do you think we should compensate for this?" The ranch owner rubbed his hands awkwardly, looking at Ron with some hesitation. "I heard it's unique to your place."
Ron turned his head to take a look. Although it had been bitten into a pockmarked mess, surprisingly, some growth space had been deliberately left for some of the grass so that new pasture could grow.
So Ron didn't fuss over it. He waved his hand, remembered the matter of building a new barn, and couldn't help but ask the ranch owner about it.
"A barn... Are you opening a ranch here too?"
He had previously agreed to reserve a Miltank for Ron, but he had never imagined Ron would actually prepare to open a ranch in Santalune City. After all, doing this in Santalune City was completely a losing business.
Not to mention that most of the ranches in Kalos were set up around here; the Moomoo Milk they produced alone was almost enough to meet the milk demand of the entire Kalos region. Only in the summer would there be a slight shortage; the rest of the time, it was always in a state of surplus.
At a time like this, opening a new ranch in Santalune City would make it basically impossible to find a market for the milk.
Thinking of this, he tried to persuade him a few times. Seeing that Ron hadn't given up his plan to open a ranch, he didn't say anything more.
"I'm not afraid you'll steal my business," the ranch owner sighed. "The Miltank from before, plus that Auto-Grabber, really did our ranch a huge favor, so I can't bear to watch you lose money."
After explaining, seeing that Ron had no intention of changing his mind, he handed Ron the business card of a company nearby that could undertake barn construction.
"Then let's leave it at that for now," he continued. "If you can't find a market later, you can come find me at the ranch anytime."
Ron thanked him. Just as he was about to start planning the barn construction, he saw the man turn back and ask, "Oh, by the way, do you have any plans to sell those pasture grass seeds of yours?"
Ron paused and said, "After the grass grows, I can give you some of the harvest, but the seeds are not for sale."
Thinking that he normally ordered pasture grass from outside anyway, the ranch owner thought for a moment and nodded. "Then let's get in touch then. If you have any extra, just sell it to me. They seem to really like eating it."
Saying this, the ranch owner took that bag of Miltank Poké Balls and returned to his ranch.
Time flashed forward to the next day. While Ron was still busy making preparations for the ranch in Santalune City, Leah over here had already started building the Raccoon's wooden cabin with it.
"Squeak—" The little Raccoon followed behind Leah, dragging a piece of wood almost as big as its body, heading reluctantly toward the tree stump.
"Building a house with your own hands should give you more of a sense of accomplishment, right?" Leah said, looking at the tree hollow. "Coincidentally, you'll be in charge of putting the dug-out wood shavings to the side later. If there are any suitable shapes, you can help move them to my house. If they can be made into wood carvings, it'd be a good way to recycle."
"Squeak." The little Raccoon nodded with a lifeless expression.
Not far away, at Marnie's ranch.
Jas, holding Audino's hand, happily said goodbye to Marnie in the house, then pulled Audino along and walked this way.
"Finally, someone to jump rope with me!" Jas said happily.
Usually, she could only play by herself under the tree. Only occasionally would a woman driving a pig-drawn carriage stop and chat with her for a bit.
"Audino." Audino followed behind Jas, watching her skipping and bouncing about, and let out a long sigh.
Although most Audino are very good-natured and friendly Pokémon, they couldn't handle how rowdy Jas was.
It even felt that there was no need for it to stop that Strange Doll in the first place, which resulted in it getting caught by Shane.
Honestly, maybe if Jas played with the Strange Doll for a while, it might have just left Marnie's ranch on its own.
But then again, Audino felt a little sorry for Jas.
It was probably because she had so few chances to play normally, which led to her chattering nonstop the moment she stayed by its side, and then pulling it into some highly complex games of house.
As they were running toward Cindersap Forest, Jas suddenly noticed Leah, who was busy hollowing out the tree stump.
"What are you doing?" Jas asked curiously.
"Making a new home for this little guy." Leah patted the little Raccoon next to her, who was gathering the debris from the ground.
The Raccoon squeaked and started working hard with a huff and puff.
"Can we help too?" Jas asked.
"If you guys are willing."
"Yay!!" Jas immediately cheered. She then picked up those huge blocks of wood and, under Leah's direction, carried them to her house.
"Audino——" (But she's also a kind-hearted child.)
Thinking this, Audino joined in to help.
They hadn't been carrying for long when Sailor, clutching a Fairy Rose, walked out of the farm, preparing to play with Jas for a while as they had agreed.
Before it reached the ranch, it saw Jas running over from that direction, sweating profusely while carrying wood, and then trotting back again.
"Rattata?"
"Audino." Audino, carrying wood, briefly explained the situation to Sailor: "Audino, Audino."
"Rattata?" (What?! Wasn't it agreed that today Sailor would play with her?!)
Sailor let out an annoyed "Rattata", but seeing Jas running so happily, it suppressed its rising anger.
"Rattata... Rattata." (Anyway, I just want her to be happy——)
Thinking this, Sailor ran up to Jas and offered the Fairy Rose.
"For me?" Jas froze for a moment, then remembered her agreement with Sailor. She quickly apologized and said, "You even brought me a Fairy Rose, I'm sorry, thank you."
"Rattata, Rattata." Sailor waved its paw, looking magnanimous.
At this very moment, inside the farm, Magearna looked at the empty chest and fell into brief contemplation.
"Magearna... Magearna?" (Where are the flowers?)
"You're asking about the flowers inside?" Meowth paused as it walked by. "It seems Sailor took one in its mouth to go see Jas, meow."
"?" Magearna fell silent for a moment. "Magearna?" (It took one?)
Although Ron did allow everyone to directly take things from the farm.
But Fairy Roses are one of the raw materials for Stardrop Tea!!!
Magearna paused, silently grabbed Meowth—who was just about to go find something to eat—and then left the farm with a sum of money.
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