The next morning, Aven arrived early at the pasture.
Oddish was a nocturnal Pokémon—it could absorb moonlight to enhance its growth. During the day, it would bury itself in the soil to absorb nutrients from the earth. As soon as they arrived at this grassy area, the Oddish quickly sensed the rich vitality contained within the land and immediately became enchanted by it.
Now, they all felt their decision was absolutely right. This place was truly paradise for them.
By the time Aven reached the meadow, all the Oddish had already buried themselves in the ground. Even if you looked carefully, it was difficult to spot any of them hidden among the dense grass. Fortunately, Aven had designated a special area in the meadow for them to rest. Otherwise, during the day, when the goofy Rhyhorn used the Rototiller move across the pasture, it might accidentally stomp on them.
"Odd Odd Odd ~"
At the moment, the only one not asleep was Oddish No. 1. Since there were now so many Oddish on the farm, Aven had numbered them for easier distinction. No. 1 was the first Oddish to join the farm.
When it saw Aven coming, the little one happily ran up to him. It had been waiting here because Aven had promised to start training it today.
"Good morning," Aven greeted.
The Petilil in his arms waved sleepily. It hadn't fully woken up yet.
Oddish happily shook the leaves on its head and looked at Aven with anticipation.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Aven chuckled, then pulled out a potion that Petilil had prepared.
Seeing the potion in his hand, Petilil puffed out its chest proudly—yes, that was its concoction! With that thought, Petilil jumped down next to Oddish and looked eagerly at Aven.
Sleep Powder was a move Petilil could also learn.
Recently, it had already mastered Absorb, Toxic, and Leech Seed. Sleep Powder was the next status move it aimed to learn.
Aven uncorked the bottle, dipped a leaf into the liquid, and then applied the sleep-inducing potion to Oddish and Petilil.
Once a Pokémon absorbed the potion, it would begin to produce a special pollen with a hypnotic effect. This pollen was infused with Grass-type energy. With consistent training, they would eventually be able to naturally produce the powder using their own Grass-type energy.
"Rhy~ Rhy~ Rhy~"
While Oddish and Petilil trained in using Sleep Powder, Rhyhorn also woke up.
Seeing Aven, the goofy Rhyhorn became excited and trotted over.
"Here, today's potential-enhancing potion," Aven said, patting Rhyhorn on the head and handing over a mixture made from Persim, Oran, and Pecha berries.
Rhyhorn drank it happily and immediately felt a surge of strength—it was ready to run a hundred laps around the pasture today!
"Morning, Aven."
At that moment, Uncle Mike walked over pulling a cart with buckets of water loaded in the back.
The time before sunrise was the best for watering plants. Once the sun came up, the rising temperatures would make it unsuitable.
Rhyhorn trotted over and eagerly offered to pull the cart instead.
Since coming to the farm, Rhyhorn had been exceptionally well-behaved, earning the unanimous approval of everyone on the farm.
'Maybe I should think about catching a Water-type Pokémon…' Aven thought to himself.
Unfortunately, the area they lived in was quite far from the coast.
Over the past days, Aven had also learned that the region he had transmigrated to was Sinnoh. Aspiration City was located in the southeastern part of Sinnoh, right beside Lake Valor and completely surrounded by the Black Forest.
To the north was Meteorite City. The east and south were bordered by the sea, and to the west lay the largest mountain range in the Sinnoh region—the Mt. Coronet range.
Based on Aven's judgment, this place was probably somewhere between the future Sunnyshore City and Veilstone City in Sinnoh.
Although there was Lake Valor nearby, it was considered a sacred place for the people of Aspiration City. Ordinary folks weren't allowed near it, so Aven hadn't encountered any Water-type Pokémon in the area yet.
'Lake Valor… If the legends are true, Azelf should be living there,' Aven thought. Although he hadn't visited Sinnoh in his past life, he had read quite a bit about its legends and lore.
While Aven was lost in thought, Uncle Mike and Rhyhorn had already begun their work. Buckets of water were being poured over the meadow, leaving shimmering droplets on the grass that rolled down the leaves to the soil below.
One Oddish, hidden in the grass, felt water land on it and poked its head out before darting to another spot to burrow itself again.
"Well now, looks like we've got a straggler," Aven said with a chuckle. He walked over, grabbed the leaves on the Oddish's head, and gently pulled it out of the soil.
The little one stared at Aven in confusion before being transferred to the designated resting area for Oddish.
After checking the meadow, Aven stretched his arms—it was time to get to work. Besides training his Pokémon, he also had to take care of their food supply. That was an essential part of a Pokémon breeder's responsibilities.
He went over to the Berry Grove. At the moment, the Cherrim and Cherubi were still sleeping. However, Starly had been waking up early lately. Ever since its crushing defeat at the hands of Enzo's Luxray, the proud little bird hadn't stopped training.
After greeting Starly, Aven opened a wooden barrel stored in the grove, poured out the nutrient solution inside, and began preparing a growth fertilizer.
By the time he returned to the meadow, Uncle Mike had nearly finished watering the grass. When he saw Aven carrying the barrel over, he immediately came to help.
"Aven, are you really planning to raise these Oddish?" Uncle Mike asked hesitantly.
"Yeah. There are a lot of them. If we can raise enough, they could defend us from wild magical beasts."
"We don't really need to worry about those beasts. Now that we have this fertilizer, we can harvest the berries before they arrive."
Seeing how reluctant Uncle Mike was to use the fertilizer, Aven shook his head. "If we can raise these Oddish properly, they'll be useful for more than just fending off wild beasts."
"More uses?" Uncle Mike looked surprised. He had initially thought Aven planned to use Oddish for potion-making, but Aven had denied that. Now he truly had no idea what Aven was thinking.
Still, since Aven had said so, Uncle Mike didn't question further. Instead, he began helping to irrigate the area where the Oddish lived with the fertilizer-infused water.
(End of Chapter)