Chapter 463:
After lunch.
The other Pokémon went about their usual business, while Kaede, unable to wait any longer, took Serperior to the Pecha Berry tree and used his [Eye of Exploration].
[Infinite-Growth Pecha Berry Tree. As the tree's height increases, its growth becomes progressively more difficult, and the berries it bears become increasingly fragrant and sweet.]
A simple description.
An infinite-growth version.
The taller it grows, the harder it is to grow taller, and the higher the nutritional value of its berries becomes.
Kaede's first thought was brewing wine. Last time, the wine made from Pecha Berries had a medicinal effect capable of curing ailments. With berries from this tree, wouldn't the effect be even better?
Though, in reality, he hadn't actually picked any berries from this Pecha Berry tree yet.
"The growth rate is still pretty fast right now."
Kaede flew up into the air to measure the tree's height. Before he left a couple of days ago, it was a bit over five meters tall. Now it was probably around six meters. The berries, if not picked, wouldn't fall but would continue to absorb nutrients and grow over time.
The number of berries had increased by nearly a hundred.
To grow to the height of the Tree of Beginning...
Kaede shook his head. According to the description, who knew how long that would take? Even with the Super-Grade Fertilizer he had applied, it had only grown this much over the past few days. Without it, he'd probably never see it reach full maturity in his lifetime.
"Let's give it a try, Serperior."
Kaede turned his gaze to Serperior.
He sprinkled more Fertilizer at the base of the Pecha Berry tree.
"Serperior~"
Serperior nodded, and then energy practically surged from within it.
Emerald energy enveloped its emerald form, and in an instant, the entire Berry Plantation was covered in a verdant green glow.
The grass in the plantation went wild, shooting up to Kaede's knees in the blink of an eye.
Kaede was taken aback for a moment, then looked at Serperior. Clearly, this was due to Serperior's sudden significant increase in power level, leading to a temporary unfamiliarity with controlling its amplified energy.
The core of its energy was still focused on the Pecha Berry tree before them.
At an almost visible speed, the Pecha Berry tree began to grow, as if its spring growth period had been accelerated countless times over. The tree ascended, and in the blink of an eye, it grew from six meters to seven, eight... all the way to ten meters before gradually slowing down.
Compared to its height, the trunk at its base hadn't thickened much, only a little bit sturdier.
Kaede guessed its roots must have dug much deeper. The berries above were also swelling in size. A standard Pecha Berry was about half the size of a normal fist and somewhat flattened. But now, likely due to the abundant nutrients, the berries had become plump and round. The refreshing, sweet fragrance they emitted was incredibly pleasant to smell.
So big...
Looking at each berry, now larger than his fist and almost the size of his face, Kaede couldn't help but marvel inwardly.
But when he turned around, he saw the changes weren't limited to this one tree. The remaining Pecha Berry trees also seemed to have begun a slow growth, nourished by the energy radiating from Serperior.
Although their growth wasn't as dramatic as the main tree's, the change was still visible to the naked eye.
Moreover, their berries had also slightly enlarged. Some trees even began to bloom, bear fruit, and then rapidly mature, turning red.
Strangely, Kaede sensed an aura from the other trees similar to that of the central Pecha Berry tree.
This development left Kaede stunned, followed by a rather shocking thought.
Could it be that, under the influence of the central tree, all the Pecha Berry trees in this plantation had changed, all becoming infinite-growth versions?
He hurriedly used his [Eye of Exploration] on the other trees.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
But the result was still interesting and somewhat aligned with his guess.
The roots of the central Pecha Berry tree had extended underground, spreading outward and connecting to the roots of the surrounding trees, forming a kind of symbiotic "oneness"?
"..."
"What will this Pecha Orchard turn into the future?"
Watching the ever-growing Peacha Berries and the continuously rising trees, Kaede couldn't help but feel amazed for the future prospect of this orchard.
He quietly observed the Pecha trees re-blooming and bearing fruit, patiently waiting for Serperior to finish its first application of Grassy Terrain on the orchard.
But for some little helpers working in the Berry Plantation, their mood wasn't quite as pleasant.
A Sentret had just finished picking the berries from one tree and was about to jump to another. But when it looked back, the tree it had just cleared was already blooming again. The flowers were even rapidly turning into berries, swelling, and ripening.
It rubbed its eyes, then looked at its own pink fur, convinced its eyes weren't deceiving it.
But...
But, didn't it just finish picking this one?
You're growing back this fast?!
This shouldn't be happening!
The shiny Sentret immediately grew anxious.
Because Kaede's wage standard was: picking all the ripe berries from one tree earned two berries of that type.
Generally, although the ripening time here was exceptionally short, a flower turning from a young berry to a ripe one still took at least a day. This made it easy to calculate their daily workload.
But now, it picks, and the berries immediately grow back?
The Sentret climbed the tree again and started picking berries...
But soon, it realized the ripening didn't stop. It had just picked from the east side to the middle, and when it looked back, the east side had berries again.
"Sentret?! Sentret?!!"
The Sentret was on the verge of crying.
I already picked those!
And it wasn't the only Sentret facing this situation. Many Pokémon helping out here noticed the same thing and were momentarily at a loss...
However, they soon realized only one type of berry tree was growing back super fast, so they decided to skip those for now and focus on picking the others first.
.....
Back with Kaede, the central Pecha Berry tree gradually stopped growing, its height now estimated at just over eleven or twelve meters.
Right at that moment, Serperior's form shuddered, and it slumped forward, weakened.
At the critical moment, Kaede moved to its side and caught it... its head...
"Alright... I get that the first try's the best, but you didn't have to push yourself this hard."