Sandy had never eaten at the farm before. She looked from afar at the lively Pokémon inside the house and felt a twinge of envy for a moment.
Ron was carrying Sailor and didn't notice Sandy's expression. After calling out to Indeedee, he quickly placed the drunken Sailor on the bed.
"Indeedee!" Indeedee enthusiastically pulled out a chair for Sandy.
The cabin expansion had just begun, so the inside was still a bit messy. Besides piles of wood everywhere, only one wall had been specially tidied up.
It was covered with azure blue wallpaper, hung with a porthole window, and below that, a wooden shelf had been nailed up holding a slightly rusty anchor.
Sandy examined it for a few moments, then sat down in the chair. She took the cup of hot tea Indeedee handed her.
"Thank you." Sandy held the tea, then watched as Indeedee ran over with sugar. "Indeedee?"
"I'll have a little then, thank you."
Ron had just finished settling Sailor and now walked over.
Sandy didn't ask what had happened between him and Sailor. At this moment, she was completely immersed in the lively atmosphere, watching the playful Rattatas, and Froakie crouching together eating while chattering with Shaymin about who-knows-what.
"My goodness, this is wonderful. I want to catch a Pokémon too." She cupped her face, looking here and there, and couldn't help but begin to daydream.
Ron smiled, bringing dinner to the table while saying: "If you need to, I can lend you one for battling later."
He then pointed at Bellossom.
Although Sailor had a better relationship with Sandy, his level wasn't very high. Though he had accumulated quite a bit of potential from collecting seafood from Crab Pots, his various stats were still not very impressive.
"Thank you so much!" Sandy said, beginning to daydream.
But to catch a Pokémon, she would still have to wait for a day to come to Pelican Town. Besides buying Poké Balls, Pokémon weren't distributed in the desert—only in the forest here.
Sandy thought for a moment and said: "Can I come on the 27th?"
"Sure." Ron thought for a moment and agreed: "Just come to the farm that morning."
Only then did Sandy begin eating dinner. Ron's cooking was almost identical to Gus's—partly because he followed Gus's recipes, and partly because cooking large meals every day had made him somewhat proficient through practice.
"Goodness, this tastes amazing!" Sandy exclaimed.
She hadn't originally held much hope for Ron's cooking skills. "You could completely replace Gus."
Ron smiled and waved his hand.
After dinner, Ron walked Sandy to the bus stop, then returned to the farm.
Inside the cabin, a crowd of Rattatas had gathered around Sailor.
None of them had ever drunk alcohol before. Although the vast majority of Rattatas' work revolved around pale ale, they had never tasted it once.
Now, seeing Sailor's drunken state, they felt that Ron's prohibition against them drinking was the correct decision.
"Rattata, rattata."
Is he poisoned?
One Rattata boldly guessed.
"Rattata rattata."
Another went up to check Sailor's breathing, suggesting he must also be afflicted with paralysis—perhaps from Stun Spore or something similar.
But after all, they were Mouse Pokémon. Not only did they look like mice, their bodies were like mice too, possessing quite high alcohol tolerance.
After all, long long ago, when Pokémon hadn't yet lived together with humans, food couldn't be stored in places that kept it fresh forever.
And Rattatas were keen on eating fruits and grains—foods that easily fermented.
Over time, they developed a certain tolerance for this substance.
So Sailor quickly woke up from his bed.
Remembering that he had passed out right when Sandy said she would adopt him, he tumbled out of bed with a roll.
This startled the surrounding Rattatas.
They all had timid personalities, and now frightened, they scattered everywhere with their heads in their hands.
"Rattata——" Sailor rubbed his eyes, only after a while realizing he had already returned to the farm.
Then he got a bit angry again. Just as he was about to get down from Ron's bed, he saw a wall that had been specially tidied up.
"Rattata?" He hurried over to it.
The porthole window was positioned perfectly—just at the height where Sailor could reach it when standing upright.
He looked through the window, observing the outside.
The next second, he saw Ron returning from outside the farm after seeing Sandy off.
So the instant Ron pushed open the door, Sailor leaped into his arms.
"Hey." Ron was startled before catching Sailor.
The commotion among the Rattatas hadn't ended yet, so besides Sailor, Ron could only see afterimages running back and forth on the ground.
"What happened?" Ron turned to look at Indeedee.
Indeedee paused, then used Psychic to quickly catch every single Rattata.
Like a stream being cut off, the Rattatas rose into the air one by one, and the afterimages on the ground disappeared one by one.
Only the Rattatas still kicking their little legs in mid-air remained.
"——Want some Poffins?" Ron asked.
The moment he spoke, the Rattatas in mid-air came to their senses one by one.
Ron then lowered his head and asked: "What about you?"
"Rattata!"
The Next Day.
Previously, when helping Caroline deliver a birthday gift to Abigail, Caroline had given him several Tea Saplings. With the help of the Grassy Terrain and Shaymin, the tea leaves had just reached maturity these past few days.
According to the game, this would only produce green tea.
But Ron knew that black tea and green tea could actually be made from the same materials using different processing techniques.
Therefore, these past two days he had been researching fermented black tea.
Picking the tea leaves one by one from the tea plants, Ron was carrying a basket when he happened to see Leah in the distance.
Leah had come to bring Deerling to play at the farm. Seeing Ron, she jogged a few steps to reach him.
"Good morning." Leah paused, then asked: "What are you busy with? Is this——Tea Leaves?"
"Yeah, I'm trying to see if I can make black tea."
Ron had recently been trying to make some beverages. After the weather turned cold, the previous fruit tea had become unpopular. In comparison, everyone wanted something hot.
Everyone worked from dawn to dusk for the farm—there was no reason to skimp on their food and drink.
Moreover, winter was coming soon, and the farm was about to enter its slack season.
This was the perfect time to research food and drink.
Speaking of which, although Ron had also tried brewing milk green tea with green tea, and the taste was decent, it wasn't very popular with the Pokémon, especially the Rattatas—probably because of that astringent taste.
When it came to taste buds, the Rattatas were particularly sensitive.
"Black tea." This was still a new experience for Leah. "Can I help?"
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)