"Just a little to the left, Minccino."
"Yes, yes, right there."
"Ahh, that's so comfortable!"
Silas lay sprawled on the grass in front of the ranch house, while Minccino stood on his back, using its tiny paws to massage him and ease the muscle fatigue in his arms and shoulders.
It wasn't only Minccino who wanted to join in. Silas watched warily as Cyclizar in front of him twitched with eagerness, clearly itching to participate.
If that guy stepped on his back, it would hurt even more for a long, long time!
"Cyc~"
Cyclizar scratched at the ground in dissatisfaction, flicking its tail angrily as it sulked.
Silas had no choice.
He reached out with one hand, pressed Cyclizar down, and started scratching all over its body with his large palm, making Cyclizar burst into continuous giggles.
Before long, that bit of unhappiness was completely forgotten. Cyclizar stretched out its tongue and gave Silas's face a thorough licking.
Speechless, Silas pushed Cyclizar away and stretched his body a little. He felt much better now and gestured for Minccino to stop.
He pulled Minccino into his arms, gently stroking its large ears with his palm and rubbing his cheek against it.
"Thanks, Minccino. I feel much better now."
"Min~"
Minccino happily wagged its tail, clearly thinking this was simply what it should do.
Just as Silas was playing around with his Pokémon, a familiar voice came from the ranch gate.
"Silas, Silas! Are you home?"
"That's John."
Unsure why the other party had come to look for him, Silas picked up Minccino and hopped onto Cyclizar's back.
Cyclizar let out an excited howl and immediately dashed forward.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived at the ranch gate.
John jumped down from his Gogoat and, upon seeing the unfamiliar Pokémon Silas was riding, exclaimed in amazement.
"Wow! Is this the ranch Pokémon you bought in Coumarine, Silas? It looks really cool!"
After getting off its back, Silas patted Cyclizar.
"Hahaha! Cyclizar, John is praising you!"
"Cyc~ (︶︿︶)"
Cyclizar lifted its chin proudly, looking rather tsundere. After all, it was the god of the future.
The two chatted for a while, and inevitably, the topic turned to the Legendary Pokémon Lugia that had appeared the night before.
It wasn't just them. After a whole night of fermenting news, countless people across Kalos were surely talking about it.
The fame of Shalour City would rise accordingly, and next year's Beach Festival was bound to be even livelier.
"Oh right, John, what did you come to see me about?" Silas scratched his head. They had chatted so enthusiastically that he had almost forgotten the real reason.
John chuckled honestly and said, "It's like this. I'd like to buy a batch of Grass Dumplings from you."
"If you want them, John, just take them yourself. I still have some here," Silas replied readily.
After all the help John had given him before, Silas really didn't care about giving away a few Grass Dumplings.
"Silas, I can't take something this valuable for free," John hurriedly stopped him and explained.
"Didn't you know? A rancher bought some of the Grass Dumplings you sold last night and fed them to their Skiddo. The milk they produced went up by an entire quality tier and even carried a unique grassy fragrance."
"And this time I'm not just buying for myself—other ranchers also asked me to help purchase some."
"So that's how it is."
After hearing the explanation, Silas suddenly understood.
The effect of the Grass Dumplings on Skiddo was a complete and pleasant surprise. Raising the quality by one tier practically doubled the selling price for ranchers.
If it could reach top-tier ingredient quality, it could be sold for a sky-high price.
Thinking of this, Silas no longer mentioned giving them away for free.
If this deal went through, he would have another stable source of income in the future.
After seeing John off, Silas recorded the number of Grass Dumplings the ranchers needed.
The quantity was rather large, so they agreed to come pick them up three days later.
Before leaving, John was still forcibly stuffed by Silas with a small bag containing ten Grass Dumplings.
This time, he didn't refuse, and he was also very curious about their effects, feeling somewhat impatient to return to his ranch and feed them to his Skiddo.
Just thinking about the League Coins that would soon be flowing in, Silas felt no more soreness in his shoulders or waist.
Grass Dumplings cost him nothing to make.
Basically, whatever price he sold them for was pure profit.
A zero-cost startup.
A surge of boundless energy welled up inside Silas. He sent Minccino off to play with Kangaskhan and the others, then mounted Cyclizar himself.
First, he had Cyclizar patrol the two fields and greeted the Mudbray brothers.
They used plowing moves on the crops, accelerating their growth.
In the field that had been reclaimed for the second time, the strawberries and cabbages had already reached the third stage of growth.
At the current rate, in another two or three days, Silas would be able to carry out his first harvest.
Even harvesting now wouldn't be a problem.
In the strawberry field, faintly green fruits could already be seen, their surfaces dotted with pale yellow specks.
Wiping off the dew on the surface, Silas took a bite—and suddenly bared his teeth.
Sour with a hint of astringency, and just a trace of sweetness.
"Cyc~"
Cyclizar opened its mouth and bit onto Silas's pant leg, tugging at him with its claws.
"You want one?"
Silas shook his leg and handed over a half-ripe strawberry, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.
Cyclizar had seen him eating something tasty and wanted a share!
"Cyc!"
In the next moment, Cyclizar reared its upper body upright, frantically scraping at its tongue with its forepaws, looking at Silas with a resentful expression.
"Hahahaha~" Silas laughed heartily and happily. "Cyclizar, you can let the other Pokémon try it too!"
He made the suggestion in a sneaky tone, already imagining the angry little expressions on Kangaskhan, Minccino, and the others once they fell for it.
"Cyc!" Almost instantly, Cyclizar understood Silas's intent. There was no way it was going to be the only one to suffer.
Grabbing the remaining few strawberries with a pinkish hue, Cyclizar ditched Silas and vanished in a puff of dust.
Ignoring Cyclizar, Silas moved over to the tulip field.
This area no longer looked like freshly transplanted seedlings. The stems had shot up rapidly, the leaves spreading out like swords, constantly carrying out photosynthesis to store energy for the upcoming bloom.
At the tops of the stems were gradually swelling green buds, still tightly closed.
Many buds were already turning from green to a lighter shade, and with a gentle touch, the outer bracts would fall to the ground, loosened and ready—clear signs that they were about to bloom.
A whole field of tulips… what kind of Pokémon would it attract, he wondered?
Tomorrow, he'd ask Gario about the tulip prices this year.
After making a round of the fields, he went over to the orchard.
The berry trees were growing unusually slowly and were still only at the sapling stage, with a long way to go before flowering and fruiting.
He selected a few trees to inspect closely and found no signs of pest damage. It seemed Chatot hadn't forgotten the task assigned to it.
After handling the ranch's daily chores, Silas returned to the house, took out his sickle, and prepared to harvest some pasture grass to make more Grass Dumplings.
After only a few steps, Silas had to stop.
Cyclizar came running back from the distance and hid behind him, its two claws gripping tightly onto his clothes, impossible to shake off.
And standing in front of them were the enraged Kangaskhan, Minccino, and the three Mudbray brothers—clearly victims of some very successful teasing.
(End of Chapter)