The end of the month

That evening, after Lance had left.

Mingyou bought a few more fruit tree saplings online, including plum and peach trees, along with some Green Tea Seeds and mushroom spores.

Kitakami had an excellent environment. As long as the soil was decent, the seasons had little effect on crops. There was no need to plant something specifically in spring or winter just to keep it alive.

At worst, they would grow a little more slowly, but Speed-Gro made even that irrelevant. Agricultural development in the Pokémon world... was terrifying.

That was why fruit and Berries were generally so cheap...

Dinner was already over. Sitting on the sofa, Mingyou finished shopping on Taobao, then looked up some Technical Machines while he was at it. More than ten of today's Trumpet Bean Sprouts had come with bonus effects.

"Let's check the Technical Machine for Grassy Glide first... The price has been driven up past twenty thousand?! That's..."

Seeing the price of Grassy Glide, and that it was out of stock to boot, Mingyou could only think it was absurd.

So how was he supposed to price his bean sprouts? List them at ten thousand? He had been blasted for listing a Tangerine at 648. How could he dare ask that much? Where would he find suckers that easy to fool?

It was ridiculous...

But he certainly wasn't going to sell at a loss!

"Maybe I should ask Misty if she knows anyone who wants to buy some..."

He still had far too few loyal customers.

Mingyou understood that, too, so he sent Misty a message, though she didn't reply right away.

He could only keep these bean sprouts with bonus effects listed for three days at most. Bean sprouts didn't keep long, and their effects would suffer if he left them too long. If no one bought them, he would just let the Pokémon in the orchard eat them.

"I'm beat..."

He let out a long sigh, leaned back against the sofa, and reached over to squeeze the belly of the Munchlax sleeping beside him.

Thankfully, the month was almost over, and Kitakami's peak tourist season would follow. Then he could ride Wyrdeer out every day to sell vegetables to tourists and take part in Kitakami's unique festivals.

After resting for a little while, he looked at Gible, asleep on the sand wrapped in a towel.

The little shark had completely fallen apart. Gible neither resisted nor agreed to eat, and they had to rely on Wyrdeer's Hypnosis to feed the little one.

"Poor little thing..."

Mingyou felt nothing but sympathy for Gible. The little one wasn't even six months old, apparently. For this blow to leave Gible so withdrawn, the Trainer must have normally taken very good care of the little shark.

And there was definitely nothing wrong with Gible. The little one was perfectly healthy, had no hereditary diseases, and had even inherited Thrash.

Surely no ordinary person would abandon a Pokémon like that, especially since Gible weren't particularly common...

Even with the wild environment improving and many formerly rare Pokémon growing in number, to the point that Lapras were practically overpopulating.

Wild Gible were still difficult to obtain, mainly because they liked to live in groups and the adults were fiercely protective. Whenever you spotted a Gible, there was a very good chance a Garchomp nearby was watching you.

Yet that Trainer had chosen to abandon Gible without hesitation...

Then the problem could only lie with the Trainer himself. Being afraid of Team Rocket was merely an excuse. More likely, there was something dubious about how he had obtained Gible, or about his own identity... He might have been afraid the International Police would uncover it while taking him home.

Of course, these were only Mingyou's guesses. After someone abandoned a Pokémon like that, he was naturally going to assume the worst. He even wondered whether the man was mentally ill.

"Whatever the reason, you'd better hope I never catch you, or you're going to have a very bad time!"

"Pon~"

Just then, Ogerpon ran in from outside and leaped into Mingyou's arms, with Latias following behind. They had spent quite a while playing by the backyard pond and teasing Swinub together.

Seeing Munchlax asleep, Latias gave a little smile and reached out her tiny hands, intending to drag Munchlax up and take the sleeper outside for some fresh air.

"Cut it out."

Mingyou reached out to stop her prank. Latias immediately pouted, but he wasn't about to indulge her and let her run wild here.

"This is exactly why you got caught. Can't you be a little more mature? How is your brother supposed to stop worrying about you if you keep this up? Ogerpon is younger than you, and look how well-behaved Ogerpon is."

"Pon..."

Ogerpon squirmed. I'm young? I've already lived for hundreds of years. Latias isn't even a hundred yet, is she?

Mingyou: "..."

Oops. Ogerpon was the older sister!

"Ahem..."

Mingyou coughed twice to ease the awkwardness.

Then he continued, "Anyway, it's fine to play, but don't bully the Pokémon here or fight with anyone. Kitakami will be getting lively soon, and we can all go out and have fun together then."

"Woo?"

At the mention of fun, Latias immediately perked up. She wondered whether Kitakami was as much fun as Alto Mare, the city of water.

"Alto Mare?"

Mingyou asked curiously.

"Woo~"

Latias nodded. Though she had never been there herself, her brother had mentioned it once.

Apparently, another red-and-blue pair of Eon Pokémon guarded that place, too. But a disaster had struck there last year, and the blue one had sacrificed himself to protect the city... It was a deeply moving story.

"I see..."

Mingyou nodded gently, feeling that it sounded vaguely familiar, then asked, "Do you want to go there?"

"Woo..."

Latias shook her head. Rather than dwell on things that made her sad and sympathetic, she preferred to enjoy each day. Right now, she was fascinated by human society and wanted to have fun in a big city, but she didn't dare.

"A big city, huh? You'll get your chance!"

Mingyou answered with a smile. He had come from a big city himself, after all. And from this brief conversation, he could tell that aside from being a little headstrong and mischievous, she was actually rather innocent and endearing.

Then he continued, "You two should get some rest. I still have a few things to do."

"Pon~"

"Woo~"

Once Ogerpon and Latias had left, Mingyou walked over to Gible and lifted the towel. Ignoring the damage from Rough Skin, he gently stroked the little shark's head.

"Get some rest. Think of this Manor as your new home. No one here will hurt you. Someday, I'll get justice for you!"

With that, he gently replaced the towel and went upstairs to rest without even shutting the Villa's front door. There was simply no need.

After he turned off the lights and went upstairs, Gible suddenly stirred on the sofa.

But the little shark didn't wake, only instinctively reached out with tiny claws and pulled the towel close, wrapping up completely before beginning to tremble. Gible seemed to be having a nightmare and was frightened... Being wrapped up like this offered a little more security.

"Gib..."

And just like that, several days passed...

Before he knew it, the end of the month had arrived. Mingyou had already been at the Manor for a whole month.

Unfortunately, although Misty had replied, she hadn't been able to help. In the end, they ate all the bean sprouts themselves, though he soon planted another box.

Over those days, as the apples began to ripen on the trees, a distinctive fruity fragrance spread throughout the orchard.

The Ariados, Sandshrew, and Ekans living in the orchard were all drawn by the scent and gathered nearby well in advance.

Perhaps influenced by that fragrance, Electivire and Torterra, who had been unwilling to wake, actually opened their eyes. Their condition was terrible, though. They were like walking corpses that had lost their souls.

According to Wyrdeer's observations, only their consciousness had awakened. Deep down, they were still resisting waking up. Still, it counted as an improvement, though more effort was needed.

Gible also seemed to have finally accepted reality, at least enough to start eating willingly.

The little shark sat on the front steps all day, every day. Even when Ogerpon came over to invite Gible to play, the only response was a cry of refusal. Gible stayed there alone, "isolating" everyone else at the Manor.

Even so, Mingyou felt somewhat relieved. At least everything was heading in the right direction. For the rest, he would have to keep working to help them open up.

But before that... the Manor's harvest day had finally arrived!

"Let's get picking!"