Another visit to Verdant Town

At noon, Mingyou picked some more fresh Cabbage from the vegetable patch in the backyard. He planned to make hot-and-sour Cabbage as a simple side dish. There were still some dried noodles left from last night, and a little seasoning would make a decent broth.

Before long, the aroma of soup drifted out of the kitchen. Munchlax, who had been sleeping in the living room, woke up at once and pattered over.

Munchlax ran up beside Mingyou and stopped, tilting that little head up at a forty-five-degree angle. A remarkably intelligent gaze settled on the pot he had just added the noodles to.

"You really do come running as soon as you smell food. Do you realize you ate my noodles and sweet potatoes last night? I had to cook another helping of sour noodle soup just to fill my stomach."

Mingyou turned to glance at Munchlax. Despite his words, there was no anger in his voice. He was hardly going to hold a single dinner against the Pokémon.

"Munch~"

Munchlax opened that little mouth and called out. The meaning was simple: hunger.

"All right, all right, the noodles will be ready soon. There isn't much, and this is the last of it, but I'll give you more of my share."

Mingyou smiled as he watched the pot. There were no other staple foods in the house, not even rice, and he needed seasonings too. He would have to pick some up when he went into town later.

Soon, the noodles were cooked. As he served Munchlax a helping, he asked curiously, "Come to think of it, I saw you sleeping by the door yesterday. Are you Grandpa's Pokémon? Or did he used to look after you?"

"Munch?"

Munchlax tilted that little head, ears pricked high and big eyes full of confusion.

Seeing that Munchlax did not seem to understand, Mingyou rephrased his question. "I mean the old man who used to live here. Did you know him?"

"Munch..."

Munchlax shook that little head. This was a recent arrival who knew nothing about any old man. Munchlax had simply spotted a house and come over looking for food.

Watching Munchlax gesture with those little paws, Mingyou more or less understood. So his guess had been wrong.

Since this Munchlax was much larger than normal and also shiny, he had assumed the Pokémon had lived quite comfortably and belonged to Grandpa.

Yet Munchlax lacked the usual wariness of wild Pokémon and seemed used to being around humans. Perhaps this Pokémon had lived among people before... Could a traveling Trainer have abandoned Munchlax?

Mingyou mulled over the possibilities without stopping his work. When he handed over the bowl of noodles, however, Munchlax shook that little head and pointed a paw at the black pot still steaming above.

Munchlax did not want the bowl. Munchlax wanted the pot!

"You really... Fine, then."

Mingyou had no choice but to hand over the pot. Completely unbothered by the heat, Munchlax hugged it close and gulped everything down in one go. He could not tell whether the Pokémon had even tasted anything, but that still was not enough.

"Munch~"

Munchlax pointed at the plate of hot-and-sour Cabbage on the stove. Feeling rather helpless, Mingyou surrendered his side dish too, unable to stop wondering whether he could really afford to feed this Pokémon...

After lunch.

Mingyou cleaned up the kitchen and checked the time. There was still enough, so he turned to Munchlax, who did not seem full yet. "Stay home and watch the house. I doubt anyone will come by, but I'm still a little worried... Never mind. You'll probably just sleep by the door anyway. Let's leave it at that."

"Munch!"

Munchlax seemed indignant at his assessment and immediately ran to the living room sofa and flopped down. No sleeping by the door—the living room was the place to be!

"..."

Seeing Munchlax fall asleep in an instant, a sleep bubble already forming, Mingyou was at a loss for words. Pokémon really were fascinating. He wanted a Pokémon companion of his own too...

A moment later, he put on his backpack and got ready to leave.

Once outside the Manor, he called the number the man from yesterday had left him. Before long, a Flying Taxi arrived to pick him up.

By the time he returned to Verdant Town, it was early afternoon, the hottest part of the day.

In this weather, none of the usual older folks were out chatting in the streets. Even Pokémon playing outside were a rare sight; most were resting in the shade.

Of course, there were exceptions.

On the way to the Community Center, Mingyou heard barking from the front yard of a privately built house. It was quite a nuisance. Even in this heat, the culprits seemed tireless.

Three Houndour stood outside an iron gate, arguing with a Growlithe on the other side. He had no idea what they were saying, but it probably was not very polite.

This sort of thing was common in the countryside. The dogs loved forming little gangs. They did not bite people, but spent all day roaming around and barking insults.

"What a carefree life."

Looking away, Mingyou wiped the sweat from his forehead and headed straight for the Community Center. As the glass doors slid apart, a blast of cool air washed over him, sweeping away the heat and leaving him instantly refreshed.

The Community Center had its air conditioning on. He had already contacted Yao Qian and arranged to meet him here. Yao Qian had arrived early after receiving his call, and greeted him with extraordinary enthusiasm.

"Looks like you've made up your mind. Go ahead and sign this contract, then."

Yao Qian held out the transfer agreement as he spoke, but Mingyou did not take it. Instead, he replied softly with a smile, "Sorry, but since Grandpa left the Manor to me, I'm going to take it over. I can't let him down!"

"Huh? What... What're you saying?"

"I mean we should stick to the original contract. There are still three years left on the land-use term, right? I just need to pay off the debt before then."

Mingyou explained his position quite seriously, then turned to leave under Yao Qian's astonished, bewildered gaze. "That's settled, then. I still have some things to take care of. Goodbye."

Even after Mingyou left the Community Center, Yao Qian remained frozen in place, still holding the contract.

It took him a long while to recover. Then, suddenly realizing something extremely serious, he looked toward the Community Center reception desk—not at the Clefable greeting visitors, but at the Auntie sorting documents beside the Pokémon.

"What am I going to do? I've already signed a contract with Miss Fou Ho from Paldea Real Estate. I told them I'd have the land ready within a year so they could develop a mountain resort..."

"Huh? You hadn't even settled things here, and you went and signed a contract with someone else?"

She stopped working and looked up, her face full of surprise and disbelief. Then she pressed a hand to her forehead and shook her head helplessly. "You're really something. What was the rush?"

"I was afraid I'd lose the cash cow when it was already within reach..."

Having already left, Mingyou naturally knew nothing about the conversation inside the Community Center.

Shielding his eyes from the direct sunlight, he looked up at the cloudless blue sky. His new life was finally about to begin.

"I'll have to arrange everything myself from now on. Besides seeds and seasonings, I need some ingredients too. I wonder if they sell fresh meat here. Come to think of it, they accept League Points around here, right?"

Besides humans and Pokémon, other animals existed in this world too. Most of the fish and meat people ate came from these animals, whose extremely rapid reproduction allowed them to survive here.

Of course, some Pokémon also had edible parts, such as Klawf claws, Slowpoke tails, and Clawitzer claws... All were highly prized ingredients.

League Points were an online virtual currency introduced in recent years as an alternative to cash transactions. Already adopted across several regions, they eliminated the need to carry large amounts of cash. With a Rotom Phone, people could pay anytime, anywhere. They were convenient in every sense.

On his way to find a shop, Mingyou checked his wallet and phone to see how much money he had left. In the past, he had paid little attention to such things, so naturally, he had never kept careful accounts.

After calculating his savings, he could not exactly call himself poor... He could only call himself very poor.

He had a little over 3,000 in cash and exactly 15,000 League Points, all left to him by his parents. A Poké Ball currently cost 10 at the Pokémon League's official price, and cash and League Points exchanged at a one-to-one rate.

By that comparison, it seemed like quite a lot. But the expenses of growing crops were bound to be staggering. He had to be ready to lose his investment and take a factory job at any moment.

Besides, paying off the debt was only one concern. More importantly, he had to support himself and his Pokémon... He still needed to find a way to get his own starter Pokémon. Otherwise, running into danger in the wild would be a real problem.

"One step at a time. Besides, there's still that old house in Levincia I could sell or rent out... First, let's buy some crop seeds!"