The first harvest

March 11, spring, League Calendar year 112. Clear skies.

Tong Hua got up unusually early that morning. Ever since Jessica had told him yesterday that his potatoes and cabbages were ripe, he had been itching to harvest them.

But naturally, his first task that morning was to milk Miltank.

After the rain stopped yesterday evening, Miltank had returned to the Pokémon Cottage. After all, Tong Hua had gone to great lengths to repair it specifically for her, and she did not want his efforts to go to waste.

"Milu~"

When Tong Hua reached the Pokémon Cottage, he found that Miltank was already awake and had even started milking herself.

"Good morning, Miltank."

Tong Hua was delighted to see that Miltank had settled into such a self-sufficient routine, coming out to graze when she was hungry and returning to her cottage to sleep when she was tired.

Now she really could even milk herself.

Surely no one would object if he declared, "Miltank is the greatest pillar of Fairy Tale Ranch," would they?

"Milu~"

Twenty liters of Moomoo Milk flowed through the hose into the metal can, and Miltank's expression grew thoroughly content.

As usual, Tong Hua tipped the can onto its side and rolled it back toward the Wooden Cabin. It had rained for almost the entire day yesterday, and the ranch's paths were still muddy.

Tong Hua struggled to push the can to the Wooden Cabin, adding another task to his mental list.

"I need to fix up the ranch's paths, too. At the very least, they need paving stones. And getting around at night without any lights is pretty inconvenient.

The infrastructure is still far too basic. This ranch was abandoned for so long, after all. Besides fixing the roads and adding lights, I also need to get running water and electricity to the Wooden Cabin."

As he mulled this over, Tong Hua washed the mud off the metal can.

The weather was lovely that day. A Ranger would probably arrive in a truck to collect the goods before long.

"Turtwig, Minccino, time to get up!"

After making breakfast, Tong Hua called out to the Pokémon who were still asleep.

"Bounsweet and Celebi, you wake up, too! It's breakfast time!"

At the mention of breakfast, the two Celebi reacted as though a keyword had triggered them. They sprang off the bed and zipped over to sit at the dining table.

"Bii!"

Breakfast that day was berry salad, bread, and fried eggs. Tong Hua had deliberately put them together as sandwiches, preparing lunch at the same time.

[Special Sandwich: quality C. A delicate meal that is both light and filling. Crisp toasted bread holds a sweet berry salad and a tender fried egg, creating a rich texture and harmonious flavor.]

[Effect: increased motivation. Eating it improves your mood and leaves you feeling energetic throughout the day. Duration: 3 hours.]

[Evaluation: isn't this a little too sweet?]

[Recommended processing method (alchemy).]

Since almost all his Pokémon had a sweet tooth, Tong Hua had chosen several sweet berries, including Pecha Berries and Oran Berries, for the salad.

To his surprise, he had accidentally made a dish that could boost motivation.

With that, the day's harvest should be no trouble at all.

After enjoying breakfast, Tong Hua grabbed a basket and ran to his half-mu field, brimming with enthusiasm.

There were twelve vegetable beds in total. Most were planted with potatoes, with only the one or two beds at the edge growing cabbages.

"Let's get digging!"

Tong Hua rolled up his sleeves. Turtwig had already deftly wrapped a Vine Whip around a small shovel, while Minccino and Bounsweet bounced along behind, each balancing a bamboo basket larger than themselves on their heads.

Since cabbages did not stay fresh as long as potatoes after harvesting, Tong Hua planned to pick them last and start with the potatoes.

The moment he held a tool, Tong Hua's class switched to Gardener, which specialized in gathering plant materials.

Under the effects of his passive skill, Environmental Detection, it was as though a see-through map had opened in Tong Hua's mind. All the crops buried beneath the nearby ground automatically appeared as gathering points.

Tong Hua bent down, grabbed a stem, and gave it a hard tug with both hands!

Rustle!

Dirt scattered as an entire cluster of round potatoes burst out of the ground, rolling into the basket beside him with damp soil still clinging to them.

"They're huge!"

Tong Hua picked up a potato. It was as big as his fist!

[Baron potato: quality C. A variety with extremely high starch content and thin, smooth skin, suitable for baking or making mashed potatoes. Recommended processing methods (cooking/alchemy).]

He hefted it in his hand and estimated it weighed around 300 grams. The other potatoes were roughly the same size. The potatoes harvested from this single plant already weighed almost two kilograms!

And there were more than a dozen plants like it growing in this bed alone!

Tong Hua remembered Jessica's Planting Notes mentioning an average yield of twenty kilograms for every kilogram of seed potatoes. He had planted about a kilogram of seed potatoes in this bed.

By that calculation, his potato field should have no trouble at least meeting the average yield.

The thought made Tong Hua work even harder!

Beside him, Turtwig copied his example, grabbing a stem with Vine Whip and giving it a fierce tug! Several potatoes shot out of the ground and scattered in every direction!

"Min! Min!" Minccino cried indignantly, its head covered in dirt.

"Twig, Turtwig..." Turtwig lowered its head sheepishly and used Vine Whip to brush the dirt off Minccino's head.

At that, Minccino let go of its anger and joined Bounsweet in gathering the potatoes scattered across the ground.

"Bii."

Seeing Tong Hua and the Pokémon working so hard, the two Celebi wanted to help, too.

They spread out, each using Confusion to grab a pair of stems and pull the potatoes out of the soil in one swift motion!

"They're so efficient!"

Watching the two Celebi pull up two potato plants in mere seconds, Tong Hua began working even faster!

Harvesting crops earned experience for his Gardener class, after all!

Tong Hua had been hoping to use this harvest day to grind levels. Raising his Gardener level would also let him cut down trees and gather wood faster in the future!

These were not just potatoes growing in the field anymore. They were heaps and heaps of experience!

But the Celebi had volunteered to help, and Tong Hua felt too awkward to ask them to stop.

He could hardly hurt their feelings when they were helping out of kindness, just so he could keep all the experience for himself, could he?

Rustle! Rustle!

And so Tong Hua began competing with the two Celebi to see who could harvest faster.

"Twig? Turtwig!"

Turtwig, who knew nothing of this, saw the astonishing speed at which Tong Hua and the Celebi were harvesting and could not help joining the race.

With Tong Hua and the Pokémon working together, all ten beds of potatoes were completely harvested in less than an hour.

Several bamboo baskets were piled high with round potatoes, gleaming enticingly in the sunlight.

"Finally done digging!" Tong Hua wiped the sweat from his forehead. Looking at the abundant harvest, he felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

By a rough estimate, these potatoes weighed at least 200 kilograms. At the market price listed in the Planting Notes, 150 League Coins per kilogram...

Selling all these potatoes would bring in at least 30,000 League Coins!

Of course, that was not all Tong Hua had gained.

[Gardener: level 11]

[Status: increased motivation]

[Experience: 110/7430]

[Class skills: Environmental Detection, Voice of the Trees, Stealth]

Although he had not kept all the experience for himself, he had still leveled up faster than expected.

He had also unlocked a new skill.

"Stealth? I remember that in the game, this was a passive skill that prevented players from entering combat while gathering in the wild.

Gathering classes hardly had any combat ability, after all. But will this skill still be useful in this Pokémon world?"

Tong Hua shook his head. Now was not the time to think about that. He needed to hurry and harvest the cabbages before the Ranger responsible for collecting the goods arrived.

Compared with the potatoes, harvesting the cabbages was much easier.

Tong Hua carefully cut off the plump cabbage heads with scissors, while Turtwig supported them with Vine Whip to keep them from falling to the ground and getting damaged.

[Spring cabbage: quality C. Firm, full leaves rich in vitamins. Recommended processing methods (cooking/alchemy).]

The cabbage yield was somewhat lower than the potatoes'. Although every head weighed more than a kilogram, each plant produced only one. In the end, the two beds of cabbages totaled only about 100 kilograms.

At a market price of fifty League Coins per kilogram, that came to just 5,000 League Coins in income.

They occupied one-fifth as much land as the potatoes, but their returns might be less than one-sixth as much.

This harvest had given Tong Hua a new understanding of growing crops.

Just then, a horn sounded from the ranch's main entrance.

The Ranger responsible for collecting the goods had arrived.