[ Congratulations, host, on triggering the main storyline mission: Thriving Prosperity. (Accepted) ]
[ Description: Due to the host's unremitting efforts, the Day Care has developed vigorously and is one step closer to the goal of becoming world-renowned. Therefore, please continue to work hard. ]
[ Requirements: Collect one (or more) new Bug-type Pokémon and breed them to a scale sufficient for listing. Deadline: one year. ]
[ Reward: ??? (Depends on completion level) ]
...
The mission issued by the system was just about what Yuga had expected.
Among the many Pokémon currently listed by the YoYo Day Care, only the Steel and Bug types remained blank. So, based on the system's usual tendencies, the task it issued would definitely require Yuga to collect Pokémon of these two types.
Originally, the Fairy type was also unlisted, but last month, when Yuga put Helioptile on the shelf, he also listed Flabébé at the same time, so the Fairy type was already covered.
Relatively speaking, collecting Bug-type Pokémon was easier than Steel-type Pokémon, because Bug-types were comparatively less rare and had a wider distribution. So Yuga could only hope that in the coming year he would be able to collect as many Bug-type Pokémon as possible to raise the system's evaluation of him, so that the rewards he would receive would be even more generous.
However, this was not a task that could be completed in just a day or two, so after accepting it, Yuga set it aside and turned to go to the Ecopark, intending to plant the newly acquired Apricorn seeds.
Just like with those medicinal herbs, Yuga still planned to plant the Apricorn seeds in the Grassland Sub-Ecopark, because it had the most open space and enough area to cultivate an orchard.
Before entering the Grassland Sub-Ecopark, Yuga first found Doudou and asked it to go to the Dragon Den Sub-Ecopark to bring a few Trapinch over.
Trapinch are skilled at digging, and having them help with the orchard cultivation was the most suitable choice.
After arriving at the Grassland Sub-Ecopark, Yuga first went to the herb fields, where he saw the Ludicolo leisurely patrolling between the plots. They treated the herbs in the fields with extreme care, as if they were their own children.
The herb field was mainly managed by the Ludicolo. Now the number of Ludicolo had grown from the few that were there before to over twenty, more than enough to manage the herb field.
In addition, the number of Lotad and Lombre had also increased significantly. They also helped look after the herb field.
The area of the herb field had also greatly expanded—not only had the planting quantity of herbs greatly increased, but over the years Yuga had collected a large variety of herb species, and those suitable for cultivation had basically all been planted here.
Currently, most of the medicinal materials that Misaki and Lain used for making Pokéblocks and Incense were self-produced from Yuga's herb field. Only specific ingredients were sourced from outside.
From afar, the herb field looked full of vitality and prosperity, giving a great sense of accomplishment.
Of course, the one who did the planting and management wasn't Yuga himself. The ones who should feel that sense of accomplishment were the Ludicolo.
"Ivysaur~"
Seeing Yuga coming, a cheerful Ivysaur popped out from a patch of herbs and ran over to Yuga in just a few steps. It was the very same Ivysaur Yuga had captured on the island.
Apart from the Ludicolo, the Ivysaur was another key member in managing the herb field.
Ivysaur had extraordinary talent in herb planting, harvesting, and preparation, so it spent most of its time in the herb field with the Ludicolo and rarely returned to the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark.
Previously, the Ludicolo would go to the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark to ask other Grass-type Pokémon to use Grassy Terrain on the herb fields, since they themselves couldn't learn the move. But ever since Ivysaur joined, the number of times they needed to ask for help had dropped significantly. In most cases, Ivysaur alone could handle the entire herb field.
Because of its diligent training, Grassy Terrain had become one of Ivysaur's signature moves.
Yuga squatted down and patted Ivysaur on the forehead: "In a bit, I'm going to cultivate a plot of land to plant fruit trees, so I'll be counting on your help!"
"Ivysaur~ Ivysaur~"
Ivysaur nodded happily—farming was its favorite thing!
So Yuga took it along to pick a suitable spot for developing an orchard.
After quite a bit of searching, Yuga finally chose a location relatively far from the herb fields so the growing fruit trees wouldn't affect them.
At that moment, Doudou also arrived, bringing along several Trapinch. It even had a few Blissey bring tools needed for planting, such as iron spades and shovels.
After explaining to the Trapinch the area that needed to be cultivated, Yuga declared enthusiastically, "Alright then, let's begin!"
"Trapinch~!"
"Audino~!"
"Ivysaur~!"
…
The Pokémon all cheered, then enthusiastically joined Yuga in the work.
The first task was weeding. Most of the land in the Grassland Sub-Ecopark was covered in grass, so before the orchard could be cultivated, all of it had to be cleared.
Ivysaur and the Ludicolo unleashed a flurry of Razor Leaf attacks—shua shua shua—cutting the grass neatly from the roots.
The Trapinch followed up by loosening the soil and clearing out the grass roots.
The cut grass wasn't wasted either—it was all gathered up by the Blissey and piled to the side, ready to be delivered later as extra feed for the Tauros and Miltank.
Although Tauros and Miltank primarily ate Pokéblocks, they still needed a regular supplement of fresh grass. Sure, the Grassland Sub-Ecopark was covered in wild grass, but nothing compared to grass that was cut and delivered right to their mouths!
Yuga and Doudou followed behind the others, sprinkling medicinal powder onto the freshly cleared land. The powder served to disinfect the soil and also helped fertilize it. It was a commonly used tool in farming.
Since the Grassland Sub-Ecopark had large fields of herbs growing, the warehouse here was stocked with plenty of such powder—no need to buy more last minute.
The Ludicolo, Ivysaur, and Trapinch worked swiftly. Before long, a large section of land was cleared.
Because there were many types of Apricorn seeds, Yuga planned to plant them separately. So the orchard had to be divided into multiple sections. After working on all of this, Yuga was nearly exhausted.
He had only cultivated about half of the orchard and was already at his limit.
In the end, he had no choice but to say to Doudou, "Go call everyone over. If it's just the few of us, who knows how long we'll be stuck working—until the year of the monkey?"
Farmers really have it tough!
Most of the herb fields had been developed by Pokémon in the past. Today, Yuga just happened to want to do some hands-on labor himself—but he hadn't expected it to be this exhausting.
Turns out, having a strong body and being able to work hard are two different things.
Oh man… my poor back!
"Audino~"
Audino replied and immediately ran out of the Grassland Sub-Ecopark. Not only was Yuga worn out, it was also completely exhausted.
Soon, Doudou brought a large group of Pokémon. With everyone's help, the orchard was fully cultivated in no time.
After the land was cleared, the next steps were planting, fertilizing, and watering—all of which were much easier than the initial clearing. At the very least, they weren't as physically demanding.
Thanks to everyone's help, those tasks were quickly finished as well.
Fortunately, the Ecopark had so many Pokémon. If Yuga had to do all of this alone, it wouldn't be possible to finish even in a month. But now, everything was done in just one day.
After all the seeds were planted, the group of Grass-type Pokémon once again joined forces to use Grassy Terrain, nourishing the soil thoroughly. Only then did Yuga, fully satisfied, begin to admire the fruits of today's labor (even though, in truth, he didn't even count as a proper helper).
Looking at the neatly arranged plots of orchard land, smelling the earthy aroma rising from the soil, Yuga said happily and proudly to the Ivysaur at his feet, "Ivysaur, from now on this will be your domain, so make sure to take good care of it!"
Turns out, farming actually gave people a surprising sense of accomplishment!
(The Pokémon: Shameless! How much did you even do? Talking about 'sense of accomplishment'—you really know how to flatter yourself!)
"Ivysaur~ Ivysaur~"
Ivysaur bounced up and down with joy and promised Yuga that it would definitely make this orchard flourish.
Over the next few days, as long as Yuga had some free time, he would come by the newly cultivated orchard to patrol and check on things.
Ivysaur was even more diligent. It stayed in the orchard almost all day, occasionally casting Grassy Terrain over the soil again. Yuga sometimes even worried whether the seeds were getting too much nourishment from all that energy.
Fortunately, what Yuga had feared didn't happen. Several days later, when he had just entered the Grassland Sub-Ecopark, Ivysaur excitedly ran over and grabbed Yuga's wrist with its vine, trying to pull him forward.
Yuga immediately realized something: "The seeds sprouted?"
"Ivysaur~ Ivysaur~"
Ivysaur nodded rapidly, and Yuga couldn't help but quicken his pace.
From a distance, Yuga could already see little specks of green dotting the brown earth—very eye-catching. As he got closer, the sight of those thriving, adorable little seedlings was even more heartwarming.
There wasn't a single weed in this whole patch of land—this was all thanks to Ivysaur's efforts!
"Well done!"
Yuga patted Ivysaur on the head in praise, which made Ivysaur both happy and a bit shy. In truth, farming was its personal hobby. It worked so hard purely out of interest—not for praise.
Back when it was living alone on the island, its days had been aimless and dull. Only now had it truly discovered the joy of living.
Just then, a milky white glow suddenly burst from Ivysaur's body, catching Yuga completely off guard.
Evolution light? Was it evolving?
As the glow of evolution spread across Ivysaur's entire body, its form began to grow taller and larger. Before long, it even surpassed Yuga's height.
When the light faded, standing before Yuga was a… rotund—ah no, robust Venusaur.
This Venusaur was much larger than the average one. Its body was round and plump, with even its cheeks puffed up adorably. There was something oddly cute about it.
So Yuga's first impression, at a glance, was… fat.
Moreover, this Venusaur's coloration was much lighter than a typical one—both its body and the flower on its back were paler than usual.
A normal Venusaur's body is typically dark green, while this one was light green; a normal Venusaur's flower on its back is dark red, with only a few scattered light red spots, but this one's entire flower was light red, and the spots were nearly invisible.
These two points stood in stark contrast to the Venusaur in Yuga's main team. Because of the strong toxins in that Venusaur's body, its coloration was even darker than that of an average Venusaur, especially the flower on its back, which was extremely vibrant.
The two Venusaurs were practically polar opposites in this regard.
Not only that, but this Venusaur also emitted a gentle fragrance, very pleasant to smell.
Yuga's main team Venusaur also had a scent on its body. Likely due to its natural talent, the scent it gave off was rich and intense—smelling too much of it would not only feel cloying, but also cause mild hallucinations.
That was the effect of the toxins mixed into the scent.
But this one was different. The fragrance it emitted was especially fresh, and also very elegant.
Yuga happily patted Venusaur on its thick thigh: "Congratulations, Venusaur, you've finally evolved!"
Even the skin of this Venusaur was much smoother than a typical one. Usually, Venusaur would have bumpy, wart-like protrusions all over their bodies, a symbol of them being Poison-type Pokémon, but this one had very few such bumps.
"Venusaur~ Venusaur~"
Venusaur seemed to have not yet realized that it had evolved. It turned its head left and right, lifted its left foot to look, then its right foot—completely clueless. Combined with its round, puffy cheeks, it looked even more adorable.
"Venusaur~ Venusaur~ Venusaur~"
Once it finally realized what had happened, Venusaur immediately shouted out excitedly. When it evolved into Ivysaur before, due to some special circumstances, it was much slower than other Grass-type Pokémon, and it had always worried if there was something wrong with itself.
Now that it had finally evolved to its final stage successfully, of course it was overjoyed.
"Alright, alright, since you've evolved, you'll need to work even harder from now on!"
Yuga gently patted Venusaur to soothe its overly excited emotions.
In the blink of an eye, a few more days passed. The newly sprouted seedlings were growing strong under Venusaur's care, so Yuga didn't worry as much anymore.
That day, Yuga was in the workshop of the new store with Misaki, working on making Pokéblocks, when suddenly a sharp scream came from outside. Judging by the sound, it was Lain.
Yuga thought something bad had happened, but the next moment Lain burst into the room holding an incense burner. As soon as she entered, a gentle fragrance spread throughout the workshop, and both Yuga and Misaki felt their minds becoming much clearer upon smelling it.
Yuga was extremely familiar with this scent—it was the scent of Mystic Incense—but there was a slight difference from the usual Mystic Incense he had smelled before.
"Yuga, Yuga, look! Did I make a top-grade incense?!"
Lain shouted excitedly, so thrilled that even the way she addressed Yuga changed—she usually called him Boss Yuga.
Yuga had already guessed something when he smelled the scent of the incense. He immediately stood up with a whoosh and took large strides to Lain's side, taking the incense burner from her and carefully smelling it.
After a while, he looked up at Lain and said, "Do you still have any unlit finished incense? Let me take a look."
"Oh, oh… yes, yes!"
Lain quickly handed over the rest of the Incense to Yuga. Her nervous energy was completely different from her usual calm demeanor, but everyone understood her feelings—especially Misaki.
Yuga gently pinched a bit of the incense powder with his fingers and brought it under his nose for a sniff. After a long moment, he finally smiled happily and congratulated Lain: "Congratulations, this has indeed reached top-tier quality."
Upon hearing Yuga's words, Lain let out a long sigh of relief. Actually, her skill level was higher than Yuga's—was she not capable of judging incense quality herself? She just wanted someone to confirm it and to share her joy.