That night, Aven sat on the rooftop, letting the cool evening breeze brush against him, his gaze fixed on the distant grassy field swaying gently under the wind's caress.
Down on the meadow, countless Oddish had gathered together, surrounding Ralts and Petilil in a close circle, all dancing joyfully in unison.
The moon hung high in the sky, and under Ralts' guidance, the pure white moonlight condensed into a single beam that poured down from the heavens, enveloping all the Oddish in the clearing.
Bathed in the moon's nourishment, each Oddish's body shimmered with a faint silver glow, which seeped gradually into them, accelerating their growth.
As the Oddish matured, one could also see that the surrounding grass in the meadow was subtly affected—growing a little taller, its blades becoming even more vibrantly green.
"Lass~ lass~."
Froslass appeared beside him, gracefully sitting down at his side.
Immediately, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply, the heat of the summer night dissipating at once.
"Thank you, Froslass." Aven turned his head and smiled at her.
Ever since Froslass had joined him, he hadn't felt even the slightest summer heat—almost as if he carried an air conditioner around wherever he went.
"Lass~ lass~ lass~."
Hearing his praise, Froslass happily narrowed her eyes, holding her face in her hands, her ghostly form seemingly ready to float away.
Aaaah, Aven praised me!
From the moment they had returned from the Black Forest, she had never once left his side.
Although she usually remained invisible when accompanying him, and their direct conversations weren't frequent, there was an extraordinary, unspoken understanding between them.
Like the refreshing coolness she maintained around him during summer—Aven could always feel at ease with that gentle chill constantly at his side.
"Summer is almost over."
"Next comes what will surely be a season of harvest!"
"Food? In the future world, there's never been a shortage of food."
His gaze lingered on the lush grass swaying with life—a green brimming with hope.
In the future, although most territories were occupied by wild Pokémon, humanity had never truly worried about food shortages.
Aside from advanced poultry breeding and berry cultivation techniques, the most important factor was, of course, the power of Pokémon.
Growth fertilizer, Berry fertilizer, the moves Rototiller, Growth, and Grassy Terrain…
The Pokémon world had countless ways to harvest vast quantities of food in a short time—methods that were far beyond the imagination of this current, underdeveloped era.
Take wheat, for example. In the modern era, wheat was divided into spring wheat and winter wheat.
Spring wheat was usually sown between March and April, harvested in July or August; winter wheat was sown in September or October and harvested in June to August of the following year.
But in this ancient Pokémon world, wheat varieties were far inferior. From sowing to harvest took nearly a full year.
Thus, wheat here was generally planted in autumn and could only be harvested in summer of the following year. Moreover, the ears of wheat it produced were far smaller and less plentiful than those of modern wheat.
Right now was the height of summer, the season when large quantities of wheat matured and were harvested—and that was precisely why the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild had chosen this time to cut off trade between Fruitvale Village and other territories.
While Fruitvale Village had been rapidly expanding its farmland and could complete sowing in autumn, the harvest would still come only in next year's summer.
By simply buying up vast quantities of grain this summer, the guild could leave Fruitvale Village unable to store enough food for the winter. Add to that the magical beast seasonal attacks in winter, and the village would inevitably struggle to survive—this was exactly why the merchant guild was so confident.
But what they could never imagine was that Aven came from the future, and had mastered the farming techniques of that future world!
Growth fertilizer, Berry fertilizer, the Rototiller move, the Growth move, Grassy Terrain—he had fully mastered all these farming cultivation methods!
Take wheat again: although under normal conditions it took a year to grow—from sowing in autumn to harvesting in the next summer—by using the methods from the future and harnessing Pokémon power, Aven could compress the growth cycle to just two or three months!
That meant that by September he could sow the wheat, and in only two months—by November—it would be ready for harvest, just in time to store it away before winter arrived!
And that was exactly why he was so confident about waging a price war with the Ironblood Fortress. It was already August; Fruitvale Village needed only to store enough food for three months to completely solve its winter food problem.
The same Pokémon-assisted growth methods could be applied to other crops as well—even berries could be made to grow faster!
Under normal conditions, berries bore fruit only once per year, but with Growth fertilizer, Berry fertilizer, and the help of Pokémon, they could bear fruit twice in a year.
Take the village's current berry orchards: the berries were just beginning to bloom, and before winter came, they could flower and bear fruit again!
In fact, if one used the Sunny Day move to forcefully alter the weather, creating an environment suited to plant growth, crops could even grow out of season, creating an extra harvest cycle!
"I'm actually starting to look forward to this trade war," Aven mused aloud.
"When the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild spends huge sums to buy up grain, only to find that Fruitvale Village is completely unaffected—what kind of expression will they have?"
His lips curved upward, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes. "Monopolizing food isn't so easy. I'll see if you can withstand what's coming."
He had already cast his bait, and the other side had bitten. What lay ahead would surely be a fine show to watch. This time, he was going to crush them with absolute superiority—teach the Gilded Fang Merchant Guild how real commercial warfare was fought.
…
In the village's farmland, the berry trees were all in bloom.
After noticing something unusual about the orchard, Mike had quickly called Aven over.
The oran berry trees in the orchard were thriving. Thanks to Aven's methods, not a single one had been lost during the winter.
But now, in summer, the oran berry trees were blooming—something Mike had never seen in all his years of cultivation.
"At last, ordinary berries are blooming too."
Standing before the orchard, Aven smiled as he looked at the flowers on the oran berry trees.
The orchards were regularly irrigated with fertilizer, and many Grass-type Pokémon lived among them, filling the soil with a deep vitality.
With all these factors working together, the berry trees grew far faster than normal. After absorbing enough nutrients, they began to bloom.
And once they bloomed, fruit would not be far behind—meaning that these Oran Berries, normally harvested in early winter, could now be picked this very summer.
"Uncle Mike, this development is perfectly normal," Aven explained simply.
"With Growth fertilizer and the help of Pokémon, their growth rate far surpasses that of ordinary berries."
Mike nodded slightly. He recalled the scene when they had first accelerated the growth of berry seedlings, and found this outcome easy to accept.
"At this rate, the orchard could yield two harvests this year."
"Uncle Mike, check the other farms later and collect data on their orchards as well. If their berries are blooming, record the information—we'll be adjusting our cultivation methods to make the trees bear even more fruit."
"As for the details, don't tell the farmers just yet. Just say it's an unexpected effect from the fertilizer, and that I'll take care of it."
After some thought, Aven handed over the matter. The farmers would also need to maintain secrecy—this was a crucial trump card in the trade war!
"Alright, I understand. I'll see to it right away."
"All the berry farmers in Fruitvale Village are our own people. I'll make sure the secrecy is kept."
Mike was confident. These farmers owed their good lives to Aven, and their loyalty was beyond question.
"Good, then I'll trouble you with this matter, Uncle Mike."
"And for now, stop distributing more Growth fertilizer."
After receiving his instructions, Mike left in a hurry to check the other farms.
Watching him go, Aven turned his gaze back to the berry orchard and closed his eyes, thinking over berry cultivation methods.
Since the berries had already bloomed, the next step toward bearing fruit was pollination.
Pollination was the essential process before a plant could produce fruit.
The movement of pollen from the anther to the stigma was called pollination. Depending on the plant, this could be self-pollination or cross-pollination.
Cross-pollination occurred when male and female flowers exchanged pollen via wind, water, insects, or even human activity, leading to fertilization.
In this world, pollination was almost entirely left to nature, which meant it carried many uncertainties and could affect the fruit-setting rate.
Now, Aven planned to carry out manual pollination, ensuring more flowers were fertilized and more fruit could grow.
There were many ways to pollinate manually, but the simplest and most efficient in the future world was to let Pokémon do it.
"Combee should be just about ready to evolve by now, shouldn't it?" Aven smiled faintly.
Pokémon suited for pollination were usually Bug-types—most commonly the butterfly Pokémon like Butterfree, Beautifly, and Vivillon.
However, he had never seen Butterfree, Beautifly, or Vivillon in the Black Forest—perhaps due to regional differences or the presence of predators.
Mothim, while also capable of pollinating, had a habit of stealing pollen collected by Combee rather than spreading it.
Thus, in the entire Black Forest, the only suitable pollinators left were Combee. And a single Combee couldn't handle such a large-scale pollination effort—it needed to evolve first.
…
In the Safari Zone,
an orange figure darted among the blossoms.
Before long, the shiny Combee settled on a reddish-brown flower, beginning to collect pollen.
But as it did, the reddish-brown "flower" twitched and pushed its way out of the soil—it was actually a Gloom.
"Bzz~ bzz~ bzz~!"
The shiny Combee quickly took off in alarm.
"Glooo~"
Recognizing the Combee, the Gloom promptly retreated back into the cool soil beneath the surface.
Gloom had long since grown accustomed to the Combee's presence, and didn't mind at all when they collected its pollen.
As the Combee flew on, its pollen was carried farther and farther afield, possibly fertilizing other Gloom along the way.
After making a round of pollen collection, the Combee returned to the backyard of the breeding house—the safest place for it—where it could peacefully turn its pollen into sweet honey.
(End of Chapter)