"It looks like I'll need to hurry the berry crops in the experimental fields to maturity. I might even be able to give him a boost at the last moment."
Rolling up his sleeves, Aven walked toward the experimental plots. With his Pokémon training so hard, he had no excuse to slack off.
In the fields, flowers bloomed across the berry trees, with small fruits already forming.
On some branches, berries of entirely different types had grown—these were the results of successful mutations.
Oran Berry fused with Pecha Berry, producing Qualot Berry.
Aspear Berry fused with Leppa Berry, producing Hondew Berry.
Chesto Berry fused with Persim Berry, producing Kelpsy Berry.
(TN: YESSS, finally got to use my Chinese berry sheet.)
Aven's gaze swept over the plants, identifying each new berry and jotting them down in his notebook.
Every new berry had unique properties, capable of being brewed into various potions. Instinctively, his mind began pairing these with the potion recipes stored in his memory.
"Hmm? Is that… a Yache Berry?"
His eyes lit up as they landed on a gem-blue berry with diamond-shaped green markings.
The Yache Berry, an Ice-type berry, had the effect of absorbing Ice-type energy.
When eaten, it could lessen the damage from Ice-type attacks by absorbing the elemental energy within them. Because of this, Yache Berries were a top-tier ingredient in Ice-type potion-making.
"I didn't expect to actually mutate a Yache Berry!"
In his memory, Yache Berries only appeared when multiple different berry species were planted together, and even then, the odds of mutation were tiny—and success far from guaranteed.
Yet here it was, growing in his own field.
With this berry, he could harvest seeds, grow a full Yache Berry tree, and secure a steady supply in the future.
Just then, the training bout ended, and Froslass floated over, her gaze locking on the Yache Berry. She had sensed its powerful Ice-type energy from the start.
"That's a Yache Berry. It's brimming with Ice-type energy—it'll help with your training," Aven explained.
"Lass!"
Froslass's eyes brightened instantly. Recently, her Ice-type training had been slow going, so finding a resource that could aid her was exciting.
"However, this berry is far too valuable to use in a potion right now—we need it for seed cultivation," Aven continued.
"But once it grows into a tree, the area around it will be rich in Ice-type energy, which will be great for your training."
At that, Froslass quickly nodded, her earlier disappointment replaced by renewed excitement. She understood very well what a dense elemental environment meant.
"Don't worry. I promise it won't let you down," Aven said.
"When the weather turns cold, we'll plant it. By the time winter passes, it should be ready for harvest. Its growth rate depends entirely on how much energy it absorbs—making it perfect for accelerated cultivation. Once winter ends, we'll have plenty of Yache Berries."
Aven went on to explain in more detail.
Most Ice-type berries grow during the winter—and the same is true for Ice-type Pokémon. At present, Froslass's training progress was not particularly fast, but once winter arrived, her training efficiency would increase dramatically. The Ice-type energy in winter would also be much more concentrated.
For that reason, Aven planned to arrange most of Froslass's training during the winter season.
Her Ghost-type strength had already reached the King tier, and with that power as the foundation, it was very likely that this winter, Froslass's Ice-type abilities could break through to the quasi-King level!
Thinking this over, he led Froslass toward a Chesto Berry tree that was bearing Yache Berries. Both Yache Berries and Chesto Berries were blue in color and not particularly eye-catching when growing on the tree—so much so that ordinary people would have a hard time spotting them at all.
"Meowr~ Meow~ Meow~"
Luxio, having taken a short rest, came running over quickly.
The moment it heard that there were special berries that could directly aid in training, its eyes lit up with excitement.
Luxio: I want some too! I want some too!
"The thing is, there doesn't seem to be berries that mutated a version to an Electric-type berry yet," Aven said as he reached out to stroke Luxio's fur.
After all, berry mutations were not something that could be achieved easily. Even with the mutation fertilizer that could greatly increase the chances of mutation, it only raised the probability—it didn't guarantee success. And the rarer the berry, the harder it was to induce a mutation.
The fact that the orchard had already produced one successfully mutated Yache Berry was a big surprise to Aven. Trying to produce another berry of equal rarity would be extremely difficult.
"Meow… Meowr…"
Hearing this, Luxio let out two slightly dejected cries.
"Alright, don't be discouraged. Next, I'll find a way to help you break through to the advanced-tier," Aven reassured it. "And once we have Yache Berries, I can work on cultivating even rarer varieties—ones that will be of great help to you."
He offered these words of encouragement, while his gaze swept quickly across the berry grove until it landed on a fruit that looked somewhat like a cantaloupe. His eyes narrowed slightly.
This was a Hondew Berry, a relatively rare berry. Because of its delicious flavor, it was extremely popular among Pokémon and could greatly increase the bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon.
However, if eaten directly, it had a side effect: it would weaken a Pokémon's Special Attack, which was why it was rarely consumed raw.
Of course, the Hondew Berry's greatest value lay not in direct consumption, but in being used as an ingredient for various Pokémon foods. In the future, it would become a very important material for making high-end treats such as Pokéblocks and Poffins.
Pokéblocks and Poffins were high-grade Pokémon foods as well as precious nutritional supplements. Many of them even possessed special effects that could help Pokémon increase their strength.
As a Pokémon Breeder, Aven was naturally no stranger to these. In the past, it was only due to a lack of sufficient materials that he had been unable to make them. Now, perhaps he could try.
"Pokéblocks and Poffins… I bet Petilil and the others would be thrilled," he murmured with a faint smile. As a Breeder, most of his time was spent researching Pokémon food, so the thought of making these treats was very familiar to him.
That said, this wasn't something he could do immediately. The Hondew Berry seeds would have to be kept for planting new Hondew Berry trees. Fortunately, there were quite a few mutated Hondew Berries in the orchard.
Moreover, the mutations in the grove were only at their first stage. Now that new berries had been harvested, he could continue inducing mutations to obtain more varieties.
"Hondew Berries and Yache Berries… I recall that these can still be further mutated," Aven thought, his gaze lingering on the two berries. A new berry-mutation formula immediately came to mind.
When Hondew Berries and Yache Berries grew together, there was a certain chance they would mutate into Liechi Berries.
Liechi Berries were far rarer than Yache Berries, because consuming one directly could immediately boost a Pokémon's Attack stat—an effect that was nothing short of astonishing.
If he could successfully obtain Liechi Berries, he would be able to concoct potions that continuously enhanced a Pokémon's Attack power, allowing that stat to keep climbing!
In his current lineup, although Grass-type Pokémon made up the majority, Pokémon like Rhydon, Luxio, Mightyena, Nidoran♂, and Nidoran♀ would all benefit greatly from Liechi Berries.
"No matter what, the berry mutations must continue," Aven decided firmly.
"Tang~ Tang~"
From within the grove, Tangrowth came forward to greet him.
Lately, Tangrowth had been in charge of overseeing the experimental plots along with the Tangela group. With its Growth move, Tangrowth was an outstanding gardener.
"Tangrowth, I'll be relying on you to keep looking after the berries from here on," Aven said, patting Tangrowth's shoulder. Now that the berries had begun to grow, the next priority was ripening them.
"Tang~ Tang!"
Tangrowth patted its own chest to show it had no problem with that.
In the distance, the Tangela group could be seen carrying small wooden buckets with their vines. These buckets were filled with Growth Fertilizer. Now that the berries had already formed, there was no further need to irrigate them with Berry Fertilizer.
As the Growth Fertilizer was poured around the berry trees, Tangrowth also activated its Growth move to help the plants absorb the nutrients.
A green glow shimmered over Tangrowth's body, and some of the fertilizer's energy was drawn into itself, further strengthening its own energy fluctuations.
Then, the energy from Growth condensed into a bright green light that enveloped a berry tree, making the fruit grow rapidly.
"Plume~"
From afar, Vileplume approached alongside Vespiquen.
During the ripening stage, Vileplume's Grassy Terrain move was also incredibly powerful. It could cover the entire grove, dramatically speeding up the growth of all the berries.
Normally, it took a little over a month for berries to mature after flowering. But with the help of Pokémon powers, they could be ready in as little as half a month.
Near the Fruitvale Village's surrounding groves—
Old Village Chief Raul sat in a rocking chair, gazing at the trees heavy with unripe berries in the distance. Around him sat several other elderly villagers, chatting idly as older folk tended to do.
Lately, the only topic these lifelong berry farmers wanted to talk about was, of course, berries.
"In all my years, I've never seen berries flower this early," Raul said with a note of wonder.
Under normal conditions, berries wouldn't bloom for several more months. Yet now, they had already begun to bear fruit.
"Yes, just look at the berries on those trees! I reckon this year's harvest could equal several years' worth of past harvests," another elderly farmer said, joy in his voice. "By my judgment, in just one month these berries will be fully ripe. And since it's only just autumn, we might even get two harvests this year!"
The old men smiled broadly, their faces showing the happiness of a bountiful year. Life suddenly seemed full of hope again.
"Elders, I think it'll take only half a month for these berries to be ready," a young man nearby said with a grin. "Don't forget the fertilizer and the Pokémon's help—they can speed up berry growth a lot."
"Oh, you're right. I keep forgetting we can't judge things by our old experience anymore," one of the old farmers admitted with a sigh.
After greeting the elders, the young men pushed their carts—loaded with buckets—into the grove, scooping out the fertilizer with wooden ladles to feed the berry trees and speed up their growth.
Scenes like this had become common around Fruitvale Village. With the berries nearing maturity, every farmer in the village wore the smile of a good harvest, leaving outsiders puzzled.
"What? You're saying the berries around Fruitvale Village are about to ripen?"
Whenever outsiders happened to hear the news, their faces showed astonishment. Some could even be seen hurrying through the village, spreading the word.
Such large-scale berry ripening was impossible to keep secret. Once the outsiders learned, word inevitably spread—soon reaching Aspiration City.
…
Ironblood Fortress, Gilded Beast Merchant Guild
Nelson was utterly stunned by the report in front of him.
His informants had confirmed the news: the berries near Fruitvale Village were about to ripen on a massive scale.
When he first heard it, Nelson had nearly fallen over. Even bracing himself against the desk, his body trembled uncontrollably.
"Why… Why is this happening? It's barely autumn yet!" he gasped. "Why are the berries in Fruitvale Village ripening now? Why?!"
His face went pale as a sheet. It felt as though an iron grip had closed around his heart, making it hard to breathe.
He could already imagine what was about to happen.
Once the berries ripened in large quantities, it would mean the Gilded Beast Merchant Guild's berry blockade plan had completely failed!
Now that Fruitvale Village had successfully produced a substitute potion, potion prices had already been driven down.
In order to sell their stock, the Gilded Beast Merchant Guild had cut prices again and again—yet still had sold very little.
Once Fruitvale Village began producing large quantities of potions again, the market would inevitably swing back in their favor. The already-low prices would be pushed down even further.
If the potion prices in Aspiration City returned to their original levels, the Gilded Beast Merchant Guild would suffer huge losses. Large quantities of berries and potions would rot in their storage!
At present, the guild had sunk most of its funds into buying berries, and some debts within the Ironblood Alliance still hadn't been settled. On top of that, they hadn't even paid the apothecaries wages—another massive sum.
If prices returned to their former level, the Gilded Beast Merchant Guild's finances would collapse completely.
"Lord Nelson, bad news!"
At that moment, a steward came rushing in.
Nelson flinched at the sound, a sheen of cold sweat appearing on his forehead. "What is it now?"
"The apothecaries they're rebelling," the steward said urgently. "They're demanding immediate payment for their recent work. If we don't pay, they'll stop making potions!"
The words hit Nelson like a hammer blow. His vision went black, and at last his body gave out. He collapsed to the floor in a faint.
(End of Chapter)