Dratini and the three Snovers sat happily at the table, enjoying their lunch together.
Meanwhile, Raven opened his technology panel to check which advancements he could currently unlock.
At the Agricultural Era, there were four main branches of development:
[Gathering] (Unlocked) → Branch 1: [Basic Berry Cultivation] (Unlockable) → Branch 2: [Basic Herbalism] (Unlockable)
[Animal Husbandry] (Unlockable) → [Basic Processing] (Unlocks simple agricultural byproduct recipes)
[Fishing] (Unlockable) → [Basic Shipbuilding] (Unlocks simple ship construction techniques)
[Mining] (Unlockable) → [Basic Ore Theory] (Unlocks smelting methods for certain ores)
The panel displayed a dense tree of technologies. The Agricultural Era was still relatively simple, but further along the tree, every branch split into numerous sub-branches.
And to unlock one, the prerequisite had to be researched first.
Far down the tree, Raven even spotted technologies unique to the Pokémon world—Poké Ball Transmission, Fossil Revival, Genetic Cloning…
But their costs were astronomical: millions of satisfaction points.
"…There's no way I'll live long enough to unlock those," Raven muttered to himself.
For now, it was more important to focus on something that could immediately benefit the territory.
He glanced back at the far-left branch.
But when he saw that [Gathering] was already unlocked, he paused in surprise.
When did I unlock that?
No… wait. Thinking back on the past few days, Raven suddenly understood.
If the residents of his territory achieved a breakthrough on their own, the corresponding technology would automatically unlock!
It was because he had ordered the villagers to forage berries that [Gathering] had appeared as completed.
"Not bad. Saves me some time," he smiled faintly.
His eyes shifted to the unlockable technologies.
[Basic Berry Cultivation]: Unlocks methods for growing Oran, Chesto, Pecha, Sitrus, and other berries. Cost: 200 Satisfaction.
"Berries…" Raven fell into thought.
Unique to the Pokémon world, berries looked like ordinary fruits but were far more nutritious—and many possessed mysterious effects: healing wounds, curing poison, soothing burns or frostbite, even restoring energy (what the games called PP).
But right now, his territory had no berry trees planted, and the knowledge wasn't immediately useful.
From the original owner's memories, Raven knew that some humans in this world already understood how to cultivate berries. To spend points here would be wasteful.
Still, this branch eventually led to Poffin Crafting and Pokéblock Production, both invaluable for Pokémon.
"…Better to wait until the villagers naturally discover berries in the wild, and let it unlock itself. That'll save me 200 points." Raven smirked.
Animal Husbandry and Fishing weren't useful yet either—there simply weren't enough Pokémon.
Even if he unlocked them, there were no Miltanks, Gogoats, or Wooloos around to raise.
It would be like trying to cook without ingredients.
As for Mining—no ore veins had been discovered nearby. Unlocking it now was pointless.
That left only one truly practical option:
[Basic Herbalism].
With it, the territory could begin using medicinal herbs to brew potions for healing Pokémon injuries.
That meant Pokémon living here would no longer need to fear wounds going untreated.
And Dratini's training could finally move forward.
"Unlock!"
With a deduction of 200 Satisfaction, Raven's mind instantly filled with recipes and instructions.
[Potion], [Super Potion], [Antidote], [Burn Heal], [Awakening]…
He scanned through them carefully, then grabbed parchment and a quill, writing down the formulas one by one.
"Aelif, take this to Lila." Raven handed the parchment to his butler.
Lila was the only physician in the territory. And these potions weren't just for Pokémon—humans could benefit too.
The winter cold was biting. Raven had already noticed frostbite and chilblains on many villagers' faces, hands, and ears.
These remedies would surely help.
"Yes, Your Highness," Aelif replied, accepting the parchment before departing.
By then, the Snovers and Dratini had finished their meal.
Reactions to the Snovers' presence varied across the territory.
Some still feared them. Others found them fascinating—creatures that wouldn't harm anyone, and even shared fruit from their own bodies.
Curiosity began to grow.
That afternoon, when the Snovers played outside, many villagers gathered at a distance to watch.
Children, especially, could not resist. Just like in the morning, they ran up to play with them.
Raven noticed one boy sneak cookies from his pocket and shyly offer them to a Snover—clearly taken from home without permission.
The crowd lingered for a while, but once it was clear the Snovers posed no danger, the adults dispersed to resume work.
Trees still needed felling, cabins still needed building—every effort counted in surviving the winter.
Raven, too, was busy.
He left the Snovers to mind the children and set out with Dratini and several farmers toward the field chosen that morning.
This time, he didn't keep Dratini tucked in his clothes. Instead, he let it brave the cold.
A frigid wind swept over them. Dratini trembled violently, even sniffling with a runny nose.
"Uuuh…" So cold…
It looked ready to give up.
But when it saw Raven's own nose red from the wind, it hesitated.
"…Uuuh."
Then, sniffing hard, Dratini straightened itself, summoning its willpower.
Raven was enduring this too. It couldn't back down!
"Ready, Dratini?" Raven asked.
"Uuuh!" It nodded firmly.
"Good. Then let's begin your training! Your task this afternoon is to use Twister on that boulder twenty times!"
Twister—Dratini's only offensive move. But since it had grown pampered in the royal palace, its mastery was poor, and its power weak.
In this era, humanity's knowledge of Pokémon was rudimentary. The trainer system didn't exist. Pokémon mostly fought by instinct.
The original owner's memories confirmed this—human armies fought alongside Pokémon in armor, clashing in brutal melee, rarely employing special moves.
That was why training Dratini's Twister was crucial: improving both its strength and its control over its inner energy.
Beneath a great tree in the territory, Anna sat with Zorua, studying the parchment Raven had given her.
"Trait… Dark-type… Moves…" she murmured, frowning.
No matter how long she puzzled over the words, she couldn't make sense of them.
Frustrated, she groaned:"Ahhh, this is too hard! Zorua, do you know what Confusion means?"
"Zorua?" it tilted its head.
Then its eyes glowed faint blue.
An unseen force suddenly gathered and shot forward—slamming into a nearby boulder.
BOOM!
The rock split clean in two.
"Ah!" Anna gasped, frozen in shock.
The glow faded from Zorua's eyes.
Even she couldn't miss the truth now.
"Zorua… you broke that rock?"
"Zorua~!" It nodded proudly.
"S-so strong!"
After a stunned moment, her eyes sparkled with awe.
Her little beast was incredible!
Wait…
She suddenly realized. Snatching up the parchment, she glanced back and forth between it and Zorua.
"Then just now… that was Confusion?" she asked nervously.
"Zorua!"
It nodded again.
"No way…"
The words written here—were they the powers her beast could use? The so-called "moves"?
Heart racing, Anna pointed to another word at random.
"…Fury Swipes?"
Light flared around Zorua's claws, and it began slashing rapidly into the air.
Anna stood there, utterly speechless.
(End of Chapter)