In the cold, snowy night, a biting wind howled outside, carrying heavy snow.
Anna, Zorua, and her mother stayed in the newly completed wooden house, with a burning bonfire in front of them.
A pot hung over the bonfire, filled with a creamy, delicious fish soup.
"Alright, it's ready to eat!" Anna's mother, Allie, said, serving fish soup from the pot while gently calling out to her daughter.
"The snow outside is so heavy!"
Anna and Zorua looked out at the snowy night from the small window, exclaiming in surprise.
Hearing her mother's call, Anna turned and ran back, and Zorua also jumped from the window onto the wooden floor.
They looked at the fish soup in the pot and said, "It smells so good!"
"Then drink a lot," Allie said with a smile.
She served another bowl for Zorua, placing it in front of her: "Zorua, you have a bowl too.
Let me know if it's not enough!"
"Woo!"
Zorua lowered her head and began to lap up the fish soup in the bowl with her pink tongue.
Allie watched this scene, feeling utterly amazed.
It turned out there were such magical beasts in this world.
A few days ago, she and Anna went out Gathering herbs together and accidentally encountered a wild magical beast that attacked them.
At that time, thanks to Zorua, they were not injured!
At this moment, Allie had completely accepted Zorua's existence in her heart.
Living with a magical beast wasn't so bad after all!
"So delicious!" Anna ate the golden-brown, crispy grilled fish with big bites, letting out a cheer.
Allie smiled, pursing her lips: "Anna, you must follow Draconis and study hard.
Don't let him down, okay?"
They owed their current situation to Draconis.
Otherwise, they would probably have frozen to death in the Blizzard by now.
"Yes!" Anna nodded vigorously.
She thought of the task Draconis had assigned her and turned to Zorua, saying, "Zorua, let's practice illusions again before we go to bed later!"
"Woo~!"
***
Dinner time arrived, and Draconis returned from outside, bringing with him a chill.
He took off his snow-covered cloak and walked into the room.
The firewood in the stone fireplace was burning fiercely, sparks flying and crackling, and the orange-red firelight illuminated the entire room brightly.
In a short while, Draconis felt himself warming up.
Perhaps because it was too comfortable, the Dratini and Minccino were already feeling sleepy.
Five Minccino huddled on the bed, while Dratini curled up on a cushion on the carpet and fell asleep.
Draconis's entrance did not attract the attention of the Pokémon.
Seeing this, Draconis asked the maid to bring dinner.
Their dinner today was grilled fish, fish soup, white bread, and smoked ham, with small pieces of Sitrus Berry for dessert.
As the food was brought to the table, an enticing aroma filled the entire room.
Dratini woke up immediately, and the Minccino were also lured by the scent.
Seeing this, Draconis couldn't help but smile, "Dinner is served!"
The Pokémon immediately gathered around, sitting with Draconis at the dining table and beginning their dinner.
Draconis ate quickly.
While Dratini and the others had not yet finished their meal, Draconis opened his lord panel.
"Next, it's time to check the technology."
With the completion of the wooden house, the residents of his territory provided him with 500 satisfaction points.
And as time passed, these satisfaction points were slowly increasing, breaking through the 600 mark in just one afternoon.
Draconis's thoughts stirred slightly, and the tech tree panel appeared before his eyes.
[Gathering (Unlocked)] → Branch 1 [Basic Berry Cultivation (Unlockable)]
→ Branch 2 [Basic Herbalism (Unlocked)] → [Advanced Herbalism (Unlockable)]
[Animal Husbandry (Unlockable)] → [Basic Processing (Unlocks some basic agricultural and sideline product processing recipes)]
[Fishing (Unlocked)] → [Basic Shipbuilding (Unlockable)]
[Mining (Unlockable)] → [Basic Ore Theory (Unlockable)]
Draconis's gaze swept over these technologies.
Currently, he had 600 satisfaction points, enough to unlock all the remaining [Mining] and [Animal Husbandry].
But… looking at the next few technologies, Draconis fell into deep thought.
Basic Berry Cultivation could be automatically unlocked next spring when farmers skilled in cultivation planted Sitrus Berry seeds in the soil.
Advanced Herbalism could be unlocked first, as it contained some advanced Potion concoction methods, but the only problem was that this technology required 500 satisfaction points.
"…Forget it, with the herbs Lila currently has, even if it's unlocked, she can't concoct anything."
After a moment of contemplation, Draconis chose to temporarily abandon this technology.
He planned to unlock it next year when he had enough herbs or had established an herb garden.
As for Basic Shipbuilding… Draconis quickly glanced at it.
This technology included some small wooden boat manufacturing processes and blueprints.
Although unlocking it would allow for travel by water, Draconis had already decided to temporarily stay and develop in this area, so even with a wooden boat, it wouldn't be of much use.
So, only [Animal Husbandry] and [Mining] remained, as well as [Basic Processing] after Animal Husbandry.
[Animal Husbandry: Unlocks methods for raising land Pokémon, required for exchange: 200 satisfaction points.]
[Mining: Unlocks techniques and methods for mining mineral resources, required for exchange: 200 satisfaction points.]
[Basic Processing: Unlocks processing recipes and manufacturing processes for some basic agricultural and sideline products, required for exchange: 300 satisfaction points.]
"Although I know that there might be ore on the mountain where Aron resides, the territory currently lacks mining workers and tools for mining ore…" Draconis fell into deep thought.
But then again, could a Pokémon like Aron help them locate the exact whereabouts of mineral veins?
"Never mind." Draconis shook his head.
Currently, the most important thing was to first solve the problem of food and clothing in the territory.
Only when residents were well-fed and warmly dressed could they provide him with more satisfaction points.
Thinking of this, Draconis spent 500 satisfaction points to unlock the [Animal Husbandry] and [Basic Processing] technologies.
The next second, a large amount of information appeared in his mind.
[Methods for raising land Pokémon such as Miltank, Wooloo, Mareep, Bounsweet, Chansey, Combee, Alcremie, Tropius, Slowpoke… Glastrier, Spectrier, Groudon have been unlocked!]
[Processing technologies for agricultural and sideline products such as milk, honey, wool, fruit, cream, wheat, beer, and eggs have been unlocked!]
In a brief moment, Draconis's mind was filled with information about the processing and production methods for products like cheese, honey, cloth, yogurt, jam, and flour.
At the same time, a line of information appeared on the panel.
[These technologies can be taught to the residents of the territory, providing more possibilities for their future professions!]
[Cheesemaker, Brewer, Beekeeper, Miller, Farmer, Miner, Fisherman…]