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Hearing this, Ron immediately connected it to the locked system embedded in his Pokédex. He realized that his "grandfather"—a character who in the original game had only existed as background lore—was definitely far more than he seemed.
Noticing Ron lost in thought, Abigail brushed the dirt from her hands and said, "Ah, it's time—I've got to get back for my online class. I live in the general store over there. Whenever I'm not in class and you need help with anything, feel free to come find me."
She scowled slightly. "Why couldn't this place be Kalos? Then maybe I could've started my adventure with Amber by age ten—instead of stuck here taking stupid college courses."
With that, she hurried off.
Ron waved after her, then wiped the dirt from his own hands.
He'd pulled three leeks from the roadside. He remembered these could be sold at Pierre's shop—but before that, he wanted to visit the library to research proper planting methods.
With that in mind, he walked briskly down the path and entered Pelican Town.
Pelican Town was small. Directly across from the main crossroad stood the clinic, and right beside it was the general store Abigail had mentioned.
At this hour, the streets were nearly empty—which made sense.
Despite not being tiny, the town was home to only about twenty residents.
Ron gave the area a quick glance but didn't stop to knock on every door. Instead, he headed straight for the distant library.
The moment he pushed the door open, a man in a blue uniform looked up from behind the counter, adjusting his glasses.
"A new face? You must be the farmer Lewis mentioned was moving in," he said.
Perched on his shoulder, a small bird chirped twice in agreement.
"Star-ly~"
Gunther reached up and gently stroked the bird's beak. "Hello, I'm Gunther—the curator of this museum and library. And this little one is a Starly."
"Starly!" Starly nuzzled affectionately against his fingers.
"I'm Ron," Ron introduced himself, then asked where to find books on cultivation. Gunther pointed him toward a section of shelves. As Ron walked off without hesitation, Gunther leaned on his chin, deep in thought.
Meanwhile, Ron flipped through the farming guides. His research quickly revealed that this world's Stardew Valley differed slightly from the game.
The calendar, however, remained the same: four seasons, each exactly 28 days long.
Crop growth times matched the game's mechanics—but the variety of crops was vastly greater, almost overwhelming in its abundance.
He also found sections on animal husbandry. This world still had ordinary livestock. Beyond basic feeding, Ron was surprised to discover a handwritten notebook detailing methods for raising meat animals—and instructions on how to ship them for sale to Kalos after slaughter.
"…"
Ron slowly closed the notebook.
After reading that, he was 100% certain: the previous farm owner—his so-called "grandfather"—had been a fellow transmigrator from another world.
And this Pokédex in his hand? Very likely his "cheat item"—his guaranteed transmigrator cheat system.
That realization only deepened his curiosity about the locked Pokémon Breeding System.
But unlocking it required three Pokémon—which presented a problem.
First, how to obtain more Poké Balls? He guessed Pierre's shop might sell them—but maybe not.
Even if they did, he couldn't afford them right now. His top priority was earning enough to keep himself and Froakie from starving.
So instead, he used his Pokédex to digitally archive every planting method and livestock-feeding technique he found, saving them into the device's built-in album.
Once everything was recorded, he returned the books to their shelves and began walking back toward the exit.
"Mr. Ron!" Gunther called out, hurrying after him. He adjusted his glasses and stepped out from behind the counter. "I have a small favor to ask—would you be willing to help me?"
"What is it?"
"I only arrived in Stardew Valley recently from another town," Gunther explained. "This museum used to be filled with artifacts and minerals… but the previous curator stole them all."
Ron braced himself, expecting a request like the game's—collecting minerals and artifacts to fill donation slots.
But Gunther surprised him. "I'd originally hoped to rebuild the collection… but since coming here, I've seen things I've never encountered anywhere else."
He paused, then said earnestly, "Would you be willing to help me gather data on Pokémon? In exchange, I can offer rewards—say, three Poké Balls for every five detailed Pokémon entries you bring me."
Seeing Ron hesitate, Gunther quickly added, "I know they're not cheap. They're already extremely rare, and at Pierre's, they're practically priceless—5,000G each! Three would cost 15,000G. That's honestly all I can afford."
Ron immediately nodded. "Deal."
"What kind of data do you need?" he asked.
"Lots! Size, gender, behavior—and those things called 'moves.' Oh, and this too—"
Gunther pulled out a compact camera. "If you can record video, that works even better. Honestly, I'd do it myself, but… well, this Starly was hard enough to catch. Compared to wild Pokémon, it's painfully weak."
"No problem," Ron said, taking the camera.
"Thank you," Gunther sighed in relief. "Pelican Town really is a remarkable place. Honestly, if someone had told me before that the world held so many mysterious creatures, I wouldn't have believed them."
As if on cue, a strange shimmer of light flashed—and the book on the table instantly teleported into Gunther's hands.
He was startled but caught it smoothly. "Incredible…"
Starly nuzzled his fingers again.
Ron nodded, then instinctively scanned Starly with his Pokédex.
[Starly]
[Starling Pokémon]
[Its wings are not yet fully developed, so it hops to move. It is always watching something intently.]
The Pokédex's automated report made Gunther freeze. He stared at the device in Ron's hand. "Is that… the Pokédex Lewis mentioned?"
Ron nodded.
"I asked Lewis to show it to me once," Gunther said, "but I couldn't open it. He said only you can. Aside from this, the only way to identify Pokémon names was through the farm owner's old journal."
He leaned forward slightly. "If your Pokédex ever provides more detailed data—stats, behaviors, anything—could you copy it for me? I'll pay 500G per entry."
"Sure," Ron agreed right away.
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