[Sliced Tomatoes with Sugar (D)]: A home-cooked dish with a sweet and sour taste. A perfect combination.]
[Cooking Effect: Appetizing.]
[Stir-fried Cabbage with Meat (C)]: A perfect blend of meat and vegetables, savory and delicious.]
[Cooking Effect: Stamina Recovery (Medium).]
[Beef Stew with Potatoes (B)]: Comfort food. The soft potatoes are soaked in meat fragrance, and the beef is tender without being dry. Pure satisfaction in every bite.]
[Cooking Effect: Bullish Spirit.]
[Mung Bean Cakes (Minccino Exclusive)]: A dish infused with the creator's special emotions. It has a unique effect on Minccino.]
[Cooking Effect: Little Sweetheart.]
Natsuki's gaze swept past the first three descriptions and landed straight on the last part.
He was curious himself— what kind of effect would this special Minccino dish have?
[Little Sweetheart]: After consumption, Minccino's Luck stat is permanently increased by a small amount (effective for the first consumption). Each subsequent consumption grants a "Super Luck" buff lasting 60 minutes.]
'A permanent increase?!'
This was the first dish that permanently boosted a Pokémon's ability, and it was the elusive Luck stat.
Thinking back, Minccino's luck had always been pretty good. A Pokémon living in the wild managed not to get bullied by other wild Pokémon.
Then, less than a week after leaving her parents, Natsuki and Kangaskhan arrived at the ranch, and they met for the first time by the lake. Minccino joined them, becoming the first ranch Pokémon.
This little one had been accompanied by good luck all along.
Looking at it this way, this dish simply manifested that effect and strengthened it to a certain degree.
Regardless of how you look at it, this was purely beneficial for Minccino.
In the future, for anything that relied on luck, like mall lotteries or searching for rare crops, he could leave it all to her.
"How is it? How does it taste?"
Kangaskhan held out her empty plate with both hands, a few grains of rice still clinging to the corner of her mouth.
It was so delicious she simply couldn't stop.
Minccino used her tail to brush away the rice from Kangaskhan's face while nibbling happily on her sweet Mung Bean Cake, letting out a blissful cry.
The three Mudbray had half their faces buried in their bowls. The salad made of tomatoes, potatoes, and cabbage had been completely annihilated, leaving only a bit of dressing behind.
Following the principle of "waste not, want not," they stuck out their tongues and licked the sweet and sour juice until the bowls were spotless.
Compared to their side, the other area was much livelier, filled with the non-stop chirping of various bird Pokémon.
Chatot and his "female friends" were feasting on the Berry Salad Natsuki had made last, and there was plenty to satisfy the needs of the entire flock.
Occasional skirmishes broke out over there as they vied for the spot closest to Chatot.
Natsuki seriously suspected that the change in Chatot wasn't entirely due to the Century Soup.
He had previously asked some Pokémon in the back mountains, and it turned out Chatot had been a famous social butterfly among them long before this.
The soup acted more like an amplifier for his existing traits.
Dinner lasted for over an hour.
Chatot led the flock back to the mountains, and after Natsuki and Minccino finished cleaning up, they prepared for bed.
Everyone had been busy all day, and they needed an early night to have energy for tomorrow.
Before sleeping, Natsuki made sure to give the Mudbray a good wash. Since they were clean, he let them stay in the ranch house to sleep together.
He hadn't forgotten that the house provided a special recovery effect.
Cradling the soft, fragrant Minccino, who now emitted a faint vanilla scent, Natsuki drifted into a deep sleep almost instantly.
The tall Kangaskhan stood by the bed and peeked in. She wanted to sleep with Natsuki too... but her increased size would surely crush the bed.
She tucked a small blanket over Natsuki and leaned against the side of the bed, falling into dreamland while standing guard.
In her dream, Natsuki and her baby were sleeping together inside her pouch, and a happy smile played across her face.
...
The next morning.
After a quick breakfast of a "Burger King" and a glass of milk, Natsuki led the Pokémon to the fields they had harvested yesterday.
To plant the next batch of seeds, the soil needed to be tilled again. He had a busy day ahead of him.
First, he needed to clear away the residual stalks and weeds to prevent leftover pests and diseases from affecting the next crop.
Then came the laborious task of deep tilling with a hoe, turning the soil about 15 to 25 centimeters deep to break up compaction and expose the lower layers.
This step was the most exhausting. If Natsuki were alone, it would take days.
But with Kangaskhan and the Mudbray helping, it became much easier.
Natsuki hitched a plow he had bought earlier to a Mudbray. He kept it steady from behind while the Mudbray pulled it along.
In about two hours, with two rotations of the team, the entire vegetable plot was deep-tilled.
Kangaskhan followed behind them, using her monstrous strength to break up large clumps of earth, making the soil exceptionally soft.
Minccino brought up the rear, leveling the ground to ensure the field wasn't full of pits and mounds.
At a glance, it was one smooth, even plot. This would prevent waterlogging and ensure the seeds were planted at a consistent depth.
To make the crops grow tall and strong, he also needed to fertilize. Natsuki was prepared with "Bountiful Fertilizer," a yield-boosting supplement widely used across the League (except for the Hoenn region.)
Once the fertilizer was mixed into the soil, he just had to wait until tomorrow to sow the seeds.
Thanks to the Pokémon's cooperation, the tilling was finished in a single morning.
If the ranch had a tractor, it would be even faster. Natsuki could have done the deep-tilling, breaking, and leveling all at once by himself.
If he remembered correctly, a top-of-the-line Devon Corporation multi-functional tractor cost about 100,000 Poké Dollars.
'Working with Pokémon builds our bond. Machinery... that's not so great.'
Currently, the ranch didn't really need a large machine like a tractor. It wouldn't even be practical.
If the ranch expanded in the future and the Pokémon couldn't handle it quickly enough, Natsuki would definitely consider buying one to prevent them from overworking.
But for now? It was break time.
He would make lunch in a bit. Working for two days straight was more draining than a week of wilderness survival.
Right now, he didn't want to lift a finger. He just wanted to lie on Kangaskhan's belly, her soft, rhythmic breathing was better than any high-end mattress on the market.
The only thing that could compare would be a Snorlax's belly.
No one could refuse using a Snorlax as a bed, but one had to consider the staggering amount of food they ate. Not everyone could afford to keep one.
He held Minccino in his arms, occasionally pinching her ears or taking a deep whiff of her fur.
'Nice! Today she smells like strawberry pudding...'