Chapter 11: Revival Grass and Rolling Bean

After finishing the cleanup of the workshop, Guang Tai took Du Jianqiao to a distant village.

When he arrived at the village, the villagers were working in the fields.

A river surged from the ancient mountains, flowing through the village, while nearby streams formed by melting snow also ran and fed into the river emerging from the mountain’s base.

The climate of the Shen Du ruins is somewhat cold, and planting only occurs during summer. In the Pokémon world, crops grow extremely fast; on fertile soil, harvests typically occur within a month—highly contrary to common sense.

But fruit trees grow even faster—in game time, they bear fruit within roughly 48 hours.

Guang Tai saw many Ground Pokémon scattered across the fields.

Ground Pokémon: Dugtrio.

It has an oval-shaped brown head with a red nose, its body buried underground unseen. The ground it digs becomes raised, the soil properly turned, and its droppings enrich the earth, making it ideal for cultivation.

They emitted strange sounds as they tilled the fields, rapidly raising layers of soil mounds, while the villagers followed behind to sow seeds.

Guang Tai soon found the herbalist’s shop, where the herb garden was tended by an elderly bald man named Jiu Lu—a classic herbalist elder.

After Guang Tai arrived, the herbalist squinted and carefully studied him for a while.

“I never expected anyone would come to live here. I heard someone moved into the abandoned workshop. So it’s you.”

“Last time you visited the village to greet us, I didn’t see you. I heard you came from Shen Ao—are you here to investigate the ruins?”

“That sword,” the elder noticed Du Jianqiao, and Du Jianqiao greeted him with its ribbon:

“Hey!”

“An unfamiliar Pokémon—how fascinating. It looks like a living weapon.” The elder showed great interest in Du Jianqiao, observing it closely for a long while, until Guang Tai stated his purpose, whereupon the elder finally looked away and smiled warmly:

“Hehehe, so you’re here to buy medicinal seeds and vegetable seeds? No problem, take a look.”

“Also, though it’s quite far, if you wish to purchase strange goods, go to the distant Shen Du ruins.”

“Near the temple, in a small hut, there’s a traveling merchant with yellow hair and a blue tunic, always carrying a large backpack—he still looks quite young. He’s been staying there since last year, apparently serving as a guide for the mountain elder regarding the ruins. Perhaps he’s also an explorer.”

A traveling merchant? That’s a wilderness materials dealer!

Guang Tai felt pleased—encountering a merchant selling goods in such a remote wilderness was rare; the presence of a material dealer meant he likely carried high-quality rare materials.

Having received useful information from the herbalist, Guang Tai quickly grew familiar with the old man.

The residents of Shen Du are not only descendants of the Shen He people but also descendants of ancient Cheng Du people—a lingering mystery of past legends: why did the Shen Ao people migrate south across the sea, and why did the Cheng Du people venture north into the deep mountains? Even the elder could not say, for the legends had long since fragmented and faded.

The elder bundled various herbs and their seeds for Guang Tai—some were common medicinal plants, others were herbs Guang Tai had never seen.

“This is Healing Grass. Though it looks like a leek, it’s excellent for preparing medicine. It was originally brought from Shen Ao. Perhaps Shen Du’s environment resembles it, so it quickly spread everywhere here.”

“This is Vitality Bud, also called Dew Blossom—it’s an indispensable herb for traditional medicine.”

“This is Insect-Repelling Herb. It’s merely a medicinal wild grass, extremely bitter, used as a raw ingredient in traditional medicine—dry it, grind it into powder, and dissolve it in water.”

“And this…” The herbalist pulled open a medicine drawer and pulled out a curled, emerald-green herb.

“This is Revival Grass. Though bitter and pungent, it’s an extremely potent medicine—it rapidly restores vitality even to critically wounded Pokémon. When planted in soil, its roots grow large—these are called Qi Roots.”

“Revival Grass is a highly useful herb. Use it well.”

Guang Tai studied the herbs. Besides those he’d seen in the game, there were others unfamiliar to the game—resembling normal medicinal plants from his original world—with effects beyond simple HP recovery: calming the spirit, clearing heat and detoxifying, nourishing and strengthening the body.

Herbalist: “Medicines are indispensable. These herbs grow quickly. After planting, water them well—they’ll sprout and grow within days, and you’ll harvest them within a month.”

Hearing this, Guang Tai could only sigh inwardly again at how unscientific Pokémon world plant growth was—but the benefits of such speed were obvious.

“I noticed some Dugtrio in the village—are they the villagers’ Pokémon?”

“No,” Elder Jiu Lu shook his head. “The Dugtrio merely coexist with us. They till our land; we plant crops they like and give them portions as payment.”

Dugtrio sometimes nibble on crops, tree roots, or vegetables. To prevent this, farmers plant crops and trees the Dugtrio love, exchanging them for labor—many Dugtrio farms operate this way.

Guang Tai nodded, pondering.

Though Dugtrio enrich the soil through tilling, it’s interesting that they themselves cannot learn the Tilling move—they must evolve into Dugtrio to learn it… but that’s just game mechanics.

Generally, the Tilling move can be seen as turning ordinary tilling into a transformation skill, since it was only introduced in Generation VI.

Ordinary tilling only requires a Ground-type Pokémon—turning hard soil is precisely what Ground-types excel at. Even traditionally, using Tauros for plowing wouldn’t be unreasonable.

This practice is recorded in the Zhuqing Village farm of the Xi Cui era.

After all, few Pokémon can learn Tilling, but Ground-types are everywhere—even Groudon can do it.

“Thank you for the herbs. I’ll cultivate them well.”

Guang Tai’s mind began filling with thoughts again—those details reappeared, this time more concentrated, yet the focus remained on rare materials.

【Rare Herb: Revival Grass.】

【Description: Extremely bitter herb. Restores all HP to one Binsi Pokémon.】

【Crafting Quantity Obtained: 1】

【Unique Traditional Medicine Craft (C): Traditional medicines you produce restore double the effect but become slightly more bitter. However, if given to Pokémon that enjoy bitter flavors, their affection won’t decrease—it will increase.】

【Through crafting, obtain medicinal items: “Traditional Medicine,” “Excellent Traditional Medicine.”】

“Here are some vegetable seeds too—I’ll give you some.” The herbalist handed over more seeds.

With Dugtrio’s help, the herbalist didn’t just grow herbs—he also cultivated regular crops.

“While traveling, you surely can’t eat fresh vegetables, right? Don’t worry about time—this land is fertile. Now that summer has come, vegetables and crops sprout and grow quickly after planting. There’s plenty of wasteland near your abandoned workshop—use it.”

The herbalist added: “You know the principle of food and medicine sharing the same origin, right? Common vegetables sometimes have medicinal effects—some are food when you’re hungry, medicine when you’re sick.”

“I’ll lend you some Dugtrio too—but wait a few days. Come back after our tilling is done. In the meantime, clear the wasteland near your workshop.”

“You’ll lend me Dugtrio?” Guang Tai was surprised—the elder had just said those Dugtrio weren’t the villagers’ Pokémon.

“Yes. Just feed them what they love—vegetables and tree roots.”

Elder Jiu Lu smiled, stroking his beard: “Dugtrio are easygoing Pokémon. At first they’ll steal vegetables, but if you give them what they like, they’ll come willingly to help till.”

“I’ll prepare the food—it won’t take much effort. Once these kids go over, they’ll clear all that wasteland in one day. I just worry you won’t clean fast enough.”

“If you feel awkward, next time you’re out gathering materials and find rare herbs, bring me some.”

“By the way, if you find ‘Muzi Fruit,’ be sure to bring it to me. It grows in forests, has a long growth cycle, and is an excellent fruit for medicine—but each tree bears few ripe fruits. Pokémon love them too—they’re picked immediately upon ripening, so they’re rarely seen.”

Guang Tai thought this was perfect and thanked him profusely—having Dugtrio help meant richer soil, faster and better herb growth, and most importantly, saved immense time and effort.

And now he’d acquired both herbs and vegetables all at once.

Cauliflower, turnip, garlic, green bean, wheat, white radish, cucumber, leek.

His own vegetable stock was running low; foraging daily in the wild wasn’t practical. Though forests held many fruit trees, encountering hostile wild Pokémon competing for them would be troublesome.

After receiving the seed packets, thoughts surged again, coalescing into information:

【Rare Crop Seed: Rolling Bean.】

【Description: Plump, hearty beans. Loved by Bird and Fish Pokémon—they attract them to where they’re thrown.】

【Knowledge Acquired: 1.】

【Grower: Skilled in cultivating herbs and crops, shortening their growth cycles and making them grow stronger—accelerates growth of Grass-type Pokémon.】

Oh, Xi Cui era’s Rolling Bean? Do these still exist today?

One piece of knowledge, one craft—coming to this village was truly worthwhile.

“By the way, I’d also like to buy some old rags from the village.”

(End of Chapter)