Chapter 18: Pokémon Egg

Pingdie Town, a quiet and peaceful small town, lacked the hustle and bustle of a big city.

It was already four in the afternoon; Luo Mu had to buy everything he needed before six.

This small town had no concept of overtime; shops closed and stalls packed up right on time, with punctuality being the rule.

The overall pace of Pingdie Town was slow, fully embodying the saying, "Rise at sunrise, rest at sunset."

As a small town, Pingdie Town had no large supermarkets, only an agricultural market with decent foot traffic.

During his days staying at an inn within Pingdie Town, Luo Mu had figured out exactly what goods were available in this agricultural market.

Apart from the roadside vendors on the periphery selling crops from their own small plots of land, the inner space catered to merchants or individuals needing to purchase in bulk.

In short, the interior was a wholesale market where basically any item in common demand could be bought at wholesale prices.

Walking past the noisy vendor stalls, Luo Mu did not stop because of their hawking, for he knew that most of these people represented the lowest quality of the entire agricultural market, with rigged scales and passing off inferior goods as premium being all too common.

When Luo Mu had first arrived in Pingdie Town, he once came here to buy apples; perhaps because he was a unfamiliar face, he not only unluckily encountered a rigged scale but also had some of his apples swapped by the vendor while he wasn't looking, and some of those apples were overripe or even beginning to rot.

Perhaps because he had never stayed too long in one place during his travels, he had never encountered such things in a year; always holding the belief that there should be no unscrupulous merchants in the Pokémon world, Luo Mu suffered his first taste of society's harsh blows in this agricultural market.

Where there are bad people, there are naturally also good people.

At that time, carrying the apples, Luo Mu continued moving toward the interior of the agricultural market, and near a shop close to the vendor stalls, a kind old grandmother reminded him, only then did he realize he had been swindled.

Giving that vendor no chance to slip away, Luo Mu immediately grabbed the vendor and intended to drag him to the Pingdie Town police station; even when the market administrators tried to smooth things over, it was of no use.

Afterward, Luo Mu became famous in a single battle, and the unscrupulous merchants setting up stalls in the agricultural market all gave him a wide berth.

However, it seemed that after a month had passed, these people had already forgotten his existence; otherwise, they wouldn't have tried hawking at him.

Luo Mu paid them no mind and went straight to the location of that shop in his memory.

【Seeds Wholesale】

A very clear-cut, unpretentious name without any flashy embellishments.

The shop was not large, about thirty-something square meters, with most of the space filled with different seeds arranged by category.

At the shop entrance stood an old-looking reclining chair, upon which lay a kind old grandmother with graying hair and features that inspired immediate goodwill.

The old grandmother had her eyes closed, her chest rising and falling slowly, appearing to have entered a state of light sleep.

Although in a state of light sleep, the old grandmother's perception of the outside world was extremely sharp; before Luo Mu had even approached closely, she opened her eyes and looked at the newcomer.

Seeing the old grandmother awake, Luo Mu smiled and gave a small wave of his hand, greeting her, "Grandma Grandma Ju Zi, long time no see?"

"That voice, you are..." Grandma Ju Zi slowly took her reading glasses from her bosom, put them on, and carefully examined Luo Mu; as memories slowly surfaced, a smile appeared on her face, lined with wrinkles and fine lines. "It's Little Mu. Long time no see. How is your farm developing?"

Luo Mu replied, "I've already planned out the zones and was just coming here to buy some seeds from you."

"That's good, that's good!" Grandma Ju Zi nodded slightly, seeming happy for Luo Mu, and the smile on her face grew even warmer.

With Luo Mu's support, Grandma Ju Zi slowly rose, then led Luo Mu into the interior of the shop and asked, "Have you thought about what crops to plant? You can tell me so this old woman can offer some reference; having sold seeds for so many years, I do have some experience in this."

Luo Mu looked around and found quite a variety of seeds; picking out several names he had already decided on in his mind, he listed them: "Potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, cabbages, cucumbers..."

"I want a small packet of each of these seeds, planning to try planting them first, and only purchase in bulk after confirming there are no issues."

Listening, Grandma Ju Zi nodded continuously; it seemed Luo Mu had done his homework well, as these crops were all suitable for planting in the current season, their growth cycles were not too long, and as long as he could grow crops of normal quality, he would surely make money.

After all, Luo Mu had taken over such a large stretch of wasteland, so conducting pilot planting in advance was indeed necessary to avoid the probability of losses.

Grandma Ju Zi very precisely picked out the few types Luo Mu needed from the dazzling array of seeds, packed them into small bags, sealed them, and thoughtfully attached labels.

"Potato seeds, 80 per pack; cucumber seeds, 140 per pack... take a look, any problems?" Grandma Ju Zi read them out one by one, following the price list posted on the wall.

Luo Mu nodded slightly; this price was even a bit cheaper than what Peter had quoted him, so naturally, there were no problems.

These five types of crop seeds totaled only 600 League Coins; compared to the expenses for building a farm, this was practically a dirt-cheap price.

Luo Mu paid immediately, then took the few bags of seeds from Grandma Ju Zi's hands, looking at the appearance of these seeds with curiosity; he had only seen what they looked like after growing up, but this was his first time seeing the seeds themselves.

He observed the potatoes, cucumbers, and tomatoes one by one, until he reached the sixth extra bag of seeds; seeing the label on it, Luo Mu suddenly froze.

Strawberry seeds?

Luo Mu looked at Grandma Ju Zi with a puzzled expression and said, "Grandma Grandma Ju Zi, did you give me an extra bag of seeds?"

Seeing that Luo Mu had noticed, Grandma Ju Zi smiled and said, "You young people still have sharp eyes; this bag of strawberry seeds isn't worth much anyway, so consider it a small gift from this old woman to celebrate your farm about to officially start operations."

"How could I accept this..."

Luo Mu wanted to return it to Grandma Ju Zi; if he accepted this bag of strawberry seeds, Grandma Ju Zi would definitely not make a single penny from this transaction, and might even have to pay out of her own pocket.

"Just take it." Grandma Ju Zi waved her hand, unwilling to take back the seeds Luo Mu offered; amidst the politeness, Grandma Ju Zi caught sight of the Poké Ball hanging at Luo Mu's waist, suddenly remembered something, and her eyes lit up slightly. "Otherwise, how about you do this old woman a favor in exchange for this bag of strawberry seeds?"

Seeing Luo Mu stop his movements, Grandma Ju Zi immediately walked briskly to a cabinet at the deepest part of the shop, took out a key to open a small lock, and carefully carried out an oval-shaped object from inside.

Grandma Ju Zi said, "This old woman remembers you are a Trainer; if possible, could you try taking care of this Pokémon Egg?"

As she spoke, the Pokémon Egg held in Grandma Ju Zi's hands moved with her steps, slowly emerging from the darkness into the light, revealing its true appearance.

It was an unknown Pokémon Egg with a red base color and gray-black stripes.

At the same time, in the Lighthouse Research Institute of South District One.

Bidding farewell to Dragonite, Arven, who had rushed home excitedly, saw a dim room and a note on the table, instantly understanding something.

Arven's arm slowly dropped, and the corners of his eyes began to turn red.

After a long moment, Arven lowered his head and murmured in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, "Liar..."