Chapter 27: Vegetarian Berry Curry

Even as Luo Mu stood on the farmland of the agricultural zone, he was still tangled up in the earlier exchange with the System.

First, his broad approach to handling the Pokémon Egg was correct; whether using hatching nutrient solution or seeking a powerful Pokémon with the Flame Body trait, both were the right decisions.

However, what concerned him more was that phrase "distant past"; did the System mean this Pokémon Egg originated from a time long ago, or perhaps from ancient times?

If so, this Pokémon Egg likely had quite a background...

Although he had some guesses in his heart, Luo Mu dared not be certain; perhaps only on the day the Pokémon Egg hatched would his suspicions be confirmed.

Luo Mu stopped dwelling on it and smiled at Bai Bai Pengpeng, who had been waiting eagerly to one side, saying, "Did you sleep well last night?"

Bai Bai Pengpeng was much livelier than yesterday, hopping around and clearly loving the farm environment, answering Luo Mu's inquiry directly with action.

The two Cottoneer, however, seemed a bit restrained; likely because they woke up in a strange place, they hadn't yet quickly accepted it, merely hiding timidly behind Bai Bai Pengpeng to secretly observe Luo Mu and the Serperior and Swampert beside him.

Luo Mu chuckled, not rushing to immediately build rapport with the Cottoneer, and told Bai Bai Pengpeng, "I plan to start sowing seeds this morning; you can take the Cottoneer to wander within the fenced area to familiarize yourselves with the environment. Once I'm done, I'll build a small wooden coop for you and the Cottoneer so you can sleep more comfortably."

Bai Bai Pengpeng nodded, knowing it couldn't help during the farming stage; it chose to follow Luo Mu's arrangement, taking the Cottoneer to play and frolic while exploring the unknown surroundings.

Watching the three hopping figures grow distant, Luo Mu looked up at the cloudless sky and muttered to himself, "Looks like it's a sunny day, perfect for working in the fields."

With that said, Luo Mu put on a straw hat, picked up an iron hoe, called over the Swampert and Serperior, and prepared to roll up his sleeves and work hard.

Today's goal was... to plant all the seeds!

Under a sky as blue as washed glass, Luo Mu swung his hoe to dig a small pit, then placed the last of his strawberry seeds—or rather, the strawberry skins—into the soil.

Next, the Serperior manipulated its vines to scoop up scattered soil from the side and cover it, while the Swampert fetched a bucket of ordinary water containing no Water-type energy, which Luo Mu poured evenly and sparingly onto the soil.

The complete planting process was thus finished; next, they only needed to wait for Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others to return so they could apply nutrients to the seeds.

Luo Mu breathed a sigh of relief, washed his hands at the Swampert's spot, and looking at the five small plots of farmland spaced apart before him, felt nothing but a rich sense of accomplishment filling his heart.

This was his first step toward a pastoral life, and also a small step for the farm's development.

Today was a day worth commemorating; although Luo Mu very much wanted to seize this opportunity to name the farm immediately, considering the Dragonite out collecting wood and the Luxray and others searching for a powerful Pokémon with the Flame Body trait, he decided to postpone that desire for a little while.

Such a memorable event should only be done after everyone had gathered.

Seeing that Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others had not returned for a long time, and suspecting they wouldn't get lost in this not-so-large farm, Luo Mu sent out the Serperior and Swampert to bring them back, while he went to see why that kid Peper was still asleep at noon.

The straight-line distance from the farm to the small villa was the shortest, followed in order of distance by the yet-to-be-built ranch zone, with the lake zone being the furthest.

Carrying his hoe and humming a little tune, Luo Mu reached his doorstep in three or four minutes; as if guided by intuition, he looked up and discovered that kid Peper lying on the third-floor windowsill, gazing into the distance with bewildered eyes, exuding an inexplicable melancholy.

Good heavens, only ten years old yet living like a world-weary, disheartened middle-aged man; Luo Mu leaned his hoe against the wall, went straight through the main door, rushed up to the third floor, grabbed Peper—who wore dark circles under his eyes and was feigning depression—by the scruff, and said irritably, "So, of all the things I told you yesterday, you didn't listen to a single word?"

"Looking at those dark circles, what time did you stay up until last night?"

Peper yawned and whispered weakly, "Four o'clock..."

Luo Mu: "..."

Staring at this ten-year-old child throwing a tantrum against his parents on his own, Luo Mu even began to doubt whether such a childish Peper could really go on a journey like that other ten-year-old rookie trainer from Pallet Town.

Luo Mu harbored doubts about this.

Not insisting on correcting Peper's stubborn nature today, Luo Mu let go of the back collar of Peper's clothes and said, "Forget it, hurry up and wash; I'm going to prepare lunch."

Although Peper was currently in a Rebellious Phase, throwing tantrums against his parents, regarding matters unrelated to his parents, he still completely obeyed Luo Mu's words.

He directly stepped into his small slippers and ran clatter-clatter down to the first-floor washroom.

Luo Mu strolled over to the kitchen, opened the cupboard to check the remaining ingredients, and muttered, "It would be great to have a refrigerator to freeze some meat, but finances are a bit tight right now, so let's eat vegetarian dishes and game meat for a while; today we'll have... Vegetarian Berry Curry Rice!"

With that said, Luo Mu took out carrots, onions, and other side dishes needed for curry from the cupboard one by one, along with a half-eaten bag of curry powder.

As for the meat portion, since they had just finished eating meat recently and hadn't gone shopping yet, plus the high probability that Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others couldn't accept meat, Luo Mu took several large, plump Pecha Berries from the cupboard; these were samples gifted by Peter when he visited Jones Farm earlier, for him to taste.

Now they were just right for cooking.

The texture of the Pecha Berry, rather than being like a peach, was more like a kind of mild-flavored, low-juice flesh; pairing it with curry rice wasn't actually dark cuisine; Luo Mu had tried it once, and the taste was quite good.

The method for making the curry for the curry rice was very simple: stir-fry the side dishes in a little hot oil until cooked through; since Pecha Berries become unpalatable when exposed to hot oil, one must first add warm water to cover the ingredients, then add the Pecha Berries cut into bite-sized pieces after the water boils, and finally simmer the curry sauce until thick.

After doing all this, Luo Mu scooped up a tiny bit of curry to taste; the slightly sweet curry was light and sweet, and upon careful tasting, its delicate flavor lingered endlessly, all thanks to the inherent flavor of the Pecha Berry itself.

Presumably, as the first meal for the new members, Bai Bai Pengpeng and the others would like it.

Luo Mu removed some of the firewood from under the stove to maintain a low simmer, covered the pot, and for a moment felt nostalgic for the days when Cangyan Cangyan Rengui was here; its flame temperature was always controlled so precisely, whereas making fire with firewood himself really tended to leave him covered in ash and dirt.

This suburban location of his had no gas supply; having electricity and running water at all counted as decent infrastructure for Flatdisc Town.