Chapter 65: Fruit Tree Saplings

After tasting the tea, Luo Mu took his Growlithe and set out from the suburban farm, arriving once again at Pingdie Town.

This trip had two purposes: first, to bring Growlithe to meet Grandma Grandma Ju Zi and inform her that the Pokémon Egg had successfully hatched into a healthy puppy.

He also intended to purchase some crop seeds and saplings.

The second purpose was to take the Delibird, whom Luo Mu had temporarily captured in a Poké Ball, to visit Nurse Joy of Pingdie Town; while Luo Mu could handle ordinary injuries without issue, a situation like Delibird's required the assistance of a medical professional like Nurse Joy.

Luo Mu first entered the agricultural market and, with practiced ease, headed toward the small shop labeled 【Seed Wholesale】.

Probably because the typhoon and heavy rain had just passed, the ground of the agricultural market was still somewhat damp and muddy; items like signs and flyers were scattered everywhere on the ground, merchants at every stall were dealing with problems in front of their shops, and the entire market showed signs of needing reconstruction.

The Seed Wholesale shop was no exception; today, Grandma Grandma Ju Zi was not closing her eyes for an afternoon nap on her reclining chair, but instead held a broom, bending over to clear the accumulated water near the storefront.

Today Grandma Ju Zi wore a green long skirt that covered her calves, very much fitting her kind and steady demeanor.

As Luo Mu approached, Grandma Ju Zi's sweeping motion paused; after clearly seeing who had arrived, a slight smile appeared on her aged face, and she straightened up while holding her waist, saying, "It's Xiao Mu. We haven't seen each other in over half a month."

"Long time no see, Grandma Grandma Ju Zi." Luo Mu bowed politely; his sharp eyes noticed Grandma Ju Zi's movement, and he asked, feigning ignorance, "Grandma Grandma Ju Zi, are you cleaning up?"

Grandma Ju Zi nodded: "Yes, if standing water isn't cleared for too long, it will not only start to stink, but the damp environment is also unfriendly to some of the seeds in the shop that require dry conditions."

"Then let me help as well." Luo Mu smiled, picked up the second broom leaning against the wall on the other side, and skillfully began sweeping the water.

Growlithe also jumped to a slightly drier spot and started cheering for Luo Mu with its cries.

Grandma Ju Zi had intended to politely decline Luo Mu's offer, but Growlithe's cries attracted her attention again; since she happened to be wearing reading glasses, Grandma Ju Zi immediately saw the appearance of the crying Pokémon and asked uncertainly, "Eh, could this child be...?"

Luo Mu nodded to confirm: "Yes, the Pokémon Egg you entrusted to me has hatched and become this very healthy Growlithe."

The broom in Grandma Ju Zi's hand fell to the ground, splashing into a puddle and staining her long skirt, but Grandma Ju Zi did not care about such trivial details; she stepped forward to Growlithe's side, squatted down, and examined it closely with her eyes.

Growlithe, stared at directly by Grandma Ju Zi, did not mind; although it had no impression of Grandma Ju Zi, the aura of closeness and kindness emanating from her made Growlithe unbothered by her approach.

Grandma Ju Zi hesitated for a moment, then tentatively extended her right hand, marked by the traces of years, toward Growlithe.

Growlithe knew nothing of reserve; it directly and actively pushed its head forward, wagging its tail to enjoy Grandma Ju Zi's stroking.

"So warm..." The smile on Grandma Ju Zi's face gradually widened, her kind gaze moving over Growlithe's body.

Grandma Ju Zi recalled the lonely back of her son leaving, his face full of guilt, after he had handed her this cold Pokémon Egg that refused to hatch.

Since then, the cold Pokémon Egg had never hatched, and it seemed that because of the egg's existence, the frequency of her son's visits had decreased.

She had done everything within her power, yet the Pokémon Egg still would not hatch.

Fortunately, Luo Mu appeared.

Grandma Ju Zi sincerely felt that entrusting the Pokémon Egg... entrusting Growlithe to Luo Mu had been the right choice.

Grandma Ju Zi's slightly reddened eyes fixed on Growlithe, her voice gentle: "Although it is a bit late to say this now, I still want to offer you this belated blessing... Welcome to this world, little one!"

Beside them, Luo Mu, who had not stopped sweeping the water, curved the corners of his mouth upward, his mood improving even further.

With the first goal of the outing successfully achieved, Luo Mu purchased an even greater variety of seeds at Grandma Grandma Ju Zi's seed shop, preparing to return and begin formal planting.

Next, introduced by Grandma Grandma Ju Zi, who was reluctantly parting with Growlithe, Luo Mu went deeper into the agricultural market and found a male fruit tree sapling wholesaler named Zack.

The types of fruit tree saplings Zack wholesaled were not numerous, merely common ones like Pecha Berries, Oran Berries, and Sitrus Berries; for more varieties of fruit tree saplings, one would have to go to a larger city to find them.

As for rarer fruit tree saplings, such as Wacan Berry saplings, Haban Berry saplings, or Starf Berry saplings... those were things one could only hope to encounter by chance; farms possessing these fruit trees would treat them as their lifeline and would not allow them to circulate easily.

Luo Mu, who had been cramming relevant knowledge whenever he had free time during this period, had also gained a certain understanding of berry trees; in the Pokémon world, berry trees generally use the pits of the grown berries for breeding, and the rarer the berry tree, the lower the success rate of breeding.

Of course, this was only a limitation of berry trees; fruit trees that produce ordinary fruits were much simpler in all aspects.

Under Zack's recommendation, Luo Mu ultimately purchased five saplings each of Pecha Berry, Oran Berry, and Sitrus Berry trees; at one thousand League Dollars per fruit tree sapling, plus the crop seeds bought from Grandma Grandma Ju Zi, the total came to nineteen thousand League Dollars after rounding.

Zack personally drove a truck to deliver the fruit tree saplings to the farm; after leaving his address, Luo Mu departed the agricultural market and headed toward the Pokémon Center located northwest of Pingdie Town.

On the way, Luo Mu checked his remaining League Dollar savings.

After purchasing the damaged teapot and previous daily necessities, his savings had stood at 49,114 League Dollars; having spent another 19,000 League Dollars this time, he was left with just over thirty thousand League Dollars, appearing to be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

However, the end of the month was approaching; although Luo Mu had not taught a single class yet, his probationary monthly salary of fifty thousand would be deposited into his bank account on time at the end of the month.

Moreover, after Bai Bai Pengpeng's shed cotton fluff had accumulated for a while longer, it could be taken to the market in Ziqin Town for auction to earn some extra money.

In the process of absorbing knowledge, Luo Mu understood a principle: when running a farm, one should not focus solely on various crops; the by-products attached to the miraculous existence of Pokémon also possess rich value.

Da Nai Guan's Tapu Moumou fresh milk, Skiddo's goat milk, Tropius's fruits, Shuckle's fermented juice, Alomomola's excess flesh, Farfetch'd's leek... and so on.

Pokémon are like treasure chests filled with surprises; as long as one digs carefully, one will obtain surprises and treasures.

Luo Mu's mind held rich knowledge about Pokémon, and this knowledge would surely bring unimaginably powerful assistance to his development of the farm.