Meanwhile, on the farm, the Pokémon had gathered again.
With the tournament over, Petilil and Rhydon finally got a moment to relax.
They had been working hard—Petilil handling the healing and Rhydon maintaining the battlefield.
"Lil Lil Lil~"
Petilil, still dressed in a nurse outfit, gleefully ran around the grassy field.
She adored the outfit and was reluctant to take it off, even though the tournament had ended.
Aven, seeing this, said nothing. Honestly, the nurse outfit suited her quite well.
"Rhy~"
On the other side, Rhydon had already resumed training, determined to make up for the lost time.
Tangela, who had just gotten a bit of rest, was dragged back into running laps and now trailed after Rhydon, pitifully jogging behind.
Thanks to recent training and some potions, Tangela had finally learned Ancient Power.
Now it was intensifying practice with the move, aiming to evolve by mastering it.
"Meow meow~"
In another corner of the field, Shinx was just as hardworking as Rhydon.
It ran continuously, its muscles sparking with electricity as it emitted a glowing light.
Once it fully gathered the light, Shinx began focusing on controlling the current.
It moved rapidly across the field, body surrounded by a crackling aura—it was practicing Quick Attack.
However, the electricity in this Quick Attack wasn't from the move—it came from Shinx's own body, so the move was weaker in power.
Still, Shinx's goal was to control its electrical output the same way it controlled Quick Attack.
It was a sunny day.
Cherrim opened its petals wide, absorbing as much solar energy as possible.
Soon, its petals began glowing as it channeled the sunlight.
When the energy reached its peak, Cherrim launched it outward—it was Solar Beam, a powerful Grass-type move.
After firing the beam, Cherrim immediately looked drained.
With her strength, it was still a little difficult for her to control the Solar Beam.
Nonetheless, Cherrim remained determined. Its goal was to master Sunny Day while using Solar Beam.
It had set its sights on mastering Sunny Day by the end of the summer, and it was working hard toward that goal.
At the same time, Aven was inspecting the berry field.
Vileplume had just finished casting Grassy Terrain, once again accelerating the berries' growth.
Aven estimated that with the help of Grassy Terrain, these berries would likely mature in summer and begin bearing fruit.
"Looks like it's time to start mixing Mutation Fertilizer. The weather is perfect."
Aven made his decision.
He'd already asked Phyllis to purchase the necessary berries for the formula.
Though the Breeding House had a stash of rare berries, they were in limited supply and too valuable to waste on fertilizer.
When Aven asked her to buy rotten or unripe berries, Phyllis was confused.
But after working with him for so long, she trusted him and followed through without question.
Now, the wooden cabin on the farm was filled with a stockpile of spoiled berries, waiting for Aven to begin the Mutation Fertilizer mixing process.
"Vileplume, Combee—I'll leave this area to you," Aven instructed the two Pokémon outside the experimental field.
"Plume~"
"Buzz buzz~"
The inseparable Vileplume and Combee chirped in agreement, promising to take good care of the crops.
"Petilil, let's go."
Hearing this, Petilil excitedly ran over and jumped into Aven's arms as they headed to the cabin.
"Lil lil~" What potion are we making today?
Petilil was still immersed in her "white-clad nurse" role, visibly excited about the upcoming mix.
"Today, we're making Mutation Fertilizer."
"The weather is just right—we should have a batch ready in about half a month."
Aven explained with a smile, recalling the recipe for Mutation Fertilizer in his mind.
It was similar to Growth Fertilizer but required three berries of the same color, which had caused Aven some trouble.
Luckily, Phyllis had great trade connections and had contacted several large berry orchard owners, buying up their lower-quality or even rotten berries.
She told them the berries were for raising Gloom—and thinking of Gloom's awful smell, they didn't question it.
Knowing the berries were for Aven, and sensing a potential future business opportunity, many orchard owners sold them at cost or even gave them away.
These berries had arrived before the knight selection started.
Now that the tournament was over, Aven finally had time to deal with them.
Once inside the cabin, Aven began inspecting the berries.
His first task: sort them by color.
According to the properties and energy contained in berries, they are divided into six types in berry science: red, blue, purple, green, yellow, and pink.
"Cheri Berries, Leppa Berries, and Pomeg Berries—just as I thought, it's these three types."
Looking at the sorted berries, Aven had an expression that said, just as expected. But he also let out a sigh of relief now that he had gathered all three.
Cheri, Leppa, and Pomeg Berries are all classified as red berries. They contain similar properties and energies, which can be fermented together to produce Mutation Fertilizer.
In the future world, these three are also the main ingredients used to create Mutation Fertilizer, primarily because berries of other colors are too rare. Cheri, Leppa, and Pomeg Berries, on the other hand, are common and often consumed by humans.
Cheri and Leppa need no further explanation. As for Pomeg Berries, once you peel off their thick outer skin, you'll find a lot of flesh inside—sweet with a bit of spice, a flavor many adults really enjoy.
After sorting the rest of the berries and storing them properly, Aven began processing the Cheri, Leppa, and Pomeg Berries. The method was similar to making Growth Fertilizer, with the most important factor being the difference in temperature.
Because all three are red berries, they require much higher temperatures. Aven had to leave them to bake under the blazing sun, though burying them underground and heating the soil from below was another viable option.
"Now, we just need to wait half a month."
"However, to use it on the berry trees, the Mutation Fertilizer will also need to be composted afterward, which takes another half a month."
Aven silently did the math. That timing actually lined up pretty well with when the berry trees would bloom, so he'd have just enough time to fertilize them.
"Lil lil~" Seeing Aven finish preparing the fertilizer, the Petilil toddled over curiously.
It was truly fascinated—if a Pokémon absorbed this Mutation Fertilizer, would it also experience some sort of "surprise" effect?
"The effects are actually similar to Growth Fertilizer," Aven replied after thinking it over seriously. "But if a Pokémon were to consistently absorb the energy from Mutation Fertilizer over time, it might unexpectedly learn some new moves."
This was actually a subject many scholars in the future world had researched. Ultimately, they reached this very conclusion.
However, due to the high level of uncertainty and the fact that Mutation Fertilizer costs dozens to hundreds of times more than Growth Fertilizer, no one would realistically use it to raise their Pokémon.
After hearing this, the Petilil fell deep into thought. Unexpectedly learn new moves? Damn, that idea was kind of tempting...
"Compared to Mutation Fertilizer, Fruitful Fertilizer is actually more effective."
"Fruitful Fertilizer contains a rich supply of energy. It can even help Pokémon like Tropius accelerate the growth of the fruit on their bodies."
Aven explained with a smile, then walked over to the remaining berries. He now intended to process them into Fruitful Fertilizer as well.
As its name suggests, Fruitful Fertilizer can help berry trees produce more berries. Even neglected trees could bear fruit all over their branches with its use.
For this round of berry mutation experiments, Aven wanted to obtain mutated berries as soon as possible. So, he had his Vileplume use the move Grassy Terrain to accelerate growth.
Under those circumstances, the berry growth would naturally be subpar. From here on, he'd rely on Fruitful Fertilizer to help the trees produce as many berries as possible.
Though Fruitful Fertilizer does somewhat harm the trees, Aven's goal was simply to harvest seeds. Once these trees withered, he could just plant a new batch.
"Lil Lil~" Hearing that Fruitful Fertilizer could also be used to train Pokémon, Petilil's eyes lit up.
When it saw Aven start brewing the fertilizer, it immediately focused all its attention on the process, determined to memorize how to make it.
To prepare Fruitful Fertilizer, three different-colored berries were required. In this regard, it was far simpler than making Mutation Fertilizer—and Aven happened to have plenty of combinations on hand.
Growth Fertilizer, Fruitful Fertilizer, Mutation Fertilizer...
Aven busied himself handling all the spoiled berries inside the cabin, continuously brewing different fertilizers and storing them in barrels to ferment.
By the time he was done, the entire day had almost passed. The sun was setting, casting a deep red glow across the ground.
…
That night, the Black Forest was pitch dark.
Hill leaned against a large tree, his Mightyena standing guard nearby, alert and watchful.
Darkness didn't bother the Mightyena—it was a hunter of the night by nature.
"Night's fallen. Let's move."
Hill opened his eyes after a brief rest, gazing into the forest ahead.
Hearing their master's command, the Mightyena stood up and followed Hill into the woods.
During the day, they'd discovered that the territory ahead was home to a large number of Combee—it was likely the site of an entire swarm. Hill planned to investigate under the cover of night.
Cautiously navigating through the forest, Hill soon spotted his target: a massive hive structure.
"There must be over a thousand Combee. To command a swarm this large, the Vespiquen must be an advanced-level magical beast."
Hill did a quick count, then made a mental assessment. A Combee colony of this size, under the control of an advanced-level Vespiquen, would be a formidable force—even most elite magical beasts would struggle against it.
"We'll have to go around it."
He made a quiet decision and retreated with the Mightyena.
Though Combee do tend to sleep together at night, which might have allowed them to slip by undetected, a large group would inevitably rouse the swarm, and the Vespiquen would lead them in an attack.
"Looks like we'll have to pass through the Rattata territory instead."
Back at the temporary camp, Hill looked at his map in deep thought.
After several days of scouting, he had explored most of this half of the Black Forest and found a relatively safe route.
If they could get through the Rattata lands, the remaining territories ahead were weaker, making it possible to safely cross the heart of the forest and reach the outer edge.
So, the Rattata territory was their final obstacle. Hill would wait for the main force from Marina City to arrive before discussing their final plan together.
(End of Chapter)