Ron strode into the barn—and nearly collided with a gloomy-looking man.
The man glanced up, gave Ron a slight nod, and stepped aside.
"That's Shane—my nephew," Marnie said with a smile. "He's just like that. Don't take it personally—it's not about you."
Ron studied Shane for a moment. "Hi, I'm Ron."
"Shane." He mumbled, cradling a chicken as he walked off.
"That kid…" Marnie sighed. "Always so downcast. But surprisingly patient with the animals. Ever since he moved in, he's been helping care for them."
Because of this, Marnie waived his rent, covered his meals, and occasionally gave him pocket money.
Jobs were scarce in town, and the ranch couldn't afford much.
Plus, Shane often spent his allowance drinking at the saloon—so Marnie kept his allowance modest to avoid seeing him perpetually drunk and despondent.
Oddly, Jas adored him—perhaps because she lacked a father figure.
Marnie sighed again.
Meanwhile, Ron crouched in the coop, selecting chickens.
There wasn't much to choose from—all were chicks. They'd need time in the coop before laying eggs, starting the cycle of egg → chicken → egg…
Ron grabbed three at random. "These'll do."
"Alright." Marnie tallied the price. "By the way—do you have animal feed ready?"
Ron recalled the hay he'd stored and nodded uncertainly.
Marnie handed him some. "Just feed them this. Pierre sells Grass Starter seeds. Once you plant it on your farm, they'll graze on their own."
She added, "But they won't go out in the rain—keep that in mind." She placed the chicks in a basket.
"Thanks."
"No trouble!" Marnie smiled, patting each chick's head before returning to work.
Ron carried the basket back to the farm. At the newly built coop, he set the chicks inside.
The coop had water troughs, nesting boxes, and an incubator. Ron released the chicks, who immediately pecked at the feed trough.
He added hay to the trough.
Why would chickens eat grass? He didn't know—but since it saved feed costs, he didn't question it. Watching them eat, he left to resume farm duties.
Work continued smoothly.
Ron assigned a Rattata to the Furnace, smelting copper, iron, and quartz into refined materials.
Checking inventory, he realized full sprinkler coverage was still distant. So he took Oddish and headed back to the mines.
---
Meanwhile, Santalune Gym…
Viola trained Orthworm while pondering.
She'd never agreed with Ron on when he'd retrieve it—so she didn't know how strong to make it.
Though she'd stopped letting it battle recently, constant challenges had inevitably raised its level.
That's the Trainer's spirit—charging straight head.
Orthworm leapt, snatched an iron plate Viola tossed, and burrowed back underground.
Oddly, it had developed a passion for tilling—clearing plots in her botanical garden.
Viola planned to plant trees there, creating a habitat for her Bug-types.
"Did you bring the saplings?" she asked, snapping photos of Orthworm emerging from the soil.
"Here." Her assistant pulled seedlings from his pack.
Viola nodded, and after she and her assistant planted the tree seeds in the tilled soil, she released her Leavanny.
"Leavanny, use Grassy Terrain!"
As soon as she spoke, a burst of green light erupted from the Leavanny as it landed.
The next moment, a wave of greenery gradually emerged from the ground, and the grass seeds previously hidden in the soil quickly took root and sprouted.
Under the influence of this greenery, the newly planted saplings, which had been somewhat wilted from prolonged dehydration, began to straighten their branches again.
Viola paused, then threw out a Poké Ball.
"Surskit, use Water Gun!"
"Leavanny, use Sunny Day."
As the Water Gun sprayed onto each sapling, a dazzling sunlight suddenly appeared in the field.
Under the sunlight, the water vapor scattered by Water Gun refracted into a rainbow of colors.
After a while, the moves ended.
Looking at the vigorously growing saplings in the field, Viola thanked both Pokémon, then recalled them one by one into their Poké Balls.
"Good work," she said, putting the Poké Balls back into her pocket.
Looking into the Gym again, the recently transplanted plants, now free of their previous wilting, were stretching their branches and leaves as if they had been planted there from the beginning.
Seeing this, Viola raised her camera and captured the moment a Beautifly flew over and rested on a tree.
She then took a deep breath and leaned comfortably against the tree.
---
Back at the farm…
After mining, Ron stopped by Pierre's to buy Grass Starter. Now, he mixed seeds and built fences to contain livestock.
At the coop, he scattered seeds and fenced the area, reserving space for the future barn.
Thanks to Stardew Valley's accelerated growth, chickens matured in four days—equivalent to 45-day poultry in the real world. Here, from hatching to adulthood took under ten days.
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