Chapter 56: Expanding the Cultivation Area

The streets of Fallarbor Town were bustling with activity, as a steady stream of trainers passed through. Within just a single day, Bewear's small tavern welcomed order after order of business.

Kawaki and the Clefairys worked non-stop until afternoon, when customers finally began to trickle away.

Kawaki wiped the sweat from his brow and inquired what was happening. He learned that Fallarbor Town was about to host a large-scale Grand Festival, and all these passing trainers were heading there to compete.

"No wonder..."

In the evening, after seeing off the last customer, Kawaki began taking inventory of the remaining ingredients at the Daycare with his Pokémon.

"One crate of Berries, half a bag of flour, five bottles of Moomoo Milk, three bags of instant noodles..."

"Woof woof!" Growlithe emerged from under a cabinet with a carton of eggs in its mouth.

"Plus one carton of eggs," Kawaki said, accepting the eggs.

"Clefairy?" The two chef Clefairys emerged from below the stove, each carrying two bundles of cabbage.

"And two bundles of cabbage," Kawaki muttered as he surveyed the ingredients. "We're running pretty low on supplies!"

Throughout the day, the Daycare itself hadn't seen much business, but the inn side had been booming. With so many guests, the stored ingredients had been completely depleted. This meant that by the day after tomorrow at the latest, Kawaki would need to make another major shopping trip to Fallarbor Town.

However, riding Bewear's form of transportation was an unpleasant experience, and the journey was quite far. If possible, Kawaki preferred not to travel such distances.

"It would be nice if the Daycare could be self-sufficient," Kawaki mused.

He stood up and walked alone into the rear courtyard, gazing at the flourishing fields before him. He felt it was finally time to expand the cultivation area.

Currently, the courtyard was divided into three sections: the medicinal herb field for growing herbs, the farm for growing vegetables, and the Berry orchard for growing fruit trees.

Under Oddish's diligent care, the herbs and vegetables were growing beautifully. In just another week or two, the first batch of vegetables would be ready for harvest.

However, with the ever-increasing number of Pokémon in the Daycare, these vegetables and fruits alone would never be enough for self-sufficiency.

This was the time to expand the garden area somewhat. If he cultivated the fields, raised chickens and ducks, and bred a few Miltank, they wouldn't need to make frequent trips to town.

While expanding the cultivation area required money, Kawaki had managed to sell all the Pokémon eggs that the Hoenn League had sent him during this period. Combined with daily business and teaching fees, he now had quite a substantial savings account.

Expansion would be more than affordable.

If possible, Kawaki even wanted to go all out and purchase a couple of Miltank for breeding purposes, providing the Daycare Pokémon with the freshest Moomoo Milk.

Unfortunately, Miltank didn't inhabit the Hoenn region. To raise them, he'd need to import from the neighboring Johto region.

The next morning, Kawaki closed the shop and went to Fallarbor Town with Bewear.

They found the Machamp construction crew from before. After explaining his needs, the workers and Machamp immediately set off to the Daycare with building materials.

Kawaki hitched a ride back with them.

What he called "expanding the cultivation area" essentially meant purchasing some fencing, clearing land, bringing the surrounding areas into cultivation range, and building a shelter for Miltank to inhabit, similar to the Moomoo Farm run by Whitney, the Goldenrod City Gym Leader from Johto.

With the Pokémon's help, what would normally take several days to complete was finished in just one day.

When Kawaki stepped back into the place, the entire courtyard had been transformed completely.

The Machamp construction crew had even provided additional services, helping Kawaki carve out additional plots of land for planting more vegetables, herbs, and most importantly, fruit trees.

The new courtyard was divided into two main areas.

One was the cultivation area as described above.

The other was the breeding area.

Shelters for Pokémon to inhabit stood in this section.

In front of the shelters was a vast open space. Kawaki had already decided that once the Daycare had Miltank, he'd scatter grass seed across that space for them to graze on.

As for the other plots... they were all suitable for growing crops and fruit trees.

Kawaki had already purchased the relevant saplings and seeds.

Today, he decided to temporarily close the Daycare's business and begin large-scale planting with his Pokémon.

Bewear, Growlithe, Clefairys, Oddish, Chingling, Castform, and all the Pokémon in the Daycare came to help.

Kawaki was responsible for planting the seeds and saplings in the soil, while Bewear wielded a shovel to cover the holes with dirt.

The Clefairys observed for a moment, then mimicked the technique and began helping with the planting themselves.

Kawaki could only say that they truly lived up to their reputation as highly social Pokémon. Within just fifteen minutes, the Clefairys had completely mastered the planting technique.

Oddish followed behind, continuously using Grass-type energy to nurture the seeds.

Kawaki checked Oddish's data and discovered it had learned several new moves since the beginning. Clearly, through caring for the crops these days, Oddish had refined its control over Grass-type energy.

It had become stronger.

In addition to the seasonal vegetable farming area, Kawaki designated a separate section exclusively for growing fruit trees.

This time, he'd purchased thirty-six fruit tree saplings. Combined with the original six, he now had forty-two fruit trees total.

According to the fruiting cycle of fruit trees, as long as the Daycare never exceeded two hundred Pokémon, these fruits would be more than sufficient.

Once Kawaki and everyone finished their work, it was time for Castform to shine.

Kawaki used the spray from a watering can to simulate rain, allowing Castform to transform into the form of rainwater.

It hovered above the farmland and then used the move "Rain Dance" that it had recently learned.

In the blink of an eye, clouds gathered in the sky, and soon a gentle drizzle began to fall.

Kawaki and his Pokémon huddled under the eaves, watching this vibrant scene with expressions full of joy and anticipation.

Under the nourishment of the rain, the seeds they had buried together would one day break through the soil and grow robust and strong.

"Clefairy~!" Not only Kawaki, but even the Clefairys felt an unprecedented emotion welling up inside them as they witnessed this moment.

Though they didn't know what that feeling was, it was certainly filled with anticipation!