Elf: Seriously? You only get a cheat code when you're about to die?

Chapter 273 The Village of Herbs

Anjax and his Pokémon left Baike City on the light rail.

Gardevoir, Gallade, Glaceon, and Salamence were all put into Poké Balls, leaving only Miss Skirt, Flareon, and the three Flareons outside.

They don't like humans, so naturally they can't enter a human's Poké Ball, and Angel doesn't force them.

Anjie even bought them train tickets for this purpose.

Flareon and Flareon are small Pokémon and don't need tickets, but Miss Skirt, being a small Pokémon, doesn't.

On the train, Anjie and Miss Skirt sat facing each other, while Flower Leaf and Flower Bud sat next to Miss Skirt.

Angie was comparing the location given to her by Miss Joey and planned to get off at the station closest to Vanilla Town.

Meanwhile, the flower petals and buds looked around the car with great curiosity.

It was their first time riding in human-made transportation, and they found everything so interesting.

They also saw many Pokémon living peacefully with humans on the train.

For example, there's the Meowth lazily sleeping on an old lady's lap, the Kadabra happily chatting with its trainer, and the babysitter Bug helping its trainer take care of the baby...

Flare and the others were puzzled. Everyone in the jungle said that humans were very, very bad, so why were so many Pokémon willing to live with humans? And they seemed so happy!

Angelina's Pokémon also seem to really like her.

The little heads of the flower petals and buds are almost red with worry.

Miss Skirt didn't have the same strong desire to explore as Flower Leaf and Flower Bud. She kept a cold face the whole way and didn't say a word.

Anjie looked up and saw Miss Skirt looking unapproachable, so she smiled and asked, "How are you? Bored?"

"Rabe~" Not boring at all!

"Whoosh~" That's so much fun!

Hua Yedi and Hua Beibei answered in turn.

Miss Skirt glanced at Anjie and said, "Just like that, nothing boring or not."

Anjie thought for a moment and said, "How about I find you something to keep you occupied?"

Hua Yedi and Hua Beibei looked at Anjie with some anticipation, but Miss Qun'er didn't seem to appreciate it much.

"Lidi~" No need.

Flower Leaf and Flower Bud were a little disappointed when they heard this. They wanted to see more of the human world!

Seeing this, An Jie smiled, took out her phone, and searched for information about herbs, saying as she searched:

"Miss Skirt, you learned your knowledge of herbs from Venusaur, right? Actually, we humans also have a deep understanding of herbs. Let me find some for you to see."

Miss Skirt didn't want to trouble Anjie, but after hearing about the topic of herbs, she swallowed back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

"Lidi~Lidi~" Since you insist, then... then... I'll reluctantly take a look.

Seeing Miss Qun'er's awkward expression, An Jie couldn't help but smile. It seemed that catering to her preferences was the right thing to do.

"Ah, I've got it!"

Anjie found a live stream, which was the live stream of Rika, the head of the Yuhong Dojo in the Kanto region. She was talking about the various applications of the saliva of the Stinky Flower.

After Anjie entered the live stream, she handed her phone to Miss Qun'er and said, "Take a look and see if you're interested."

After Miss Skirt took the phone, she was quickly captivated by what Lijia was saying.

Unlike Professor Venusaur's disorganized knowledge, human pharmacology is much more systematic.

Hua Yedi and Hua Beibei quickly joined Miss Qun'er to watch, and were equally captivated.

Seeing the five Pokémon watching with great interest, Anjie smiled and looked out the window.

Time passed quickly, and soon Anjie and his group arrived at their destination.

After exiting the station, Angel checked the location and, having confirmed the direction of Vanilla Village, was about to release Latios and fly there on it.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw an old man talking to his goat, which was pulling a cart behind it.

It was quite rare to see a handcart in this day and age, so Anjie took a second look.

Although the old man had gray hair and a hunched back, he moved very nimbly, easily flipping himself onto the back of his goat mount.

Seeing this, Anjie had a sudden inspiration and called out to the old man before he left.

"Sir, please wait a moment!"

The old man turned around in surprise and looked at Anjie, saying, "Young man, did you call me?"

Anjie ran quickly to the old man's side. "Yes, are you going to the Herb Village?"

The old man nodded and said, "Yes, young man, is there something you need?"

Anjie quickly replied, "I also want to go to the Herb Village. Can I come with you?"

Anjie got close to the old man because Miss Joey had said that Vanilla Village was very exclusive and that the crops they grew were generally only sold to specific customers and never to strangers.

Because of its high quality, the crops from Herb Village are never short of buyers.

If Ange can't persuade the people of Vanilla Village, it will be difficult to buy Strong Vanilla and White Vanilla from them.

The old man looked at Anjie suspiciously. He originally wanted to refuse, but when he saw Miss Qun'er, Hua Yedi, and Hua Beibei next to Anjie, his eyes lit up.

"Young man, are you a trainer?"

Anjie wanted to shake his head and say no, but after seeing the old man's gaze, he suddenly realized that if he denied it, the old man would definitely refuse, although he didn't know why.

So he quickly changed his tune, saying, "I guess so."

The old man immediately pressed on, asking, "So, how strong are you?"

Anjie replied, "It's alright."

"That's wonderful! Saying it yourself is fine, but that's truly excellent!" The old man was overjoyed. "May I ask you for a favor?"

Anjie said, "You tell me first."

"That's how it is..."

It turns out that a group of wild Pokémon recently arrived near Vanilla Village, causing serious damage to the village's crops.

The old man came to the city this time because he wanted to hire a trainer at the Pokémon Center to help drive away the Pokémon in the village.

However, the trainers at the Pokémon Center all felt that the job was troublesome and poorly paid, so no one was willing to take it, and the old man could only leave disappointed.

After listening to the old man's words, Anjie readily agreed, "Oh, I see. Okay, I'll take the task!"

"Great!" The old man was overjoyed. He beckoned Anjie to get in the driveway. "Let's go back to the village now! Get in the car!"

"Alright!" Anjie immediately climbed onto the cart and said to Miss Skirt, Flower Leaf, and Flower Bud, "Everyone, get on quickly."

"Rabe~"

"Whoosh~"

Upon hearing this, Hua Yedi and Hua Beibei immediately jumped into the car. Hua Yedi sat on An Jie's lap, while the even smaller Hua Beibei sat on his shoulders.

Miss Skirt had short legs and struggled for a long time before failing to get on the bus. Seeing this, Anjie reached out her hand and said, "Come on!"

Miss Skirt hesitated for a moment, then silently placed her hand into Anjie's palm.

"Are you all set? If you are, we're off!" the old man asked, turning around.

"Whoosh~"

"Rabe~"

"Sit still!"

Anjie, Huayedi, and Huabeibei said in unison.

"Alright, let's go!" The old man smiled and patted the neck of his goat mount.

Walking along the path to the herb village, Anjie looked at the old man's tall goat mount and couldn't help but praise it:

"Grandpa, your goat is really beautiful!"

Upon hearing this, the old man immediately showed a smug look on his face.

"Right? My old pal's the best goat in the world."

Anjie chimed in, "Absolutely! I've never seen such an amazing mountain goat before. You can tell it's been carefully bred. Look at those thick thighs, those strong muscles, those unique horns... Wow... Excellent! Absolutely excellent!"

"Right? This old buddy of mine has been with me for over sixty years. Even if I have no food to eat, I'll make sure it's well-fed. It hasn't been easy for it to grow up to what it is today."

The old man was pleased by Anjie's flattery, and began to chat with Anjie at length.

Through conversation, Anjie learned that the old man was actually the village chief of Vanilla Village, named Andrew, who was over seventy years old.

"By the way, young man, I heard you say you were going to our village, is that what it's about?" Andrew asked.

Anjie felt the atmosphere had been set well, so she honestly said, "I'd like to buy some strong vanilla and white vanilla. I've heard that the vanilla grown in Vanilla Village is of excellent quality, so I came here specifically to take a look!"

Upon hearing this, the old man's smile vanished instantly.

He assumed Anjie was a businessman who had come to discuss business with them.

Actually, the herb village wasn't as xenophobic as it is now. Later, their herbs became famous, attracting many merchants to come and seek cooperation.

The large number of visitors even sparked malicious competition, causing significant losses to the village and nearly devastating its herb business.

Later, Vanilla Village only traded with fixed partners.

Even so, people still frequently come to us seeking cooperation.

Clearly, Andrew had misunderstood Angie as that kind of person, and he had absolutely no liking for such a person!

When Anjie saw Andrew's expression change, she immediately realized that she might have said something wrong, so she immediately stopped talking about it.

Under Angie's flattery, Andrew quickly regained his talkativeness.

Looking at the natural scenery along the way, Huayedi and Huabeibei were in a very good mood, so they couldn't help but start singing.

Because of the Bone-Patterned Krookodile, all the Pokémon in Goin Jungle love to sing, and Flareon and Flareon are no exception.

Hearing the clear, melodious singing of Flappy and Flappy, Andrew turned around and couldn't help but praise, "Young man, your Pokémon are really good!"

Flower Leaf and Flower Bebe were immediately displeased. Although they didn't hate humans as much as Miss Skirt, they disagreed with the idea that they were human Pokémon.

Andrew couldn't understand Huayeti and Huabeibei's accusations, and even thought they were happy!

An Jie just smiled and didn't refute, which made Hua Beibei keep pulling An Jie's hair.

Unfortunately, with their strength, they could only tickle Anjie.

"Hahaha~ Young man, you're quite the oddball, managing to catch so many identical Pokémon." Andrew laughed heartily.

Anja said, "This is nothing strange to trainers."

As far as he knew, Daigo had bred several Aggrons.

As they were chatting, Anjie suddenly smelled a faint fragrance.

"What a unique flavor!"

"It smells like vanilla," Andrew said. "We've arrived at Vanilla Village!"

As he finished speaking, his goat pulled Anjie and the others to a stop on a high slope. Anjie looked down and was instantly stunned by the sight before him.

Below the high slope, there were large, square fields of farmland, planted with herbs of white, red, or pink. From a distance, they looked like carpets of different colors.

Seeing Angie's wide, round eyes, Andrew said smugly, "How about it? Isn't our Vanilla Village beautiful!"

He has two things he is proud of in his life: one is his old partner who has been with him for most of his life, and the other is developing the herb cultivation in the herb village to its current scale.

Anjie nodded and said, "It's not just beautiful, it's spectacular!"

His heartfelt words once again brought a smug look to Andrew's face.

"You've got good taste, kid!"

Anjie laughed and said, "I'm just telling the truth."

"Alright, let's go into the village!" Andrew said, patting his old friend.

It's the season for harvesting herbs, and when Anjie entered the village, he found villagers diligently picking herbs in the herb fields, carrying baskets on their backs.

When they saw Andrew return, the villagers straightened up to greet him, their faces full of smiles.

It is clear that Andrew, the village chief, is very well-loved in the village.

Just then, a little girl with pigtails ran over with a little sheep as her mount.

"Grandpa, has the trainer arrived yet?" the little girl asked breathlessly.

Andrew laughed and said, "Of course we invited him! There's nothing Grandpa can't do, look!" He pointed behind him.

Upon seeing this, Anjie waved to the little girl and said, "Hello!"

The little girl was a bit shy when she saw a stranger, blushing as she said, "Y-you...hello!"

Seeing that it was getting late, Andrew smiled and said, "Alright, let's go home first and have Grandma cook us a nice meal. We'll talk about everything else after we've eaten and drunk our fill!"

"Mmm~~" The little girl nodded vigorously, then turned over and rode her little sheep to follow behind her grandfather.

Herb Village is like a paradise, with neat and beautiful houses everywhere.

The narrow paths that crisscross the village are lined with flowers and plants, and sometimes a clump of herbs are interspersed among them.

Andrew's house was in the northeast corner of the village. When Angie and her group arrived, the chimney on the roof was already smoking.

Unlike modern cooking methods, Herb Village still uses earthen stoves and burns firewood.

Hearing a noise coming from the yard, a head was seen peeking out of the kitchen window.

"You're back!"

The speaker was Andrew's wife, a kind-faced old lady with a full head of silver hair.

"Oh dear, we have guests!" she exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Anjie. "Aya, quickly go and pour tea for the guests."

So the little girl's name is Aya!

"Okay, Grandma!" Aya replied and quickly ran into the house with her little sheep mount.

(End of this chapter)