Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 8 Circularity and Mountain Preparation

The Growlithe spent the next few days training.

However, this is ultimately its own training, and Su Yu himself is a novice trainer, so he can't help it much.

Fortunately, there's plenty of milk pudding. This stuff combines the effects of MooMoo milk, which is very effective for newborn Pokémon that are still growing.

Over the next few days, Growlithe had grown considerably larger and stronger than when it first hatched. However, it was still not quite as tall as it was in the anime, where it was almost half a person's height.

During this time, Su Yu also used the environmental modification liquid given by the system, sprinkling it all over the ranch.

After use, the environmental modification solution had a significant effect on the ranch. First, the grass grew faster and taller, and the quality improved. Consequently, the sheep grazing on this grass also grew faster.

Especially for the Woolstaff sheep, the rate of wool growth has noticeably accelerated.

Su Yu had only brought them from Uncle Yang's place a few days ago, and their wool was already ready to be sheared. Su Yu planned to shear the wool in a few days and sell it for money.

In addition, even the fruits and vegetables that Su Yu planted in the field have all become different from before.

For Su Yu, the most direct feeling was that fruits and vegetables had become tastier and more nutritious.

However, Su Yu didn't spend much time farming these past few days; instead, he devoted all his time to fishing.

Su Yu bought four or five fishing rods from Meira. At this moment, he is fishing by the lake on the south side of the ranch.

However, after several days of fishing, the results were disappointing. While there were no complete skunked (no fish caught), the catch was also small, yielding only a few hundred yuan at most, barely covering the cost of the fishing rod.

After another fish took the bait, Su Yu pulled it up and saw that it was a carp king, which made Su Yu's face darken.

In the past few days, he has caught quite a few king carp from this lake, and all the bait has been wasted.

After all, Magikarp is widely considered the weakest Pokémon, and it's all bones. What's the point of catching it and not releasing it?

This time, Su Yu sensed something was wrong. He carefully examined the Magikarp, and his face darkened even more.

"Wait...it's you again. You've cheated on me so many times, don't you? Do you really enjoy being hooked up with?"

Clearly, this carp is a regular, having been caught countless times.

Magikarp, however, was blowing bubbles, seemingly confused and unable to understand Su Yu's words.

"Sigh... Fine, fine. Since you like taking the bait so much, then don't go back. Just stay with me for now."

Su Yu placed the Magikarp into a bucket filled with lake water. Since they were so destined to meet, Su Yu decided to keep the Magikarp.

Although only one in ten thousand Magikarp can evolve into Gyarados, it's not impossible. Consider it a matter of luck.

Then, Su Yu glanced at the fish basket again; today's harvest was rather modest. However, a few of the mandarin fish inside looked quite delicious and should be suitable for taking home and cooking.

Braised is the best way to cook this type of fish.

Following the same route he came from, Su Yu saw Yang Hao training the woolly sheep at the neighboring ranch in the distance.

Yang Hao requested this himself, probably because he was bored. Su Yu and Yang Hao had known each other since childhood, so she let him have his way.

But when he got closer and heard Yang Hao teaching the woolly sheep something, Su Yu's face darkened.

"Woolstaff, just learning Tackle and Headbutt isn't enough. You also need to learn how to protect yourself."

"—Turn round, turn round, you know? This move is the strongest. Sometimes, you have to survive to have a chance to deal damage. Huh? You don't understand? No problem, I'll teach you."

Those few words brought back some unpleasant memories for Su Yu. Placing the fish basket at the doorway of the hut, Su Yu asked:

"You didn't train your little lamb like that, did you?"

Turning round, rolling, drinking milk—Su Yu was familiar with this combo of skills. And as far as Su Yu knew, Yang Hao's ranch had a little lamb that had inherited the moves of turning round and rolling.

"Oh? How did you know? It's a pity that my little lamb seems a bit slow; I'm currently teaching it how to drink milk."

"Once it learns, I plan to take it back to school. My classmates are all very arrogant, but I doubt any of them will be able to beat me."

Hearing this, Su Yu sneered. "Hmph, you're really lacking in class, daring to play like this in offline PK. Watch out, you might get beaten up by a real person."

After taking all the fish out of the fish basket, Su Yu thought for a moment and decided it was time to head into the mountains.

Growlithe has been growing quite fast these past few days. Although it hasn't learned any new moves yet, its overall strength has increased significantly, and dealing with basic emergencies in the forest shouldn't be a problem for it.

Of course, this assumes he doesn't attract a swarm of Beedrill or run into a large flock of Spearow. Su Yu isn't a complete novice; he can withstand so many Pokémon attacks without dying.

But unless you're extremely unlucky, most people won't encounter this situation. Especially since Su Yu also prepared insect repellent spray; most wild Pokémon won't choose to approach if they smell that.

Therefore, going into the mountains at this time is a pretty good choice.

After cleaning and braising the mandarin fish they had caught that day, Su Yu invited Yang Hao to stay for dinner. However, Yang Hao declined, saying that his uncle had told him to go home for dinner.

Seeing this, Su Yu didn't insist on keeping him. He said:

"Oh right, I should be heading into the mountains tomorrow, so I'll probably have to leave the ranch in your care for the next few days. Thank you."

"Okay, hey, we're so close, why are we talking about trouble? We're buddies!"

Yang Hao waved his hand, and then he finished teaching the woofers. He said:

"Alright, that's all for today's lesson. I'm tired. We'll cover the rest another day."

With that, he left the ranch before it got completely dark.

As for Su Yu, after finishing dinner, he went to bed early. After several days of practicing cooking, Su Yu's culinary skills had improved considerably.

Although... sometimes they still manage to create some truly awful dishes, scaring Wooloo and Growlithe so much that they dare not eat them.

In his previous life, Su Yu was so busy working on construction sites that he didn't even have time to cook for himself. Unexpectedly, after transmigrating, he found himself with more free time.

Before going to sleep, Su Yu prepared the milk pudding he would feed the Wooloo the next day. He didn't know if the sheep could eat this kind of thing every day, but he thought it would be fine for Pokémon.

"Speaking of which, the grass in the pasture is growing better and better. Maybe one day it will be as good as Moo Moo's fresh milk. When that happens, I'll make them a grass cake?"

Lying in bed, Su Yu thought of the favorite food of the sheep emperor in an animation from his previous life—that kind of cake. It must be quite tempting for sheep, right?

With all sorts of thoughts swirling in his mind, Su Yu gradually drifted off to sleep.

……

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(End of this chapter)