"Star, Star, Star~"
As Eva walked, she suddenly noticed a flock of Starly flying overhead.
Watching these creatures freely soaring through the sky, Eva let out a soft sound of surprise. These magical beasts dared to fly so openly over human territory—something that was almost never seen in Wisdomhall City.
Moreover, it was already summer, and forest resources were abundant. Under such conditions, magical beasts had no reason to venture into human lands at all.
She continued onward, and along the way she discovered that a surprisingly large number of magical beasts lived across this grassland. They all appeared remarkably relaxed and showed no fear whatsoever toward her, a human.
As she advanced further, she finally saw another human. That person was crouched in front of a magical beast, holding food and carefully coaxing it, while the magical beast itself behaved with exceptional docility.
When the person noticed Eva, they clearly froze for a moment. Though her attire was plain, the aura she carried was impossible to conceal.
"Are you here to capture Pokémon as well?" the trainer asked, quickly averting their gaze and greeting her hesitantly.
"Capture Pokémon?" Eva sensed that she had stumbled upon something extraordinary. After a moment's thought, she stepped forward and began chatting with the person.
After some conversation, she finally understood what "capturing Pokémon" meant. The human before her was a Trainer, and this place was a Pokémon breeding zone used to raise Pokémon with Pokémon being what they refer now to magical beast.
"A Pokémon breeding zone… and the Trainer system?" Astonishment filled her face. This was a path she had never even imagined—yet Prince Aven had somehow turned it into reality.
"So this is what Azelf meant by a way for humans and Pokémon to coexist harmoniously?"
Uxie's eyes also showed a hint of amazement. This system was completely unlike anything of the current era, yet it seemed far more reasonable than the existing structures.
"Let's continue toward the Pokémon Domain," Eva said, her gaze shifting southward. "I'm becoming more and more curious about this Aven."
Ignoring the trainer, Eva's psychic power stirred, and her figure vanished instantly from the spot, leaving the trainer staring in stunned disbelief.
When she appeared again, Eva had already entered the heart of the northern territory. Before her stretched fields of wheat that extended as far as the eye could see, all of it nearly ripe.
"So much farmland… When did the territory of Aspiration City's agriculture become this developed?" Eva murmured in surprise. The sheer scale of the fields was staggering.
Rustle—rustle—rustle—
At that moment, a soft rustling sound came from the wheat beside her.
A Oddish suddenly poked its head out, glanced at Eva, and then continued clearing weeds from the field.
"Oddish, are you weeding the fields?" Eva crouched down, curiosity evident as she looked at it.
In response, the Oddish showed no fear at all. Instead, it nodded enthusiastically. Its leaf lowered onto the weeds, activating an Absorb-like move that drained the vitality from them.
The weeds withered at a visible pace, yet the wheat remained completely unaffected. The efficiency of this weeding method was immediately apparent.
"This Oddish can actually help humans weed their crops," Eva said with clear interest.
She gently closed her eyes and activated her psychic perception. Instantly, she sensed a vast number of Oddish scattered throughout the fields.
Just moments earlier, she had been wondering how many farmhands it would take to manage such an enormous farmland—but with these Oddish, everything suddenly seemed easy.
As she pondered this, several Bibarel emerged from nearby irrigation channels. After looking up at the sun, they sprayed powerful Water Guns toward the recently weeded fields.
The jets of water shot straight into the sky before bursting and falling like rainfall, irrigating the wheat and maintaining the soil's ideal moisture level.
"Bibarel… irrigating the fields," Eva fell silent.
She looked at the Oddish, then at the Bibarel. Could it be that this entire field was cultivated by Oddish and Bibarel?
Filled with deep curiosity, she hesitated briefly before approaching one of the Oddish and extending her hand, activating her telepathy.
Having received Uxie's acknowledgment, Eva possessed a portion of Uxie's abilities—and telepathy was one of them. Through it, she could quickly obtain the knowledge she sought.
In an instant, her consciousness connected with the Oddish's. Countless images flooded her mind—memories belonging to the Pokémon itself.
The earliest scene showed barren land, with Oddish crowded among the few weeds that grew there.
Then, one day, large numbers of humans arrived, bringing many Bibarel. With the Bibarel's strength, they began reclaiming the land.
In just a few days, the wasteland was transformed into arable farmland. Bibarel dug irrigation channels, diverting water to nourish the soil.
At the same time, the humans accepted the Oddish living there, training them to master weeding techniques and help manage the fields.
"What is this…? In early spring this place was still wasteland, and in just three months it's become fields of ripe wheat?" Eva opened her eyes, disbelief filling them.
She had assumed the wheat was planted last autumn—but it had only been growing for three months!
And those Bibarel capable of rapid land reclamation—they seemed to harbor extraordinary power within them as well.
"Tank! Tank! Tank~"
As Eva was still processing this, a Skuntank pulling a cart approached from afar, barrels stacked atop the wagon.
Behind it walked a farmer, who stopped in front of Eva. "Are you a traveling Trainer?" he asked.
The farmer glanced at the girl. This was the frontier of the territory, far from towns, and the people he encountered most often were Trainers.
"A Trainer? Yes… I'm a Trainer traveling through," Eva hesitated briefly before nodding.
A sly glint appeared in her eyes as she subtly guided the conversation, quickly drawing out a wealth of information from the farmer.
Everything he said perfectly matched the memories she had seen from the Oddish. This farmland had indeed been reclaimed only recently.
As he spoke, the farmer expressed unwavering admiration for His Highness Aven—marveling at the miraculous power of Pokémon and the effectiveness of fertilizer.
So, it was all true. In just three months, massive quantities of crops had been grown.
At that moment, Eva's thoughts raced. If Wisdomhall City could adopt the same methods, it would surely produce abundant harvests—and no one there would ever go hungry again.
Her emotions were complex, but after a moment's thought, she continued swiftly toward the Pokémon Domain.
Along the way, she observed the people around her and noticed that many had a magical beast—no, a Pokémon—by their side.
Upon entering the city, she saw countless people accompanied by Pokémon of all kinds, all of them gentle in demeanor.
Just as the farmer had said, in this city, humans and Pokémon shared an exceptionally harmonious relationship.
Many tasks were even handled by Pokémon, with efficiency far surpassing that of humans—just like the Oddish and Bibarel she had seen earlier.
Humans alone could never manage such vast fields, but with Pokémon, weeding and irrigation became effortless.
There were also Skuntank, whose immense strength allowed them to haul loads that would otherwise require multiple trips by humans.
Within the city, she even saw Skuntank-drawn carriages. After paying the fare, passengers could travel to numerous destinations along the route.
She heard that this, too, was Prince Aven's idea.
With such long-distance transport, people could quickly move between cities without relying solely on their own legs as before.
Eva arrived at the passenger station, bought a ticket, and boarded a Skuntank-drawn carriage heading toward the Pokémon Domain.
She had expected the ride to be slow—the carriage was large and heavy, carrying more than a dozen passengers, and the journey was long.
Yet once it started moving, she felt almost no jolting at all. The speed was remarkably fast, scenery streaming past them. Such smoothness with so many passengers over long distances was simply incredible.
"It's actually… quite comfortable," Eva murmured.
This was a sensation she usually only experienced within cities—yet here she was, feeling it in the wilderness.
There could only be one explanation: Prince Aven had constructed roads throughout Aspiration City that connected multiple territories.
The benefits of such infrastructure were obvious—but the difficulty was immense, requiring vast manpower and resources.
Yet when she considered the power of Pokémon, she fell silent once more. If Pokémon were involved, perhaps nothing was impossible.
Another key factor was securing the consent of other lords.
From this alone, it was clear just how influential Aven was—able to persuade other lords to willingly participate in road construction.
Naturally, they too would reap tremendous benefits.
The greatest impact would be on trade. Eva could easily imagine how, with such roads, commerce between territories would flow freely, efficiency would soar, and cooperation would flourish.
(End of Chapter)
TN: I'll have Aven and other chosen by royal candidates refer to each other as Prince or Princess and other people referring to them as Your Highness as distinction of POV. Aven and Mira, I'll maintain them just calling each other by name since they're friends, so less formal.