"Minccino, from now on you'll be the steward of the ranch! This area here, and that area over there—they're all ours, and you'll be responsible for managing them."
"As for your current task! Just keep the campsite clean, that'll be enough."
Choosing to invite Minccino to join was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for Silas; it was something he had carefully considered and weighed before finally making up his mind.
The reason he had temporarily ended his journey wasn't solely because of the system—Kangaskhan was also a major factor. For that, he had even consulted Nurse Joy.
What he was facing was actually a common issue among Kangaskhan as a species. As they grow older, a mother Kangaskhan's maternal instincts gradually overflow, and her desire for offspring becomes stronger and stronger.
At the same time, her vigilance toward the outside world steadily increases, her temperament becomes irritable and anxious, and her emotions grow unstable.
It was very much like prenatal anxiety.
Wild Kangaskhan live in tribes, with elders nearby to offer comfort and guidance, which greatly reduces the likelihood of problems occurring.
But Kangaskhan that are captured by Trainers can only rely on the Trainer and themselves to overcome this phase.
Moreover, Silas's Kangaskhan was experiencing pregnancy for the first time. Without any prior experience, extreme or impulsive behavior was almost unavoidable.
Earlier, seeing that Kangaskhan and Minccino were getting along quite well, Silas had deliberately intended to keep Minccino around to help ease Kangaskhan's anxiety, while also serving as a form of desensitization training.
In the future, the ranch would definitely raise all kinds of ranch Pokémon, so Silas had no choice but to prepare in advance.
With Minccino's arrival, the changes in Kangaskhan were immediately visible. The laughter and playful noises between the two Pokémon never seemed to stop.
That was, until Silas brought out lunch, and only then did they briefly quiet down, sitting neatly side by side.
For lunch, Silas and Kangaskhan had burgers loaded with every possible topping, while Minccino still had a fruit platter. The difference was that Silas had swapped out several fruits this time, giving it a slightly different flavor.
"Let's eat!"
"Kang…"
"Min Min~"
After quickly finishing lunch, the one human and two Pokémon lay down on the grass for a short nap.
Silas held Minccino in his arms. The little one's fur was glossy and sleek, unbelievably soft to the touch, making it impossible to let go.
She even smelled faintly sweet, so much so that once he hugged her, he didn't want to put her down.
Fluffy Pokémon were the cutest. Silas found himself looking forward more and more to hugging her to sleep at night.
When the scorching midday sun finally began to slant westward and a gentle breeze drifted by, Silas slowly woke up.
Yawning, he washed his face, then grabbed his hoe and berry seeds and headed to the field he had cleared that morning.
He still couldn't plant the berry trees just yet.
First, Silas worked together with Kangaskhan to carry the trimmed logs over near the ranch house, watching the materials counter on his panel tick up with +1, +1.
A day of hard labor had borne fruit, bringing him one step closer to repairing the ranch house.
After the trees were cleared, they still had to clean up dead branches, weeds, and scattered stones.
Minccino looked at the chaotic mess on the ground, and her heart could no longer contain itself.
She jumped down from Silas's shoulder, her tail spinning furiously like a wind-and-fire wheel, whirring as it rotated.
Dead branches and fallen leaves were swept clean in an instant, piling up neatly in the corner.
Seeing this, Silas didn't hesitate either. He hoisted his hoe and joined in, prying out large stones buried deep in the soil one by one.
Kangaskhan then picked them up and carried them over to stack them together in the corner.
With everyone working together, the land reclamation progressed smoothly.
Whenever they got tired, they would sit down and rest for a bit, sometimes even roughhousing on the spot. Laughter and playful noise never stopped for a moment.
Before they realized it, the sun had already dipped low toward the horizon.
Covered head to toe in dirt, Silas wiped the sweat dripping down his cheeks with his sleeve.
Gazing at the freshly reclaimed land before him, now divided into neat plots of farmland, his heart brimmed with a deep sense of accomplishment.
"Looks like we won't be able to plant the seeds today," Silas said with a hint of regret.
Reclaiming wasteland was far more difficult than he had imagined. At most, he had only completed the first step today. Next, he would still need to plow and turn the soil, breaking up the hardened earth to loosen it.
After tilling, the land would need to be leveled again. Only then could it truly be considered reclaimed farmland, ready for planting crops once more.
Silas wasn't in a rush. Taking it slow was just fine.
He called out to Minccino and Kangaskhan, who were chasing each other and playing on the grass, and had them come back.
Hearing his voice, Minccino shot over like an arrow released from a bow, as if she had been holding back for ages. She leapt straight onto Silas, her fluffy tail swishing up and down like a feather shuttlecock, sweeping him from top to bottom with rapid "shh shh shh" motions.
Holding Minccino in his arms, Silas pinched her soft, fluffy ears. Kangaskhan followed closely beside him, her expression carrying a faint hint of jealousy.
"What do you want to eat tonight?" Silas asked.
"Min~ Min~"
Minccino, purring comfortably, raised her little paws and murmured softly.
"Still fruit platter? How about we change it up a bit."
"Min? Min."
Minccino tilted her head cutely.
"As long as it's something I make, you'll like it, right? Such an easygoing little cutie."
Silas couldn't help but pinch Minccino's puffed-up cheeks again.
"And you, big girl! Do you want a huge bowl of fried meat strips, or grilled meat?"
"Kang! Kang!"
"Fried small fish… hmm." Silas thought for a moment, then replied, "How about this—tomorrow morning we plant the berry seeds, then in the afternoon we'll go fishing by the beach, and in the evening I'll fry small fish for you."
"Kang Kang Kang..."
Even though she couldn't immediately eat the salty, crispy fried fish, she had received Silas's promise.
Kangaskhan happily scooped Silas up in a big hug.
Silas was the best, the very best—she wanted to stay together forever.
After working all day, Silas's body felt unusually sore.
So dinner was kept simple.
He washed and pitted some red dates, then mixed glutinous rice flour with an appropriate amount of white sugar, stirring it into a smooth batter.
Next, he chopped the red dates into small pieces and mixed them in.
Finally, he used molds to shape the mixture and placed them one by one into the steamer.
"Minccino, just keep the heat like this, okay!"
"Min~"
While waiting, Silas went over to the other side and cut the thoroughly marinated pork belly into evenly sized chunks.
Then he took sharpened wooden skewers and threaded ten pieces per skewer, making ten large meat skewers in total.
One by one, he placed them over the glowing red charcoal to grill.
"Big girl, how spicy do you want yours?"
"Kang Kang…?"
"If you can't decide, then let's do three different spice levels—three skewers of each."
Amid the sizzling sound of oil dripping, Silas brushed the skewers with sauces of varying degrees of spiciness.
When eating meat, how could there be no palate cleanser?
He tore lettuce into pieces, sliced cucumbers, chopped tomatoes, and cut carrots into strips, dumping everything into a bowl.
Three tablespoons of olive oil, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, one tablespoon of honey, plus some salt and black pepper.
He then handed the bowl to Kangaskhan, asking her to mix everything thoroughly.
On the other side, the aroma of grilled meat began to waft through the air.
Not far away, the steamer also released a faint, gentle sweetness.
[Large Meat Skewers (B): Richly fragrant skewers with plump, firm chunks of meat. The spiciness varies unpredictably. A favorite of Fire-type Pokémon.
Cooking Effect: Spicy Burst]
[Red Date Glutinous Rice Cake (B): A homestyle dessert, the perfect pairing of red dates and glutinous rice. Perhaps adding some milk and osmanthus would bring out a different flavor!
Cooking Effect: Soft and Fragrant]
Huh?
Different cooking effects.
And this time, there were two of them.
Silas couldn't wait and immediately opened them to check the details.
(End of Chapter)