"Have a taste and help us judge, what's the difference between the Moomoo Milk produced by our Miltank here and the milk from Goldenrod City? Where exactly does it fall short?"
During their conversation, Silas had explained his basic background, which led to the scene unfolding now.
When John and Penny learned that Silas had once tasted the top-tier milk produced by the ranch under the Goldenrod City Gym, they eagerly volunteered to bring out their own freshly produced milk, asking this experienced taster to give them his opinion.
They wanted to know just how far their milk still was from that legendary top-grade quality.
Taking the cup of milk that had been freshly squeezed less than an hour ago, Silas watched as his golden-finger interface unfolded before his eyes, detailed information about the milk instantly appearing.
[Moomoo Milk: High-grade ingredient. Milk produced by a Miltank that has been extremely well nurtured. However, it is still one step away from top-tier quality fresh milk.]
Milk produced by Miltank had a very distinctive flavor, one that varied depending on what they ate in their daily diet. A faint strawberry aroma filled Silas's throat; the milk was smooth as it went down, rich and full-bodied in flavor. It was a rare and precious delicacy.
That said, compared to truly top-tier quality milk, it was still lacking just a little.
Silas honestly shared his evaluation with the John couple. After a brief silence, Penny spoke up, "Thank you, Silas. With this result, we're even more confident that we can cultivate top-quality milk in the future."
"Then I'll congratulate you in advance on your success," Silas said with a smile. "I'll make sure to be the first one to taste it."
"No problem," John replied cheerfully.
The three of them enjoyed pastries together and continued chatting. For the most part, Silas asked questions while John and Penny answered. His inquiries mainly revolved around ranch management. John and his wife were more than happy to share their experience, offering Silas plenty of advice and planning ideas. Gradually, a vague but growing plan for his own ranch began to take shape in Silas's mind.
"Oh right," Penny suddenly remembered something. "Silas, were you heading to the back mountain to gather wild produce?"
"No," Silas replied, gently shaking his head as he explained his real intentions to the couple.
"If you're working alone, you really do need Pokémon to help manage the farmland," Penny said after a moment's thought. "That way, you'll be free to handle other matters."
After pondering for a moment, she suggested, "The best option would be a Pokémon that knows the move Rototiller. If you leave the farmland to it, there won't be any problems."
Rototiller: a Ground-type move that tills the soil, making it easier for plants to grow.
It truly was the best choice for Silas. With such a Pokémon, a large portion of the pressure on his shoulders would be lifted, allowing him to continue reclaiming wasteland and repairing various facilities around the ranch.
"Unfortunately, Pokémon that can use Rototiller aren't easy to find," Penny added with a regretful change in tone.
Among the thousands of Pokémon species discovered in the world so far, only about sixteen in total could learn the move Rototiller through various means. More than half of them were fully evolved forms, and there was no guarantee they would be willing to come work on a farm.
Just then, John, who had been quiet all this time, suddenly clapped his hands. "Penny, Silas—I actually ran into a Pokémon like that not long ago."
Both pairs of eyes turned toward him at once as John began speaking animatedly. "The day before yesterday, when Stoutland and I were searching for the missing Miltank, we saw some Mudbray on the grasslands toward the direction of Coumarine City."
"They were covered head to toe in mud—pretty cute, actually. They should fit Silas's needs perfectly."
"Mudbray?" Silas recalled the information he knew about them and immediately felt that they were an excellent match for his ranch.
Not only could they learn the move Rototiller, but they could also haul goods. Despite their small size, Mudbray possessed astonishing strength. They were one of the most common livestock Pokémon found in rural areas.
With a group of Mudbray helping out, Silas would no longer need to worry about his ranch's future agricultural products piling up unsold.
Having made up his mind, Silas no longer felt at ease sitting around. He asked John in detail about the Mudbray's usual activity range, then called over Minccino and Kangaskhan, who had been playing with the Skiddo nearby. While it was still early, he bid farewell to the couple and set off on the road to find the Mudbray, heading straight toward their territory.
Places where Mudbray lived were extremely easy to identify—there was virtually no chance of mistaking them. Sure enough, Silas found them without any difficulty.
Amid a vast expanse of grass, there was an oddly bare patch where the soil was exposed. Several Mudbray were rolling around and playing in the mud. When they sensed an unfamiliar presence, they immediately became alert, huddling back-to-back, lowering their bodies and letting out threatening growls.
"Spotted already?" Silas thought to himself.
He had originally planned to sneak closer, but now he had no choice but to reveal himself. Silas gently patted Kangaskhan's head, signaling her to carry him forward. Taking his secret weapon from Minccino's hands, Silas jumped down from Kangaskhan's shoulder and strolled over to the edge of the mud patch.
The first priority was to dispel the Mudbray's wariness.
With a flick of his wrist, Silas tossed three fresh, juicy carrots toward them.
If he remembered correctly, Mudbray living in the wild had an enormous need for green fodder. Normally, they could only nibble on nearby grass—hardly tasty, low in nutrition, and just barely enough to keep them from starving. The vegetables harvested from the Belmond couple's ranch were incredibly tempting to them.
At first, the Mudbray showed no reaction at all.
Their eyes were fixed warily on Kangaskhan—that terrifying giant beast. The aura she emitted was even more frightening than the Pyroar that ruled these grasslands. The Mudbray's legs trembled so badly that only by standing back-to-back were they able to keep from collapsing in fear.
Silas wasn't in a hurry. He simply kept feeding them.
More and more carrots, cabbages, and small pumpkins were tossed over. Seeing the ground gradually covered with food, the Mudbray finally couldn't hold back any longer. They cautiously stepped forward, lowered their heads, and began eating voraciously.
"Mud-mud~" So tasty, so tasty!
One of them completely abandoned any sense of dignity and started stuffing its face. The other two quickly followed suit, and soon all three Mudbray wore blissful expressions on their faces.
This was food they had never tasted before.
The saying really was true—if you wanted to conquer a Pokémon, the fastest way was to conquer its stomach.
Under the relentless assault of delicious food, the Mudbray gradually lowered their guard. The vegetables on the ground were eaten bit by bit. Just as the Mudbray began to feel disappointed, Silas tossed out another carrot.
This carrot landed a little closer to Silas.
Already awakened to their inner gluttony, the Mudbray had zero resistance to delicious food and shuffled forward another step. And so it went—one carrot after another.
By the time the Mudbray realized something was off, they were already standing right in front of Silas.
Almost instinctively, they bit down on the carrot Silas offered. Looking at the human so close before their eyes, the Mudbray blinked their big eyes in confusion.
"MUD!!!"
They cried out in panic, crashing into one another and tumbling into a pile.
Oh no—we've been caught by a human!
If only we hadn't been so greedy, wuuuu!!!
Silas: "..."
Why did these Mudbray feel kind of… dumb?
"Kang~"
Behind him, Kangaskhan stepped forward, lowering her head to inspect them curiously. Dirty and muddy—not good-looking at all. Silas definitely wouldn't like Pokémon like this.
"Min!"
A small white figure shot forward like a beam of light, but just before reaching the Mudbray, it was grabbed by Silas and held in his arms.
So dirty, so dirty! How did they get themselves this filthy? They absolutely have to be cleaned up, min!
Silas raised a hand to gently stroke Minccino, calming the little one down. The fragile goodwill he had just built couldn't be allowed to shatter like this.
He took out more carrots and even broke his last remaining honey pancake into three pieces, offering them to the Mudbray.
"Eat, eat."
"Mud?"
(End of Chapter)