"Phew!"
Standing by the windowsill and gazing into the distance, Silas stretched his waist hard, loosening up his body. His nose twitched slightly as he caught an unexpected fragrance drifting through the air—the blended aroma of various Berries ripening together. The rich, sweet scent made his stomach rumble uncontrollably.
It was far too tempting!
Following the source of the fragrance with his eyes, he looked toward the only crop currently growing on the ranch. After three full months of cultivation, the Berry grove had finally matured. Even from afar, one could see plump, round Berries hidden among the lush leaves and branches, each one brimming with vitality.
He changed into a set of blue work clothes and slicked his slightly long hair back. Scooping up Smoliv from the windowsill, he headed downstairs.
The other Pokémon had already rushed out early, patrolling around the grove to prevent wild Pokémon from sneaking in to steal the fruit.
Silas didn't hurry over right away. After soothing the restless Smoliv in his arms, he turned on the television to check the morning weather forecast.
"According to monitoring from the Kalos Meteorological Station, today's weather across Kalos will transition from clear to cloudy. Over the next two days, western regions centered on Shalour City and Coumarine City will experience heavy rainfall. Residents in affected areas are advised to take necessary precautions. For more details, please refer to the cloud distribution map…"
On the screen, a massive, pitch-black rain cloud rolled in from the sea, rapidly covering the skies above Shalour City.
Based on the meteorological station's projections, this round of rainfall would continue spreading inland and wouldn't stop until it reached Lumiose City in central Kalos.
"Two days of heavy rain, huh…" Silas muttered to himself. "Looks like I won't be able to accompany the Noibat to the tournament today."
If all the Berries weren't harvested before the storm arrived, a single bout of heavy rain would cause them to rot on the ground, resulting in huge losses for him.
Turning off the TV, Silas placed Smoliv on his shoulder and walked toward the grove.
Kangaskhan, Cyclizar, Flabébé, Minccino, and every Pokémon on the ranch had gathered here.
When they saw Silas approaching, the group of Pokémon immediately surrounded him.
Minccino hopped into his arms and proudly held up a blue Berry.
"Min~"
"For me?" Silas smiled. "Thank you, Minccino."
He gave Minccino a gentle rub and took the Oran Berry, biting into it. Sweet, refreshing juice burst across his tongue—the Oran Berry was perfectly ripe.
"Smoliv~"
Smoliv bumped into Silas with its tiny body, clearly wanting some as well.
"MIn~"
Minccino giggled sweetly, scooped up Smoliv, and dashed off into the grove.
"Alright, everyone, get ready," Silas clapped his hands and looked around at the Pokémon. "We're harvesting Berries today. There's going to be a heavy rain tomorrow and the day after, so we only have today to get everything done."
Hearing this, Kangaskhan and the others were instantly fired up.
Each Pokémon patted its chest confidently, declaring that they could handle all the harvesting and that Silas didn't need to worry at all.
Before assigning everyone their tasks, Silas called the three Noibat over.
Now that they had grown bigger, they could no longer perch on his arm. Instead, they hung upside down from a tree branch, staring at him curiously.
Silas took three number tags from his pocket and carefully stuck them onto their smooth foreheads one by one—these were their registration numbers for the Baby Cup.
"Noi?"
The Noibat tilted their heads in confusion.
Silas gently patted them, his expression apologetic. "I'm sorry, little Noibat. I won't be able to go with you to the Baby Cup today."
"Noi~"
The Noibat trio looked a bit dejected at first, but they quickly pulled themselves together.
They had to be strong. They couldn't keep causing Silas trouble.
Even without him by their side, they could still win the championship.
And when that happened, they'd definitely give Silas a big surprise.
The three Noibat crawled onto Silas and rubbed their heads against him affectionately.
"Noi!"
(It's okay, Silas! We can handle the competition on our own!)
"Are you really sure?" Silas was still worried. "If not, we can just skip it."
The Noibat shook their heads vigorously, insisting that they could manage by themselves. They were really, really strong, and Silas didn't need to worry about them at all.
Seeing how determined they were, Silas stopped trying to persuade them. "Be careful on the way there. Once the match is over, come straight back. Don't get into arguments with other people or Pokémon."
After repeated reminders from Silas, the three Noibat excitedly flew high into the sky. This was their first time leaving the ranch on their own, and they looked especially thrilled.
Watching their small figures disappear into the distance, Silas still felt uneasy. He called Cyclizar over and whispered a few instructions into its ear.
"Cyc~!"
(Leave it to me!)
For the sake of earning a little red flower of praise, Cyclizar absolutely wouldn't allow anything to happen to the three Noibat.
Cyclizar sped ahead along the ground, reaching Shalour City before the Noibat and secretly keeping watch over them from the shadows, just in case.
Back at the ranch, the harvest officially began.
The Mareep lay down on the ground, using their fluffy wool to cushion the Berries thrown down by Minccino and the Meowth.
The Berries bounced once on their soft coats, then Silas picked them up and tossed them into the bamboo baskets strapped to Mudsdale's back.
The harvesting progressed extremely smoothly. Every Berry within reach was picked clean, and baskets piled up one after another outside the grove.
"Meow?"
(We can't reach the ones at the very top.)
The regular Meowth stretched up on tiptoe with all its might, trying to grab the highest Berries.
Not only did it fail, it nearly fell out of the tree.
Galarian Meowth chimed in.
"Meowr~"
(This won't work. We're too short.)
Alolan Meowth suddenly clapped its paws together—it had an idea.
Jumping down from the tree, it dashed into the house, opened the refrigerator, and took out the remaining dorayaki it had saved. Tossing the dorayaki into the spatial satchel it carried, the bag soon began to bulge.
A moment later, three wooden, propeller-like Bamboo-Copters popped out together.
TN: Also called the Hopter or Take-copter depending on the Doraemon version you watched.
"Meowr!"
(If we can fly, we can pick the Berries up high!)
After handing the Bamboo-Copters to the other two Meowth, three flying Meowth appeared atop the tree branches.
They swiftly harvested all the freshest and crispest Berries from above before landing back on the ground with baskets in hand.
This instantly drew the envy of all the other Pokémon—Meowth could fly now?! That was way too awesome!!!
With the help of the mysterious item, the Bamboo-Copter, all the Pokémon quickly finished harvesting every last Berry from the grove.
Outside the grove, Silas and Kangaskhan sorted the Berries by quality.
Ordinary quality made up 60%, Silver Star quality accounted for 30%, and Gold Star quality comprised the remaining 10%.
All things considered, it was a bumper harvest.
Berries packed with rich nutrients sold for extremely high prices, several times that of ordinary fruit.
Selling everything would bring in at least seventy to eighty thousand League Coins.
And since Gold Star quality Berries sold for more than one and a half times the price of ordinary ones, even that estimate was conservative.
Seeing the Pokémon emerge from the grove, Silas looked up and asked, "Is everything harvested?"
"Meow!"
A familiar cry came from above.
The three Meowth hovered in midair, each guarding a different direction, carrying enormous cloth sacks stuffed full of Berries.
Silas's attention was completely drawn to the items on their heads—an all-too-familiar mysterious tool.
Now then, who here can't fly?
Answer me.
Look in my eyes, tell me why?
Once all the Berries were harvested, sorted, and boxed, and the work was finally complete, Silas couldn't help but start worrying about the three little Noibat again.
Had they found the competition venue?
Had they been bullied by other Pokémon?
(End of Chapter)