"How is it? Tastes pretty good, right?"
"Dig!"
"Very delicious."
Diggersby and Gario both gave a thumbs-up as they wolfed down the jelly cakes in no time at all. The oppressive heat in their bodies was completely driven away, and the two of them simultaneously revealed expressions of pure enjoyment.
"As long as you like it," Silas replied with a smile. He then patted Cyclizar, asking it to deliver the remaining three portions of jelly cake to the Bellmond couple and their Stoutland.
"These are the clay that's being sold today, and the olive oil."
After receiving the day's earnings, Gario carefully stowed the two valuable items away. Just as he climbed into the driver's seat and before starting the small truck, he leaned out and spoke again.
"Oh, right! Silas. The Fishing Festival will be held on the 18th of this month. If you're interested, you can head to Coumarine City to register that day."
"April 18th? Got it."
Repeating it once in his mind, Silas waved to him and watched as the truck drove off, gradually disappearing at the end of his field of vision.
At this moment, Cyclizar returned as well, with three empty bowls balanced on its head.
Seeing Silas waiting, Cyclizar sped up a little, looking at him affectionately and rubbing its head against him.
"Let's go. We're heading back."
When they returned to the ranch, the sky still hadn't darkened.
The temperature was just right, so Silas let the Pokémon play and roughhouse freely around the ranch.
At the same time, he was thinking about what dishes he should prepare for the Fishing Festival. Seafood risotto was an absolute must, and the special bait he had made last time would also need to be used.
If he had time tomorrow, he could make a few more varieties to prepare for the festival.
No matter what, this year he had to win a spot.
Yes!
Starting tomorrow, whenever he had nothing else to do, he would go fishing near the beach to practice his technique.
Deep in thought, Silas's footsteps never slowed.
He called over a Noibat and had it help carry him to the underground nest of the Carbink.
Compared to a few days ago, the pink diamond that Diancie had transformed into had changed quite a bit.
The most obvious change was the surrounding environment. Dense Fairy-type energy had seeped into the rock layers, condensing into one pink diamond after another.
"Has there been any problem with Diancie's transformation?" Silas asked.
"Bink~"
The elder Carbink shook its head. Lady Diancie had been very stable these past few days.
Silas stepped forward and gently touched it with his finger. The system panel returned further feedback.
[Diancie (Undergoing Mutation): Current Progress 80%]
"Be good and finish your transformation," Silas said softly to Diancie. "When it's done, I'll make something delicious for you."
A flash of bright light flickered briefly.
After chatting with the elder Carbink for a bit longer and confirming that the Carbink were doing very well here, with the cave well hidden, and no Sableye had discovered them so far—Silas returned to the surface.
He glanced at the sky.
Putting on a straw hat, he strolled around the ranch.
He first came to the orchard area. The leaves that had been nibbled by Pokémon had already fallen and regrown, and the branches were now even more luxuriant.
Amid the sea of green, he could vaguely see a few small flowers beginning to grow. The berry trees were flowering once again—within less than a month, there would be another harvest of berries.
This was the advantage of ordinary berries: fast growth. As long as there was water and soil, burying the seeds in the ground would allow them to grow.
They could flower and bear fruit year-round, and most wild berries were of this type.
Aside from these were the rare berries, each with its own unique planting requirements.
Take the Petaya Berry Silas had stored, for example. Its required growth conditions were more than twice those of ordinary berries, needing abundant sunlight and a whole series of other conditions.
TN: Was Kee Berry in earlier chapters, this should be the correct one.
For planting such special berries, it was best to grow them in a greenhouse.
Moreover, each harvest would not yield many fruits—at least two or three, at most seven or eight.
The better the growth conditions were met, the more fruit it would bear; conversely, poorer conditions meant fewer fruits, and in some cases, it might not bear fruit at all.
It could be said that growing this type of special berry was extremely taxing on one's attention and energy.
Silas planned to wait until the Flabébé evolved into Floette, becoming stronger and having more energy to care for them, before planting such berries.
For now, he suppressed these thoughts. After confirming that the orchard was fine, he headed to the stable.
It turned out that the Pokémon were all inside the stable enjoying the cool air. A whole group of big and small cuties were gathered there, and their lively chatter could be heard even from outside.
Not wanting to disturb them, Silas went to the greenhouse.
The moment they saw him appear, the Flabébé immediately swarmed around him.
"Have you gotten used to it? Is there anything about the greenhouse that needs improvement?"
Stretching out his hand and letting the Flabébé sit in his palm, Silas asked gently.
"Bébé~"
The Flabébé shook their heads—everything was already very good.
"Mhm, mhm," he said, teasing them with his finger. "As long as you like it."
Walking deeper into the greenhouse, he saw that the tulip bulbs planted just yesterday had already sprouted.
This was all thanks to the care of the Flabébé, who used their special abilities to accelerate the growth of the flowers.
Passing by the ordinary tulips, Silas came to the silver-cup tulip planted in the center.
It had also sprouted, with a sharp tip emerging from the soil.
The difference was that its sprout was silvery white, standing out starkly from the other tulip buds.
"Bébé~"
(Silas, did we do something wrong?)
Seeing Silas staring intently, the Flabébé asked nervously in small voices.
"No, not at all." Silas withdrew his gaze and shook his head. "You did great. Before long, this place will grow into a vast field of tulips."
"Bé!"
The five Flabébé looked on with longing expressions, already imagining the scene of collecting nectar for Silas.
After confirming that everything in the greenhouse was in perfect order, Silas prepared to leave, but not before asking, "Have you decided what flowers you want to plant in the other four flower fields yet?"
"Bé~ (≧﹏≦)"
The five Flabébé shook their heads in unison, they hadn't decided yet!
"Hahaha~" Silas laughed as he patted them reassuringly. "There's no rush. You can start by choosing a type you like."
"Oh, right! You probably haven't seen many kinds of flowers, have you?"
"Bé!"
The Flabébé nodded. Having been blown to the ranch by a strong wind, they had only seen tulips and a few unknown wildflowers.
After thinking for a moment, Silas gave a definite answer. "After the Fishing Festival on the 18th, I'll take you to the flower market in Coumarine City. They have most of the flowers available on the market—you'll definitely find something you like."
This month's schedule was packed, so Silas had no choice but to push it back a few days.
"Bébé!"
The five Flabébé's eyes lit up instantly. They circled around Silas's fingers, their fairy-like bodies rubbing their cheeks against him one by one, expressing their affection.
"Go play. Minccino and the others are over at the stable."
Leaving the greenhouse, Silas returned to the house.
He sat on the sofa for a while, planning out the remaining days.
With the combined efforts of himself and the Pokémon, the ranch had recovered. His current tasks were simply making daily rounds of the fields; the rest of the time was his to freely allocate.
He couldn't waste that free time. Silas took out the fishing rod that had been gathering dust and carefully cleaned it. This was his "weapon" for securing a ranking, it had to be properly maintained.
From today until the Fishing Festival on the 18th, he would devote several hours each day to practicing his fishing skills.
After planning the next few days, Silas stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
It was time to make dinner.
(End of Chapter)