Chapter 44
: Follow Farmer Boy Meow, follow Farmer Boy, thank you Meow!
[That's why I love Pokémon, they're just so cute!]
[Treat Pokémon with love, and they will repay us with equal enthusiasm. The famous Pokémon professor, Dr. Yew, wrote a paper on this topic titled "Nature's Reward."]
[Didn't anyone notice that the boy is raising three Pokémon that will mature late in life? Is he some kind of rich kid from a company or family? I've never heard of him before.]
[That's true! I remember the evolution items for Duraludon are now selling for eight million Alliance Coins or something, right? And that doesn't even include the cost of Duraludon's food and nutrition.]
[I just checked, and because of graduation season, the price has risen to 15 million per coin! That's ridiculous!]
[Fifteen million? More than double! Are those prop masters all black market dealers? They're robbing us!]
"Sigh, Xia Ming, you must be a Pokémon Trainer graduating this year, right? Can you really handle raising three Pokémon that are late bloomers?"
Vina, who noticed the comments, came to Xia Ming's side to ask after putting away the gifts, followed by Ziyu, who also had doubts.
Judging from Xia Ming's training of Larvitar, he shouldn't be the kind of person who would be irresponsible towards his Pokémon. But precisely because of this, the cost of raising three pseudo-legendary Pokémon is a huge headache just to think about.
Purple Taro's father is a formal Gym Leader in the Unova League. As the daughter of a Gym Leader, she knows very well that even the main force of Gym Leaders will at most raise a Pokémon that will achieve great things later in life as a trump card.
This is thanks to their remarkable ability to achieve a "one in a million" result in the final stage simply by being carefully nurtured.
If you're just raising a late-blooming Pokémon, the expense is less worthwhile than carefully raising a starter Pokémon of the same level or other more cost-effective Pokémon.
The reason is simple: the cost of carefully raising a pseudo-god is completely different from the cost of raising a pseudo-god to adulthood!
Meanwhile, as an upper-class person, Ziyu clearly remembered that she had never heard of Xia Ming.
Generally speaking, she shouldn't be unaware of the successor of a power capable of raising quasi-gods on a large scale.
"Actually, it's alright, but I might not be what you think. In reality, I'm just an ordinary farmer."
Xia Ming knew what Vina wanted to ask next, so he didn't bother to hide it. He was going to be involved in the internet world sooner or later, and some things just couldn't be kept secret:
"However, I cannot reveal more details. If you want to know, you can follow a channel called 'Farmer Boy' on Pikachu.com."
At the end, he casually typed "GG" to himself during Vina's live stream, then gave a mysterious smile and said nothing more.
Vina, who understood Xia Ming's meaning, did not ask any further questions.
After a brief exchange, the two teams parted ways to continue their respective adventures.
………………
"Wow, what a waste. Sure enough, the ruthless ones have bad luck too. It's all just ordinary stuff, but the space backpack is huge, ten cubic meters, worth at least 60,000 Alliance Coins. That's quite generous."
As he walked toward the evacuation point, Xia Ming began fiddling with his spoils of war.
The price of the space backpack increases progressively, with the cheapest one costing only 500 Alliance Coins per cubic meter. Each additional cubic meter increases the price exponentially, simply because the larger the space, the more difficult it is to maintain stability.
These two real teams clearly came from the superdimensional world to buy supplies, which is why their backpacks are particularly large.
After taking stock of the supplies, Xia Ming only found a few relatively rare items, which were all gifts that the Pokémon themselves had taken out.
For example, two complete evolution stones, with a purity of at least 90%, could easily sell for hundreds of thousands.
Then there are some natural Pokémon products, such as a can of Three Bees Sweet Brew, which was given to me by a bear cub, whose face was full of reluctance at the time.
Xia Ming doesn't plan to sell this jar of honey; instead, he'll keep it to supplement the meals for everyone in his family.
The spoils of the Real Team... were all ordinary items, the kind that Xia Ming would find too troublesome to resell.
"Sophia."
"Um?"
"Are you feeling better now?"
After putting his backpack on, Xia Ming looked at Sophia, whose tears had dried, and began to show concern.
Based on fragmented memories from his past life, Xia Ming knew that Sophia was somewhat depressed because of the death of her parents, and that her only close friend, Scarlett, had been replaced by him.
This led Xia Ming to be completely unaware of Sophia's current physical condition, and because Sophia hadn't shown any unusual symptoms in recent days, he overlooked this fact until now...
He finally understood what Gus meant by "helping" back then; it wasn't about helping Sophia escape loneliness, but something else entirely.
"No...it's nothing, my eyes just hurt a little."
In front of Xia Ming, Sophia showed no intention of being strong on her own; instead, she revealed her most vulnerable side without reservation.
She pointed to her slightly red and swollen eyes, her choked voice suggesting she might burst into tears at any moment, making her appear pitiful.
"Then close your eyes."
Holding Sophia's small hand, Xia Ming reached out and brushed his hand across her eyes:
"Open your eyes when you reach a scenic spot."
"Um!"
Obediently closing her eyes, Sophia nervously hugged Xia Ming's arms, as if that would make her feel safer.
Xia Ming also slowed down his pace and strolled around leisurely with Sophia.
This time, Xia Ming's landing point was quite far from the evacuation point, with the Queen Bee Garden in between.
Instead of taking a detour, he planned a route that would take him past that area and continue forward.
Blocking a bridge is a swift and effective tactic, but it's not the only option. Sometimes, treating those around you with kindness is more meaningful than blocking a bridge.
When the two walked to the garden, it was already late morning and the stars were few.
They ate a simple meal, and Xia Ming took out his camping tent and began to set it up.
Sitting on the windswept lawn, Sophia gazed absently at the sea of flowers swaying in the moonlight. Three bees slept peacefully among the blossoms, and everything seemed so serene.
"What are you thinking about?"
After setting up the tent, Xia Ming led his Pokémon to stand behind Sophia. He looked up at the incredible clearing that existed in the dense forest:
"It's a pity we arrived too late. I imagine the sea of flowers at dusk must be exceptionally beautiful."
"Actually, I look beautiful right now. I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time."
"It will be easier in the future. It's not just about the sea of flowers. In the future, I will take you to visit the oasis in the desert, take you to stand on the cliff in the clouds, and take you to dive into the coral reefs that glow at night in the sea... We will have plenty of time to see all the beautiful scenery in the world in the future."
"Um!"
Sophia didn't think Xia Ming was just trying to make her happy; she was also looking forward to seeing the unique scenery he had described.