: The Story of Snorlax Stealing Offerings

Chapter 7: The Story of Snorlax Stealing Offerings

After asking around among the town's residents, Mingyou arrived at a small supermarket-sized store called Taoze, not far from the community center.

This is the only shop in Emerald Town, and it has been operating here for decades. The owner has never changed and is known to others as Granny Momozawa.

"It has the feel of a small village store..."

This was Mingyou's first impression of the store. The store was decorated with many Pokémon-themed masks, and there were several boxes and shelves at the entrance.

Inside were some confetti cannons used in festival celebrations, as well as Pokémon-shaped toys and PTCG cards. Some children were watching and chatting, wanting to buy but afraid of being scolded by their parents.

Upon entering, a kind-faced old woman was sitting on a chair in front, doing cross-stitch, while a six-tailed dog was resting beside her.

Hearing his footsteps as he entered, Grandma Momozawa adjusted her reading glasses, looked up, and smiled.

"Oh... I've never seen you before, sir. Is there anything you'd like to buy? If you can't find what you're looking for, just let me know, and I'll have someone go to the city to get it for you in a couple of days."

"Thank you, I'll take a look first."

"no problem."

As she spoke, Grandma Momozawa continued her cross-stitch work, creating a half-finished picture of wind chimes hanging under the eaves, blowing in the wind.

Mingyou walked by and started looking for the things she wanted to buy on the shelves.

The goods here are very diverse. In addition to daily necessities, they even sell clothes, shoes, fresh ingredients... and even items such as Poké Balls and healing items.

Among the various miscellaneous items, there was a dusty purple ornament that seemed to have been there for a long time. Its shape was somewhat similar to a peach with a pair of ears, which matched the name of Momozawa Store quite well.

However, Mingyou only glanced at them briefly. He wasn't about to waste money on toys; he wanted to buy what he needed first.

He soon arrived at the shelf displaying crop seeds: tomatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, carrots... all very common vegetable seeds.

Before long, he found the yam seeds mixed in with the beans, and the information about the seeds appeared in his mind.

[Jicama seeds: have a long growth cycle and are not cold-resistant; it is recommended to plant them in March each year.]

"Alright, a minimum six-month growth cycle is guaranteed. Speaking of which, is there anything that shortens the growth cycle? We're in the Pokémon world now, there should be something..."

Mingyou examined a bag of yam seeds closely, when suddenly her gaze was drawn to a bag of fertilizer called "Quick Fertilizer" on the shelf below. Curious, she squatted down.

Fertilizer is neither a Pokémon nor a crop, so it cannot display any information, but you can see the description by turning the packaging over.

[After use, it shortens the crop growth cycle by absorbing sufficient nutrients from the fertilizer. However, please note that it should only be used once a week on the same crop. Excessive fertilizer absorption can lead to crop necrosis.]

"Sure, how about this one?"

He suppressed his surprise and saw several different kinds of quick-acting fertilizer. Then he picked up a white-packaged quick-acting fertilizer that was more expensive and examined it.

[After use, the fruit trees absorb sufficient nutrients, thus reducing the fruiting time. However, please note that repeated use will not have any effect before the fruit trees have fully absorbed the nutrients and may even cause the fruit trees to become sick.]

The two quick-acting fertilizers are for different purposes. The former is for growing vegetables and flowers and is cheaper, while the latter is for fruit trees and costs almost twice as much, even though the net content is the same.

Mingyou glanced at the back of the backpack and saw that the products were all from Manjin City in the Johto region. If his business really took off in the future, he might be able to source the goods from there, which would definitely lower the cost considerably.

"Let's buy a few bags first and see what crops can grow after using the cards, so we don't end up losing money after buying a bunch."

He bought several bags of both quick-acting fertilizers, and two bags of seeds for each of several common crops, so that he wouldn't have to make another trip after obtaining new cards.

Then I bought some seasonings and other daily necessities, and also a few Poké Balls and healing items. The prices weren't too high. I was originally thinking of buying some snacks... well, in the end I couldn't resist and bought a few packs...

He went to the cashier, and Granny Momozawa also stood up, walked over, and started calculating the bill on the calculator.

While waiting, Mingyou's attention was suddenly drawn to the masks hanging on the shelf next to her, so she asked, "Grandma, are these masks for sale?"

He thought of bringing a gift for Egui Peng, and decided to bring a mask as a gift.

"sure."

Grandma Momozawa smiled and nodded, then looked to the side and continued, "Masks are a traditional cultural item from our northern region. Many tourists like to buy masks to take home. If you'd like, I can recommend these three masks."

As she spoke, she took three masks off the shelf. The masks were uniquely designed: a green dog, a blue monkey, and a pink Kun Kun. Each mask also had a touch of purple on it.

"These are the three guardian spirits who protected us on our northward journey hundreds of years ago. Their masks are quite popular with tourists, take a look."

"Um……"

Mingyou looked at the masks and felt that they looked a bit silly and unattractive, but she could never say such a thing in front of Granny Momozawa.

So he looked at the shelf and saw a bright green mask with fangs that looked like a demon. Although the design was a bit scary, he felt it was much cooler than the other three masks, so he reached out and picked it up.

"Then I'll take this mask."

"Ghost masks... Why do you young people outside like these? Well then."

Grandma Momozawa put the three Treasures masks back on the shelf with some regret, and then took out a few plastic bags to pack all the things he had bought.

"The total is 1875 yuan."

"Okay, can I pay with LP here?"

"LP? I think I've heard young people and tourists who have returned from outside the village talking about this lately... but I'm too old to understand this."

"Oh well."

Mingyou took out his wallet, took out several large bills and handed them over. As the other woman opened the drawer to make change, he smiled and suggested, "Grandma, I suggest you open an LP payment account at the store. It'll be much more convenient, and you won't have to make change anymore."

"Really... I'll ask the administrator when I have time. Here's your change."

"Okay, thank you."

After collecting his change, he picked up all the plastic bags and left the Momozawa store. There didn't seem to be anything else he needed to shop for, so he decided to go back.

Unfortunately, he wasn't very lucky. The taxi driver had just gone to pick up a passenger at Ghost Mountain, so he could only sit on a stone bench under the shade of a tree and wait.

Just then, he suddenly noticed that in the lower right corner of the notice board used for registering information, there was a picture of a Shiny Munchlax with a line of text written in large black font.

[Shumphreys are not allowed in the village. If anyone finds one, please notify the administrator immediately.]

"This little Snorlax is...?"

Mingyou was slightly taken aback, then stepped forward.

Just then, a staff member who was changing some of the notices was there, so he asked out of curiosity about the little Snorlax.

Seeing that he wasn't from the village, the other person assumed he was a tourist and immediately became very friendly, offering their assistance.

"That little Snorlax is a real headache. It followed tourists from the wild into the village and sleeps under the eaves and in the yard every day. It also keeps begging for food from some tourists. Even the zookeeper can't get rid of it by letting Growlithe bite it."

"A while ago, the village held a summer festival at Baoban Square. A lot of sticky rice cakes were placed at the altar to commemorate Baoban. Unexpectedly, Baoban ate all the offerings that night."

"The next morning, some villagers discovered this. The administrator was furious when he found out and gathered many people from the village to drive the Munchlax out of the village, forbidding it from entering Greentown again."

"I see……"

Mingyou then realized that the little Snorlax had been chased away for stealing offerings, which was why it had been running around aimlessly and had ended up at Grandpa's manor by mistake.

At this point, the staff member continued, "If you are a trainer, you can go and capture it and take it with you. Although we don't know where it ran off to, it's probably still wandering around nearby."

"Has no trainer gone to capture it?"

"No, most trainers really can't catch it. This little Snorlax even eats Poké Balls and runs very fast. If it hadn't been so full from eating sticky rice cakes that it couldn't run anymore, it would probably have been very difficult to chase it away."

"Is that so..."

Mingyou nodded slightly, seemingly indicating that the problem was quite serious, but he did not inquire further.

The Flying Taxi is here. Let's go home first, and then we can talk to Munchlax when we get back.

……

(End of this chapter)