Get Stronger by Pleasing Pokémon? Who Needs to Be a Trainer!

July 29th.

Dawn had barely broken.

As usual, Lin Feng rose early. After restocking the Pokéblocks he needed for the day and confirming the prices with Qin Shu, he paused and added a sign beside the counter. In bold characters, it read:

”Refunds available if ineffective. No further sales permitted after refund.”

The meaning was simple.

If a customer felt that the defensive Pokéblocks weren’t working after buying them, they could return the purchase. However, once they did, they’d no longer be allowed to buy any Pokéblocks from his shop in the future.

”One thousand… two thousand…”

Little Qin Shu’s eyes widened at the prices. She muttered under her breath, ”That’s expensive.”

One Pokéblock cost nearly her entire month’s salary.

Lin Feng chuckled. ”There’s a reason for the price. The effects are the real deal.”

Although the manufacturing process was a bit rough, his techniques were solid enough that the quality was guaranteed.

Especially for Pokémon like Sandshrew or Onix, the effects would be even more significant!

Qin Shu’s eyes darted around the empty shop. With a playful grin, she whispered, ”Brother Feng… can I buy some of these Pokéblocks too?”

”It’s like this… my Squirtle hasn’t been eating much lately. I’m wondering if the Pokéblocks I bought from WowWow Supermarket just don’t taste good.”

Lin Feng froze for a moment. ”Of course you can.”

Qin Shu smiled shyly. Her round face turned slightly pink as she hesitated and added, ”Hehe… but since I’m your employee, could I maybe… get a discount?”

She knew these Pokéblocks were pricey, but she still wanted to buy some for Squirtle to try.

”Sigh…” Lin Feng couldn’t help laughing. ”Fine. For you, half price.”

So that’s what she’d been angling for all along.

As for why Squirtle had lost its appetite… well, Lin Feng knew exactly why.

Every day, when Qin Shu came to work, she left Squirtle at home.

But whenever Lin Feng headed to the orchard at midday to feed Milotic, Pidgeotto, and the others, Squirtle would secretly sneak out of the house, swimming through the irrigation canals to arrive with its big round head poking out of the water, looking all innocent and dopey.

This little turtle had spent some time ”working” in Lin Feng’s orchard and knew exactly when he fed Milotic Pokéblocks.

What could he do?

He just ended up feeding Squirtle along with the others.

And to be fair, there was something about the thrill of ”sneaking snacks” that seemed to excite Squirtle. Every time he fed it, Squirtle’s happiness value shot up quite a bit!

Sometimes, it even triggered special rewards for Lin Feng.

Eventually, Lin Feng simply removed part of the fence beneath an Oran Berry tree, giving Squirtle an easy entrance and a way to sneak some Pokéblocks to Sandshrew while it was at it.

He also warned Squirtle not to tell anyone who was supplying it with treats.

Apparently, Qin Shu still had no idea about Squirtle’s little adventures.

And now she was about to spend her entire month’s salary on Pokéblocks for it.

Tsk, tsk, tsk…

Lin Feng considered telling her the truth but ultimately decided not to.

Might as well let her continue ”working” for Squirtle.

Besides, as a young woman, she didn’t really need to keep a huge amount of money on hand right now.

Once Lin Feng agreed, Qin Shu looked even happier. It was obvious how energized she suddenly felt.

If his system could track human happiness values, he was sure Qin Shu’s happiness would be skyrocketing right now.

”Work hard!”

Leaving those words behind, Lin Feng headed for the orchard.

Yesterday’s incident didn’t seem to have left any major impact on the orchard itself.

In fact, thanks to Gardevoir’s visit yesterday, all the ripe fruits and vegetables had already been harvested.

First, Lin Feng released the batch of green ”grass dumplings” he’d made two days ago and fed them to the Miltanks.

Then, he turned his attention to Caterpie, who was busily munching away on the pasture grass.

After bringing Caterpie back yesterday, Lin Feng hadn’t really had a chance to check on it.

He pulled out one of the green dumplings and held it out. ”So, do you prefer eating this, or do you prefer the pasture grass?”

”Yō yō?”

Caterpie, completely absorbed in ”stuffing its face,” raised its head. Its large, jet-black eyes reflected Lin Feng’s silhouette, filled now with unmistakable joy.

Yesterday, it had been trembling in fear, terrified of being devoured by Pidgeotto. Now, it felt like it was living in pure bliss.

”Yō yō!” (I like it! I like eating everything!)

”Uh… as long as you’re willing to eat, I suppose. Let’s stick with the green dumplings from now on. And if it rains, make sure you hide in the cowshed, all right?”

Lin Feng gently picked up Caterpie and placed it on a patch of grass closer to the cowshed. Then he turned to the Miltanks and said, ”From now on, it’ll be joining you to eat the green dumplings, so don’t bully it, okay?”

He always made extra batches of the Miltanks’ green dumplings.

But over time, Lin Feng had discovered a truth.

No matter how many green dumplings he left in the cowshed, the Miltanks would always eat every last one. They’d stuff themselves until their bellies were round, then produce massive quantities of milk.

The situation left Lin Feng a bit exasperated. In the end, he had to ration their portions manually.

”Moo moo!” (Okay!)

”Moo moo!” (We won’t, we won’t!)

”Moo moo!” (It still looks like a baby. We could even let it drink milk from us!)

”Moo moo!” (Yeah! Let’s feed it milk!)

Several Miltanks immediately began chattering excitedly.

”Uh…”

Understanding their words, Lin Feng suddenly pictured Caterpie sprawled out on a Miltank, nursing milk. The mental image made him shiver all over. He quickly waved his hands. ”No, no, no! The green dumplings already have your milk mixed in!”

The mental picture was just too… vivid. He couldn’t bear to imagine it any further.

”Moo moo…” (Is that so? No wonder they taste so good!)

”Moo moo!” (Enough talking, time to keep eating, eating, eating…)

The Miltanks returned to their feeding frenzy, quickly shifting their focus back to the food.

Watching the Miltanks and Caterpie getting along so well, Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction and strolled over to the reservoir.

As soon as Milotic noticed him approaching, it rose gracefully from the water, its two long red tendrils drifting on the breeze until one lightly brushed against Lin Feng’s cheek.

He reached out and gently grasped the tendril, giving it a soft stroke. It felt so smooth that he couldn’t help smiling. ”Milotic, look, I’ve widened the water channel for you. From now on, you’ll be able to swim around much more comfortably here. How’s that sound?”

”Yō yō?”

Milotic blinked, clearly not quite following.

”Great! It’s settled, then!”

Seeing that Milotic had no objections, Lin Feng was about to call Hoopa’s construction crew.

He’d been very pleased with the job they’d done on the cowshed renovation last time, so he planned to hire them again.

But at that moment, a flash of blue suddenly appeared between him and Milotic.

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