Chapter 89: New Seeds, New Pokémon, and a Lucky Roll

Two days had passed since Ethan Grave planted the seeds for his cone trees. As soon as he noticed how quickly they grew in the meteorite water, he realized they needed sunlight and fresh air to survive. Keeping them completely submerged in the sealed tank would only kill them. So he carefully transported the germinating seeds to Pokémon Paradise, where he surrounded a hillside plot for their new home.

Thanks to meticulous preparation, the planting went smoothly. A small team of park workers helped Ethan mark off sections of the hillside, haul topsoil, and dig shallow trenches. By noon, they had placed every cone seed in the ground. 

From there, all that remained was daily watering. Ethan had built a reservoir near the lot, lined it with two meteor rocks, and mixed them with ordinary rocks. The system offered no precise schedule for watering, so Ethan set up separate zones to experiment with frequency: one watered once a day, one watered twice, and one watered three times.

Within a day, the sprouts were poking through the soil, nearly four inches tall, far beyond typical plant development. Amazed employees walked by, snapping quick pictures of the budding plants. Some realized that these were not just saplings, but likely genetically modified seedlings. 

They recalled that a handful of labs around the world had produced fast-growing desert flora, though those plants tended to live quickly and die young. They wondered if Ethan's cone trees had similar limitations, or if he had found a way around them.

Ethan juggled several tasks during this time, but his main focus remained on the seeds. He tested increasing watering times from three to four or more times a day. By observing the new leaves and measuring daily growth, he found that four daily waterings spurred vigorous development. By the end of the day, the shoots were significantly taller than ever. The staff joked that if this continued, there would be a forest on the hill in a matter of weeks.

Meanwhile, Ethan's system interface sounded a silent alarm: the dice roll had cooled down. For months, he had relied on the dice to gradually unlock Pokémon species. Usually, when the dice landed, he would receive points to distribute. This time, as he prepared for the roll, he took extra precautions. He bathed, changed into fresh clothes, and whispered a hopeful mantra like an athlete performing a pre-game ritual.

When he pressed the system button, the dice spun in a flurry of numbers before settling on "4. But that was not the end. A prompt appeared informing him that he had triggered a lucky mechanism and that the four points would be doubled to eight. Ethan nearly screamed with joy. Eight unlock points was huge, twice the usual maximum. "Tonight is my lucky day," he crowed, pumping his fist in the air.

It was well after midnight when he began choosing which Pokémon to unlock. Since a standard four felt too meager, having eight points opened up all sorts of new possibilities. He quickly grabbed Totodile, Cyndaquil, and Chikorita, the beloved Starter Trio, from a region in his saved database. Another line in the interface said he had won another molting fossil, which made him grin. 

"Not bad," he murmured. "This gives me an even greater advantage when I want to help a Pokémon evolve with 100 percent certainty."

He also unlocked Snivy before the system offered another surprise. Since he had now reached fifteen unlocked Pokémon species, it automatically granted him "Tree Fruit" genes. 

These specialized fruit genes allowed him to create a wide variety of edible items reminiscent of the Pokémon world. This meant that Ethan could create new plants with specialized berries that either cured conditions or boosted certain stats. The idea of crossbreeding these with cone trees danced through his mind. If the cones made Poké Balls, why not have orchard trees with berries that improved Pokémon's resistance?

He tapped around and confirmed that these "tree fruit" items were indeed the classics: Cheri Berry, Pecha Berry, and so on. Rather than bring them online right away, he planned to wait until the cone trees were stable. 

One step at a time. With four more items to go, he scanned the list again. He decided to add Igglybuff and Pidgey, since he wanted a bird and a Melodious Pokémon for the nursery. Then he considered adding two aquatic types to round out the new wave.

At first, Wailmer and Lapras came to mind, but he lacked a large enough habitat in Pokémon Paradise. Lapras might be manageable, but Wailmer would eventually want an ocean, or at least a massive tank. So he held off, opting instead for Magikarp for the watery choice, and finishing with Catterpie for a fast-evolving bug. 

One took forever to evolve and required intense training, while the other soared through metamorphosis in days, the opposite extremes indeed. He approved the final selection with a smile. The system confirmed eight new species. The cube icon dimmed and returned to cooldown.

---

With this major milestone secured, he resumed his daily routine. Two mornings later, as he monitored the park's hillside, he noticed that the cone trees were shooting up faster than expected. Some had already risen to twenty or thirty centimeters. The workers gawked at how advanced they seemed. Ethan played it off as just another "research project," letting them think it was standard plant engineering.

Privately, he concluded that the space power of the meteor water was dramatically increasing the growth. The staff only guessed that Ethan had discovered a powerful fertilizer. They also asked if the trees might drain the hillside or damage the local ecology, but he assured them it was a controlled experiment. Four times a day, small teams hauled buckets of meteoric water from the cistern to keep the young trees thriving.

After reviewing the data, Ethan tapped the screen in his mind. "This is going even smoother than I had hoped. If they keep up this pace, I could see the first cone fruit in a few weeks." He planned how to harvest them once they were ripe, envisioning the red and white spheres that could store Pokémon in a miniature dimension. He had already encoded the shape of the fruit in the genetic code, so the system assured him that every cone that bloomed would produce those spherical results.

The staff was curious, but didn't pry too hard. They realized that new types of plants were not shocking to Ethan, who specialized in pushing the boundaries of gene design. 

The main topic of conversation was the rumor that he might soon add the next wave of new Pokémon: possibly Magikarp, or the "Johto Starters" they had heard about in internal rumors. Everyone suspected an aquatic enclosure for the fish was in the works. Meanwhile, the orchard covered the hillside, bursting with unnatural vigor.

---

Late one afternoon, Ethan stood alone at the top of the orchard, gazing at the young cone trees. A silence fell, broken only by a light breeze. He placed a hand on one of the sturdier saplings, feeling its faint tremor of cosmic energy from the meteorite infusion. "Soon, these will be the mother lode of Poké Balls," he thought. Already, the mental puzzle piece slipped into place. Evolution Fluid, advanced Pokémon, forthcoming Cone Fruits that would harness spatial manipulation... each new step added up to revolutionize the bond between humans and Pokémon, bridging even more possibilities than a simple adoption model.

Below, a group of Pichu scampered around a caretaker, squealing happily as they performed their daily exercise routine. Charmeleon, Bulbasaur, and more advanced Pokémon patrolled a stony path on the opposite slope, exploring small patches of grass. The whole scene exuded a sense of harmony, even though it involved complex genetic experiments and cosmic meteor water.

"It's working," he murmured, remembering the euphoria he felt when the first roll of the dice gave him eight points. Each species he unlocked enriched the park's diversity, fueling the future. "With these new seeds, this lucky dice roll, and a healthy orchard, I'll have more than enough momentum to change the entire gene-editing scene." A wry smile crossed his face. "No one else has a clue about these meteor-infused trees. Let them break their heads over the Evolution Fluid while I quietly perfect the next revolution in Pokémon storage and care."

He lingered until sunset, strolling among the saplings, patting some, whispering a silent vow to see the project flourish. At nightfall, the staff turned off the orchard's sprinklers, confident that the day's final irrigation had done its job. Ethan left them and walked down the hill to a waiting car. As he left, he took one last look at the moonlit orchard. The shapes of the young cone trees looked almost otherworldly in the faint silver glow.

"Give it a week or two," he said to himself. "Soon, I might see the first signs of fruit buds. The next chapter in Pokémon Biotech's history is just around the corner." And with that thought, he drove back to the lab, feeling a satisfaction heavier than any mere financial gain. After all, creating entire ecosystems filled with living, breathing creatures and useful plants was the purest realization of his dream of creating a certain wonder of the world, step by step.