Chapter 45: Snivy: Claiming Her Place as the Big Sister!

Great. Yet another of Dad's friends?

Hearing the man in front of him call out his father's name, Lin Feng felt a flash of helplessness across his face, though a sense of relief washed over him inside.

Because as it turned out, his father's friends all seemed pretty easy to deal with.

"If you mean the old plantation owner over in Wutong Town, then yeah, he was my dad."

The burly man shot upright in an instant. In just a few strides, he closed the distance to stand directly in front of Lin Feng, looking him up and down as if he were some rare curiosity.

He kept muttering to himself.

"Damn, the build, the looks, you really are the spitting image of him."

Finally, he gave Lin Feng two resounding slaps on the shoulder and burst into hearty laughter.

Although Lin Feng had no clue what he was laughing about.

"Right, what's your name?"

"Lin Feng."

The big man smacked his lips thoughtfully.

"Your dad and I were close back in the day. Let me play the elder here and call you my nephew. My name's Ye Mu, but you can just call me Uncle Mu. You said earlier that you've got some pasture grass? Lemme see the quality."

"…Alright."

Lin Feng didn't mind titles or formalities one way or another.

So he immediately pulled out a handful of grass from his portable storage capsule. Before he could even hand it over, a large hand snatched it right out of his grip.

"Not bad at all…"

Holding the grass, Ye Mu couldn't help but marvel just at its appearance.

For Pokémon like Miltank, which were herbivores, there were two essential factors for producing high-quality Moomoo Milk.

First was strength.

The stronger the Miltank, the higher the nutritional content of its milk.

The second crucial factor was the quality of the grass. Not even Pokéblocks could replace it.

The better the quality of the pasture grass, the better the resulting Moomoo Milk.

Ye Mu pinched the grass carefully between his fingers, then tore off a small piece and chewed on it experimentally. His eyes lit up.

"This grass is excellent. It's the best quality I've ever seen."

"How much of this do you have? I'll buy all of it."

Lin Feng felt a weight lift from his chest, though he scratched his cheek a little awkwardly.

"In terms of quantity… it's actually not much. I was just growing it for fun."

Then he released all the pasture grass from his storage capsule, piling it into a small hill on the ground.

It looked to be about a hundred pounds or so.

This was the harvest from his previous cutting, which he'd been storing in the capsule ever since.

"For fun?"

Ye Mu's lips twitched.

Those words were almost identical to what this kid's father used to say.

Back in the day, when he'd asked Lin Feng's father why he'd returned to farming after conquering the various leagues, the man's reply had been exactly the same: "Just for fun."

Yet afterward, everything that man planted turned out to be top-notch.

Take Ye Mu's current ace Miltank, for example. It had grown up eating the pasture grass Lin Feng's father used to cultivate.

Memories surged through Ye Mu's mind, leaving him feeling a bit emotional.

"Never thought you'd be just as talented as that monstrous father of yours when it comes to farming."

"Heh… heh…" Lin Feng laughed a little awkwardly. Then he cautiously asked, "So… what about this grass?"

"I'll pay a hundred per jin. Your grass is really high quality, but it's still pretty young. It looks like first-year grass. As the crops mature, the quality will keep improving, and when that happens, I'll raise the price."

"Thanks a lot, Uncle Mu."

Lin Feng didn't really know the going price for pasture grass, and he wasn't all that fixated on money right now.

He simply found the man in front of him quite reasonable to deal with.

Probably yet another of his father's "friends."

So he cautiously brought up the true purpose of his visit.

"Um… Uncle Mu… I also wanted to ask… are the Miltank in the ranch for sale?"

"You're looking to raise Miltank too?" Ye Mu frowned. "I remember your plantation isn't that big."

Lin Feng quickly explained, "No, I just want to raise two. To produce some Moomoo Milk, then sell it at my shop."

"Oh, that's how it is…" Ye Mu lifted an eyebrow.

Coincidentally, the ranch currently had a batch of one-year-old Miltank that were about to be sold off to folks looking to start their own farms. Pulling aside one or two wouldn't be a problem at all.

Yet an image flashed through his mind, of how utterly outmatched he'd once been under Lin Feng's father's command. A mischievous glint flickered in his eyes as he added:

"I can sell them to you, sure. But first, you'll have to challenge the Grass Gym."

That's right.

He'd been utterly crushed by Lin Feng's father back in the day. So now, he figured he might as well "teach" the kid a little lesson of his own.

It was partly a tiny bit of petty revenge, but also genuine curiosity about how good the son was at Pokémon breeding.

Judging from Lin Feng's current situation, he probably hadn't gone off to college. Otherwise, he'd be out traveling right now, just like most new Trainers after graduation.

So sending out one of his elite Pokémon should be more than enough.

"Wait, what?" Lin Feng blurted out in surprise. "But… I didn't bring any Pokémon with me."

"No problem. Gym battles start in the afternoon. Go get yourself ready and come back then."

"Moo!"

Right after Ye Mu finished speaking, a nearby Miltank let out an indignant cry, clearly annoyed that Ye Mu had walked away halfway through milking.

Waving dismissively, Ye Mu returned to his work, and Lin Feng wisely chose not to disturb him any further. Instead, he turned around and pulled out his phone to order a DiDi back home.

"Vine, vine?"

Once Lin Feng arrived home and explained everything, Snivy nodded, signaling that it understood.

At some point, Alolan Vulpix had woken up and was now leaning affectionately against Snivy, its crystalline eyes blinking curiously at Lin Feng.

It almost felt as if Snivy, rather than Lin Feng, was Vulpix's real Trainer.

Lin Feng couldn't help wondering what on earth Snivy had been doing at home that could make an Ice-type Pokémon so comfortable around a Grass-type.

Still, seeing how well they were getting along was exactly what Lin Feng wanted.

"Vine vine?" (Do you want to take Vulpix with you?)

Without Snivy there to help, no one would be around to look after Vulpix. For a newborn Pokémon, that would definitely be too much to handle.

Lin Feng pondered for a moment.

"Forget it. This time, I'll take Milotic and Pidgeotto with me. You stay home and take care of Vulpix. Looks like it's pretty fond of you."

After all, the Grass Gym specialized in Grass-type Pokémon, and there were bound to be Miltank around. If any of them had the hidden ability Sap Sipper, half of Snivy's moves would become useless.

Meanwhile, Pidgeotto, as a Flying type, was perfect for countering Grass-types.

As for bringing along Milotic, that was purely for the sake of stability.

After all…

A city-level Gym challenge was intended to match the capabilities of fresh high-school graduates just starting out on their Pokémon journeys. There was no way they'd send out their ace Gym-level Pokémon right off the bat.

Snivy simply waved its leafy hand dismissively, indicating that it didn't care about this battle one way or the other.

It still had important business to take care of at home.

Namely, to keep instilling its worldview into Vulpix…

And firmly establish itself as the Big Sister in the house.

Because that was the truly important mission.

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