《 Rocketeer 》
a wdango Pokéquest
a wdango Pokéquest
Rocketeer [PKMN/Recettear/Rancher]
- Thread starter wdango
- Start date
Rocketeer
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
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- Threadmarks
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Statistics (7 threadmarks, 6.3k words)
User Total wdango 7 -
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Character Sheet
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
CHARACTER SHEET : JEAN
owner of : The Serpent's Tooth Ranch
assistant : Inuyama Inumaru the Meowth(?)
a.k.a. Bro
balance : ₽ 1,759,500 ($1 ≈ ₽100)
interest : ₽ 2,400,000 (due 1st Week Vernal 1202)
rem. debt : ₽ 40,000,000 (≈ $400,000)
House : (10 ▢)
Storage [4/20]
Barn : (4 ▢)
Stall 1 (Medium)
◓
Casper
Born 2nd Week Latewinter, 1201Gastly ⚥
GHOST■/■POISON
EX Immaterial
Immune to PHYSICAL. Able to levitate.XE Ghost Mastery
Can phase through objects, inflicting MAGICAL GHOST damage.XE Poison Mastery
Can emit a noxious gas that inflicts POISON.LV. 1■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■LIFE 35/35■■MANA 20/20 POW
3
■■■■■■MAG
9
■■■■■■SPD
5
■■■■■■
Stall 2 (Medium)
Gym : (6 ▢)
Sandbag (Lv. 2 POW Machine)
Target (Lv. 2 SPD Machine)
Tube (Lv. 3 POISON Machine)
Farm : (20 ▢)
Forest : (160 ▢)
Last edited:
0.0 - Prologue
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
For as long as you can remember, it had always been just the two of you -- you and your Mom.
It doesn't matter that you have no memory of your Dad's face, or his touch, or even his voice. Your Mom has done more for you than most two parents combined, so in a way, you could say that you've never felt the absence of the man.
You can't miss what you've never known right? And you certainly can't get angry at him.
At least, you never thought so.
︵︵︵◓
"I've made up my mind," she told you quietly that day.
That was the first thing she said when the video call connected, in fact.
"Mom? What is it?"
You remember her hesitation, then. A stack of documents were in her hand, and she even had her passport and motorcycle keys. Most strikingly, though, were the pair of Pokéballs strapped to the leather harness slung across her shoulders.
Is she... going somewhere?
"You remember your Dad, right?"
You shook your head. "What about him?"
"I recently got news from some friends of mine that he might be in Hoenn."
You swallowed. What's that supposed to mean?
"I'll be going on a trip to look for him. But it might be hard to get in touch when I'm across the ocean, so..."
"--long?"
"Jean?"
"How long are you going to be gone? When are you coming back?"
She looked at you, an amalgam of emotions warring across her face. Finally, she said, "I don't know."
"A month? Two?"
"Jean... It takes at least a month to sail to Hoenn."
"So three or four months, then? Maybe half a year?"
"Jean."
You shut up.
"It won't be that much different, you know? You're studying in Celadon anyway."
But it's not going to be the same.
"Plus, it will be good for you to be a little bit more independent. I won't be able to make it back home for the summer, so you don't have to come back if you don't want to, too. Maybe you can get a part-time job, broaden your horizons."
"Or I could come with you, Mom."
"No."
"What? Why not?"
She sighed. "Didn't you want to become a Pokémon Trainer?"
"I'm in my final year. I can qualify for a license now if I--"
"--No. Jean. I paid a lot to get you into PokéTech. It's not going to help your career a lot if you drop out instead of graduating properly. I should know."
".....That's not fair. You turned out fine."
"...I just want what's best for you, Jean. You need to do better than I did."
But you're what's best for me, you wanted to say. And she's the one you admire the most -- your role model -- and she's telling you that that's not good enough? And and what are you supposed to do without her support? Indefinitely?
"Listen. You'll be okay, okay? I put some extra money into your account; that should last you for at least another two years. That should be enough to pay off the last of your tuition and buy a good Starter Pokémon after you graduate, and help you kickstart your career."
"Mom..."
"You be good while I'm gone, okay..? I'll contact you first thing when I'm back on the continent, I promise."
You swallowed the lump in your throat. This sucks. But it's obvious that you can't change her mind.
Finally, you said, "I understand."
A second passed.
Then, two.
"That's a good girl."
︵︵︵◓
It's already been half a year since then, so she must be in Hoenn by now.
You've been trying to focus on your studies like she wanted, but your grades have been getting worse instead of better.
In addition... There was that thing that happened last week.
︵︵︵◓
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"One sec!"
You live in a student apartment, and it's not unusual for one of your neighbours to visit.
But when you opened the door, instead of one of the other students, you were taken aback by the sight of three men in dark suits and sunglasses.
"Umm... Can I help you?"
"Good evening. You are Miss Jean Pendraig?"
"What..? What's going on? Mister..?"
"Pardon me, but I'm the one asking questions. Again, you are Miss Jean Pendraig?"
"Umm... Yes, I'm Jean."
"We are from Rucola Financial Business Consulting."
"Financial... Consulting?"
"We are here to collect payment on a loan co-signed by Missus Pendraig. Here is the contract, and here is our identification."
"This is..."
Hesitating, you took the file. Leafing through the pages of the document, you noticed the formal-looking letterhead, the clauses, and the signatures. It definitely looked legitimate -- you'd recognise her handwriting anywhere, and your Mom's name and signature were clearly written where the guarantor is supposed to sign for a loan of… ₽1,000,000!? That's almost the cost of your entire tuition! You could spend that amount of money comfortably for almost a year.
"In plainer terms, we are here to get our money back. If you are incapable of facilitating repayment, we will seize the property put up as collateral."
The man reached out and flipped back through the pages, pointing to the relevant clause.
...It's your house back in your hometown. You couldn't believe it. ₽1,000,000 isn't even close to what an entire house is worth -- in fact, there's a small ranch and some forested area in the back, which are both covered by the deed, so it's practically an entire estate. It should be worth at least ₽400,000,000. How could Mom have put the property up as collateral..?
You looked up at the man. "My Mom isn't here. And I'm just a student."
"Yes, I know." He nodded. "She left for Hoenn about half a year ago, but as next-of-kin, the responsibility falls to you to repay the loan. The contract does cover this eventuality. In any case, paying off the loan is better than having the collateral seized, yes?"
He's right, but... "I do have one million Pokédollars, but that's almost all I have..."
"One million?" He smiled darkly, then turned to another page of the document, where the date of the loan was printed clearly. "Pardon me, but that was twenty years ago. Working on a 1.5% monthly interest rate over 20 years, plus fees, that comes up to 40 million Pokédollars."
"!?!?!?"
"Calm down." He nodded at you, pointing at another clause on the contract. With shaky eyes, you confirmed everything that he was saying. "Naturally, we are not demanding it all to be repaid at once. There is still a little bit over a month before the first payment is due, with a minimum payment of the monthly interest, which I expect shouldn't be a problem for a student at Celadon Technical Institute."
The first payment is due... 240 months exactly from the date of the contract, with payments to be made every month thereafter. Even if you pay off just the interest, that's ₽600,000 every month…
"W-w-what am I gonna do..?"
"In any case, this is your official one-month notice for your first payment." He took the file out of your hands, replacing it with a similar one. "Please feel free to keep a copy of the contract, in case you no longer have a copy of your original."
"I--"
"We'll be back in about a month." He smiled. "There's no need to see us out."
And for a long while after that, you remained standing in your doorway, staring blankly at the document in your hands.
︵︵︵◓
Later, when you read through the contract more carefully, you discover that the borrower is signed under the name of your mysterious absent Dad.
With so much on your plate, in the end...
You decided to drop out, get your Pokémon Trainers' license, and go back home. The house has been left unattended for half a year, but you can clean it up and train some Pokémon on the ranch. You can earn some money to slowly pay off the debt and, most importantly, not lose the house.
Feeling overwhelmed with everything, there was thankfully another, more pleasant surprise waiting for you at your hometown of...
[x] Viridian City
It doesn't matter that you have no memory of your Dad's face, or his touch, or even his voice. Your Mom has done more for you than most two parents combined, so in a way, you could say that you've never felt the absence of the man.
You can't miss what you've never known right? And you certainly can't get angry at him.
At least, you never thought so.
︵︵︵◓
"I've made up my mind," she told you quietly that day.
That was the first thing she said when the video call connected, in fact.
"Mom? What is it?"
You remember her hesitation, then. A stack of documents were in her hand, and she even had her passport and motorcycle keys. Most strikingly, though, were the pair of Pokéballs strapped to the leather harness slung across her shoulders.
Is she... going somewhere?
"You remember your Dad, right?"
You shook your head. "What about him?"
"I recently got news from some friends of mine that he might be in Hoenn."
You swallowed. What's that supposed to mean?
"I'll be going on a trip to look for him. But it might be hard to get in touch when I'm across the ocean, so..."
"--long?"
"Jean?"
"How long are you going to be gone? When are you coming back?"
She looked at you, an amalgam of emotions warring across her face. Finally, she said, "I don't know."
"A month? Two?"
"Jean... It takes at least a month to sail to Hoenn."
"So three or four months, then? Maybe half a year?"
"Jean."
You shut up.
"It won't be that much different, you know? You're studying in Celadon anyway."
But it's not going to be the same.
"Plus, it will be good for you to be a little bit more independent. I won't be able to make it back home for the summer, so you don't have to come back if you don't want to, too. Maybe you can get a part-time job, broaden your horizons."
"Or I could come with you, Mom."
"No."
"What? Why not?"
She sighed. "Didn't you want to become a Pokémon Trainer?"
"I'm in my final year. I can qualify for a license now if I--"
"--No. Jean. I paid a lot to get you into PokéTech. It's not going to help your career a lot if you drop out instead of graduating properly. I should know."
".....That's not fair. You turned out fine."
"...I just want what's best for you, Jean. You need to do better than I did."
But you're what's best for me, you wanted to say. And she's the one you admire the most -- your role model -- and she's telling you that that's not good enough? And and what are you supposed to do without her support? Indefinitely?
"Listen. You'll be okay, okay? I put some extra money into your account; that should last you for at least another two years. That should be enough to pay off the last of your tuition and buy a good Starter Pokémon after you graduate, and help you kickstart your career."
"Mom..."
"You be good while I'm gone, okay..? I'll contact you first thing when I'm back on the continent, I promise."
You swallowed the lump in your throat. This sucks. But it's obvious that you can't change her mind.
Finally, you said, "I understand."
A second passed.
Then, two.
"That's a good girl."
︵︵︵◓
It's already been half a year since then, so she must be in Hoenn by now.
You've been trying to focus on your studies like she wanted, but your grades have been getting worse instead of better.
In addition... There was that thing that happened last week.
︵︵︵◓
*KNOCK KNOCK*
"One sec!"
You live in a student apartment, and it's not unusual for one of your neighbours to visit.
But when you opened the door, instead of one of the other students, you were taken aback by the sight of three men in dark suits and sunglasses.
"Umm... Can I help you?"
"Good evening. You are Miss Jean Pendraig?"
"What..? What's going on? Mister..?"
"Pardon me, but I'm the one asking questions. Again, you are Miss Jean Pendraig?"
"Umm... Yes, I'm Jean."
"We are from Rucola Financial Business Consulting."
"Financial... Consulting?"
"We are here to collect payment on a loan co-signed by Missus Pendraig. Here is the contract, and here is our identification."
"This is..."
Hesitating, you took the file. Leafing through the pages of the document, you noticed the formal-looking letterhead, the clauses, and the signatures. It definitely looked legitimate -- you'd recognise her handwriting anywhere, and your Mom's name and signature were clearly written where the guarantor is supposed to sign for a loan of… ₽1,000,000!? That's almost the cost of your entire tuition! You could spend that amount of money comfortably for almost a year.
"In plainer terms, we are here to get our money back. If you are incapable of facilitating repayment, we will seize the property put up as collateral."
The man reached out and flipped back through the pages, pointing to the relevant clause.
...It's your house back in your hometown. You couldn't believe it. ₽1,000,000 isn't even close to what an entire house is worth -- in fact, there's a small ranch and some forested area in the back, which are both covered by the deed, so it's practically an entire estate. It should be worth at least ₽400,000,000. How could Mom have put the property up as collateral..?
You looked up at the man. "My Mom isn't here. And I'm just a student."
"Yes, I know." He nodded. "She left for Hoenn about half a year ago, but as next-of-kin, the responsibility falls to you to repay the loan. The contract does cover this eventuality. In any case, paying off the loan is better than having the collateral seized, yes?"
He's right, but... "I do have one million Pokédollars, but that's almost all I have..."
"One million?" He smiled darkly, then turned to another page of the document, where the date of the loan was printed clearly. "Pardon me, but that was twenty years ago. Working on a 1.5% monthly interest rate over 20 years, plus fees, that comes up to 40 million Pokédollars."
"!?!?!?"
"Calm down." He nodded at you, pointing at another clause on the contract. With shaky eyes, you confirmed everything that he was saying. "Naturally, we are not demanding it all to be repaid at once. There is still a little bit over a month before the first payment is due, with a minimum payment of the monthly interest, which I expect shouldn't be a problem for a student at Celadon Technical Institute."
The first payment is due... 240 months exactly from the date of the contract, with payments to be made every month thereafter. Even if you pay off just the interest, that's ₽600,000 every month…
"W-w-what am I gonna do..?"
"In any case, this is your official one-month notice for your first payment." He took the file out of your hands, replacing it with a similar one. "Please feel free to keep a copy of the contract, in case you no longer have a copy of your original."
"I--"
"We'll be back in about a month." He smiled. "There's no need to see us out."
And for a long while after that, you remained standing in your doorway, staring blankly at the document in your hands.
︵︵︵◓
Later, when you read through the contract more carefully, you discover that the borrower is signed under the name of your mysterious absent Dad.
With so much on your plate, in the end...
You decided to drop out, get your Pokémon Trainers' license, and go back home. The house has been left unattended for half a year, but you can clean it up and train some Pokémon on the ranch. You can earn some money to slowly pay off the debt and, most importantly, not lose the house.
Feeling overwhelmed with everything, there was thankfully another, more pleasant surprise waiting for you at your hometown of...
[x] Viridian City
Bonus to farm and trade
[x] Fuchsia CityBonus to training and Pokémon variety
[x] Lavender TownBonus to ?????
Last edited:
1.1 - The Ranch
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
Once you are back home in Lavender Town, the first thing you do is reconnect the electricity and the water, and then get the house cleaned.
It's not a very big house, about 100m2 or so, but for one girl it's very spacious -- both to live in, and to accumulate dust over the span of 6 months. Dusting and mopping takes up the rest of the day, and by the end of it you don't even want to think about looking at the rest of the estate, or what kind of state it must be in.
︵︵︵◓
Later that night, you find yourself at the dining table.
Your copy of the contract is to one side, while a pile of crumpled paper litters the floor behind you. You nearly threw your pencil out of frustration as well, but you settled for gnawing on one end of it, cradling your head in your other hand. The calculator refuses to come up with any numbers that make sense, and you've gone through almost half of your notepad.
You only have about two million Pokédollars left in your account, which can only pay for three months of interest -- and that's without chipping away at the loan at all. If you add your living cost to that...
Ugh! This is driving you crazy. You could rip your hair out of your scalp.
You know you dropped out of PokéTech to earn money and hold onto the house, but two million isn't a lot of capital. Even if you invested all of it, trying to get a consistent 30% return every month is impossible.
Mom would have known what to do about this if she were here... She's the most resourceful person you know, and if anyone could deal with this steaming pile of shit your Dad left on your plate, it would be her. But you don't even know when she's coming back, and you have no way of contacting her when she's all the way across the ocean.
Maybe you should just cut your losses and give up the estate... At least then you wouldn't risk losing everything you--
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Gah! Fuck, that nearly gave you a heart attack.
What is it now? If it's more loan sharks at your door, you swear...
You tell yourself to calm down as you get up. "One second!"
It's probably just one of your neighbours deciding to check the house after seeing the lights on, right?
"Who is it?" You open the door, then look around. "Huh? There's nobody here..."
"Down here, kid."
"Wha--a Meow--the fu--a talking Meowth..?"
"Yep, and in a suit, too." Standing at about knee height, the talking Meowth in the suit deadpans.
".......Nope."
"Hey, wait! Don't close the door!" He hurriedly puts a gloved paw in the door. "You're Jean, right?"
You pause, looking at him. Still nope.
He yelps, snatching his paw out of the way as you close the door on him. "No, listen! I'm here to help you with the ROCKETs!"
ROCKETs..? Does he mean the guys from Rucola Financial Business Consulting?
"I'm a friend of your Mom's! Maybe she mentioned the name 'Inuyama' once or twice?"
Your Mom does speak frequently -- and fondly -- of a Meowth named Inuyama. When you were little, the name always made you laugh; it's absurd to name a cat Pokémon 'dog mountain'. And you thought the Meowth was just a favourite Pokémon from when she was a full-time Trainer, but normal Pokémon don't live much longer than 4-5 years...
But. Eh. Well, yeah, okay. Fine.
You open the door again, sighing. "Fine, come in. I doubt my life can get any weirder, anyway."
︵︵︵◓
"So..."
You look at him. He's adjusting his bowtie -- it's actually kinda cute.
"I'm not a normal Meowth," he starts.
"I know." You shake your head. "I gathered that much. But you said that you can help me?"
He nods. "Your Mom is looking for your Dad in Hoenn, right?"
"Get to the point."
"We happened to meet each other about two months ago, and when she remembered about the ROCKETs, she asked me to come help you out."
So she really did just forget about it...
"I figured that you'd come back here sooner or later, so I just waited in town until you showed up."
"So did Mom send any money?"
"No..." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "She spent most of her cash on getting to Hoenn, so it's just the two of us, now."
Sigh. You drop your face into your palms. "Great. So it's just a dropout and a cat."
He grins. "Hey, I'm not just a cat, okay?"
"..."
"I mean, beyond the obvious. I happen to still know some people from the ROCKET group, and I managed to pull some strings."
"Oh?" You look up again. "Did you manage to get the debt waived?"
"I don't have that much pull anymore." He shakes his head. Taking out a document from... somewhere, he continues. "But at least I managed to get the interest reduced to a more reasonable 6% per annum."
You take the document. It's printed with the same letterhead and in the same style as your copy of the contract. But more importantly, it's an original copy. "And that means..."
"That the interest is ₽2,400,000 every year instead of ₽600,000 every month. That will give us more time to work our capital and get a return on it."
"Wow. You're more capable thank you look."
"Thanks--Wait, hey!"
"That's still quite a lot, though..."
"Don't worry." He grins, patting his chest. "I was the one who helped your parents get to where they were, you know? You won't find a better partner than me."
Whoever said that you were making him your partner..?
"I'll help you clean up the barn and the gym tomorrow, and then we can get our first Pokémon."
But then again, he's offering free labour.
"Yeah, okay, why not?"
"Awesome! We're gonna be great together."
"Let's work hard, Mr. Inuyama."
"Eh?" He smacks you in the arm, shaking his head. Pointing to himself, he grins. "Don't call me that! Call me, 'Bro'."
"....."
"....."
"Let's work hard, Bro."
"Attagirl!" He laughs. "See you tomorrow, Jean."
What did you just get yourself into..?
︵︵︵◓
The next day, you wake up to find the barn and the gym already in order.
The barn is a small one, consisting of just two medium-sized stalls and some storage space. You've seen even Pokémon like Blastoise and Charizard fit in these, so they should be enough to serve you for quite a while.
Pokémon like Venusaur or Pidgeot would need a large-sized stall, though, and on the off chance you wanted to get something like an Onix or Gyarados... those will definitely need a huge-sized stall.
The gym, on the other hand, is just a trio of training equipment sitting out in the open. They're built to be sturdy, so that's not really a problem.
The sandbag is obviously used to train physical strength, while the set of targets and rocks are supposed to train a Pokémon's reflexes and coordination.
The weird looking glass tube growing out of the metal base is... something else. You've seen Mom use it to train her POISON-type Pokémon, though, so at least you know what it's for.
Other than that, there's about 200m2 of empty land, and just... forest beyond that. You know that the estate is about half an acre, so you suppose that's about 1,600m2 of land you could eventually use. If you found a way to clear it. And to deal with any Wild Pokémon you find in there.
︵︵︵◓
"So do you know where I can buy a good Starter Pokémon?"
"..."
"Hey?"
"..."
"...Bro."
"Yeah, Jean?" He turns to you, grinning with satisfaction.
Sigh. "Where are we going to get a Pokémon, Bro?"
"I actually already checked the breeders today. These four are the best ones that I could find."
[x] Pidgey ♀ (1 month old. ₽18,000)
[x] Nidoran ♂ (2 months old. ₽24,000)
[x] Mankey ♂ (2 months old. ₽30,000)
[x] Gastly ⚥ (1 week old. ₽40,000)
"What about the catchers?"
He shakes his head. "Not a good idea for a Starter Pokémon."
That makes sense, so you quietly agree with a nod.
"There's also a black market where you can get a random Pokémon for ₽10,000 or so, actually. Most people keep trying until they get one that they like, and release all the others." He taps a gloved finger on his chin. "But same thing as buying a Pokémon from the catchers: you'll want to have a trained Pokémon of your own on-hand to help discipline it."
"What if I want something more specific?"
"We can look for it." He nods. "But it might be a bit older, a bit more expensive, or need more training compared to the ones I already picked out for you."
[x] Look for something more specific.
→ [x] What do you look for? Be as specific as you want.
[x] Try the black market.
It's not a very big house, about 100m2 or so, but for one girl it's very spacious -- both to live in, and to accumulate dust over the span of 6 months. Dusting and mopping takes up the rest of the day, and by the end of it you don't even want to think about looking at the rest of the estate, or what kind of state it must be in.
AREA UNLOCKED : House (10 squares)
︵︵︵◓
Later that night, you find yourself at the dining table.
Your copy of the contract is to one side, while a pile of crumpled paper litters the floor behind you. You nearly threw your pencil out of frustration as well, but you settled for gnawing on one end of it, cradling your head in your other hand. The calculator refuses to come up with any numbers that make sense, and you've gone through almost half of your notepad.
You only have about two million Pokédollars left in your account, which can only pay for three months of interest -- and that's without chipping away at the loan at all. If you add your living cost to that...
BALANCE : ₽2,000,000
Ugh! This is driving you crazy. You could rip your hair out of your scalp.
You know you dropped out of PokéTech to earn money and hold onto the house, but two million isn't a lot of capital. Even if you invested all of it, trying to get a consistent 30% return every month is impossible.
Mom would have known what to do about this if she were here... She's the most resourceful person you know, and if anyone could deal with this steaming pile of shit your Dad left on your plate, it would be her. But you don't even know when she's coming back, and you have no way of contacting her when she's all the way across the ocean.
Maybe you should just cut your losses and give up the estate... At least then you wouldn't risk losing everything you--
*KNOCK KNOCK*
Gah! Fuck, that nearly gave you a heart attack.
What is it now? If it's more loan sharks at your door, you swear...
You tell yourself to calm down as you get up. "One second!"
It's probably just one of your neighbours deciding to check the house after seeing the lights on, right?
"Who is it?" You open the door, then look around. "Huh? There's nobody here..."
"Down here, kid."
"Wha--a Meow--the fu--a talking Meowth..?"
"Yep, and in a suit, too." Standing at about knee height, the talking Meowth in the suit deadpans.
".......Nope."
"Hey, wait! Don't close the door!" He hurriedly puts a gloved paw in the door. "You're Jean, right?"
You pause, looking at him. Still nope.
He yelps, snatching his paw out of the way as you close the door on him. "No, listen! I'm here to help you with the ROCKETs!"
ROCKETs..? Does he mean the guys from Rucola Financial Business Consulting?
"I'm a friend of your Mom's! Maybe she mentioned the name 'Inuyama' once or twice?"
Your Mom does speak frequently -- and fondly -- of a Meowth named Inuyama. When you were little, the name always made you laugh; it's absurd to name a cat Pokémon 'dog mountain'. And you thought the Meowth was just a favourite Pokémon from when she was a full-time Trainer, but normal Pokémon don't live much longer than 4-5 years...
But. Eh. Well, yeah, okay. Fine.
You open the door again, sighing. "Fine, come in. I doubt my life can get any weirder, anyway."
︵︵︵◓
"So..."
You look at him. He's adjusting his bowtie -- it's actually kinda cute.
"I'm not a normal Meowth," he starts.
"I know." You shake your head. "I gathered that much. But you said that you can help me?"
He nods. "Your Mom is looking for your Dad in Hoenn, right?"
"Get to the point."
"We happened to meet each other about two months ago, and when she remembered about the ROCKETs, she asked me to come help you out."
So she really did just forget about it...
"I figured that you'd come back here sooner or later, so I just waited in town until you showed up."
"So did Mom send any money?"
"No..." He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "She spent most of her cash on getting to Hoenn, so it's just the two of us, now."
Sigh. You drop your face into your palms. "Great. So it's just a dropout and a cat."
He grins. "Hey, I'm not just a cat, okay?"
"..."
"I mean, beyond the obvious. I happen to still know some people from the ROCKET group, and I managed to pull some strings."
"Oh?" You look up again. "Did you manage to get the debt waived?"
"I don't have that much pull anymore." He shakes his head. Taking out a document from... somewhere, he continues. "But at least I managed to get the interest reduced to a more reasonable 6% per annum."
You take the document. It's printed with the same letterhead and in the same style as your copy of the contract. But more importantly, it's an original copy. "And that means..."
"That the interest is ₽2,400,000 every year instead of ₽600,000 every month. That will give us more time to work our capital and get a return on it."
"Wow. You're more capable thank you look."
"Thanks--Wait, hey!"
"That's still quite a lot, though..."
"Don't worry." He grins, patting his chest. "I was the one who helped your parents get to where they were, you know? You won't find a better partner than me."
Whoever said that you were making him your partner..?
"I'll help you clean up the barn and the gym tomorrow, and then we can get our first Pokémon."
But then again, he's offering free labour.
"Yeah, okay, why not?"
"Awesome! We're gonna be great together."
"Let's work hard, Mr. Inuyama."
"Eh?" He smacks you in the arm, shaking his head. Pointing to himself, he grins. "Don't call me that! Call me, 'Bro'."
"....."
"....."
"Let's work hard, Bro."
"Attagirl!" He laughs. "See you tomorrow, Jean."
What did you just get yourself into..?
︵︵︵◓
The next day, you wake up to find the barn and the gym already in order.
AREA UNLOCKED : Barn (4 squares)
AREA UNLOCKED : Gym (6 squares)
The barn is a small one, consisting of just two medium-sized stalls and some storage space. You've seen even Pokémon like Blastoise and Charizard fit in these, so they should be enough to serve you for quite a while.
Pokémon like Venusaur or Pidgeot would need a large-sized stall, though, and on the off chance you wanted to get something like an Onix or Gyarados... those will definitely need a huge-sized stall.
FACILITY UNLOCKED : Pokémon Stall 1 (Medium)
FACILITY UNLOCKED : Pokémon Stall 2 (Medium)
The gym, on the other hand, is just a trio of training equipment sitting out in the open. They're built to be sturdy, so that's not really a problem.
The sandbag is obviously used to train physical strength, while the set of targets and rocks are supposed to train a Pokémon's reflexes and coordination.
FACILITY UNLOCKED : Sandbag (Lv. 2 POW Machine)
FACILITY UNLOCKED : Target (Lv. 2 SPD Machine)
The weird looking glass tube growing out of the metal base is... something else. You've seen Mom use it to train her POISON-type Pokémon, though, so at least you know what it's for.
FACILITY UNLOCKED : Tube (Lv. 3 POISON Machine)
Other than that, there's about 200m2 of empty land, and just... forest beyond that. You know that the estate is about half an acre, so you suppose that's about 1,600m2 of land you could eventually use. If you found a way to clear it. And to deal with any Wild Pokémon you find in there.
AREA UNLOCKED : Clearing (20 squares)
AREA UNLOCKED : Forest (160 squares)
︵︵︵◓
"So do you know where I can buy a good Starter Pokémon?"
"..."
"Hey?"
"..."
"...Bro."
"Yeah, Jean?" He turns to you, grinning with satisfaction.
Sigh. "Where are we going to get a Pokémon, Bro?"
"I actually already checked the breeders today. These four are the best ones that I could find."
[x] Pidgey ♀ (1 month old. ₽18,000)
[x] Nidoran ♂ (2 months old. ₽24,000)
[x] Mankey ♂ (2 months old. ₽30,000)
[x] Gastly ⚥ (1 week old. ₽40,000)
"What about the catchers?"
He shakes his head. "Not a good idea for a Starter Pokémon."
That makes sense, so you quietly agree with a nod.
"There's also a black market where you can get a random Pokémon for ₽10,000 or so, actually. Most people keep trying until they get one that they like, and release all the others." He taps a gloved finger on his chin. "But same thing as buying a Pokémon from the catchers: you'll want to have a trained Pokémon of your own on-hand to help discipline it."
"What if I want something more specific?"
"We can look for it." He nods. "But it might be a bit older, a bit more expensive, or need more training compared to the ones I already picked out for you."
[x] Look for something more specific.
→ [x] What do you look for? Be as specific as you want.
[x] Try the black market.
Last edited:
1.2 - Faust, the Gastly Breeder
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
The breeder that Bro takes you to isn't very far from the estate -- about a ten minutes walk -- and actually quite far from the Pokémon Tower, despite that they seem to specialise in Ghost Pokémon.
"Hey Faust."
"Hey, buddy! You're back." The middle-aged man has dirty blonde hair hanging down to his shoulders, and puts out his cigarette when he notices the two of you approach his storefront. This doesn't seem to be the first time he's met Bro, and he doesn't seem put off by the talking Meowth at all. "Is this the young lady I've been hearing about, then?"
"Yeah. Faust, meet Jean. Jean, this is Faust. I was... friends with his old man back during my adventuring days."
Faust laughs, shaking his head. "I assure you, that's not how he would have put it. Anyway, you must be Missus Pendraig's daughter."
"Nice to meet you," you say, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.
"Well met." He nods. "Anyway, I assume you're here to take another look at that one Gastly you wanted?"
"Yup. Lead the way."
"Come on in, then."
︵︵︵◓
︵︵︵◓
"Well, what do you think?"
The Gastly looks up at you, seeming to dissipate slightly under the faint breeze before it recomposes itself, shaking its... head? body? Apparently, Gastly this young are only about as big as half your palm, and pretty insubstantial.
"It's... cuter than I expected."
"It won't be very cute in about a year or so, I'd imagine." Bro grins ferociously.
"Yeah, that's about the age they start evolving into Haunter." Faust nods. "You'll want to discipline it from a young age, or its mischief will be pretty hard to control once it evolves. Your buddy here has a really good eye, actually. This Gastly is easily my best specimen amongst the younger ones that I currently have."
"Anything I should know about raising a Gastly?"
"Hmm... Other than the temperament thing I just mentioned... They're immaterial, so you won't be able to expect them to do any training that involves touching anything physically. This issue should resolve somewhat by the time they evolve and learn how to materialise a little bit more solidly. Until then, you might also want to be careful about letting them loose in strong wind. Even if they get blown away they'll be able to reform without an issue, but it's not exactly a very comfortable experience for them."
"I could have told you that." Bro rolls his eyes, but you ignore him.
"Since they're Ghosts... what do they eat? Can I feed them normal Pokémon food?"
"Not a problem." Faust nods at you again. "They can eat normal food, although the food won't get 'eaten up' so to speak, they'll absorb all the nutrition right out. Once they're done eating, just throw out the remaining 'food' even if it still looks intact. What you feed them influences their development, though -- most of my clients tend to feed their Gastly a more Poison-oriented diet, but that can get expensive pretty fast."
"Alright, alright." Bro says, cutting in. "I know all of this already, so you can just ask me later if there's anything you're not sure about."
"Right." You hope he really is as knowledgeable as he claims.
"So are you taking it?"
"It's a pretty good choice," Bro adds. "Gastly aren't that tricky to raise, so they're a good choice for... Say, what are we calling our Ranch, anyway?"
[x] Take the Gastly.
→ [x] Write-in a name for the Gastly.
[x] Reconsider.
→ [x] What do you look at instead? (Same options as previous vote.)
[x] Write-in a name for the Ranch.
"Hey Faust."
"Hey, buddy! You're back." The middle-aged man has dirty blonde hair hanging down to his shoulders, and puts out his cigarette when he notices the two of you approach his storefront. This doesn't seem to be the first time he's met Bro, and he doesn't seem put off by the talking Meowth at all. "Is this the young lady I've been hearing about, then?"
"Yeah. Faust, meet Jean. Jean, this is Faust. I was... friends with his old man back during my adventuring days."
Faust laughs, shaking his head. "I assure you, that's not how he would have put it. Anyway, you must be Missus Pendraig's daughter."
"Nice to meet you," you say, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake.
"Well met." He nods. "Anyway, I assume you're here to take another look at that one Gastly you wanted?"
"Yup. Lead the way."
"Come on in, then."
︵︵︵◓
◓
Gastly ⚥
GHOST■/■POISON
EX Immaterial
Immune to PHYSICAL. Able to levitate.XE Ghost Mastery
Can phase through objects, inflicting MAGICAL GHOST damage.XE Poison Mastery
Can emit a noxious gas that inflicts POISON.LV. 1■
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■LIFE 35/35■■MANA 20/20 POW
3
■■■■■■MAG
8
■■■■■■SPD
5
■■■■■■
︵︵︵◓
"Well, what do you think?"
The Gastly looks up at you, seeming to dissipate slightly under the faint breeze before it recomposes itself, shaking its... head? body? Apparently, Gastly this young are only about as big as half your palm, and pretty insubstantial.
"It's... cuter than I expected."
"It won't be very cute in about a year or so, I'd imagine." Bro grins ferociously.
"Yeah, that's about the age they start evolving into Haunter." Faust nods. "You'll want to discipline it from a young age, or its mischief will be pretty hard to control once it evolves. Your buddy here has a really good eye, actually. This Gastly is easily my best specimen amongst the younger ones that I currently have."
"Anything I should know about raising a Gastly?"
"Hmm... Other than the temperament thing I just mentioned... They're immaterial, so you won't be able to expect them to do any training that involves touching anything physically. This issue should resolve somewhat by the time they evolve and learn how to materialise a little bit more solidly. Until then, you might also want to be careful about letting them loose in strong wind. Even if they get blown away they'll be able to reform without an issue, but it's not exactly a very comfortable experience for them."
"I could have told you that." Bro rolls his eyes, but you ignore him.
"Since they're Ghosts... what do they eat? Can I feed them normal Pokémon food?"
"Not a problem." Faust nods at you again. "They can eat normal food, although the food won't get 'eaten up' so to speak, they'll absorb all the nutrition right out. Once they're done eating, just throw out the remaining 'food' even if it still looks intact. What you feed them influences their development, though -- most of my clients tend to feed their Gastly a more Poison-oriented diet, but that can get expensive pretty fast."
"Alright, alright." Bro says, cutting in. "I know all of this already, so you can just ask me later if there's anything you're not sure about."
"Right." You hope he really is as knowledgeable as he claims.
"So are you taking it?"
"It's a pretty good choice," Bro adds. "Gastly aren't that tricky to raise, so they're a good choice for... Say, what are we calling our Ranch, anyway?"
[x] Take the Gastly.
→ [x] Write-in a name for the Gastly.
[x] Reconsider.
→ [x] What do you look at instead? (Same options as previous vote.)
[x] Write-in a name for the Ranch.
1.3 - Y1201 M01 W1 (Casper)
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
You decide to take your new Gastly back to your new Ranch, The Serpent's Tooth. (Yeah, fuck you, too, Dad.)1 With Bro's help, it's pretty straightforward to get it settled into the first Medium Stall in your barn.
"I'm gonna call you Casper," you tell it. "Because you're gonna be a friendly ghost, aren't you?"
Looking up at you from between your cupped hands, it shivers as it squints its eyes at you.
"It likes the name," Bro tells you. "Cute baby ghost."
"Huh?" You look at him. "You can understand what it's saying?"
He rolls his eyes. "I'm a Pokémon, too, you know."
Wow. "That's actually gonna be really useful..."
"There's a reason why I said I'm the best Trainer's Assistant." He folds his arms, grinning. "With me, you can take all the guesswork out of communicating with your Pokémon."
You look at Casper again. It's hard to imagine how much this tiny ball of gas in your hands is gonna grow.
"Anyway. First things first -- we have to decide what to feed it for the rest of this month. Ranches typically stock enough food for an entire month, so you don't need to buy more food for another month."
"Should we do as Faust said and feed it a poison-based diet?"
Bro shakes his head. "It's still a little bit too young. For babies like Casper, I'd recommend something more general like Potatoes, Milk, or NutriGel."
Casper rolls a little bit in your hands, and you give it another glance.
"What is it saying?"
"It's had potatoes before, but it's curious about what the milk and the jelly are gonna taste like," Bro says. "To be honest, I recommend the milk. It's a safe choice for most baby Pokémon. Potatoes are just your cheap, filling option without too much nutrition. NutriGel is a jelly designed to be a Pokémon food substitute -- it's good for Pokémon of any age with a complete set of nutrients, but it's expensive and you'd be splurging if it's just for a baby whose nutrition needs can be satisfied with just milk."
Casper wiggles in your hands again.
"Casper wants to try the NutriGel, but it's up to you." Bro shrugs.
What do you feed Casper this month?
[x] Potatoes. (₽100)
[x] Milk. (₽500)
[x] NutriGel. (₽1,500)
︵︵︵◓
"Some ranches set a training schedule by-the-day for their competitive Pokémon, but it's actually more effective to set it by-the-week," Casper tells you.
You've learned as much when you were still in PokéTech, so you nod.
"If you give your Pokémon the weekends off, it also allows them to recover from their training without you needing to micromanage their rest days. That will give you time to do other things on the weekends, too."
"So are we starting Casper's training immediately?"
"That's a good idea. We just need to decide how you want to train it."
"I've seen how Mom's Pokémon use the gym," you start, but Bro interrupts you.
"That's no good," he says. "With Pokémon this young, it's better to focus on lighter training without the use of Machines. They're too young to be able to get too much gains from any training, anyway. You mostly want to focus on building a good foundation and developing a bond with it."
"So... The Machines in our gym are gonna be useless for quite a while?"
"Yep. Too bad, huh?"
You sigh.
It's the 1st Week of the Vernalequinox Month, 1201.
How do you train Casper this week?
[x] Ukemi. (Lv. 1 POW Drill)
[x] Shadowboxing. (Lv. 1 SPD Drill)
[x] Meditation. (Lv. 1 MAG Drill)
"I'm gonna call you Casper," you tell it. "Because you're gonna be a friendly ghost, aren't you?"
Looking up at you from between your cupped hands, it shivers as it squints its eyes at you.
"It likes the name," Bro tells you. "Cute baby ghost."
"Huh?" You look at him. "You can understand what it's saying?"
He rolls his eyes. "I'm a Pokémon, too, you know."
Wow. "That's actually gonna be really useful..."
"There's a reason why I said I'm the best Trainer's Assistant." He folds his arms, grinning. "With me, you can take all the guesswork out of communicating with your Pokémon."
You look at Casper again. It's hard to imagine how much this tiny ball of gas in your hands is gonna grow.
"Anyway. First things first -- we have to decide what to feed it for the rest of this month. Ranches typically stock enough food for an entire month, so you don't need to buy more food for another month."
"Should we do as Faust said and feed it a poison-based diet?"
Bro shakes his head. "It's still a little bit too young. For babies like Casper, I'd recommend something more general like Potatoes, Milk, or NutriGel."
Casper rolls a little bit in your hands, and you give it another glance.
"What is it saying?"
"It's had potatoes before, but it's curious about what the milk and the jelly are gonna taste like," Bro says. "To be honest, I recommend the milk. It's a safe choice for most baby Pokémon. Potatoes are just your cheap, filling option without too much nutrition. NutriGel is a jelly designed to be a Pokémon food substitute -- it's good for Pokémon of any age with a complete set of nutrients, but it's expensive and you'd be splurging if it's just for a baby whose nutrition needs can be satisfied with just milk."
Casper wiggles in your hands again.
"Casper wants to try the NutriGel, but it's up to you." Bro shrugs.
What do you feed Casper this month?
[x] Potatoes. (₽100)
[x] Milk. (₽500)
[x] NutriGel. (₽1,500)
︵︵︵◓
"Some ranches set a training schedule by-the-day for their competitive Pokémon, but it's actually more effective to set it by-the-week," Casper tells you.
You've learned as much when you were still in PokéTech, so you nod.
"If you give your Pokémon the weekends off, it also allows them to recover from their training without you needing to micromanage their rest days. That will give you time to do other things on the weekends, too."
"So are we starting Casper's training immediately?"
"That's a good idea. We just need to decide how you want to train it."
"I've seen how Mom's Pokémon use the gym," you start, but Bro interrupts you.
"That's no good," he says. "With Pokémon this young, it's better to focus on lighter training without the use of Machines. They're too young to be able to get too much gains from any training, anyway. You mostly want to focus on building a good foundation and developing a bond with it."
"So... The Machines in our gym are gonna be useless for quite a while?"
"Yep. Too bad, huh?"
You sigh.
It's the 1st Week of the Vernalequinox Month, 1201.
How do you train Casper this week?
[x] Ukemi. (Lv. 1 POW Drill)
[x] Shadowboxing. (Lv. 1 SPD Drill)
[x] Meditation. (Lv. 1 MAG Drill)
1.4 - Y1201 M01 W1e (Farming)
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
You decide to feed Casper Milk for the month, which it seems to enjoy just fine.
Bro instructs Casper on how to meditate, and it spends the week doing just that. You don't really see much change, but Bro assures you that it's making good progress for its age.
Soon enough, it's the weekend.
︵︵︵◓
"So do you think you've got the hang of training a Pokémon yet?"
"Uh... Yeah, sure." Well, he's been doing all the heavy lifting, to be honest. "How are we going to make money like this, though?"
"Once Casper's a little bigger, we'll start putting him into some tournaments. Just give it a few months."
You shake your head. "I can't wait that long... We only have a year, remember..?"
Bro grins. "I've already thought about that. You know, you've got half an acre of land on the estate, which is a waste to raise just a handful of Pokémon for competitive battles."
"What are you saying?"
"You know, we can grow some crops, raise Pokémon as livestock... Competitive ranching can net us the big money, but we have the facilities to turn some of the estate into a farm, too. That can be a safety net in case we don't do well in the tournaments."
"I don't know... Is farming really all that profitable?"
"Girl, how much do herbs and berries cost nowadays? Not to mention milk, eggs, wool..." Bro shakes his head. "Trust me."
"Mm, alright. There's no harm in trying. Where do we start?"
"We have about 2 ares of empty land right now, right? We can plant about 20 berry trees in that space." He shrugs. "Alternatively, we can start by buying a Pokémon to fill the empty stall in the barn. It's just about big enough to fit a Doduo or a Miltank, both of which aren't that hard to raise."
"We probably don't have time to do both in one weekend, right?"
"Yep. Just the one."
"Hmm... If we get a Miltank, does that mean we don't need to spend the money for Casper's food for a while?"
"Nah, it doesn't work like that. Only juvenile Miltank are typically for sale, if you're talking about livestock. They're usually about six months old, so you'll be waiting about half a year before they mature enough to produce milk."
"How much milk does an adult Miltank produce anyway?"
"Quite a lot." He grins. "The amount of milk a Miltank can produce in one day will easily feed a baby Pokémon for two months."
That's... "A really good investment..."
"Right? Don't expect to sell it for as high as we're buying it, though."
Of course. "What about Doduo? What can it do for us?"
"They lay eggs, obviously. But other than that, you can train them as a mount, too. You've heard of the Vermillion Cup, right?"
The Vermillion Cup is an annual race for mature Doduo that involves an obscene amount of gambling. "Does that mean we can participate?"
Bro nods. "It's not as profitable as competitive battling, but we can. It's not really worth it, though -- training a Doduo for racing is just as much effort, with comparatively less in the way of profits."
"Okay, let's forget about that for now, then. Is raising Doduo for their eggs profitable?"
"In the short term? On a daily basis, a Doduo will probably only earn you a fraction of whatever a Miltank does."
"We should get the Miltank, then!"
"But Doduo are a lot easier to take care of, and they're easier to breed, too. Plus, their eggs have a high protein content and nutritious for Pokémon of all ages."
"Ugh. This is complicated."
"Heh. Wait 'til I tell you about planting crops."
You massage your temple. "Let's just get it over with..."
"I'll make it as simple as I can. If you're planning to start planting crops now, I'd go with Oran or Sitrus trees. It's pretty much the ideal time to plant some. Orans bear fruit every Autumn, and if you take care of them, can continue to survive for decades. If planted now, Sitruses will give you fruit at the end of Spring, Summer, and Autumn, but then they will wither in the Winter and you'll have to dig them up before planting new crops for the next year."
"Sounds more straightforward than livestock, to be honest."
"Yeah, and we have the space to make it real profitable, too. But once we have a lot of trees, it's going to be a lot of work. Thankfully, your Mom already seems to have some basic farming tools in storage, so at least we don't need to spend any extra money on that."
That's quite a lot of things for you to consider, huh...
[x] Buy 20 Oran trees. (₽5,000 each; Total: ₽100,000; 300-500 fruits per harvest; Each berry sells for ₽25.)
[x] Buy 20 Sitrus trees. (₽10,000 each; Total: ₽200,000; 200-600 fruits per harvest; Each berry sells for ₽100.)
[x] Buy a Doduo. (₽30,000; 1 Egg per day; Each Egg sells for ₽200.)
[x] Buy a Miltank. (₽60,000; 2 Milks per day; Each Milk sells for ₽375.)
[x] Let's just spend the weekend visiting your neighbours.
[x] Write-in.
Bro instructs Casper on how to meditate, and it spends the week doing just that. You don't really see much change, but Bro assures you that it's making good progress for its age.
Soon enough, it's the weekend.
︵︵︵◓
"So do you think you've got the hang of training a Pokémon yet?"
"Uh... Yeah, sure." Well, he's been doing all the heavy lifting, to be honest. "How are we going to make money like this, though?"
"Once Casper's a little bigger, we'll start putting him into some tournaments. Just give it a few months."
You shake your head. "I can't wait that long... We only have a year, remember..?"
Bro grins. "I've already thought about that. You know, you've got half an acre of land on the estate, which is a waste to raise just a handful of Pokémon for competitive battles."
"What are you saying?"
"You know, we can grow some crops, raise Pokémon as livestock... Competitive ranching can net us the big money, but we have the facilities to turn some of the estate into a farm, too. That can be a safety net in case we don't do well in the tournaments."
"I don't know... Is farming really all that profitable?"
"Girl, how much do herbs and berries cost nowadays? Not to mention milk, eggs, wool..." Bro shakes his head. "Trust me."
"Mm, alright. There's no harm in trying. Where do we start?"
"We have about 2 ares of empty land right now, right? We can plant about 20 berry trees in that space." He shrugs. "Alternatively, we can start by buying a Pokémon to fill the empty stall in the barn. It's just about big enough to fit a Doduo or a Miltank, both of which aren't that hard to raise."
"We probably don't have time to do both in one weekend, right?"
"Yep. Just the one."
"Hmm... If we get a Miltank, does that mean we don't need to spend the money for Casper's food for a while?"
"Nah, it doesn't work like that. Only juvenile Miltank are typically for sale, if you're talking about livestock. They're usually about six months old, so you'll be waiting about half a year before they mature enough to produce milk."
"How much milk does an adult Miltank produce anyway?"
"Quite a lot." He grins. "The amount of milk a Miltank can produce in one day will easily feed a baby Pokémon for two months."
That's... "A really good investment..."
"Right? Don't expect to sell it for as high as we're buying it, though."
Of course. "What about Doduo? What can it do for us?"
"They lay eggs, obviously. But other than that, you can train them as a mount, too. You've heard of the Vermillion Cup, right?"
The Vermillion Cup is an annual race for mature Doduo that involves an obscene amount of gambling. "Does that mean we can participate?"
Bro nods. "It's not as profitable as competitive battling, but we can. It's not really worth it, though -- training a Doduo for racing is just as much effort, with comparatively less in the way of profits."
"Okay, let's forget about that for now, then. Is raising Doduo for their eggs profitable?"
"In the short term? On a daily basis, a Doduo will probably only earn you a fraction of whatever a Miltank does."
"We should get the Miltank, then!"
"But Doduo are a lot easier to take care of, and they're easier to breed, too. Plus, their eggs have a high protein content and nutritious for Pokémon of all ages."
"Ugh. This is complicated."
"Heh. Wait 'til I tell you about planting crops."
You massage your temple. "Let's just get it over with..."
"I'll make it as simple as I can. If you're planning to start planting crops now, I'd go with Oran or Sitrus trees. It's pretty much the ideal time to plant some. Orans bear fruit every Autumn, and if you take care of them, can continue to survive for decades. If planted now, Sitruses will give you fruit at the end of Spring, Summer, and Autumn, but then they will wither in the Winter and you'll have to dig them up before planting new crops for the next year."
"Sounds more straightforward than livestock, to be honest."
"Yeah, and we have the space to make it real profitable, too. But once we have a lot of trees, it's going to be a lot of work. Thankfully, your Mom already seems to have some basic farming tools in storage, so at least we don't need to spend any extra money on that."
That's quite a lot of things for you to consider, huh...
[x] Buy 20 Oran trees. (₽5,000 each; Total: ₽100,000; 300-500 fruits per harvest; Each berry sells for ₽25.)
[x] Buy 20 Sitrus trees. (₽10,000 each; Total: ₽200,000; 200-600 fruits per harvest; Each berry sells for ₽100.)
[x] Buy a Doduo. (₽30,000; 1 Egg per day; Each Egg sells for ₽200.)
[x] Buy a Miltank. (₽60,000; 2 Milks per day; Each Milk sells for ₽375.)
[x] Let's just spend the weekend visiting your neighbours.
[x] Write-in.
1.5 - Y1201 M01 W2 (Actions)
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
"I've put in the order for the Sitrus saplings," Bro says. "They should be arriving at the end of the week."
"I guess we have to prepare the clearing before then?"
He nods. "I won't be able to help you with the farm, but you know how to use the tools we found, right?"
"Uh-huh. Chop down the forest with the axe, till the soil with the hoe, plant the trees with the shovel, and water them with the watering can."
"Great. Unfortunately, the tools we have are pretty badly damaged... We should upgrade them sooner or later, but they should be enough for now."
"Say, don't most farmers just have some Pokémon help with the work?"
"Yep." Bro grins. "And we'll eventually do that, if you want, but there are things you have to consider too. Not only will there be the upkeep for you to worry about, but just like the ones we're training for competitive battling, farm Pokémon will only be useful for about half of their lifespan."
"I see..."
It's the 2nd Week of the Vernalequinox Month, 1201.
From here on, you will get a set amount of Actions every week. It is possible to increase Jean's number of Actions later on, as well as increase the number of options you can spend your Actions on. For now, Bro's extra Actions can only be wasted, but once you have more Pokémon, you'll have to more wisely choose where to spend your Actions.
You have 10 Actions.
[x] Chop down 5 trees in the forest. (10 Actions)
[x] Till the entire clearing into farmable soil. (10 Actions)
[x] Write-in.
Bro has 5 Actions.
[x] Train Casper. (2 Actions)
→ [x] Ukemi.
→ [x] Shadowboxing.
→ [x] Meditation.
"I guess we have to prepare the clearing before then?"
He nods. "I won't be able to help you with the farm, but you know how to use the tools we found, right?"
"Uh-huh. Chop down the forest with the axe, till the soil with the hoe, plant the trees with the shovel, and water them with the watering can."
"Great. Unfortunately, the tools we have are pretty badly damaged... We should upgrade them sooner or later, but they should be enough for now."
"Say, don't most farmers just have some Pokémon help with the work?"
"Yep." Bro grins. "And we'll eventually do that, if you want, but there are things you have to consider too. Not only will there be the upkeep for you to worry about, but just like the ones we're training for competitive battling, farm Pokémon will only be useful for about half of their lifespan."
"I see..."
It's the 2nd Week of the Vernalequinox Month, 1201.
From here on, you will get a set amount of Actions every week. It is possible to increase Jean's number of Actions later on, as well as increase the number of options you can spend your Actions on. For now, Bro's extra Actions can only be wasted, but once you have more Pokémon, you'll have to more wisely choose where to spend your Actions.
You have 10 Actions.
[x] Chop down 5 trees in the forest. (10 Actions)
[x] Till the entire clearing into farmable soil. (10 Actions)
[x] Write-in.
Bro has 5 Actions.
[x] Train Casper. (2 Actions)
→ [x] Ukemi.
→ [x] Shadowboxing.
→ [x] Meditation.
1.6 - Y1201 M01 W2e (Damien)
wdango
Storyteller
- Location
- Bali, Indonesia
You spend the week tilling the clearing, which is harder work than you expected. You end up exhausting yourself pretty much every day.
"I don't think I can push myself this hard every day..."
"Yeah, maybe we should hit a blacksmith and upgrade our tools over the weekend. Or even get a mechanic to design some machines to help us with the farm-work."
"Or we can get a Pokémon that can help us, right? Feeding them's got to be cheaper than fuelling the machinery."
"Mm... Yeah, but unless you plan on breeding them, it's going to be expensive to keep buying Pokémon to help with the farm."
"Ugh... Everything costs money, huh..?"
Bro shrugs. "That's capitalism for you."
You sigh.
In the end, you barely manage to finish converting the entire clearing into farmland by the time the weekend rolls around.
︵︵︵◓
When you check on Casper during the weekend, it's already doubled in size, and it seems a little bit more opaque, too.
"Hey, don't you look a little bit stronger?" You praise it, and it quivers happily, bouncing in the air.
"It's about time," Bro says, nodding.
You turn to him. "Didn't you say it'll take at least two months before its training starts to show any results? It's been barely two weeks."
Bro shakes his head. "This isn't because of the training. It's just a natural part of Casper's growth. Don't humans also naturally grow stronger as they grow up from babies to toddlers?"
"Ohh... I see."
"Of course, Casper's growth will be affected by whatever we feed it. In another two months or so, we should start thinking of feeding it something other than just milk. It'll start wanting more food on a daily basis--"
"Hey! You!" A voice calls out from the gates.
"Huh?"
"Fuck. He found me." Bro palms his face with a paw.
A boy who looks like he's in his early twenties is climbing over the fence, a feral grin on his face. "Yeah, I found you, fish breath!"
Bro rolls his eyes. "What do you want, Damien? Wait, no, don't tell me. I don't care."
"Shut up! I can't believe you ran away from our duel -- and all the way to Kanto! Sheesh!"
"We didn't have a duel. And I'm from Kanto, you idiot."
"Yeah we did! And I don't care what you say, we're gonna have it now!"
"Uhh..."
"Can't you see that I'm busy? Now shoo. You're bothering the young lady."
"Stop making excuses! There's no--..."
And then he notices you. You wave at him. "Hi. I'm guessing you must be Damien."
"Oh. Uh. I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there."
"I didn't bring any of my Pokémon from Hoenn, anyway." Bro points a thumb at you. "Gave all of them to Jean's Mom."
Wait, so Bro trained Pokémon in Hoenn? How does a talking Meowth even get a Trainer's license? It's a relief to know that Mom has more than just her two Pokémon to defend herself with, though. You shake your head. "Yep, I'm Jean."
"I... Nice to meet you, Jean. I mean. Gah!" Damien slaps his forehead, then glares at Bro. "So you're not training Pokémon anymore?"
"Nope. Just an assistant, now. Sorry, dude."
"Alright, then. Just as well." Gritting his teeth, he points at you. Are his cheeks pink? "You're my rival now."
"What? Who even still uses the word rival nowadays?"
"Battle me!"
You look at Bro, and he looks back at you, shrugging. "If you want to fight his Camerupt, be my guest."
The fuck's a Camerupt? Still, you turn back to Damien apologetically. "Sorry, Damien. The only Pokémon I have is Casper, and it's still just one month old. In fact, I just got my Trainer's license recently, so..."
"Wait, you're a new Trainer? I could give you tips, you know."
"She already has an assistant, dude," Bro drawls. "And aren't you supposed to be her rival?"
"Uhh, right." Damien scratches the back of his head. "In that case... I'll get a new Pokémon, too! And we'll battle in two months!"
Bro hums, tapping his chin. "That's not a bad idea, actually. We could even make it official, and meet in the Rookie's Cup. What do you think, Jean?"
The Rookie's Cup..? "Casper will be about the right age to qualify..."
"Wait, what's a Rookie's Cup?"
"Hoenn doesn't have the Rookie's Cup? It's a tournament held at the end of every season for Pokémon under six months old. There's not much of a prize since registration is free, but winning it is a good first step for any competitive Pokémon." Oh, hey. It feels nice to be the one explaining things for once.
"Ohh! It's settled then!" He grins. "I'll see you in two months! I'm off to get myself a new Pokémon!"
And then he runs off.
"Just... Use the gate, dude."
"I didn't even agree..." You watch him climbing the fence again, bemused.
︵︵︵◓
It's the weekend!
Despite being sidetracked by who was apparently Bro's ex-self-proclaimed-rival (whew, what a mouthful), you still have time to get something done. Where do you go?
[x] Hit the blacksmith to upgrade your tools.
[x] Find a mechanic to design some machinery for you... or at least get a quote.
[x] Maybe it's time to visit your neighbours... It's been a while, after all.
[x] Or just check out the town and see what's changed in the past few years?
[x] Take a day off with Casper and go to the park.
[x] The empty stall is going to waste. Maybe buy a Pokémon to fill it?
→ [x] What Pokémon? Competitive or livestock?
[x] Write-in.
"I don't think I can push myself this hard every day..."
"Yeah, maybe we should hit a blacksmith and upgrade our tools over the weekend. Or even get a mechanic to design some machines to help us with the farm-work."
"Or we can get a Pokémon that can help us, right? Feeding them's got to be cheaper than fuelling the machinery."
"Mm... Yeah, but unless you plan on breeding them, it's going to be expensive to keep buying Pokémon to help with the farm."
"Ugh... Everything costs money, huh..?"
Bro shrugs. "That's capitalism for you."
You sigh.
In the end, you barely manage to finish converting the entire clearing into farmland by the time the weekend rolls around.
︵︵︵◓
When you check on Casper during the weekend, it's already doubled in size, and it seems a little bit more opaque, too.
"Hey, don't you look a little bit stronger?" You praise it, and it quivers happily, bouncing in the air.
"It's about time," Bro says, nodding.
You turn to him. "Didn't you say it'll take at least two months before its training starts to show any results? It's been barely two weeks."
Bro shakes his head. "This isn't because of the training. It's just a natural part of Casper's growth. Don't humans also naturally grow stronger as they grow up from babies to toddlers?"
"Ohh... I see."
"Of course, Casper's growth will be affected by whatever we feed it. In another two months or so, we should start thinking of feeding it something other than just milk. It'll start wanting more food on a daily basis--"
"Hey! You!" A voice calls out from the gates.
"Huh?"
"Fuck. He found me." Bro palms his face with a paw.
A boy who looks like he's in his early twenties is climbing over the fence, a feral grin on his face. "Yeah, I found you, fish breath!"
Bro rolls his eyes. "What do you want, Damien? Wait, no, don't tell me. I don't care."
"Shut up! I can't believe you ran away from our duel -- and all the way to Kanto! Sheesh!"
"We didn't have a duel. And I'm from Kanto, you idiot."
"Yeah we did! And I don't care what you say, we're gonna have it now!"
"Uhh..."
"Can't you see that I'm busy? Now shoo. You're bothering the young lady."
"Stop making excuses! There's no--..."
And then he notices you. You wave at him. "Hi. I'm guessing you must be Damien."
"Oh. Uh. I'm sorry, I didn't notice you there."
"I didn't bring any of my Pokémon from Hoenn, anyway." Bro points a thumb at you. "Gave all of them to Jean's Mom."
Wait, so Bro trained Pokémon in Hoenn? How does a talking Meowth even get a Trainer's license? It's a relief to know that Mom has more than just her two Pokémon to defend herself with, though. You shake your head. "Yep, I'm Jean."
"I... Nice to meet you, Jean. I mean. Gah!" Damien slaps his forehead, then glares at Bro. "So you're not training Pokémon anymore?"
"Nope. Just an assistant, now. Sorry, dude."
"Alright, then. Just as well." Gritting his teeth, he points at you. Are his cheeks pink? "You're my rival now."
"What? Who even still uses the word rival nowadays?"
"Battle me!"
You look at Bro, and he looks back at you, shrugging. "If you want to fight his Camerupt, be my guest."
The fuck's a Camerupt? Still, you turn back to Damien apologetically. "Sorry, Damien. The only Pokémon I have is Casper, and it's still just one month old. In fact, I just got my Trainer's license recently, so..."
"Wait, you're a new Trainer? I could give you tips, you know."
"She already has an assistant, dude," Bro drawls. "And aren't you supposed to be her rival?"
"Uhh, right." Damien scratches the back of his head. "In that case... I'll get a new Pokémon, too! And we'll battle in two months!"
Bro hums, tapping his chin. "That's not a bad idea, actually. We could even make it official, and meet in the Rookie's Cup. What do you think, Jean?"
The Rookie's Cup..? "Casper will be about the right age to qualify..."
"Wait, what's a Rookie's Cup?"
"Hoenn doesn't have the Rookie's Cup? It's a tournament held at the end of every season for Pokémon under six months old. There's not much of a prize since registration is free, but winning it is a good first step for any competitive Pokémon." Oh, hey. It feels nice to be the one explaining things for once.
"Ohh! It's settled then!" He grins. "I'll see you in two months! I'm off to get myself a new Pokémon!"
And then he runs off.
"Just... Use the gate, dude."
"I didn't even agree..." You watch him climbing the fence again, bemused.
︵︵︵◓
It's the weekend!
Despite being sidetracked by who was apparently Bro's ex-self-proclaimed-rival (whew, what a mouthful), you still have time to get something done. Where do you go?
[x] Hit the blacksmith to upgrade your tools.
[x] Find a mechanic to design some machinery for you... or at least get a quote.
[x] Maybe it's time to visit your neighbours... It's been a while, after all.
[x] Or just check out the town and see what's changed in the past few years?
[x] Take a day off with Casper and go to the park.
[x] The empty stall is going to waste. Maybe buy a Pokémon to fill it?
→ [x] What Pokémon? Competitive or livestock?
[x] Write-in.