https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-86-Travel-Bear-Has-Brought-You-a-Gift/12537086/
Chapter 87: The Milk of the Miltank
Chapter 87: The Milk of the Miltank
Happy Ranch
Led by the elderly man, Naoki arrived at an area enclosed by a wooden fence.
Here, he finally got to meet the Miltank.
They sat on the lush grass, leisurely grazing, their bodies strong and sturdy.
The elderly man smiled and said, "These are the Miltank. Despite the terrible incident they experienced before, they seem unaffected and continue to eat and rest well."
Naoki nodded, understanding that the terrible incident referred to the cargo ship disappearance that had occurred previously.
The elderly man opened the small gate in the fence and, walking alongside Naoki, continued, "There are a total of ten Miltank here, each one healthy and capable of producing ample fresh milk. Oh, by the way, you haven't planted any grass for grazing yet, have you?"
Grass for grazing—a type of feed specifically cultivated and improved by humans for consumption by livestock and Pokemon during spring, summer, and autumn.
Unlike ordinary grass, this grazing grass provided nutrition for the majority of Grass-type Pokemon.
Naoki nodded honestly, "I haven't had the time to buy any yet."
"It's alright," the elderly man explained, "regular feed can be given to Miltank as well. They just prefer fresh grazing grass over hay."
"The better the quality and fertility of the grazing grass, the richer and more delicious the milk produced by the Miltank will be. Unlike sheep's milk, the flavor of Miltank's fresh milk changes with the seasons!"
"It changes with the four seasons?" Naoki raised his eyebrows slightly.
"It's quite fascinating, isn't it?" The elderly man smiled. "It is said that the grass is influenced by the environment and temperature, resulting in variations during different seasons."
"After consuming this grazing grass, the Miltank absorb the nutrients and produce milk with distinct flavors."
Naoki was indeed not very knowledgeable about this, and he curiously asked, "Is the difference significant?"
The elderly man replied, "Not really. They all taste like milk, but there are subtle differences in the mouthfeel."
"For example, the milk during some seasons tastes sweet and refreshing, while during other seasons, it becomes rich and creamy. The milk produced during this season belongs to the former."
Naoki understood, and he nodded, his understanding of Miltank deepening.
At this moment, the two of them approached the group of Miltank.
The Miltank's attention was drawn, and they looked on curiously.
"Children, this is the ranch owner of the neighboring Naoki Ranch," the elderly man introduced Naoki to the group of Miltank, and then he chuckled, "He is someone who knows how to take good care of Pokemon. Those who follow him will be blessed!"
Naoki: "..."
That statement sounded a bit odd.
However, it proved to be quite effective on this group of Miltank.
They immediately turned their gazes toward Naoki, observing him.
Naoki stood there, maintaining a smile as they sized him up.
After a while, a few Miltank showed signs of interest.
"Moo?"
"Moo~"
"..."
Seeing this, the elderly man smiled and said, "Alright, go ahead and choose one now!"
Hearing this, Naoki nodded and stepped forward, approaching the group of Miltank to observe each one's condition.
The Miltank's gazes followed his movements, looking expectantly at him.
At this moment, Naoki suddenly felt like he was choosing a starter Pokemon...
He shook his head to dismiss the thought and began to interact with the Miltank in front of him.
"Hello, Miltank!"
"Moo!"
The Miltank happily stood up, its two black ears swaying cutely from side to side.
"More gentle than I imagined," Naoki thought.
As a Pokemon, Miltank had a very laid-back nature. Their personalities were gentle, and the vast majority of them disliked fighting with people.
With this in mind, Naoki had made his decision.
He pointed at the Miltank that had responded to him and said to the elderly man, "I'll take this one."
It didn't really matter which one he chose, as he intended to come back and bring the rest of the Miltank home once he had saved up enough money.
"Alright," the elderly man nodded gently.
He took out the Poke Ball of the Miltank and handed it to Naoki. "This is the Poke Ball of the Miltank. From now on, I entrust its care to you."
"I will," Naoki assured him as he reached out to take the Poke Ball. Suddenly, he felt that the transaction here was less like a sale and more like an adoption.
Accompanied by a flash of white light, the large milk can was recalled into its Poke Ball.
Naoki paid up, and his savings, which had barely reached five digits, took another dip.
He bade farewell to the old man and left to head into town to purchase some daily necessities.
On his list were feed and grass seeds for the Miltank, special soil to enhance Saltrock, and several packs of sweet red tea.
Naoki didn't linger in town and immediately returned to the ranch on his Motostoke after buying what he needed.
He handed the large and small bags to the Golurk waiting outside and asked it to send them back to the house while he himself went to the Pokemon house.
Pushing open the door, Naoki was greeted by the sight of the long-unused Pokemon house.
The empty feed and water troughs, the wooden partitions, the feeding area connected to the silo, and the soft hay spread on the floor, a cozy sleeping spot for the Miltank.
"Come on out!"
Naoki tossed the Poke Ball, and with another flash of white light, the Miltank appeared in the Pokemon house.
It looked around, taking in its new surroundings.
"This is your new home. How do you like it?" Naoki introduced.
"Moo~" The Miltank looked around, taking in the clean, tidy, and bright room, and replied happily, "Moo!"
It seemed that the Miltank was quite satisfied.
Seeing this, Naoki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Next, he opened the doors and windows of the Pokemon house and led the Miltank outside to the open space, introducing it to its new home:
"This is my ranch, and I'll be planting grass for you to graze on right here in front."
Unlike crops, grass seeds didn't require tilling the soil for planting, making the process much simpler.
All he needed to do was scatter the seeds on the ground and wait; soon enough, these hardy grasses would grow on their own.
Both the growth cycle and speed far surpassed that of ordinary crops.
Without further ado, Naoki immediately took out the packet of grass seeds and scattered them across the empty field.
With the Miltank settled in, Naoki felt a weight lift from his shoulders as he returned to the wooden house.
The Miltank-rearing work was finally about to begin in earnest!
Having completed today's ranch work, he made himself a cup of sweet red tea, moved the rocking chair under the eaves, and sat down to leisurely sip his tea while admiring the home he had slowly built.
Motostoke, Golurk, Barraskewda, Saltrock, Ride Wooloo, Frosmoth, Minior, Duraludon, Blipbug, Combee, and now Miltank...
The Salt House, the Pokemon house, the chicken coop...
In the neatly arranged fields, a vast array of crops were thriving.
Compared to when he had first arrived, the place had undergone a complete transformation.
Ah, what a wonderful life!
Naoki couldn't help but sigh with contentment.
Just then, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a petite figure darting into the ranch.
Naoki turned to see the Stufful running towards him enthusiastically.
He raised an eyebrow, remembering how the Stufful had left the ranch a few days ago after eating the lucky pudding.
"I wonder if it found anything good."
Seeing the Stufful approach, Naoki asked, "Did you come to trade something?"
"Yommo yommo!"
Stufful nodded vigorously.
It held out its small paw, revealing a small, ordinary-looking brown stone in its palm.
It had picked up this stone while wandering in the mountains before the typhoon struck.
"Hmm?" Naoki didn't recognize the stone at first glance, so he reached out and took it from the Stufful's paw.
What is this? Naoki was puzzled. He had never seen anything like it before; it didn't look like an Evolution stone or a Hard Stone or any other kind of item.
Hmm, it felt slightly warm to the touch. He wondered if it was from the Stufful's body heat or if the stone itself was naturally warm.
"Did you find this?" Naoki asked.
"Yommo!" Stufful nodded, its eyes hopeful as it looked up at him.
Can I trade this for delicious honey pudding? Seeing its greedy expression, Naoki couldn't help but smile. He got up to get the pudding from the fridge and asked, "You haven't been stealing honey from other ranches these past few days, have you?"
"Yommo..." Stufful shook its head.
"That's good!" Naoki handed the pudding to Stufful and said, "Stealing is wrong. Even if you can get away with it now because of your cute looks, what will happen when you evolve into a Bewear?
Stufful swallowed the pudding in one gulp and, hearing these words, lowered its head in thought.
Seeing its expression, Naoki thought that it was better late than never. If Stufful could realize its mistakes and correct them in time, then his efforts wouldn't have been in vain.
"If I were you, I'd find a way to apologize to those ranch owners." Naoki took the opportunity to educate it.
"Here, it's been raining these past few days, and you must have had a hard time finding food. Consider this small bottle of honey a gift from me." Naoki tossed the bottle of honey to Stufful.
Stufful caught it with its paw, and its face couldn't help but show its emotion: "Yommo..."
"I think anyone else would do the same." Naoki lay back in his rocking chair and waved his hand dismissively. "Now, off you go!"
"Yommo!"
Having achieved his goal, Stufful left satisfied and began to seriously reflect on everything that had happened over the past few days as it made its way back.
On the ranch, Naoki held the stone that felt slightly warm to the touch and, after examining it carefully, a vague guess formed in his mind.
A fragment of a meteorite that fell from the sky?
Combining this with the recent appearance of a Ride Motostoke nearby, which had dispersed the typhoon, Naoki had a bold conjecture.
Could it be leftover food from the Ride Motostoke?
Wow! That sounded amazing. However, the fact was that this meteorite fragment was completely useless and could only be kept as a collectible.
It was better than nothing, though.
Naoki returned to the house and casually tossed the stone into a drawer, along with the Everstone that Stufful had brought before.
---
Before going to bed that night, Naoki specially prepared a black truffle milk porridge.
This dish could enhance the quality of the milk produced by Pokemon.
The Ride Wooloo had undergone a mutation in their milk due to drinking this porridge, gaining some additional effects.
Naoki was curious about what kind of changes this dish would bring to Miltank's milk.
So, while inspecting the ranch, Naoki carried the milk porridge to the Pokemon house.
As he pushed open the door, he saw Miltank sitting on the grass pile, looking rather lonely.
Naoki was taken aback for a moment. "What's wrong?"
"Moo..." Miltank looked dejected.
"Let me guess, do you miss your fellow Miltank?" Naoki asked.
Hearing this, Miltank nodded. "Moo..."
At first, Miltank had felt very happy to arrive at a new ranch.
But after the initial excitement, it felt lonely because it was the only Miltank here.
Naoki understood, but he couldn't do anything about it at the moment. After thinking for a moment, he said to Miltank:
"Give me one more day. As soon as I save up enough money, I'll bring the rest of the Miltank here."
Miltank looked at him, and a smile appeared on its face as it happily replied, "Moo!"
A smile also appeared on Naoki's face, and he placed the milk porridge in front of Miltank, saying, "Go on, try it!"
Miltank didn't reject the rice and milk combination, as they naturally drank their own milk.
After finishing the milk porridge, Miltank suddenly recalled what Naoki had said earlier and realized something: "Moo?" (Are you short on money?)
Hearing its moo, Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
Miltank proudly displayed its milk-producing organ and said, "Moo, moo!" (I can produce a lot of milk to sell and make you money!)
When it was at the ranch, Miltank often saw the ranch owner milking the other Miltank and then selling the milk.
This was a very relaxing activity for Miltank.
Because they had a lot of milk in their bodies, and if they didn't milk themselves or get help, they would feel uncomfortable.
So, most of the time, humans helped with the milking.
Over time, Miltank understood that this was a way to earn money.
Naoki was puzzled, but seeing Miltank's actions, he soon realized what it meant: "Do you want me to milk you?"
"Moo, moo!" Miltank nodded vigorously.
By milking it and selling the milk, they could make more money, which would allow him to bring the rest of the Miltank to the ranch sooner!
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
