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17.24% Pokemon: A life worth living / Chapter 16: C016 - Getting to know Herbert

Chapter 16: C016 - Getting to know Herbert

"Just the two Minccino and the Sunkern? Did the others want to stay here?"

Valentino asked Pete as he came out of the guest room with three pokemon in his hoodie.

"Yep, Solosis is on a training spree ever since I taught her juggling, and I asked Golett to try and teach Zorua ghost-type energy. It's a long shot, but Zorua wanted to give it a try. I don't give it a lot of hope, but if he could actually learn a move like Shadow Claw? It would help a lot. The other three are enjoying some time in the pasture," Pete explained with a shrug.

"Hey boys, Benny and I are ready as well," Vivian shouted as she came down from upstairs with Benny on her arm and Quilava following along at her heel.

After breakfast, Valentino had asked if he could come along on their trip to the market. After the market, he was going into the forest for his observations.

"Herbert just sent me a message, by the way. He arrived a few minutes ago," Vivian said to Pete as she passed him by as he held open the door for her and Valentino.

At the market, which started a little after walking past the Silph Co store, Pete saw all kinds of people and pokemon.

A man with a Sudowoodo was selling wooden statues of pokemon. Right next to him was the middle-aged man that threatened him with hunting him with his Murkrow if he heard of a fire breaking out. He was selling all kinds of different jewelry.

None of them were in the same style and when he thought of Murkrows and crows from his last life, he thought that maybe he was selling some shiny loot his crow pokemon found in the wild.

After buying a few produce items from the local farmers, Pete and the others finally reached Herbert, the 'seed guy'.

"Vivian! You look as charming as ever. How are you doing? How is your husband?"

Herbert was a short man with no real muscle on the bones, but somehow he still commanded attention even among all the stall owners on this market. It was probably his bright blonde, almost white handlebar mustache. It had to be.

Herbert and Vivian exchanged some pleasantries until Vivian dragged Pete in front of her and made introductions.

"Herbert, this is my husband's newest assistant, Pete. He's the one I wrote about when I said you'll meet a big spender on your next visit."

"I see, I see. Vivian tells me you want to open a farm, eh?"

"Yes Mr Herbert. Among the topics I want to research are the consequences of different pokemon diets. So I need a wide variety of crops, plants and vegetables," Pete answered with a warm smile.

"Bah, lose the Mr, just call me Herbert. But wide variety you say, eh? I gotta say, I didn't bring the full catalogue even with Vivian's heads up. Sorry about that," Herbert said as he pulled out a booklet from his bag.

"Here, take a look. Ignore pages four to eight, twenty to twenty eight and fifty one til the end. Those pages are just for flowers to look pretty, the rest can serve as food for pokemon as far as I know," Herbert continued as Pete browsed the booklet. He had his little compendium of four books for wild plants near Johto and Kanto, but Herbert apparently had seeds for plants all over the world and he meticulously listed what they needed for proper growth and how often they could be harvested.

He had everything from several different kinds of rice to seeds for every known berry all the way from Alola to Kanto.

"I, uh, I think you got a repeat customer if your seeds are as high quality as the information you provide in this book, Herbert," Pete eventually said as he took a big gulp.

Even as generous as the professor was, he couldn't buy all the seeds listed here just yet, so he would have to cycle through some crops over time. And that would need Pete to keep coming back to Herbert.

"Haha, I love those! So whaddya say? What can ole Herbert interest you in right now?"

"Ah, about that. Herbert, since you didn't bring your whole catalogue anyway, I have a suggestion. You see, he didn't plan to open up his farm here in New Bark but rather somewhere close to Goldenrod City. Would you and Exeggutor terribly mind taking him along for your return trip?"

"Hmm, I did say I owed you a favor for that delicious Leppa pie, did I not? Sure, if he turns out to be a big customer as you suggest he will be, let's do it," Herbert agreed with a big grin. The favor he mentioned was just to make Pete a little less embarrassed, but Pete did recognize what a huge favor Herbert would grant him. Something he wouldn't forget.

"Great! Tell you what, Pete and I are done on the market anyway, how about I'll make you another pie as thank you? I'll give it to Pete for when he meets you for the travel back?"

"Delightful!"

"Thank you, Herbert. Where do I need to go and when will you leave?"

"Hmm, I usually leave around dinner time. But you won't have to meet me, I'll come to Elm's lab. That's where you're staying, correct?"

"Yes, that's right!"

"Good on ya. Keep the booklet until later and tell me what you want first for when we get to Violet City. See ya later then, Pete," Herbert said with a bright smile.

Vivian and Pete then decided to head back to the lab while Valentino said his farewell and left for the forest. But not before pressing a little gift he had gotten from somewhere in Pete's hand. It was a 'glad you joined the team and remember I'll be coming shortly to freeload at your place' gift according to Valentino.

When he opened it under Vivian's urging on their way back, it turned out to be a pair of nice binoculars. From someone who dedicated his life to researching the behavior of wild pokemon, it was a truly fitting gift.

Back at the lab, Pete started preparing lunch while Vivian put on an apron and showed Pete how to make the perfect Leppa pie.

At lunch, he got a gift from Fred and Becca, too. It was a book on how to properly compile, assess, and present research data in a report and a book on how to raise flying pokemon.

'Birds of a feather: Twenty tips on how each bird pokemon is unique' by Gym Leader Miles of Mistralton City, Unova. The name of the book was confusing because the idiom and the subtitle was very contrary, but Becca assured Pete it was a good read.

Fred also recognized that Pete didn't have a single flying pokemon and no eggs for one either, but Becca 'couldn't part' with any other book. It was the only one she had two off after a fatal birthday, resulting in her getting the same book from two different people. So he apologized in her stead, but Pete didn't mind in any case. It was sure to be a good read.

While spending some time on the patio with Benny and Vivian, Professor Elm eventually came outside with a gift of his own.

"Don't think I'm just a pokenerd and notice nothing around me once I'm in my element. When we opened that machine, I noticed how you looked at my toolbox," Professor Elm said as Pete opened his present to see a rather expensive looking toolbox.

"Thank you guys so much, but... you didn't have to gift me all these presents, you know?"

"Bah, it's only been a few days, but you've grown on me, Pete. You're a refreshing young man who's plenty likeable. And these gifts are just small things. Don't mind it too much. After all, we can't give you much else in the near future by how far you're going away, can we?

"I see, but like I said, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure getting to know you all," Pete said his heartfelt thanks.

"Hey Pete, they all got you something, so I did, too. Benny helped pick it," Vivian said as she handed Pete a paper bag.

"He didn't really, but he's gonna pout all day if I don't say it," Vivian whispered in Pete's ear as she got close.

When Pete got the present out, he had a good laugh. Professor Elm soon joined when he saw what it was, and Vivian was giggling the entire time from the very start.

Pete immediately slipped into his gift and gave Vivian a thumbs up. It was a dark blue kitchen apron with a Luvdisk on it, and it read 'Kiss the chef'.

"Now you have all the kitchenware you need," Vivian said with a laugh as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.


Chapter 17: C017 - Exeggutor Travel Agency

*Diiiiing*

For the first time since Pete had stayed at the lab, the doorbell rang. Pete hurriedly flipped some yoseban burger patties and hurried toward the door. However, Vivian beat him to it and shooed him back to the kitchen.

"Oh, that smells heavenly! What do you have on the stove, Vivian?"

Herbert's voice rang out in the hallway, but Vivian was clearly leading him to the kitchen.

"That's not mine, but Pete's doing. He's quite the cook," Vivian responded.

"You know what? I just decided that the travel cost has gone up a bit. I'll take one serving of whatever you're making, and we have a deal," Herbert said in a joking manner.

"I'm sure Pete has enough prepared, right?"

"Yep, I sure do," Pete answered with a smile and got back into it.

"You said it's just flipping these patties until their golden brown, right? Do you want to run to the guest room and see if you packed everything again? Did you check the bathroom?"

"I'll go, but not because I think I missed something but because I know you won't stop nagging," Pete said with a cheeky grin as he handed Vivian the spatula.

"You can't be getting cheeky just cause you're leaving in a bit. I'll remember this, you brat!"

Vivian shouted at his back as he ran to his room.

His six bags were now seven because he had to fill a fifth one with day-to-day items like his clothes and towels, so his seventh bag now held nothing but three empty bags.

He wasn't comfortable with showing his 'wealth' to Herbert, so he left one of his bags of holding out in the open and put the others in a large sack.

It was truly bag-ception in the guestroom with one large sack holding six bags, one of which held three more bags, but it was what it was.

Pete did one last check for the incubators and eggs that he decided he wasn't going to stop hatching and left with one bag only holding clothes for a day, a few necessities and his ID and tablet phone and a giant sack over his shoulder.

"Got it all. Left my toothbrush here, though. I did buy some for myself if you remember correctly," Pete said as he put the sack and the bag down and plopped on a barstool next to Herbert, who had been chatting with Vivian.

"So Pete, Vivian tells me you want to get to Goldenrod but that you won't stay there long. Where is this mystery farm of yours going to be then?"

"Eh, Evergreen Meadow, by Ilex Forest," Pete responded, surprised by Herbert's immediate interest.

"That's a tough cookie to crack. My pa used to tell me that the only reason the meadow even looked like a meadow still was because Celebi kept intervening. Nobody's seen Celebi for years, so who knows if that is even true," Herbert said with a pondering expression.

"Yeah, but I have a plan for that. You know Scarlett Moss, right? I'm planning to get a whole bunch of it and present it to the Ariados as an alternative food source. I was hoping they'll back off from the meadow in the short term until I put down my foundation," Pete explained, not bothered by the fact that he revealed his plan to a stranger.

Vivian had not only vouched for Herbert's integrity, he also gave Pete a nice enough impression from the start.

"Scarlet Moss... I don't get it, but I don't have to. I know a few rangers who constantly tell me how creepy they find it, so they might just help you scrape it off the trees when I say something. Who knows, haha," Herbert eventually shrugged with a laugh.

Pete was surprised at that. As a seemingly well-connected man in the plant and food industry, Pete would have thought Herbert knew about the non-pokemon bugs living in the moss, but it didn't seem to be the case. Or Herbert simply didn't make the connection. But it didn't matter either way.

"Let's talk plants then. The meadow has an almost tropical coastal climate with barely noticeable change of seasons. You can grow almost anything there, I reckon and probably harvest fruits several times a month and crops a few times a month. All-in-all good choice for a farm that wants to do everything. You do want to plant pretty much everything, right?"

"Yeah, crops, regular fruits, berry trees, even different grasses for the strict herbivores, vegetables from roots to stems to leafy veggies and whatever else you might have... I'll have to switch it up every few months, that's for sure," Pete started listing stuff with his fingers, and Herbert's smile grew wider and wider.

"You're going to create a green thumbs' true heaven, are you? You seem to be pretty knowledgeable, so I have no reason to believe you're gonna make your farm grow into an ugly mess. And you're pretty good looking to boot. How about once you're done, I'll use you and your farm as promotional material?"

"You want to put my face on your ads?"

"Don't sell yourself short. I got an eye for this stuff. The fact that you're an assistant professor to boot is just icing on the cake," Herbert praised.

"Can we.. can we delay it for a bit until the farm has solid foundations?"

Pete had to stall the request a little out of self-preservation. He'd have the protection of being Professor Elm's assistant, but even then a farm with countless expensive berry trees was prime material for robbery and people trying to squeeze money out of him.

He'd like his pokemon to be stronger first so they could protect themselves. But not everyone thought of the same thing.

"Oh that's right. The shady family from Unova you got away from... I almost forgot about that," Vivian spoke from stove.

"No worries, if you need some time that's okay for me. We can do the shots from angles where nobody finds out where the farm is and not mention it either later on," Herbert immediately voiced out.

"Uh, yeah... thanks a lot Vivian, Herbert," Pete responded with an awkward scratch on the back of his head.

Pete quickly difused the awkward situation by hurrying to the pan to flip a few patties Vivian had forgot to flip that were about to burn and then he continued busying himself with the food.

Having finally found some vinegar earlier today, Pete made a salad, some fries with the help of Rapidash's rapid air frying technique, and yoseban patties for everyone. It took a while to make so it wasn't technically fast food, but it was close enough.

And since he had three choices with endless possibilities to serve he had passable food for everyone who got something to eat.

After the delightful dinner, Pete, Herbert, Vivian and Professor Elm were standing out the lab's pasture.

Pete started balling all his pokemon one by one except for Solosis who had asked to experience the teleport with him. Herbert had agreed, so two men and two pokemon were about to travel all the way from New Bark Town to Violet City. A distance that should have taken Pete several weeks was about to be overcome in three 'hops'.

"Okay, I won't ask again if you have everything, but do remember to call from time to time, okay?"

Vivian had gotten a little emotional over dinner and was right at this moment dabbing away the tears that were about to spill, like a mother sending off her only son to college on the other side of the country.

"Yeah, remember to let us know if you're doing okay, Pete. Whenever you have troubles, at least shoot me a short message. And remember to collect as much data as possible, hehe," Professor Elm said to try and lighten the mood a little for Vivian. And it worked. His wife playfully slapped his arm in mock anger.

Herbert took out a one of a kind green/pink pokeball that Pete couldn't match to any pokeball he knew from the games. Maybe it was just painted in the pokemon's own colors because from it, Herbert called out a chubby coconut tree with several derpy faces on the pink-ish beige coconuts.

"Okay, don't worry, professor. I'll leave your new star assistant in one piece," Herbert joked as Pete finished his goodbyes.

"Ready, Pete?" Herbert asked with a grin as he touched the trunk of his Exeggutor's form.

Pete looked to Solosis, hoisted the big sack over his shoulder, and touched the trunk as well. Solosis apparently received permission from the coconut tree pokemon to ride among its heads, so that's where she sat.

With one powerful pull that dragged him into Exeggutor and one powerful push that spit him back out, Pete was suddenly standing somewhere completely different.

"Let it out, first jump is always a bother," Herbert said with a chuckle as Pete bent over touching his knees. He didn't have to empty his stomach, but it did come close. The sensation was like a roller coaster ride condensed into a single moment, but somehow, that also made it a little better at the same that it was worse. Because it was also over in an instant, instead of dragging it out.

"Phew, you say the next ones get better?"

"Yep."

"I'll take your word for it... where are we?"

"Usually, the two of us take the shortest route and teleport in a straight line. But I thought you would appreciate a kind of tour. Look behind you," Herbert suggested with a chuckle.

"Wow... Cherrygrove City?"

"Yeah. Somewhere between routes 29 and 30 on a hill. Quite the sight with the sun so low, right?"

And it was. With the sun slowly getting low in the west, bathing the coast near Cherrygrove City in golden light, the metropolis looked breathtaking. And so much bigger than New Bark Town, too. Equally as impressive as the City and the glittering waves bathed in the light of the setting sun was the mountain on the horizon on the other side of the Alph mountain delta.

The delta wasn't named in the games, but with the planet being so much bigger than the game and there being much more detail than a game for a handheld console from 1999.

Technically, the mountain wasn't named either, but it did exist and was home to both the Union Cave between routes 32 and 33, which was also an exit to the Ruins of Alph. So it made sense that the mountain was named the ruins or vice-versa.

"You drank in the sights?"

"Yeah, and thanks," Pete said with a warm smile as he leaned his hand against Exeggutor for support.

The feeling from before started again, and this time was not prepared for it.

"Haha, thanked me too early, eh?"

"Ugh... why," Pete whined and once more toppled over grasping his own knees so he wouldn't fall over.

"I didn't tell my wife I'd have dinner somewhere else, which is why I wanted to leave around dinner time. Now we're both gonna be miserable when we arrive," Herbert said with an evil chuckle.

"Oh yeah, before you ask. We're somewhere close to the Dark Caves on route 30," Herbert said before Exeggutor stepped forward and touched Pete's side with its trunk.

"Wait a se-"

Pete was once again whisked away, but this time, Pete couldn't keep standing. He quickly sat on his butt and heaved heavily. His large sack holding the bags almost spilled over, but Solosis was apparently fine after those two teleports back to back and gently put the sack to the side.

"Welcome, Pete. To Violet City and, more importantly, to my humble abode," Herbert said with a grand gesture that Pete couldn't appreciate right at that moment.

"Herbert! You're late! Do you have any idea how worried I was? And your food is all mushy now. You know when I finish dinner in this house!" A loud voice rang through the air, getting angrier and angrier with every word.

"Isabelle, wait a second. We have a guest! I swear I didn't do it on purpose. I was tempted to try a dish I never had-"

"You ATE without me?"

"No honey, please hear me out for just a sec-!"

"Dinner time is family time, Herbert!"

"Yes, I know that, it was just-"

"Are you telling me you found something more important than family!?"

"No honey, please... I just..."


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