Chapter 68: Television
"I'm planning to repair the Pokémon shelter first and start raising Miltank," Naoki said.
He paused, then asked, "Do you have any other Pokémon-related facilities available?"
"Of course," Kora nodded with a smile. She turned and walked towards the back room. "Come with me! The carpentry shop recently received a new batch of building materials. We can now build a greenhouse!"
Naoki followed her. "A greenhouse?"
Kora explained, "Well, it's similar to an ecological garden where you can freely adjust the temperature, right? But a greenhouse is used to grow crops. It maintains a warm environment all year round, allowing you to grow crops that are typically out of season."
As they spoke, they entered the house.
Kora pulled out a list from the counter and showed it to Naoki. It contained a variety of constructible facilities.
Greenhouses, Pokémon Centers, pastures, pens, fish ponds.
In addition to these, the carpentry shop also sold furniture and ranch equipment, such as basic wooden tables, chairs, benches, lounge chairs, fireplaces, scarecrows, crab pots, glass fish tanks, chandeliers, floor lamps, wardrobes, lockers, double beds, and more.
Naoki was so excited seeing them that he wanted to buy everything at once, but he didn't have enough money.
Building the Pokémon House alone would cost 50,000 Pokédollars. Despite saving up 120,000 during this period, half of it would be spent on the Pokémon House.
As for the price of that greenhouse,
Naoki took a look and exclaimed, "Wow, it costs 250,000!"
Seeing his expression, Kora explained, "That's because the materials are different! Pokémon House are made of ordinary wood and stone, while greenhouses are constructed with special materials equipped with temperature control functions, allowing them to simulate the environments of all four seasons."
"Okay," Naoki sighed. There was still a long way to go!
"Then let's just build the Pokémon House this time," he said.
Kora smiled and nodded. "No problem."
After paying, Kora said she would bring the construction team to start work the next morning.
Naoki nodded, then left the carpentry shop and returned to the town. This time, his destination was the department store in town.
Although called a "department store," it was only five stories high, much smaller than the Goldenrod Department Store in the Johto region. But despite its size, it offered a wide variety of goods.
The first floor was a clothing store where anyone, regardless of gender, age, height, weight, or size, could find suitable clothes.
The second floor sold Trainer supplies, mainly space bags, sleeping bags, camping gear, and a wide variety of Poké Balls. This was where he had bought his own Bag of Holding.
The third floor was the electronics store, which was Naoki's current destination.
They sold various appliances, including toilets, washing machines, color TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, hairdryers, rice cookers.
Naoki planned to buy an air conditioner, a TV, and a refrigerator all at once.
He went to check their prices. There were many types of televisions, ranging from 7,000 to 100,000 Pokédollars. The cheapest refrigerator cost 50,000, and the most expensive one was 200,000.
Naoki wanted to buy the best one directly, but he was short on funds, so he had to choose options within his budget.
TV - 9,000, refrigerator - 53,000.
The cheapest air conditioner was 30,000. After buying the TV and refrigerator, he had very little money left, and he needed to save some for living expenses.
"Forget it, summer is still over a month away, and the weather isn't too hot right now. There's no rush for an air conditioner," Naoki thought.
After a moment's consideration, he called a staff member to help him load the goods. The store offered delivery service, which would save him some effort.
After paying, there were only 8,000 Pokédollars left on his card, which was barely enough. However, Naoki wasn't worried because he would be able to harvest a batch of rock salt and goat milk in two days, replenishing his funds.
When they returned to the ranch, the department store had just delivered the TV and refrigerator.
Televisions at this time were still quite old-fashioned. It was an old-style rear-projection TV with a small screen and a bulky build.
The refrigerator was a double-door model. The top compartment was a fresh-keeping layer for storing eggs, vegetables, fresh milk, juice, and other items. The bottom compartment was a freezer, where the purchased pork could be frozen and stored for a long time.
Naoki directed the delivery person to place the refrigerator next to the cupboard, then moved the video phone to the desk and positioned the TV at the foot of the bed.
Alcremie, who had been playing outside, heard the noise and ran over to investigate out of curiosity.
It looked up at the large refrigerator and asked, "Alcremie!"
Naoki took the eggs, berries, and goat milk out of the locker, put them in the refrigerator, and explained, "This is a refrigerator. It's used to store food. For example, if you put your cream in it, it can be kept for a long time without spoiling. It can also help make frozen cream cheesecake."
"Alcremie!" Alcremie's attention was immediately captured, and it walked around the refrigerator, checking it out.
Naoki went over to the TV and started adjusting the channels. The installer had just told him that to watch programs from all over the world, he needed to pay a subscription fee of 3,000 Pokédollars per year.
3,000 Pokédollars a year was quite affordable, and Naoki had no objections. Since the world hadn't fully entered the internet age, this was the standard billing method.
"We're really behind the times." Naoki couldn't help but complain. He didn't know how to assess the technology in this world.
While it was advanced enough to create marvels like time machines and Space Bags , the television still resembled those from the 1990s.
However, according to the game's lore, the time machine developed by Professor Sada and Professor Turo was only possible due to the unique environment deep within Area Zero. This meant that outside of that location, the time machine couldn't be used or replicated.
"Koraidon, Miraidon, Terapagos. I wonder what the connection is between these Legendary Pokémon."
Whenever he thought about this, Naoki couldn't help but lament that he had traveled to the wrong time! He hadn't played the Scarlet and Violet DLC yet!
He sighed silently and turned on the TV. Static filled the screen for a moment, then a program appeared.
It seemed to be a cooking show. A chef wearing a chef's hat and uniform was preparing a dish.
Naoki watched for a while. Although the screen wasn't very clear, the image was still discernible.
He picked up the remote and changed the channel, browsing through other programs. There were weather forecasts, TV series and movies, commercials for Moomoo Milk, news broadcasts, and even a program from outside the Paldea region - Professor Oak's Pokémon Lecture.
Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar face on the screen, one couldn't help but marvel: Professor Oak was truly famous!
Naoki was satisfied. Thanks to television, he could stay informed about events happening in other parts of the world.
...
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