Ron opened his mouth. He originally wanted to explain that he hadn't actually challenged the Santalune Gym yet and had only challenged the Lumiose Gym because it was on the way. However, feeling that the explanation would be too much of a hassle, he closed his mouth again.
Not far away, the Team Rocket members who overheard the conversation couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're still too cautious. How could a monster like that Gengar be everywhere?" the man lowered his voice and said. "Did you hear that? He's only just challenged the Santalune Gym until now. He's completely different from that little girl with five badges."
The man beside him knitted his brows, continuing to observe Ron over there, as well as Ramos, who was still chattering away to Ron about something.
"I'm heading to Lumiose City to buy tea leaves this trip," Ramos said. "The tea leaves there are of extremely high quality! Whether it's the fermentation process or the drying techniques, they are all top-notch! They are practically works of art among teas!"
Hearing about tea leaves, Ron immediately sat up straight and looked at Ramos. "Tea leaves? What kind of tea leaves?"
Hearing this, Ramos took out the packaging of the tea leaves. "This kind," Ramos began to talk eloquently about the packaging.
Ron immediately noticed that this was the tea he had sold to that food company last time. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Are these tea leaves selling well right now?"
"Of course!" Ramos said. "If it weren't for the fact that I'm the Coumarine City Gym Leader and can help them promote it, they wouldn't even sell it to me! I heard another batch arrived this time, so I even closed down the gym just to rush over and buy them!"
Hearing about helping with promotion, Ron grew interested. Although he had maintained a stable cooperative relationship with that company, when it came to the tea, Ron was pondering the possibility of bypassing them entirely.
Originally, just supplying raw ingredients meant it was better suited to supply local Kalos companies that had their own sales channels and processing factories, rather than trying to do it all alone.
But tea itself was already a finished, processed product. Moreover, whether it was the tea trees or the processing machines, all raw materials—except for the Stardrop—could be brought over to Kalos for planting and processing. Whether it was the source of materials or the sales and processing procedures, he could handle all of this himself. There was simply no need to sell through that company anymore.
With this in mind, Ron took out a small packet of the improved Stardrop Tea from his backpack and handed it to Ramos.
"Not only is the tea aroma rich, but it also has a faint floral scent—what is this?" Ramos, who was still praising the tea's flavor, froze for a moment. He looked down at the tea leaves in his hand and turned his head toward Ron.
"Actually, these tea leaves are produced by our farm," Ron said. "This is the new product for this season. You can try it. If you think it's good, I'm also considering selling it over here."
Skeptical, Ramos brought the tea leaves up to his nose and took a sniff. A rich tea aroma, mixed with a plant-like scent, immediately rushed into his nostrils.
"How is it?" Ron asked.
"I don't know—" Ramos took another deep sniff. "I don't mean it in a bad way, I just can't describe it—God, this is absolutely the best tea I've ever smelled."
He couldn't even put the scent he smelled into words. He only felt that the aroma was incredibly refreshing and filled with a rich, fragrant plant scent, as if he were currently standing in a botanical garden planted with countless rare trees.
As a light drizzle just ended, the scent of plants and soil began to permeate the surroundings, while countless Grass-type Pokémon played beautiful melodies within it—
"Are you really giving this to me for free?"
Ron nodded and asked tentatively, "Actually, I'm planning to bring some tea trees over here to plant. If I can move the factory and the plantation here, the cost of the tea leaves can be reduced by quite a bit in the future."
Hearing this, Ramos's eyes lit up. He turned to Ron: "So you haven't found a location yet?"
"No."
"What do you think of Coumarine City?"
"If it's possible," Ron replied without hesitation.
Coumarine City's ecology and other aspects were quite good. Although Santalune City was also a decent choice, because Coumarine City had a coastline, if given the choice, Ron would naturally choose Coumarine City.
"Of course, of course!" Ramos said. "If you're willing to set up the plantation and processing plant in Coumarine City, I can go talk to—"
Saying this, he glanced at the train, which had already left Coumarine City limits, and changed his words: "I can go back and chat with the mayor to get all this settled. As long as you bring the seeds over, you won't have to worry about the remaining procedures."
Ramos instantly saw the value contained within this tea. If this tea could carry the name of Coumarine City, perhaps it could become famous for its ingredients, just like Lumiose City.
Ron quickly agreed.
After getting a definite answer from Ron, the moment the train arrived in Lumiose City, Ramos hastily boarded a return train after setting up a time for their next transaction.
Arriving in Lumiose City, Ron rented a Gogoat by the roadside and rode it toward Laverre City.
"Oh right, this." Before setting off, Ron took the rings out of his backpack. "Might as well test them out."
Saying this, Ron slung the Ice Rod onto his back. After pondering for a moment, he took out a Frog Egg.
The moment the Frog Egg was held in his hand, a frog appeared in front of Ron.
"Froakie?" Froakie immediately jumped off Ron's shoulder and stared at this frog.
Because it wasn't a hostile creature, the frog just puffed up its cheeks and looked away.
"Froakie?" Froakie tilted its head and exchanged glances with the green frog for a while. Seeing that it was ignoring him, Froakie patted its shoulder, leaped up, and landed back on Ron's shoulder.
"Froakie?"
"—It's not a Pokémon." Ron pondered for a moment, unable to think of how to explain it, and simply said, "Anyway, it's not going to replace you."
"Froakie." Only then did Froakie relax, continuing to lie leisurely on Ron's shoulder.
The next second, Ron patted the Gogoat, signaling it to advance in the direction of Laverre City.
Only after the Gogoat had run a fair distance away did the two Team Rocket members step out of the bushes.
"Well? Let's make our move while he's in the forest."
"Alright," the man beside him agreed.
"But what was that thing he put on his back just now?"
"Who knows. Maybe some kind of decoration—it might even be quite valuable." Remembering the rings that Gengar was wearing, the man added, "The people in that town are really rich. Such huge gems."
The two exchanged a glance and, harboring dreams of striking it rich, hurried to catch up with Ron's pace.
"Ready—Poochyena!"
The moment Poochyena popped out of its Poké Ball, preparing to attack Ron according to its trainer's commands, a streak of icy light shot straight toward it.
------------------------------------------------------
40+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)