Before long, little Aerodactyl slowly woke up. Its triangular eyes scanned its surroundings, and it quickly chose its next target, the largest one present, Clawitzer.
Without a word, it spread its dragon wings, kicked off the ground hard with its hind legs, and lunged forward. Its mouth, filled with rows of tiny sharp teeth, opened wide as it charged.
"Aeroo!"
Clawitzer calmly put on its Wise Glasses, raised its massive claw, and fired a thick stream of water from the opening of its bright red pincer.
The Water Gun struck little Aerodactyl head on. The compressed stream blasted it backward, sending it crashing to the ground with a loud thud. Its entire body was soaked, leaving it extremely uncomfortable.
Water-type moves were super effective against Rock and Flying types like Aerodactyl, so it was only natural that it felt awful.
After being forcibly given a bath, little Aerodactyl refused to accept defeat and launched another charge.
Again and again it was knocked down, until finally it shifted its target and locked eyes with Perrserker.
"Aeroo!"
With a flash, Perrserker unsheathed its steel claws and appeared instantly at Aerodactyl's side, slashing downward with Metal Claw.
After several exchanges, Aerodactyl struggled back to its feet and turned to face its final opponent, Charcadet.
"Charca!" (Come at me!)
Charcadet did not rush it. Instead, it ignited flames around its fists and attacked first.
Continuous bursts of fiery vortexes scorched little Aerodactyl, making it jump and flail about. It was no match for Charcadet either.
Inside the kitchen, Silas watched this scene through the window and smiled in satisfaction. Little Aerodactyl had far too much energy. It needed guidance.
Battling was undoubtedly the best option. It would also help temper its temperament.
There was no way to make it submit in a short time. Fortunately, they had plenty of time to train it slowly, and along the way, it could serve as a sparring partner for everyone.
"Torracat, go call everyone back for lunch."
After finishing the final dish, Silas scratched Torracat's chin and gave the instruction.
"Meow~" (Got it.)
Torracat rubbed its head against him, then leapt off the windowsill with Morpeko in its mouth. The two Pokémon split up to call everyone back.
Winter days were long and somewhat dull. Silas carried a reclining chair outside and sat down, enjoying the rare warmth of the winter sun.
Not far away, a group of Pokémon gathered, chirping and chatting as they made bets on how many times Aerodactyl would get back up.
Silas took a sip of tea, idly teasing the little Chikorita in his arms with his fingers. At his feet, Cyclizar lazily rolled over.
"Indee~"
Younger sister Indeedee walked over and handed him a package.
"Thanks." Silas rubbed its head and opened the package. Inside were the design blueprints for the large villa sent by Vinnie.
He flipped through the pages one by one. The construction steps were clearly detailed, including what materials to use and what methods to follow.
Since it was a four story villa, the required materials were substantial.
After reading through everything, Silas used his system ability to modify the Level 3 ranch villa into the design shown in the blueprint.
After quite a bit of mental effort, he successfully transformed it into the large villa design.
At the same time, the required materials increased severalfold.
[LV2 Ranch House → LV3 Ranch Villa]
League Coins: 1,000,000
Wood: 5000
Stone: 6000
Various additional materials
The League currency alone reached one million, while both wood and stone exceeded five thousand units, not to mention the miscellaneous materials that had yet to be fully counted.
Silas made a rough estimate. The total cost to build the villa would fluctuate around three million.
At that price, it was an absolute bargain.
After all, it was a four story villa with 600 square meters per floor, totaling 2400 square meters. That came out to about 1250 League coins per square meter.
It could only be said that his system truly crushed housing prices to the lowest possible level.
What else was there to say?
Silas nudged Cyclizar with his foot, telling it to go fetch the account book from inside the house.
Cyclizar stretched lazily. Only after Silas urged it a third time did it slowly get up and trot toward the house, its tail swaying.
After Cyclizar left, Torracat casually walked over and lay down beside Silas.
Its tail swayed lightly, brushing against Silas's leg, clearly trying to get his attention.
Even after evolving, its personality had not changed.
It had simply grown a bit bolder over time. Sometimes it would take the initiative, though more often it still waited for Silas to do so.
Noticing its little actions, which were impossible to miss given its size, Silas could not help but think ahead. If it evolved again…
An image appeared in his mind of a towering white Incineroar cautiously approaching him, asking for pats and praise.
Silas shivered slightly and quickly cut off that line of thought.
Perhaps it was better for the cat to stay in its current form. Of course, its original Litten form was the best, small enough to hold and pet in his arms.
With that thought, Silas placed one hand on Torracat's head, gently squeezing its ears. It let out a contented purr.
With his other hand, Silas took out a Moltres feather, focusing on the final line of its description, effect unknown.
If possible, he wanted a cat with three forms.
With two feathers, he had two chances. Over the next few days, he would try to find ingredients that could trigger form changes in Pokémon.
A thought suddenly struck him.
The first examples that came to mind were the Slowpoke family.
Whether it was Slowbro or Slowking, if the Shellder on their tail or head was removed, they would revert back to Slowpoke.
Then there was Exeggutor. It was said that when the coconuts on its head fell to the ground, they became Exeggcute. That was why some Exeggcute appeared cracked, they had broken upon impact.
There was also Red's Eevee from the Pokemon Adventures. It had been modified by Team Rocket and could switch between Water, Fire, and Electric types.
However, since it was not a natural ability, it came with constant pain. Eventually, Red evolved it into Espeon, losing that ability.
Another example was Amethio's Rockruff in the Horizons manga, which could freely switch into Midnight Lycanroc form.
The latter two options were out of the question. Silas would never allow Torracat to undergo artificial modification.
That left only Slowpoke and Exeggutor as viable references. Conveniently, there were a few Slowpoke living near the winter fishing lake. Silas planned to observe them later.
"Cyc!" (I'm back!)
Cyclizar shouted, interrupting Silas's thoughts as it tossed over a thick account book.
"Thanks for the hard work." Silas caught it and gave Cyclizar a grateful pat. The Pokémon wagged its tail happily.
Silas flipped through the account book, checking his savings.
Every income and expense was carefully recorded. It was a good habit he had developed after becoming the ranch owner.
Turning to the last page, he saw the monthly summary.
During winter, the ranch was operating at half capacity, and production was limited.
There was clay made by Mudsdale, flower nectar collected by the Florges, and next month there would be an additional product, mushrooms cultivated by Toedscruel.
The ranch's daily output roughly matched its daily consumption. Even so, Silas had still earned over one hundred thousand in half a month.
The main income came from profit sharing of scale jelly at Siebold's seafood restaurant, as well as sales of fruit wine and grassy dumplings.
Since partnering with Siebold, Silas's total earnings had reached three million.
Could this be considered his good friend sponsoring him a house?
Smiling faintly, Silas thought about the upcoming Champion Challenge in early November.
He would at least show his friend some respect.
He made up his mind.
He would not sweep all six Pokémon in one go next time.
(End of Chapter)