Not only did the berry trees on Mt. Ascendant have a bumper harvest, but the grafted berry trees on Mt. Olympus also underwent remarkable changes.
The first batch of Cole's grafted berry trees grew into large, fruit-bearing trees under Enamorus's acceleration.
The second batch of grafted trees showed mixed results due to their diverse varieties. Many died during acceleration from incompatible grafting. Of those that survived, some produced berries, others only flowered with berries falling off while still small, and some simply grew taller without flowering.
The trees that died, failed to produce berries, or never flowered were clearly unsuccessful grafts. Even among those that bore fruit, some produced berries that didn't meet Cole's taste standards.
Meanwhile, the Fairy Flowers planted in front of the house bloomed abundantly, their seedlings spreading across the entire flower field — a sight sure to delight Flabébé and Floette.
The tall Ganlon berry tree behind the house flourished once again, its lush canopy spreading over most of Cole's courtyard. It was heavy with Ganlon berries in various stages of ripeness — another successful harvest.
This abundance meant Larvitar's food supply was now secure, with plenty for the other Pokémon too.
Looking at the transformed orchard, Cole realized his earlier worries had been unnecessary.
After their work, Landorus and Enamorus were visibly tired. They descended from the sky, requesting a place to rest. Cole was eager to accommodate them — after receiving such benefits, he was ready to not only provide rooms but even offer massages if they desired.
Since Landorus and Enamorus were roughly human-sized, Cole arranged two rooms for them in his house.
When he thoughtfully offered them food, they declined, finding nothing particularly appealing in his available offerings.
Of Zapdos and Moltres, only Zapdos remained. Moltres, having sustained minor injuries, returned to the Sea Spirit's Den to update Articuno, preventing any worry over their extended absence.
Cole accommodated Zapdos in the staff dormitory area, where he had built special rooms for Talonflame and other bird Pokémon. These chambers, designed for easy access, were perfect for Zapdos.
By nightfall, with everything settled, Cole called all the Pokémon home. He prepared them a feast and pampered them thoroughly — they deserved special treatment after their exhausting work in the orchard.
While treating Helioptile, Cole noticed its Source Energy had strengthened again, showing improved purity and quality. Even its hidden energy circuit had become more illuminated.
He figured that after helping the gecko illuminate its hidden energy circuit once more, it would be ready for evolution. The only question was when the Sun Stone he had traded for would arrive.
"Helioptile, does your body hurt when you absorb electricity?" Cole asked.
Helioptile shook its head in confusion — no pain at all, it felt great!
"No pain?" Cole was puzzled.
That didn't make sense. With Helioptile's hidden energy circuit being illuminated, shouldn't it hurt? He wondered if the pain during his illumination had been due to improper technique.
After asking Helioptile several more questions without finding answers, Cole had to let it go — perhaps it was simply because the electricity came from Thundurus, a legendary Pokémon!
There were too many mysteries surrounding legendary Pokémon for him to jump to conclusions.
According to Zapdos, the electricity Helioptile had absorbed came from Thundurus, which explained its strong attraction and power-enhancing effects.
After dismissing Helioptile, Cole turned to Brionne, "What about you? After staying in that downpour for so long, what did you learn?"
"Bri~" — Not telling you!
Brionne replied mysteriously, lifting its chin with an air of superiority.
"Oh? So you really did gain something? You're not just making things up because you're afraid I'll laugh at you, are you?" Cole teased.
"Bri~ Brio~" — Hmph, I'm not talking to you anymore!
Hearing this, Brionne huffed and ran back to its room.
Seeing its reluctance, Cole didn't press further, just shaking his head with a smile — he'd find out eventually.
After the Pokémon dispersed, he returned to his room and called the orphanage to check on them. The afternoon's storm had been fierce, and he was worried.
Fortunately, everything was fine at the orphanage. Though Claire and Matthew had been a bit frightened, it wasn't serious.
As he was about to end his chat with Meili, she suddenly said, "Cole, wait, Alfred has something to tell you."
His voice soon came through the phone.
[Cole, are you okay?]
Alfred asked anxiously. Only after learning that Cole hadn't been hurt in the storm did he relax. Living on the mountain made Cole particularly vulnerable to the storm's impact, which had worried Alfred all afternoon.
He had wanted to call earlier, but Coumarine's signal had been knocked out by the severe storm, only recently returning.
He was about to make the call when Cole called first.
After confirming Cole's safety, Alfred continued,
[Nurture Nest just called me. Their partner orchards suffered heavy losses from this storm, so they wanted to know about our situation.]
"Brother Alfred, don't worry. Our losses weren't severe, and we can continue normal berry delivery." Cole replied.
The losses had been severe initially, but not anymore.
[That's good.]
Alfred sighed in relief.
[This storm came on so suddenly and violently, I suspect many orchards in Coumarine suffered losses, so be prepared — berry prices might increase soon.]
Cole thought this made sense. The storm's sudden, violent nature had left few orchards time to respond, meaning many likely faced similar situations to his.
"Let's wait and see, Brother Alfred. Keep an eye on the berry market in the city, and we'll follow the market trends."
[Alright, I will.]
After chatting for a while longer, they both hung up.
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Time flew by overnight, and early the next morning, Cole was awakened by Alfred's phone call.
[Cole, quickly go harvest the berries. Nurture Nest has placed an urgent additional order for a large batch.]
His anxious voice came through the phone.
The damage to orchards across Coumarine had proven even more severe than they'd predicted. Among Nurture Nest's partner orchards alone, some were so badly damaged they couldn't fulfill any orders.
They had no choice but to seek other suppliers, yet all suppliers were experiencing shortages and couldn't redistribute their stock. Remarkably, Cole's orchard was the only one able to fulfill orders.
After hanging up, Cole leaped out of bed and rushed to alert the Pokémon to harvest berries from the orchard. The house erupted into a flurry of organized chaos.
A few hours later, the stronger Pokémon — Machamp, Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Diggersby — carried baskets of berries down the mountain.
The berries, freshly picked that morning, still sparkled with dewdrops and looked wonderfully fresh.
Nurture Nest's staff were waiting outside the warehouse at the foot of the mountain. As soon as the berries arrived, they efficiently began loading them onto trucks.
The quality inspector examining the berries was surprised — this batch from Mt. Ascendant showed notably higher quality than usual, with improved energy levels and appearance.
While other orchards had suffered heavy losses, Cole's orchard had somehow produced even better berries — truly mysterious!
Having been busy until nightfall yesterday, Cole hadn't had time to test this batch of berries that Landorus and Enamorus had helped grow, so he too was surprised by the inspector's test results.
With the improved quality, the price would naturally increase.
After the handover, Nurture Nest's people departed with several trucks full of berries — Cole's largest single shipment ever.
He hadn't allowed them up the mountain because the changes there were too dramatic and would be difficult to explain if discovered.
He had instructed the Talonflame patrol team to block all roads up both Ascendant and Olympus Mountains, prohibiting outsiders from approaching. He'd even told Alfred and the others to temporarily avoid visiting Mt. Ascendant.
This wasn't just because of the dramatic changes on the mountain but also because the legendary Pokémon were there recovering from their injuries.
Returning to the summit, Cole smiled at the sight of trees heavily laden with berries.
Time to make some serious money!
Despite sending away more than ten truckloads of berries, the trees still appeared just as full — clearly, he had struck it rich this time.
Since the storm hadn't yet settled, Cole hadn't received notice to return to school, so he didn't have to attend class today.
Thinking about the inspector's test results, he returned home and brought out his testing equipment.
After testing, Cole discovered that not only had the berries' energy levels increased, but the trees' energy ratings had also improved significantly, approaching A-grade.
However, one issue emerged: the energy in the trees' energy diagrams had become considerably more turbid.
Originally, with his Special Ability's help, the energy in these trees' diagrams had been pure and concentrated, but now their energy had become somewhat turbid and dispersed.
He suspected this occurred because when Enamorus accelerated their growth, the trees absorbed large amounts of energy along with its mixed impurities. Having aged about ten years in an instant meant they had essentially gone a decade without being regulated by his Special Ability.
Cole picked a berry and took a bite. The taste was acceptable, though the flavor had changed, becoming less delicious than before.
He had already confirmed that excessive impurities in a tree's energy diagram would affect its berries' taste.
Fortunately, while the berries' taste had changed, the difference wasn't too dramatic. Cole believed he could restore their original quality with some extra effort.
Next, he went to Mt. Olympus, and when he arrived, he was shocked.
He hadn't had time to visit this mountain yesterday, so he didn't know what to expect. Today, he found the mountain — which previously had only saplings — covered in tall trees bearing abundant berries, with rich berry fragrances wafting through the air.
Cole walked into the first batch of grafted berry trees. Though many trees here had died before, leaving only about fifty, these survivors were impressive — each one at least twice the size of those on Mt. Ascendant.
He suspected this dramatic growth was due to their being grafted from mutant berry trees, resulting in very different forms from ordinary specimens.
He selected one tree and tested both the tree and its berry, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
A-grade? Could this be right?
Cole tested again, and it was still A-grade — both the tree and its berry.
He quickly selected another tree to test, but this time both tree and berry were only B-grade, though very close to A-grade. After testing one tree after another, he eventually examined all fifty-plus trees. Among them, nine were A-grade, and the rest were B-grade, all nearly reaching A-grade status.
The only disappointment was that these berries didn't taste particularly good — they were just slightly better than ordinary berries but far inferior to those from Mt. Ascendant. This came down to varietal differences.
Another concern emerged: the energy in their tree diagrams appeared even more turbid and dispersed than the trees on Mt. Ascendant. These grafted trees, coming from mutant varieties adapted to high-energy environments, absorbed energy at a higher rate — and with it, more impurities.
'I'll definitely need to put in more work with these trees!' Cole thought to himself.
As grafted specimens, this batch produced berries that looked noticeably different from ordinary ones.
For example, while normal Pecha Berries were pink, these were white; and while normal Cheri Berries were bright red, these were pink. Every variety showed different coloring from the standard types.
Cole moved on to inspect his second batch of grafted trees, where things proved more complicated.
He casually picked a berry and took a bite, but the moment his teeth broke the skin, an overwhelming sourness assaulted his taste buds.
How could it possibly be this sour?
Cole quickly spat out the berry and kept spitting, desperate to rid his mouth of the intense sour taste.
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