Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 171: Out in the World, Your Online Identity Is Yours to Make

Natu, perched on the stand by the door pretending to be a decorative item, didn't even blink.

Its vacant eyes seemed to be gazing past Mei into some far-off future—

Or maybe its soul had simply returned to the cosmic plane.

"Hello?"

Mei waved her hand harder, to the point it was practically spinning like a helicopter blade.

Still no response.

"This kid's just like Samurott," she mumbled, rubbing her sore wrist.

Ever since that trip a few days ago, Samurott had been in a state of deep gloom. It had clearly suffered some devastating blow.

It wouldn't leave its corner, curled up in misery. Mei had tried everything to cheer it up, but nothing worked.

At first, she was really worried. But once she figured out what was going on, she decided to just let it have some space.

"I'm an 18-year-old girl," Mei had reasoned. "I haven't even figured out my own love life. How the hell am I supposed to sort out someone else's emotional mess?"

Honestly, the whole situation was way too complicated. Mei had simply stopped trying to understand it.

Worst case scenario, she'd go with the usual fallback: send 'em off for a few days of bootcamp with Shiny Furret.

Now promoted to Drill Sergeant of the farm, Shiny Furret had a 100% success rate in setting angsty Pokémon youths ablaze with passion and purpose.

"Well, they're a little different," came a familiar voice from the door.

Mei turned to see Natsume, balancing a big metal box in his arms and trying to close the door behind him using only his heel.

He failed. Repeatedly.

And also managed to pinch his foot in the process.

Watching this embarrassing display, Persian gave an exasperated sigh, then gave Natsume a firm nudge with its head, shoving him a few steps forward.

With graceful poise, it followed behind him, its tail curling up and neatly wrapping around the doorknob. With a twist and a click, the door shut.

Persian shot Natsume a look that said, "Seriously?" and promptly bailed before it could get roped into anything else.

It knew exactly what was coming next.

"Whoosh—!"

A sudden breeze whipped past its rear as Natsume tried to launch a sneak attack.

Persian dodged it effortlessly and sauntered upstairs.

It had been wandering around the farm all night. Time to hit the hay!

Upstairs, Ogerpon had just finished getting up for the day, only to see its roommate plop face-first into its favorite beanbag chair and instantly pass out.

One second flat. A sleep record better than 99% of users.

Sometimes, Ogerpon did wonder if maybe their sleep cycles were just slightly out of sync.

"Mmwaah." Cup and toothbrush in hand, towel perched on its head, Ogerpon padded into the bathroom.

A beautiful day begins with a good morning bath!

The sound of running water filled the air, but outside, Persian just rolled over in its sleep, not even flinching.

Everyone knows cats are hyper-alert when sleeping.

"Natsume, you're back!" Mei ran over, her cheerful footsteps practically skipping.

Judging by her energy, she was clearly in a good mood.

After Natsume set down the heavy metal box, Mei hesitated a moment, then shyly slipped her hand around his arm.

It was the first time she'd ever done something like this.

So far, all her experience and knowledge about romance came from online posts and fluffy romance novels.

As for flashy stuff like kabedon acrobatics or doing the splits against a wall? Yeah, Mei couldn't pull that off.

This was as much as she could manage.

But even that small gesture wasn't easy for her.

Feeling Mei's stiff, awkward movement...

Natsume stiffened too.

Right now, he desperately wanted to pause time and Google a guide.

Q: A girl suddenly grabs my arm. What's the best way to react?

If it were a high-level, flirty kind of girl, Natsume figured it wouldn't matter what he did.

But for someone like Mei—so earnest and innocent—he knew he had to take things seriously.

All of it.

"What's this?" Mei asked, eyeing the large box he'd brought in.

Inside were big, glossy, jewel-like blocks that looked a lot like Poké Puffs or Pokéblocks.

They even smelled like it.

But she'd never seen energy cubes this huge before.

"Oh, these? They're fresh out of the pot," Natsume replied.

"Corviknight and the others have pretty big appetites, so I didn't bother slicing them up."

"I figured I'd just hand them the whole block and let them go to town."

He lifted a whole uncut cube from the box and passed it to the side.

Indeedee's little sister, who'd been waiting nearby, reached out her hand—though it was really her psychic powers doing the work.

The cube floated smoothly into the air.

With a flick of her fingers, the giant cube levitated toward Ogerpon, who had just come downstairs.

As the "food from the heavens" descended into its arms, stars practically exploded in Ogerpon's eyes.

Waking up to a full meal already prepared? Best. Life. Ever.

Of course, Ogerpon knew exactly where this gift from above came from.

It gave Natsume a little wave of thanks before happily toddling off with its oversized snack.

Don't let its tiny frame fool you.

Its appetite ranked near the top of the entire farm.

Small body, massive stomach!

"Eiii~"

More blocks lifted from the box, floating in midair under the steady control of Indeedee's psychic power.

Now it was time to distribute the goods.

At first, she'd been nervous when given the job.

She'd heard rumors before coming here—about how insanely strong the Pokémon at Natsume's farm were. Strong enough to take down Legendary Pokémon.

Even though she'd always been pretty confident in her own strength, she was seriously anxious at first.

After all, a proper maid should be able to do more than just wave a feather duster.

The well-known maids out there weren't just cute—they could really fight.

Take, for example, the maid from a certain Scarlet Devil Mansion.

This maid Pokémon, Indeedee, wasn't exactly powerful, but her strength was enough for most ordinary trainers.

Unfortunately, this wasn't your average trainer's place.

Indeedee's strength here was, frankly, a bit lacking.

Thankfully, the Pokémon on this farm all had pretty good tempers.

They didn't make things difficult for this poor little delivery girl.

Over time, once they got used to each other, that initial anxiety faded away.

"I'm counting on you, Indeedee."

"Eiii~!"

Waving her little paw, Indeedee gave a gesture that said, "This is my duty."

"No matter how many times I see it, I'm always impressed by how beautiful the Pokéblocks Natsume makes are."

Mei spoke with a touch of awe as she looked at the large, shimmering cube floating in the air.

For various reasons, Natsume's Pokéblocks had an aesthetic appeal that really stood out.

Compared to the mass-market kind that prioritized nutrition and absorption efficiency at the expense of taste and appearance, these were on a whole different level.

Most of the Pokéblocks you could buy these days were basically just glorified energy bars.

Apart from being nutritious and efficient to absorb, there was nothing worth praising about them.

"They're not that special."

Natsume was a bit awkward in the face of Mei's praise.

He wasn't someone who had received much praise growing up.

And honestly, that was true for a lot of guys.

Back in school, at work, even after getting married—

Doing well was expected. Messing up was unforgivable.

Praise was rare.

And gifts? Even rarer.

It seemed like a lot of people lived like this.

Quietly going about their business, processing every success and failure on their own.

"Making Pokéblocks really isn't all that hard."

"If you want to learn, Mei, I can teach you."

"We can start with some of the more basic recipes."

"That way, if you're traveling, you'll have something in case of emergencies."

This was a lie.

Maybe it wasn't at first, but now that their relationship was official, Natsume had pretty much taken over all responsibility for Mei's Pokéblocks.

There wasn't going to be any "running out while on the road."

Even if Mei caught a Snorlax and her Pokéblock consumption skyrocketed, all she'd have to do was call and Natsume would have a Delibird courier deliver them right away.

Sure, express delivery for wandering trainers was expensive.

But Natsume didn't care about that at all.

It was a cost he could easily afford.

The point of saying all this was really just to create a reasonable excuse for them to spend more time together.

Even in a relationship, you had to put in the effort to keep it going.

Just being a couple didn't mean everything would be smooth sailing from then on.

You still had to take the relationship seriously.

"Learning how to make Pokéblocks" gave them a shared activity, something they could do together.

"Sure! I'd love that!"

Mei nodded enthusiastically, agreeing without hesitation.

Even in this internet age, the art of Pokéblock-making wasn't exactly a secret anymore.

With the help of those user-friendly Pokéblock machines, even total beginners could produce some basic ones.

But the top-tier Pokéblocks still came with sky-high price tags.

And mastering the craft? Still incredibly hard.

Machines couldn't replace human skill—not yet, anyway.

"But I'm not very confident about making Pokéblocks..."

"You can't call me dumb, okay?"

Mei didn't think she had any natural talent for this.

She'd tried learning online before.

After wasting a bunch of ingredients and breaking several tools, she had decisively given up.

Maybe she had just allocated her "talent points" elsewhere.

That's how Mei had comforted herself at the time.

But now, with Natsume—the undisputed Pokéblock master—personally teaching her, Mei figured she could give it another shot.

She hadn't taken any official certification exams or anything, but in her mind, Natsume was without a doubt a master of Pokéblocks.

Way more legit than any so-called "experts" she'd seen online.

"Of course I won't."

"Really? I might mess up a bunch, you know."

"That's fine. Just take your time. Everyone starts out that way."

"But I've seen a lot of 'one-and-done genius' videos online..."

"They're fake."

Natsume answered without hesitation.

Out in the world, identity is whatever you say it is.

Post a video saying you succeeded on your first try? Boom, instant genius.

Natsume's alt account on the forums claimed to be a hardcore otaku from another dimension, after all.

And when he got into arguments with people, he'd even claim to be an orphan.

Activate 3D Defense Mode! Full firepower, no mercy!

Ahem.

Anyway, don't take everything online too seriously.

Ever since Natsume became famous, a whole crowd of "former classmates," "old friends," and "neighbors" started popping up online.

He didn't know any of them.

All that stuff? Just enjoy it for the laughs. Don't take it to heart.

No matter how legit it sounds, it's still fake.

Like that meme—

"It's in the chat logs now, guess we have to believe it."

"Fair enough."

Mei didn't dwell on it any further.

It had nothing to do with her anyway. She wasn't planning to make a living off Pokéblocks or get certified.

"Later, I'll take you to see my old workshop."

"Nowadays, Gardevoir's the one using it the most."

"Mew~"

Just as Natsume was speaking, a pink feline figure flew in through the window.

"Mew..."

Natsume, Natsume, the thing you asked me to prepare—

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

With a loud "smack!", Natsume swiftly lunged forward and clamped a hand over Mew's mouth.

"What's going on?"

Mei looked at him curiously.

What was that all about?

Did Mew do something again?

"It's nothing, nothing. Just some stuff with the Gym."

Natsume laughed awkwardly.

Mew, now muffled in his arms, began to squirm with great effort.

Didn't you tell me to prepare something as a gift for Mei?!

Now you're pretending it never happened?!

Still in his arms, Mew sneakily kicked Natsume in the stomach with its little feet.

Last night, Natsume had come to Mew and admitted that his confession had been too abrupt, and he hadn't prepared anything.

He said he wanted to make it up to Mei with something more formal later.

And so Mew had been dispatched to take care of it, because apparently there weren't many "reliable" Pokémon on the farm.

Mew had cheerfully accepted the task.

But now, back from its mission, it got silenced at the door—utter betrayal!

So Mew began a stealthy flurry of kicks to Natsume's waist and stomach with its tiny black feet.

Meanwhile, a forest ranger on assignment arrived at the edge of a sweltering forest aboard a Pidgeot.

"What a mess..."

Staring at the scene before him, the ranger muttered reflexively.

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