Pokémon Chronicles: The New Beginning

At Darby Farm,

Natsume was busy crafting healing potions using fruit trees.

With skilled hands, he crushed Oran Berries and added them to a test tube, then dripped three drops of Oran Berry leaf juice and other supplementary materials...

The liquid in the test tube produced a mysterious reaction, releasing a faint, pleasant aroma.

Uncle Darby and Aunt Eileen exchanged glances, and at that moment, they finally let go of their suspicions completely.

Yet, they still found it incredible that their nephew was truly a genuine pharmacist!

"So that's how it is."

"I accidentally came across a pharmacist's notebook and learned potion-making on my own."

"I was planning to tell you both when the time was right, but this situation came up so suddenly, I didn't have time to think it through."

Natsume began to ramble, thinking that regardless of whether they believed him, he was now a pharmacist!

In the end, his uncle and aunt had no choice but to accept his explanation; the evidence was right in front of them—his nephew could indeed craft potions!

"Ha ha, my nephew truly is talented." Uncle Darby adapted quickly to the news.

Natsume breathed a sigh of relief and added, "Uncle Darby, this is the healing potion; you can try its effect."

Darby took the potion, hesitated for a moment, then opened the cap and drank it down in one gulp.

Beside him, Aunt Eileen felt her heart race. While she believed Natsume was a pharmacist, could he really make potions just from Oran Berries and supplementary herbs?

A bit sweet... that was Darby's first reaction.

In the next moment, he suddenly felt a jolt throughout his body, as if all the fatigue he had been carrying vanished in an instant.

With frequent rigorous work and the worry over Petilil being taken, he had indeed been very tired these past few days, but now all that fatigue was gone!

"What a strong recovery effect." Darby flexed his hands, feeling the surge of strength return to him.

Aunt Eileen watched this unfold with surprise, and just then, Natsume handed her a bottle of healing potion.

This time, without any hesitation, she drank the healing potion, banishing all her fatigue!

"Wow, this healing potion really helps restore energy quickly; the effect is truly amazing!"

"As long as we market this potion, people will definitely want to buy it, especially those noblemen and the magistrates."

"At that point, we could gain..." Darby trailed off suddenly, his eyes widening little by little.

He suddenly realized that this potion's materials were just one Oran Berry and some supplementary herbs, and the cost, the cost...

"An Oran Berry costs 50 copper coins, and the effect of this healing potion definitely won't be worse than that of Petilil's leaves," Aunt Eileen reminded him.

Darby, being a simple farmer, quickly calculated under his wife's prompting, realizing that the profit from this healing potion would be several times that of the Oran Berries!

It could be nearly ten times the profit... Natsume, combining the memories in his mind, quietly made a judgment.

The healing potion was essentially the nutritional juice of the future world—a nutrient meant for Pokémon, with effects that were undoubtedly stronger than Uncle Darby could imagine.

In the ancient Pokémon world, the currency was measured in gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins. One gold coin was equivalent to ten silver coins, and one silver coin equaled one hundred copper coins. 

By converting this, he estimated that the purchasing power of one copper coin was not much different from a dollar.

He estimated that a bottle of healing potion could sell for 500 copper coins, or five silver coins, exactly ten times the profit.

...

That night, the oil lamp in the room emitted a faint glow.

Natsume sat quietly at his desk, closing his eyes and remaining still as he organized the memories of the original owner.

Now that he had accepted his new identity, he needed to understand this world better.

The first thing he had to do was to survive here... After a while, Natsume opened his eyes.

The world a thousand years ago was not as safe as the real world; it was a society marked by darkness and savagery, with a rigid social hierarchy, threats from wild Pokémon, and disasters and ailments that could take fragile lives at any moment.

"This starting point really isn't ideal," Natsume sighed.

As an ordinary commoner, he was destined to miss out on the privileges belonging to nobility. Fortunately, his uncle had a farm, so at least his basic needs for food and shelter were secure.

But that wasn't enough for Natsume; he wanted to live without any threats.

Furthermore, the news of Petilil at the farm was likely already exposed.

This time it was Baron Reiser who fell into a coma; would there be another baron next time who also needed Petilil to brew Full Heal?

He saved Baron Reiser this time, but he couldn't guarantee he could save another baron next time. This would always be a threat to the farm unless they gave up on Petilil.

He needed to possess sufficient strength... Natsume murmured to himself.

His starting point wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either. The few Pokémon at the farm represented an opportunity; if he could breed these Pokémon, he would gain the ability to protect himself.

A Luxray that had gone on adventures with Uncle Darby, a Starly responsible for protecting the farm, along with three Cherubi and one Petilil, all had great potential.

And as a Pokémon Breeder, wasn't breeding Pokémon what he excelled at?

However, to successfully breed Pokémon, he needed ample resources, which could definitely be resolved by healing potions.

With that, he would have all the conditions needed to breed a strong Pokémon.

Historical experience told him that the Pokémon League was established thanks to a group of powerful trainers; strength was the foundation of everything!

...

The next day, Natsume entered the city with his eager Uncle Darby.

They walked along, their eyes scanning the signs on the street, finally stopping in front of a fruit store.

This fruit store appeared ordinary, featuring a large selection of common fruit trees on the counter along with a small number of special fruit trees.

"Natsume, is this the place that sells potions?"

Uncle Darby asked with some doubt; it looked to him like just an ordinary fruit stand.

"It shouldn't be wrong."

"This is my pharmacist contact point that some senior pharmacists told me about."

Hearing Natsume say this, Uncle Darby nodded, surprised that Natsume knew senior pharmacists.

It seemed his nephew had started studying potion-making quite a while ago, while he, the uncle, had been unaware.

"Hello, customers! What can I get for you?"

Seeing Natsume and Darby enter, the shopkeeper immediately approached them.

"I'm here to sell potions; I heard you buy those," Natsume replied, opening a corner of his backpack to reveal a green potion.

"Potions..." The shopkeeper looked Natsume over skeptically and asked, "Who sent you here?"

"I don't think that's important, as long as the potions are real."

The shopkeeper nodded slightly; this was a pharmacist contact point, and as long as the potions were genuine, they could be bought and sold openly.

Welcoming Natsume into the store, the shopkeeper continued, "You came at just the right time; one of my pharmacist friends is here right now."

With that, the shopkeeper went into the back of the store, and shortly after, a young pharmacist followed him out.

"Hey, you're Natsume the pharmacist?" the pharmacist exclaimed, recognizing Natsume.

Natsume looked over, surprised. Wasn't this the young pharmacist he had debated with at Baron Reiser's home?

"Hello, Link the pharmacist. It's nice to see you again," Natsume said, extending his hand in a friendly gesture and smiling.

"I didn't expect Mr. Natsume to remember me," Link said, taken aback as he shook hands with Natsume. Their relationship immediately became warmer.

The shopkeeper observed this exchange, realizing that Link was Master Pharmacist Ole's most outstanding apprentice, and yet he was being so polite to Natsume.

Uncle Darby wore a similar expression, realizing that his nephew seemed to have already made quite a name for himself in the pharmacist circle without him knowing!