The sun was starting to set when he finished up with that and I couldn't help but look over the out of place thing we had built up. It was a rough and uneven grey granite hill with several pits and cracks all along the outside of it that had a wide opening at the front. 'It almost looks like someone had gouged out a cave from the side of a mountain.' I thought with a smile. It wasn't all that pretty or anything but it would serve well to house my team and I while we stayed here and may even prove useful for the good professor after we leave.-
With that done I took out the cutting board , knife and food ingredients I bought earlier as well as my wok and got to work preparing a meal for Vulcan and I. Potatoes , carrots , onions , celery , garlic , Pidgey stock , diced Pidgey and a few seasoning for flavor were all tossed into the wok with some water. Vulcan quickly collected some logs from the nearby forest that it lit up with a full strength ember. I rested the wok next to the fire so the it could slowly come to a boil.-
In case it wasn't obvious I was making soup since it was a quick , cheap but filling mean for the two of us. That bottle of wine I purchased earlier was also slightly added to the soup before I allowed the mixture to simmer next to the fire. A pleasant scent wafted out of the wok and filled the air stimulating our hunger as it bubbled. 'Now that I have a few extra items and no need to worry about whatever I get making it hard to survive I suppose I aught to use that feature.' I thought while looking at the {TRADING SHOP} option of the system.-
In truth I was avoiding this option until now because according to the system the way it worked was that I could trade items or money with the system for tickets at random. This was to say that I gave up a thing to gamble twice in a row in hopes of getting a better thing. There was no set rate for trading either so if I gave the system a grade 4 water stone I very much could end up getting any sort of ticket including an item ticket.-
Then I needed to gamble on whatever the result of THAT ticket would be meaning it was totally possible to give a grade 4 item and receive a shirt or pair of pants in exchange. As a result I purposefully ignored this function until now as I wasn't willing to give up something for a mere chance to get something better. Now though I was nice and safe while also having a nice stash of extra items with berries taking up the majority. As I waited for the soup to cook I held my bag in front of me and grabbed a couple Cheri berries to feed the system.-
Why did I say a couple because it took two of them for the system to count it as a valid trade. This opened up a roulette wheel that had the options of tickets I could get on it. Exp , item , ability , skill , pokemon were all there in various amounts which showed the odds for some was much better than for others. The wheel started to spin on it's own and I prayed to RNGESUS for another ability ticket as those were clearly the best for fast improvement in power.-
My prayer was left unheard however as I got an item ticket instead which I immediately tore within the bag out of sight. I wasn't stupid enough to do something like openly use a system ticket when in plain sight of so many people. The item wheel appeared and began to turn as I watched eagerly to see if this trade was worth it or not. After spinning for exactly a minute the wheel stopped and I was dumbfounded by the result. A green woolen scarf was what I had gotten from the wheel out of all the options.-
'I'll trade two more times before leaving it alone for a while since gambling is a terrible addiction to have.' I thought and traded another two Cheri berries. This time I was in luck as I got a skill ticket from the trade which I used immediately to spin the skill wheel and see what I get. My eyebrows couldn't help twitching however when I got my answer , Masonry. I got the knowledge of the skill and couldn't help but feel like the system was mocking me. The skill taught how to shape and polish stones as well as carve them into whatever I wanted.-
I immediately decided to not do the third trade since it was clear that my luck was not very good right now. To be honest masonry was not a bad skill to have as people paid a lot of money for a skilled masons work but for a trainer like me it was sorta useless. If I was strapped for cash that I needed you better believe that I'd bust out the skill in a heartbeat but otherwise it was just going to collect dust in my status.-
'Now that I think about it I have a few skills that are just wasting space in my status , writing , cleaning , farming and now masonry. At this rate I'll be a jack of all trades without any use for it.' I thought with a wry smile. Thankfully the soup began to boil at this point letting me know I needed to stir it with my new ladle that I bought. As I stirred the food I checked the meat and vegetables for doneness and decided another five minutes or so should do to finish it up. Birch walked over at this point with an interested expression as he observed the changes we had made to the pasture.-
"Is that a pond?" he asked while pointing to the large empty crater a dozen or so meters away. "It will be after it rains , figured it would help in case you wanted to have any water types to study." I said with a shrug. "That is indeed quite helpful though I am a bit regretful that all the plants in the pasture were killed." Birch said with a sigh. "Why not consider it an opportunity to fully customize the area. Plant the best grasses add a tree or two and maybe even grow some berries." I said helpfully.-
I didn't really care all that much to be honest but since it was my pokemon who did it I might as well try to help him fix it. Birches eyes lit up as his imagination pictured the scene of the pasture after all that work was done. It was probably a pokemon paradise in his mind from how excited he seemed. "If you want I can even help you set up all of that while I'm here since with my pokemons help it shouldn't be too hard." I offered and Birch nodded eagerly.