"Ah, I'm exhausted."
Kiko shook out her sore arms and leaned carelessly against Victreebel.
Sweat mixed with the smell of earth, leaving faint marks on her fair skin.
Her bright eyes looked a little dull now.
Kiko had dressed up nicely today and even put on pretty colored contacts. And yet she really did work in the fields all day.
Kiko sat up and looked ahead.
The Hearty Grains in the fields in front of the cottage had already been harvested by Sandslash and the others.
The stalks of the Hearty Grains had also all been cut down.
They were piled up like stacks of straw, forming little hills.
Kiko had heard Misaki say that after these stalks were crushed and compressed, they could become excellent feed.
This feed could be used to nourish ordinary animals, as well as ranch Pokémon like Miltank and Mareep.
"Flygon~"
Flygon flew across the sky.
On its back, Eevee and Jigglypuff were looking down excitedly at the straw piles below.
"Eevee~"
"Jigglypuff~"
Eevee and Jigglypuff jumped at the same time and leaped down.
They landed firmly on the straw piles.
Inside the straw piles, Larvitar and Zorua poked out their heads.
They scooped up a handful of straw and laughingly tossed it into the air.
The warm light of the setting sun shone on the drifting straw, and on Larvitar's face, topped with a head of golden leaves.
Larvitar and Zorua laughed happily, then ran around and around the straw piles.
Kiko looked at them, and some of the fatigue on her face seemed to fade away.
She wore a motherly expression as she looked at the little Pokémon in the farm.
"Even though I'm tired..."
"Why does it still feel so happy?"
"Lopunny~"
Lopunny brought Kiko a glass of water.
"Thanks, Lopunny."
"Lopunny~"
Lopunny answered cheerfully, then ran toward Natsume.
Natsume was standing in the field at that moment.
Conkeldurr had already set up a simple cooking stove here, with a large iron pot on top.
Natsume said to the Pokémon around him with a smile, "Thanks for all your hard work today."
"So I've decided to cook myself~"
"Dragonite~"
"Awooo~"
Dragonite and Arcanine and the others all cheered.
Below the stove, Timburr had brought some firewood.
"Arcanine, Flamethrower."
"Awooo~"
Arcanine stepped forward, and the flames in its mouth ignited the firewood under the stove.
After the pot heated up, the seasonings in front of Natsume rose up under the control of Psychic.
They went into the pot one after another and started stir-frying.
The clash between vegetables and hot oil kept making a sizzling sound.
The aroma of meat and vegetables rose together in the smoke.
"Gardevoir."
At Natsume's voice, Gardevoir took the already prepared Hearty Grains sitting to the side and poured them all into the pot.
After being processed, the Hearty Grains looked just like rice.
"And the last step is adding water."
Natsume's Psychic swept over the spring water placed nearby.
Under the pull of his psychic power, the spring water slowly rose into the air, then flowed into the pot.
"Done."
Clap clap clap~
Kiko clapped excitedly and said, "That's amazing. It's just like a magic show."
Natsume looked at Kiko and smiled.
"Thanks."
"Also, thanks for all your hard work today."
Kiko shook her head.
"Nope, I feel like I'm at a hundred percent right now."
Gurgle~
Just after Kiko said that, her stomach suddenly growled.
Her pretty face instantly turned red.
Gardevoir brought over a plate of sliced Apple Berries.
Kiko took it in embarrassment.
"Thank you, Gardevoir."
After taking a bite of the Apple Berry, Kiko exclaimed, "Wow, it's so sweet."
Natsume looked at Kiko and smiled faintly.
Kiko did seem absolutely exhausted.
The clothes Natsume had given her were completely soaked through with sweat.
The gray fabric clung tightly to her body, outlining her slender figure.
A few slightly messy strands of long hair stuck to her cheeks, giving her a bit of a disheveled beauty.
Natsume said, "After dinner, stay here and soak in the hot spring before you go."
"It'll feel a lot better."
Kiko set down the fruit in her hands. "Will we miss the last bus?"
Misaki said softly, "It's fine. I can have Flygon take you back."
"Flygon~"
Flygon answered.
Natsume picked up his phone and checked the time. "It should be about time."
"Larvitar~"
"Eevee~"
Larvitar and Eevee both looked like they couldn't wait any longer.
"Here it comes, here it comes."
Natsume said with a smile to everyone, "Now comes the moment to witness the miracle."
As soon as Natsume's words fell, the pot lid vanished from the Pokémon's sight in an instant.
A rich, fragrant aroma rushed over them.
Steam rose up~
"Eevee~"
One Eevee couldn't help drooling.
It cried out excitedly and tried to jump straight into the pot.
Natsume quickly reached out and grabbed Eevee. "Calm down, Eevee. You're not in this dish's recipe."
"Eevee~"
Eevee stuck out its tongue.
At that moment, Gardevoir used a large bowl to first serve Natsume and the others a portion.
This portion was for Natsume, Misaki, Gardevoir, and Lopunny.
Gardevoir and Lopunny's way of living was gradually becoming closer to human habits.
They even had their own small bowls.
Arcanine and the others weren't nearly so particular.
The piping-hot wild rice was poured onto the aluminum foil spread on the ground, and everyone immediately gathered around, happily enjoying the food.
The Pokémon on the farm didn't always eat together.
If they were hungry, they could all take care of it themselves.
Natsume only gathered everyone together to enjoy a feast when there was something worth celebrating.
The first day of the harvest was, of course, worth celebrating.
The Leavanny's twin blades moved lightning-fast, slicing the washed berries neatly into chunks.
The Lopunny placed the fruit Leavanny had cut onto a clean tablecloth.
The Beedrill also contributed their honey.
"Larvitar~"
Larvitar was pretty good at eating too.
Larvitar tore off a piece of aluminum foil.
It wrapped the rice in the foil, added some Crunchy Salt and honey, then stuffed the whole thing into its mouth.
"Larvitar."
Larvitar's face was full of happiness.
"Miltank~"
Miltank looked at Misaki and said something.
The Miltank were ready to add some fresh milk for everyone to drink.
"Okay~"
Misaki brought over an iron bucket.
"Are we going to milk them?"
Kiko asked curiously.
"You want to try?"
"Can I?"
Misaki smiled slightly. "Of course. I'll teach you."
Natsume sat in a chair, legs crossed, licking an ice cream bar, smiling as he watched everything in front of him.
He looked at the noisy farm Pokémon crowding around the tablecloth.
He watched Misaki teaching Kiko how to milk the Miltank.
The open sky seemed full of freedom.
The crimson sunset across the sky was impossible to look away from.
The evening breeze blew in, making everything feel very comfortable.
Natsume took off the straw hat he was wearing and placed it on Gardevoir's head.
Natsume smiled. "It suits you really well, Gardevoir."
Gardevoir pressed down slightly on the straw hat on her head.
The skirt beneath Gardevoir swayed like the white gauze dress of a young girl.
At that moment, Gardevoir was stunning.
"You're so pretty, Gardevoir."
Kiko walked over with her phone. "Can I take a picture with you?"
Gardevoir looked at Kiko and gave a slight nod.
Natsume stood up and looked around.
He suddenly noticed Zoroark, standing alone by the straw pile, watching everyone.
"Zoroark, why don't you go have fun with everyone?"
Zoroark looked at Natsume, a trace of sadness appearing on its face.
"Zoroark."
Zoroark said that its clan used to be this lively too.
Zoroark were a social Pokémon, and their numbers weren't all that rare.
But that didn't mean it was easy to catch a Zoroark.
That was because Zoroark had the ability to create Illusions.
When enemies approached their habitat, they would create illusions, making the enemy see terrifying false visions in order to protect their home and clan.
The Illusions created by a powerful Zoroark could even imprison a person in an illusionary realm, where they would be lost forever, eventually walking unknowingly toward death.
Natsume sat down beside Zoroark.
"Come to think of it, I still don't know what happened between you and Zorua."
"Why were you captured by the people from Bio-Tech?"
"Zoroark."
Zoroark told Natsume that it was because an extremely terrifying enemy had invaded their former territory.
It was covered head to toe in armor, and its powerful psychic force caused the Illusions they created to collapse instantly.
Zoroark's clan launched a counterattack.
However, their attacks couldn't hurt it at all, and instead, under the storm it casually summoned, they all lost their ability to fight.
That hopeless sense of powerlessness left only fear in Zoroark's heart.
So it fled with Zorua.
During their escape, Zoroark and Zorua ran into the people from Bio-Tech.
That was how the later story came to be.
Natsume looked at Zoroark.
There was still fear in Zoroark's eyes, fear of that unknown Pokémon.
Smack~
Natsume reached out and patted Zoroark's body.
"Zoroark?"
Zoroark looked at Natsume in confusion.
Natsume stood up and walked forward.
The sunset light was blocked by Natsume.
Natsume's shadow fell across Zoroark's body.
"Zoroark, you don't need to worry, and you don't need to be afraid."
"Because here, you'll be safe."
After saying that, Natsume walked toward Dragonite. "Dragonite, time to make a delivery."
Dragonite, who had been lying on the grass and letting Eevee jump on its stomach, stood up and shook the grass off its body.
"Dragonite~"
Zoroark watched Natsume's back.
Natsume's simple words somehow made Zoroark feel completely at ease.
"Are you leaving already?"
Kiko asked while looking at Natsume.
Natsume smiled. "Yeah."
"I won't be taking you back. If you've got time, come play again, okay?"
As he spoke, Natsume sat down on Dragonite's back.
"Pidgeotto, you come with me too......"
Natsume called Pidgeotto over to show you the route for making a delivery...
"Pidgeotto~"
Pidgeotto answered, then flew to Dragonite's side.
"Let's go, Dragonite."
Natsume patted Dragonite. "We're going to Rina's bakery first."
"Dragonite~"
Dragonite flapped its wings and carried Natsume toward Morimachi.
"Pidgeotto~"
...
Morimachi, Trainer Association.
After a round of meetings, the Alliance had already reached a decision on the request Natsume had made.
The Alliance decided to first allocate a budget of 50 billion Pokémon Coins to build a Fossil Pokémon ecological park.
Setting up a Fossil Pokémon ecological park was indeed a good thing.
As for letting Natsume take charge of the project, that wasn't a problem either.
After Takekawa died, one of the eight provincial gyms in the Eastern Region was left vacant.
The Eastern Region Trainer Tournament would begin in two months.
The provincial gyms all over the region would also be facing a wave of challenges.
At a time like this, suddenly losing one provincial gym would have a huge impact.
So the Alliance decided to directly promote Natsume's Farm Gym to a provincial gym.
In fact, Natsume's Farm Gym was already very famous.
On top of that, the Pokémon strength reserve inside the Farm was more than enough to qualify him as a provincial gym leader.
If it was a provincial gym leader within the Alliance, then he definitely had the authority to be responsible for a project like this.
Right now, the Trainer Association in Morimachi was holding a detailed meeting about these matters.
This meeting was being handled by Minamiyou, one of the Elite Four of the Eastern Region.
The attendees included the other seven provincial gym leaders, as well as Yamada, the chairman of Morimachi.
Minamiyou looked at everyone and said, "Does anyone have any other questions?"
"If Natsume's gym is promoted to a new provincial gym, do we need to void the Sakura Gym badges?"
Minamiyou gently shook his head. "No need."
"Since those badges were earned before that, they're still valid."
"Understood."
These gym leaders did not raise any objections.
They all knew a thing or two about the Jirachi incident.
Even Champion Medicham hadn't been able to take down Natsume's Dragonite, so since they didn't have Champion-level strength, of course they chose to keep quiet.
In this world, strength was what mattered in the end.
After seeing that no one had anything else to say, Minamiyou turned to Chairman Yamada and said, "Chairman Yamada, I'll have to trouble you to handle the handover with Gym Leader Natsume."
Chairman Yamada nodded slightly. "Yes."
"Quaquaval."
Sitting beside Minamiyou, boredly playing with a water ball on the table, Quaquaval suddenly lifted its head and looked toward the sky outside the window.
"Dragonite~"
In the sky, a Dragonite was flying over this way.
Following Quaquaval's gaze, Minamiyou looked over. "Is that Natsume's Dragonite?"
Minamiyou looked at Chairman Yamada in confusion.
"Did he tell you he was coming here?"
Chairman Yamada shook his head with a strange expression. "No."
"This Dragonite is probably just here to deliver fresh milk."
"Huh? Deliver fresh milk?"
Minamiyou was momentarily stunned. "To who?"
The other gym leaders in the meeting room also looked at Chairman Yamada in confusion.
Chairman Yamada explained, "It's not for anyone important."
"It's just being delivered to a very ordinary bakery."
That only made Minamiyou and the gym leaders even more confused.
Chairman Yamada looked at everyone and said, "Though it does sound a little hard to understand."
"But I think that's just what makes Gym Leader Natsume special."
Ding-a-ling~
The wind chime by the door rang.
Natsume and Dragonite walked into Rina's bakery.
There were a few customers inside, picking out desserts.
"Evening. Here's the fresh milk you ordered."
Natsume greeted Rina.
Dragonite placed the fresh milk on the table.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Rina fed Dragonite a small piece of cake.
"Dragonite~"
Alcremie also brought Natsume a piece.
Natsume took it with a smile. "Thanks, Alcremie~"
"Natsume."
Rina rubbed her hands together, looking at Natsume with a conflicted expression.
Natsume looked at her and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Um, can I ask you a question?"
Rina was just an ordinary person, and although she didn't know much, the commotion coming from the direction of the Farm had already given Rina some guesses.
Natsume looked at Rina's expression and smiled. "You want to ask about Jirachi?"
"Mm-hmm!"
Rina hurriedly nodded. "It's just that the one who took photos with us before, was it Ditto or..."
"I've never raised a Ditto."
After saying that, Natsume said to Dragonite, "Let's go, Dragonite. We still have two more places to go."
"Dragonite."
Rina stared sweetly, a little dazed, at the direction Natsume had left.
"You've never raised a Ditto?"
Rina took out her phone and looked at the wallpaper on her screen.
Rina stared at the smiling Jirachi on the wallpaper and murmured, "If it's not Ditto, then that means..."
"This, this is real!!!"
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