Inside the farmhouse.
May and Natsui were sitting in a warm living room. Natsui picked up his teacup and took a small sip.
May also took a cookie from the table and nibbled on it.
In front of them sat the family who owned the farm.
It was a family of three that looked very loving and close. First, there was the girl with the pigtails they had met outside. Through the introductions, they learned her name was Nicolette. The middle-aged couple beside her were her father, Karasa, and her mother, Shep.
Even though they were middle-aged and ran such a large farm, the couple did not look old at all. They did not have the tired look of people who worked in the sun all year. Instead, they looked much younger than their actual age. This was probably because they took good care of themselves.
The house was decorated very warmly. It was clean and organized. It was not like the messy or broken country homes that people often imagine. It was clear that this family lived very well.
"By the way, we haven't introduced ourselves yet," Natsui said as he put down his cup. He smiled. "My name is Natsui. I'm a Trainer currently traveling through Kanto. I'm sorry for dropping in so suddenly."
May quickly added, "I'm May! I'm a Pokémon Coordinator and Natsui's companion. I'm also traveling around, and my goal is to become a Top Coordinator!"
"Our Nicolette wants to be a Coordinator too, but..." Shep and Karasa looked at each other and then at their daughter as they spoke.
Following their gaze, Natsui and May naturally looked at Nicolette.
"But what?" May asked. "Can't anyone become a Coordinator? Is it because you don't want her to?"
"Of course not!" Karasa quickly shook his head. "In fact, we often encourage her to go out and travel as a Coordinator to gain experience for the future. It's just..."
Hearing his words, Nicolette looked down. She seemed a bit ashamed and embarrassed.
Natsui knew how these things went. If this were Ash's journey, this would be the part where someone shared their problems. Then Ash would step in to help.
Sure enough, May spoke up almost instinctively. She was a companion who had traveled with Ash. "Just what? Did something happen?"
"Her situation is a bit special," Shep sighed. "Anyway, it's complicated. It's not something we can explain in just a few words."
Since Shep did not seem to want to say more, May changed the subject.
"Um... I was wondering, what exactly does this farm do?"
"You probably saw it when you arrived," Karasa said openly. "This farm specializes in taking requests to help people hatch Pokémon eggs!"
"Hatching Pokémon? Eggs?" May was stunned. She knew Pokémon hatched from eggs, but she had never actually seen one before.
"That's right," Shep smiled. "Since you're here, would you like to take a tour?"
May was clearly interested. She looked at Natsui. When she saw him nodding slightly at her, she quickly smiled at the couple. "Yes! I've never seen a Pokémon egg before. If it's okay, I would love to see them!"
Since there was farm work to do, Karasa and Shep did not have much free time. The task of showing Natsui and May around was given to Nicolette.
For Nicolette, being able to skip farm work and be lazy was something she was very happy to do.
She led Natsui and May out of the house.
As May followed Nicolette, she stayed a few steps behind. She looked at Natsui with confusion.
She had not been traveling with him for very long, but she already understood Natsui's personality. She knew he usually did not like to waste time on small things like this.
But...
Why did he agree to visit this farm today?
By instinct, May felt that things were not that simple. It gave her the same feeling she had when they visited Professor Oak's lab.
It was a strange, blurry feeling that she could not quite describe. There was no scientific reason for it. It was as if Natsui somehow knew something in advance!
She remembered that when they visited Professor Oak's lab, she ended up getting Squirtle.
So, this time...?
For some reason, her heart started to beat a little faster.
The layout of the farm was very interesting. To make supervision easier, four large warehouses were built around a high tower. It looked like a flat windmill. The farmhouse they had just visited was like the base of the windmill.
After leaving the house, Nicolette led them into one of the warehouses. As soon as they entered, they saw two rows of shelves filled with many different Pokémon eggs.
The eggs were different sizes and colors. There were many different patterns on them. It was impossible to tell which Pokémon laid them. The sight was truly impressive.
"Wow, so many eggs!" May gasped in surprise. In fact, it was not just her; even Natsui was seeing this many Pokémon eggs for the first time. It was a real eye-opener.
"Impressive, right? These are all eggs that people have asked us to hatch for them. We take very careful care of every single one!" Nicolette rubbed her nose and smiled proudly.
Natsui leaned in to look closely at a pink egg with a white circle pattern on it.
The temperature in the room was not low. It seemed they had considered the growth of the eggs. Every egg had a numbered tag to make management easier. Under each egg, there was a soft cushion to keep it from tipping over. The surfaces of the eggs were smooth and clean. It looked like someone wiped them often. They really were taking very careful care of them.
"What kind of eggs are these?" he asked.
"There are eggs for Pichu, Vulpix, Growlithe, Machop, Ponyta, and even Tauros. Anyway, there are a lot!" Nicolette thought for a moment.
Natsui nodded. Although there were many eggs, he noticed that most of them were common Pokémon from the Kanto region.
This made sense. After all, if someone had a rare egg, they would not easily leave it at a place like this. They would only do that if they could not take care of it or had no time.
At that moment, May walked over to another shelf. She saw that while there were many eggs there, it seemed different from the other shelves. She could not help but ask, "Why are there so few eggs here?"
"Those are my family's eggs," Nicolette shrugged. "For various reasons, some people abandoned the eggs they left here. We had no choice but to raise them ourselves. Oh, by the way, you came at a great time. You've probably never seen a Pokémon hatch before, right? One Pokémon is about to hatch very soon. Do you want to stay and watch?"
This time, before May could speak, Natsui had already nodded in agreement.
"Then we won't be polite."
Hearing him say that, May was even more certain of her guess!
Natsui definitely had a goal!
In fact, she was right. Natsui did not just come to visit this farm for no reason.
In the story, May would get her second Pokémon in Kanto right here. To make sure there were no regrets, Natsui wanted to make sure this happened. That was why he was willing to stay here.
Unfortunately, even if May guessed something, Natsui planned to keep this secret forever. He could not tell her directly.
After leaving the warehouse, the three of them went to an open area. Suddenly, Nicolette looked at May with sharp eyes.
"May, let's have a battle!"
"Eh?" May was stunned. She looked at the girl who was about her age and asked in surprise, "Why do you want to battle all of a sudden?"
"Because of what my parents said in the house, of course." Nicolette looked up. "I want to prove to them that I don't need to go on a journey. I can train right here and become an excellent Coordinator!"
"That does make some sense," May said, scratching her cheek. "But why don't you just tell your parents that?"
"I..." Nicolette hesitated, then her face turned red. "Of course I want to tell them, but they don't agree. They think you have to travel to truly see the world. So, I want to battle you to prove it to them!"
"To show your strength?" May nodded. "So, I just need to fight one match with you, right?"
"Yes!" Nicolette nodded hard. "You just won the Saffron Contest. So, if I can even get a draw with you, my parents will definitely acknowledge my strength!"
Seeing the total confidence on Nicolette's face, May hesitated. She did not say anything to the girl. Instead, she went back to Natsui and whispered to ask for his opinion.
"Natsui, what should I do?"
It was clear that May had not decided whether to fight Nicolette or not.
After all, they were guests. They had been given tea, snacks, and a tour of the warehouse. The hospitality was very good. She already felt bad about it. Fighting Nicolette in this situation felt wrong, whether she won or lost.
"Go ahead and fight," Natsui said. He laughed. "She's just a little girl who doesn't know how big the world is. If you don't defeat her, she'll really think winning a Contest is easy! Besides, I don't agree with the idea of training behind closed doors either. Waking her up will be doing her parents a big favor."
"I understand."
Natsui's words were the deciding factor. Since he said it was okay, May had no reason to hesitate anymore.
Walking back to Nicolette, May was about to take a Poké Ball from her belt, but then she ran into a problem.
Natsui told her to defeat Nicolette, but how should she do it?
Should she use Combusken and give it her all?
Or should she use Squirtle and stall for a while?
After thinking it over, she decided to let Nicolette choose.
With that in mind, she took out three Poké Balls and released three different Pokémon.
With a flash of blue light, Combusken, Squirtle, and Munchlax all appeared in front of Nicolette.
"What does this mean?" Seeing these three Pokémon, Nicolette was confused.
"These are all the Pokémon I have with me," May said, spreading her hands. "Since you want to battle me, I don't know which one to use. So, you choose for yourself."
If any other Coordinator heard this, they would think May was looking down on them. But Nicolette was not a Trainer; she was just a girl who had never left home. She did not think about that. Instead, she seriously looked at the three Pokémon.
Because she had watched the Saffron Contest, she knew that Combusken and Squirtle had performed very well. Fighting them would be risky.
That left only one choice...
Nicolette looked at Munchlax. She saw it just sitting there blankly. It looked like it had not woken up yet. It seemed very lazy. She pointed her finger at it.
"I choose this Munchlax!"
To be honest, May did not expect Nicolette to choose Munchlax.
After all, Nicolette had just been talking about proving her ability to her parents. But then she chose May's weakest Pokémon.
Of course, it was also possible that Nicolette just did not know. She did not know that this Munchlax had never been in a real battle. But Nicolette's careful choosing and her look made May feel that she had planned this. She thought the girl picked the one that did not look strong.
"My Munchlax is..." May was about to say something.
But Nicolette had already impatiently taken out a Poké Ball and released her Pokémon.
With a flash of blue light, a Vileplume appeared in front of Munchlax. As if she was afraid May would change her mind, she did not even wait for Combusken and Squirtle to move away before giving her order.
"Vileplume, show them your beautiful Petal Dance!"
Vileplume lowered its body and aimed the petals on its head at Munchlax. Then, a bunch of pink petals sprayed out. In an instant, they hit Munchlax.
Munchlax did not even try to dodge. It was hit directly.
Vileplume could use this move and was already in its third stage of evolution. This meant its strength was actually quite good. Otherwise, it could not have hit Munchlax so accurately.
After being attacked, Munchlax was clearly dazed. It was even unlucky enough to become confused. It started jumping around randomly.
However, perhaps because of the confusion, Munchlax unconsciously raised its arms and used the move Metronome!
Using this move randomly selects one move from almost all known attacks. It could be said that even the user does not know what will happen.
If you are lucky, you might use a powerful move. If you are unlucky, you might even hurt yourself.
In short, it is a very difficult and dangerous double-edged sword!
Especially now that Munchlax was confused!
Seeing this move, even Nicolette swallowed hard. She had just landed a hit, but now she became cautious!
"Come on! Let me see the strength of the Saffron Contest winner!"