Half-awake, Hayato felt his shoulder being shaken vigorously. Something soft and fluffy brushed back and forth across the tip of his nose.
"Achoo—!"
With a sudden sneeze, Hayato woke up completely.
The moment he opened his eyes, he found himself staring into two pairs of eyes—Cinccino and Kangaskhan .
Instinctively, he reached out and patted them, drawing out satisfied purring sounds.
"Are you hungry? I'll go cook right now."
From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the sky. The sun had already tilted toward the west. Judging by the time, lunch hour had long since passed.
He had only intended to take a short nap—but clearly, he had overslept.
"Chi~chi~"
Cinccino shook its head and patted its belly with its tiny paws, indicating that they weren't hungry.
Hayato placed his hand on its stomach. Cinccino's little belly was round and full.
If they weren't hungry, why wake him up?
He shot them a puzzled look.
"Rrrroa—roar!"
"Chi! Chi!"
Kangaskhan and Cinccino began acting things out vividly, trying to explain the situation.
Watching Cinccino imitate a lion's roar with an exaggeratedly fierce expression, Hayato cautiously guessed,
"Is that Pyroar—the one that visited the ranch before—outside the ranch again?"
Kangaskhan nodded eagerly. "Rrrroa!"
That's right!
Cinccino struck a confident pose: (Exactly!)
"So the family has come to visit, huh?"
And honestly, that description wasn't wrong. Considering Pyroar's relationship with the Mudbray herd, calling Pyroar "family" made perfect sense.
"So it's Pyroar." Hayato rubbed Cinccino's head reassuringly. "Help me call the Mudbray too. Let's go meet it."
A minute later, all the Pokémon in the ranch set out together.
They surrounded Hayato from all sides as they walked toward the newly repaired ranch gate.
With one glance, he realized there was more than just Pyroar.
Beside the ranch gate stood a massive boulder. Pyroar lay sprawled across it, radiating a fierce and imposing aura.
Ordinary Pokémon wouldn't even dare look at it—let alone approach.
Well… that would be the case if not for the three Litleo clambering all over it.
If you ignored them, Pyroar looked incredibly majestic.
But right now?
It looked like a lion that had lost the will to live.
The three endlessly energetic Litleo kept jumping and scrambling all over it, annoying Pyroar so much it looked ready to smash its head against a rock.
Who would have thought that the mighty dominant Pokémon of Route 12, Pyroar, had absolutely no idea how to handle childcare?
The moment Pyroar heard movement from the ranch, it immediately became alert.
Relief flashed through its amber eyes.
Like a gust of wind, it dashed straight toward Hayato , leaving the three Litleo far behind.
"Pyroar, is something wrong?" Hayato asked.
He crouched down and picked up one of the still-confused Litleo, giving its fluffy head a good rub.
As expected of the offspring of a dominant Pokémon—the little one was strong and healthy.
Judging from their size, the Litleo were probably less than a month old and still in their infancy.
Prompted by Hayato 's question, Pyroar snapped back to the matter at hand.
Yesterday, while roaming in the wild, Pyroar had accidentally encountered a lost human. Since the only human it knew was Hayato , it had come early in the morning to ask for help.
It wanted Hayato to guide the lost person back to human civilization.
From Pyroar's somewhat anxious demeanor, the person's condition likely wasn't very good—perhaps even ill.
"I see," Hayato said with a nod of understanding.
He wasn't surprised.
The wilderness—especially areas without established roads—could be extremely dangerous. New Trainers often got lost in places like that.
Back when Hayato used to travel on adventures, he had gotten lost himself more than once—and had also helped rescue others.
Just as he was about to inform Kangaskhan and the others before leaving with Pyroar—
Pyroar let out a low growl and gestured for Hayato to climb onto its back.
As for the three Litleo, Pyroar chose to leave them temporarily at the ranch.
They had only met a few times, yet Pyroar trusted him enough to leave behind its own offspring.
That level of trust was no small thing.
After all, the young of a dominant Pokémon could fetch a high price among certain groups. Some Pokémon hunters even traveled the world capturing dominant Pokémon cubs to sell.
This trust was truly heavy.
After reminding Kangaskhan and Cinccino to help look after the children, Hayato climbed onto Pyroar's back and grabbed its flowing mane.
Pyroar raised its head and roared triumphantly.
No babysitting—freedom at last!
With a few powerful leaps, Pyroar carried Hayato away, disappearing from the ranch.
Left behind were three bewildered Litleo staring at one another.
They had clearly been abandoned by their father.
Soon enough, however, their attention shifted to Kangaskhan and Cinccino.
Especially the way they looked at Kangaskhan —pure admiration.
A Pokémon even larger than their father had to be stronger than him.
Admiring the strong was part of Pokémon nature.
In the blink of an eye, Kangaskhan had gained three tiny fans.
For Kangaskhan , this was its first time interacting with Pokémon infants. The longing for offspring in its heart grew even stronger, and its maternal aura shone brighter than ever.
Meanwhile, Hayato and Pyroar crossed mountains and hills.
Without the Litleo slowing it down, Pyroar moved incredibly fast—its sprint like a wave of scorching heat sweeping across the grasslands.
Yet despite the speed, Hayato felt no bumpiness at all riding on its back.
The scenery on both sides simply blurred past.
From forest to grassland, the pair soon arrived at another section of Route 12.
Pyroar didn't slow down for even a moment. It ran straight to the center of the grassland—within the lion pride's territory.
"Is it here?"
Sliding off Pyroar's back, Hayato looked around.
All he could see were waist-high grasses stretching in every direction.
There wasn't a single human in sight.
Not even another Pokémon.
Confused, he looked toward Pyroar.
Pyroar suddenly let out a thunderous roar.
The sound waves rolled outward like thunder, spreading from its body across the grassland.
Moments later, Hayato heard rustling sounds.
Looking in that direction, he saw a female Pyroar emerge from the grass. She walked over to Pyroar and rubbed affectionately against him.
"Roar~"
Pyroar growled softly at Hayato , signaling him to follow.
Under the lead of the Pyroar pair, they arrived at a hidden cave.
The rock wall near the entrance was covered in dense claw marks—likely from Pyroar sharpening its claws. This was clearly Pyroar's den.
Inside, the cave wasn't dark at all. Instead, it was filled with a faint heat.
The reason became clear immediately.
Embedded in the cave walls were several red gemstones about the size of pebbles.
Fire Stones.
A special evolutionary stone containing rich Fire-type energy, capable of triggering evolution in certain Pokémon.
These elemental stones usually appeared only in places where the corresponding elemental energy was highly concentrated.
So it wasn't surprising that several Fire Stones had formed in the home of a dominant Pyroar.
Even finding rarer, higher-grade fire gems here wouldn't be strange.
Nature—or perhaps Arceus, the Creator—tended to favor Pokémon that actively maintained balance and peace in the wild.
Which was why evolution stones worth tens or even hundreds of thousands outside…
Had become nothing more than lighting fixtures here.
Hayato 's gaze lingered on the stones only briefly.
Soon, his attention was drawn to the figure of a person lying deeper inside the cave.
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