Around noon, the rain finally ceased. The dark clouds in the sky dissipated, revealing bright but not harsh sunshine. Naoki removed the hood of his raincoat and looked at Dragonite, who was in a state of deep foot far away.

  He asked Koraidon, "Koraidon, do you think Dragonite will successfully learn Rain Dance?"

  Koraidon yawned. "Gaah."

  Suddenly, Dragonite's eyes snapped open.

  And then, the sky shifted.

  The retly dispersed dark clouds returned, gathering above Dragonite's head and colliding with each other.

  Naoki felt a surge of excitement. Had it succeeded?

  However, the expected rain didn't fall.

  The dark clouds gathered quickly and dispersed just as fast. The weather turned sunny again.

  Seeing that its Rain Daempt had failed, Dragonite looked up at the sky, appearing puzzled.

  Naoki rode Koraidon to its side and asked, "What happened?"

  "Roar."

  Naoki followed its gaze to the sky, thinking, and then asked again, "Is it the same as with Thunderbolt earlier?"

  Dragonite trated, and then a fused look crossed its face.

  It didn't uaher.

  Naoki fell into deep thought.

  Thunderbolt was one of the most powerful Electric-type moves, and its difficulty to learn was correspondingly high. Judging by Dragonite's performance just now, it seemed to be imitating the process of lightning striking it and then being released. But it didn't uand the essence of Thunderbolt, so it failed to use it.

  What about Rain Dance?

  Dragonite had successfully summohe dark clouds, just oep away from successfully perf Rain Dance, but it failed at the crucial moment.

  However, Dragonite seemed to have learned something from this experieh the rain. This rogress. At least it could summon dark clouds now. With more practice, it would be able to master Rain Dane day.

  After all, this was only its first attempt, so it was already quite impressive.

  Naoki was satisfied and couldn't help but think that Dragonite seemed to have bee smarter. Although it had learhunder Punch by act, it had prehehe move on its own. For an ordinary Pokémon, this was truly remarkable.

  Or had the lightning strike somehow made Dragonite more intelligent?

  But then again, Dragonite had learned Dragon Tail within a few days, which meant its prehension wasn't bad; it was just tohtforward and didn't know how to utilize moves effectively.

  Recalling how easily he had fooled Dragonite before, Naoki felt this ossibility. And this Dragonite was certainly hardw enough!

  If that was the case, then he had found a treasure!

  After they returo the ground, Naoki led Dragoo the farmnd ahe raining dire for it.

  "Don't worry about Thunderbolt for now. Foastering Rain Dance first. You practice here from now on!"

  "Roar~" Dragonite readily agreed. Even without Naoki's encement, it was determio practice Rain Dance diligently until it succeeded.

  Seeing this, Naoki smiled and said, "Once you've mastered it, I'll leave the task of watering the fields to you!"

  "Huh?" Dragonite blinked, looking puzzled.

  Naoki didn't expin but iold Dragonite a story.

  The story was about a Pokémon named Keldeo. Keldeo was hardw and practiced drawing and swinging its sword every day. After ten thousand strikes, it finally mastered a unique and powerful skill called Secret Sword, which it used to defeat Kyurem, the Legendary Pokémon known as the stro dragon.

  Naoki then shifted gears and said with exaggerated fir, "Maybe you only make it rain in a small area now, but as long as you keep practig, one day, the whole world will be covered in your rain, and all Pokémon will look up to you."

  "Roar!"

  Dragonite's eyes lit up. Although it didn't know what Kyurem was or who Keldeo was, it all sounded very impressive!

  It immediately took oering task, turned around, and stood in front of the farmnd, starting to practice Rain Dance.

  Naoki chuckled to himself. As expected, Dragonite was still so i!

  He patted Dragonite's shoulder and said with a smile, "Work hard!"

  Leaving Dragoo practiaoki turned around, took off his raincoat, casually hung it on the fence, and walked towards the chi coop.

  On the way, Naoki tio think about what kind of food could help Dragonite.

  But his thoughts were limited, and he couldn't think of any food that could specifically enhance Dragon-type Pokémon.

  This troubled Naoki.

  What if he started with unventional items?

  For example, dragoh, dragon scales, and so on. Could grinding those into powder and cooking them fonite make it stronger?

  Naoki wao try, but those ingredients were difficult to obtain. While he could extract teeth and scales directly fro was still young and hadn't reached the age of shedding scales or losih. Forcibly removing them would cause signifit harm aremely painful.

  Naoki tio brainstorm.

  His mind raced, from Pokémon moves to items in the games to various dragoed things.

  And then, it hit him.

  Nature Power!

  Nature Power: A Normal-type move that draws power from the surrounding enviroo attack. The move's type and power ge depending on the location.

  From this move, he could deduce that the enviro also tained different types of energy!

  Fruits reted tons.

  Information about several kinds of berries fshed through Naoki's mind.

  Leppa Berries, Oran Berries, Sitrus Berries, Pomeg Berries, and Durian Berries.

  So, could he start with these types of berries?

  Although it ossible to make dishes with berries, Naoki had a better idea.

  Poké Puffs and Poffins!

  Both were Pokémon snacks made from berries.

  With this thought in mind, Naoki decided to visit the dessert shop in town after the weather cleared up tomorrow. For now, he o take care of the newly hatched chicks.

  He ehe chi coop and carefully observed the surroundings. The small, plum-shaped footprints were still there, but apart from that, there was no n of the intruder. This meant it hadn't returned during this time.

  Naoki didn't dwell on it and decided to move on. Newly hatched chicks were very fragile and needed a warm enviro with plenty of water and the right amount of food.

  That's right, the right amount of food.

  Unlike Pokémon, these little yellow chicks weren't very smart, and they didn't know when to stop eating. As long as there was food irough, they would keep eating until they literally ate themselves to death.

  Therefore, Naoki distihe free-feeding system in the chi coop and switched to hand-feeding, pnning to resume free-feeding ohe chicks grew older.

  He added an appropriate amount of feed to the trough and closed the coop's doors and windows to prevent the chicks from wandering outside and to protect them from cold winds and rain.

  After finishing all this, it was noon, and Naoki began preparing lunch for the many Pokémon.

  After lunch, he started making Green Grass Dumplings with glutinous rice flour and grass. Sihe Skiddo ate so quickly, he made a rge batch this time. He worked until four iernoon, when the green dumplings were finally ready, steaming hot from the pot.

  After setting the dumplings aside to cool, Naoki g the time.

  Wow! It was already 4:30. He had to start preparing dinner again!

  After a busy day, Naoki felt tired, and his wrists ached, as if he had been pying a farming game for hours on end.

  He moved a small stool and sat uhe eaves, gazing at his thriving ranch. Although physically tired, he felt a deep sense of satisfa.

  "Phew, it would be great to have a hot spring!" he thought. When tired, he could soak in it and rex.

  Unfortunately, Cascarrafa was located in the west of Paldea, and the surrounding terrain was mainly pins, snowy mountains, ahere were no voloes, so natural hot springs were impossible.

  However, it wasirely out of the question. Naoki suddenly thought of a dish he had once made—Spicy Iron s.

  That dish had an additional effect: slightly increasing the friendliness of a Heatran wheo it.

  If he could lure a Heatran here.

  Then, he could dig a cave uhe ranch, let Heatrae a magma pool in it, and build an artificial hot spring on the surface.

  Heatran would get a caretaker and a new home, and he would get a hot spring.

  Then, he could enjoy soaking i springs with his adorable Pokémon.

  The thought brought a smile to his face. However, imagination was ohing, ay was another.

  The old clo the house chimed five o'clock sharp. It was time to prepare dinner.

  Looking at the pile of ingredients waiting to be prepared, Naoki couldn't help but sigh.

  No! The ranch also needed a Pokémon that was good at housework to help him prepare food and tidy up!

  For example, Indeedee or Mimey. Both of these Pokémon were excellent at household chores.

  Thanks to the Mimey in Ash's house in the ahe idea that Mimey were capable of housework was deeply ingrained in people's minds. It could the yard, wake Ash up, and wash dishes. Not only that, it was also very intelligent and an all-around housework expert.

  Indeedee's ability to do housework was no less impressive than Mimey's. After all, this Pokémon served as Nurse Joy's assistant in the Gar region.

  There were both male and female Indeedee, and each gender had different strengths. A male Indeedee would be like a butler, staying by the owner's side at all times and taking care of everything. It would use its psychic powers to anticipate the trainer's as and cater to their daily needs.

  The female Indeedee articurly skilled at childcare. It disliked fighting and could unicate with others by toug horns with its partner.

  But whether male or female, Indeedee diligently cared for humans and Pokémon everywhere, seeking joy and gratitude. This was because positive emotions were its source of energy, and it used its horns to receive the positive emotions of other creatures and then vert them into its own energy.

  However, it seemed that there were no Mimey living in the Paldea region. But there were Indeedee.

  "It seems I o pay more attention to information about Indeedee iure," Naoki thought.

  Because he had been so busy today, Naoki went to bed early after dinner.

  ...

  The m, Naoki woke up feeling sore all over and dizzy.

  His heart skipped a beat, and he couldn't help but think, "Could it be that have a fever?"

  No way? It had just rained yesterday.

  Naoki propped himself up and sat up in bed, looking around, his groggy brain trying to process the situation.

  There was no thermometer or fever-redug medie at home, so it seemed he had to go to the hospital in town.

  At that moment, Koraidon and Cyclizar, who were lying beside the bed, noticed his dition and approached with worried looks on their faces.

  "Gaah."

  "Cyclizar."

  Naoki patted their heads and said with a smile, "It's okay. It's probably just a fever from the raierday. It's a minor illness. I'll be fier we go to town and buy some medie."

  With that, Naoki got up and started preparing breakfast.

  Koraidon and Cyclizar followed closely behind, not leaving his side for a moment. Smoliv and Alcremie also looked worried.

  Alcremie jumped onto the stove and said sadly, "Alcremie."

  Dragonite, who had just e out of its Poké Ball and was about to deliver milk, immediately looked remorseful upon hearing the news.

  "Roar."

  Dragonite felt a pang of guilt. If it hadn't been practig Rain Danaoki wouldn't have gotten sick.

  Seeing their ed expressions, Naoki found it amusing. He sniffed and started giving instrus to the Pokémon.

  "I'm really okay. Dragonite, go deliver the goat milk to Mrs. Dantes first. Koraidon, Cyclizar, Alcremie, Smoliv, you guys go wait outside. Don't crowd in here."

  Dragonite, carrying its burden of worry, set off to deliver the milk.

  The Pokémon that retreated outside looked at each other, exged a few words, and then started helping Naoki with the ranch work. Koraidoo help Naoki water the pnts, Cyclizar went to feed the Gogoat, and Alcremie brought salty snacks to the Nacli in the salt shelter.

  Butterfree, perched uhe eaves, saw this and flew i nded beside the bed and looked at Naoki with .

  Little Smoliv could only wander around anxiously.

  Naoki watched the se with amusement, but for some reason, seeing the Pokémon helping out gave him a feeling of "my children are growing up." It was like watg his own kids learn to help their parents with chores.

  Good, you've bee responsible.

  Naoki smiled with te and tinued preparing breakfast.

  Due to his health, today's breakfast was simple. He just fried a few eggs, sliced some tomatoes, and made sandwiches with them.

  Just as the sandwiches were ready, the Pokémourned.

  Naoki didn't have much of an appetite, so he let them eat first ao the chi coop to feed the chicks himself.

  As he entered, he noticed a trail of small, plum-shaped footprints on the floor. It had just rained, and the ground wasn't pletely dry yet. The unknowure must have actally stepped in mud on its way in, leaving the footprints behind.

  It looked like a creature that walked on fs.

  The intruder's target was clear: the chi feed irough.

  This time, Naoki was more cautious and decided to set a trap to catch this "thief."