At Happy Ranch, uhe guidance of the old man, Naoki arrived at an area surrounded by wooden fehis was where he finally saw the Miltank.

  The Miltank were sitting on the lush grass, leisurely mung on the greenery beh them. Their bodies were strong and sturdy, a testament to their good health.

  The old man smiled and said, "These are the Miltank. Despite the terrible ordeal they went through, they're doing well—still eating and sleeping like nothing happened."

  Naoki nodded, recalling the i of the freighter losing tact that the old man had mentioned before.

  The old man opehe small gate in the fence, leading Naoki into the enclosure. As they walked, he tinued, "There are ten Miltank here. Eae is very healthy and produces a lot of fresh milk. Oh, by the way, you haven't pnted any grass on your ranch yet, have you?"

  Grass is a special type of feed that grows in the spring, summer, and autumn, specifically for domesticated animals and Pokémon. Unlike regur grass, this type has been specially cultivated to provide optimal nutrition for most herbivorous Pokémon.

  Naoki nodded holy, "I haven't had time to buy a."

  "That's okay. You feed Miltank with ordinary feed," the old man expined. "But Miltank prefer fresh grass to hay. The better and more fertile the grass, the more fragrant and delicious the milk they produce. Unlike goat milk, the taste of fresh Miltank milk ges with the seasons!"

  "ges with the seasons?" Naoki raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

  "It is amazing, isn't it?" the old man chuckled. "It's said that due to the influence of the enviro and temperature, the grass grown in different seasons varies. When the Miltahis grass, they absorb its nutrients and produce fresh milk with different fvors."

  Naoki, who didn't know much about this, asked curiously, "Is there a big differen taste?"

  The old man replied, "Not a huge differe's still milk, but the texture and fvor shift slightly. For example, in some seasons, the milk tastes sweet and light, while in others, it bees rid creamy. The milk produced this season is the first kind—sweet and delicious."

  Naoki nodded, his uanding of Miltank deepening as they approached the group.

  The Miltank noticed them and looked over curiously.

  "Kids, this is the owner of the Naoki Ranext door," the old man introduaoki to the Miltank. Then, with a smile, he added, "He's someone who takes good care of Pokémon. Those who go back with him will be very lucky!"

  Naoki blinked, feeling a bit awkward at the old man's words.

  However, it turned out that this was exactly what the Miltank wao hear. They immediately turheir attention to Naoki, eyeing him with i.

  Naoki stood there, smiling, allowing the Miltank to size him up.

  After a while, several Miltank showed expressions of i.

  "Milu?"

  "Milu~"

  Seeing their reas, the old man grinned and said, "Alright, go ahead and pie!"

  Hearing the old man's encement, Naoki nodded and stepped forward to observe each Miltank closely. The Miltank's eyes followed his movements, full of anticipation.

  Naoki suddenly felt as if he was choosing a starter Pokémon, a thought that made him chuckle. Shaking his head to clear the idea, he focused on making tact with the Miltank in front of him.

  "Hello, Miltank!" Naoki greeted.

  "Milu!" the Miltank responded happily, standing up with its two bck ears flopping bad forth, looking quite adorable.

  Naoki thought to himself, A lot cute than I expected.

  Miltank are known for beile and docile Pokémon, not ined to fight. With that in mind, Naoki made his decision.

  He poio the Miltank that had respoo him and said to the old man, "I'll take this one."

  It didn't really matter whie he chose, as he po e back for the others when he had saved up enough money.

  "Okay," the old man agreed, noddily.

  He handed Naoki the Poké Ball belonging to that Miltank. "This is its Poké Ball. I'll trust you to take good care of it from now on."

  "I will," Naoki promised, taking the Poké Ball. He suddenly felt that the exge wasn't like a typical transa—it felt more like an adoption, a transfer of care.

  Naoki smiled at the Miltank and said, "Please take care of me iure, Miltank."

  "Milu~" the Miltank responded before being recalled into its Poké Ball with a fsh of white light.

  Naoki paid the money, notig that his bance had now dipped bato fures.

  He said his goodbyes to the old man and then headed into town to buy some daily ies—feed and grass seeds for Miltank, special soil tthen the Nacli, and a few packets of sweet bck tea.

  Naoki didn't linger in town for long. After purchasing everything he needed, he rode his Cyclizar back to the ranch.

  Upon arrival, he saw Koraidon waiting outside. Naoki handed over the bags, asking Koraidon to help carry them back to the house while he headed to the Pokémon House.

  Pushing open the door, Naoki looked around the long-unused Pokémon House.

  It was a simple but funal space—empty troughs and water basins, wooden partitions, a feeding area ected to the silo, and a yer of soft hay c the floor where Miltank would sleep.

  "e out!" Naoki called out, holding up Miltank's Poké Ball.

  Naoki threw the Poké Ball, and with a fsh of white light, Miltank appeared in the Pokémon House. Miltank looked around curiously, taking in its new surroundings and beginning to familiarize itself with the enviro.

  Naoki smiled and said, "This is your new home. How do you like it?"

  "Milu..." Miltank looked around at the , tidy, and bright room, and responded happily, "Milu!"

  Seeing Miltank's te, Naoki let out a sigh of relief.

  , he opehe doors and windows of the Pokémon House and led Miltank to the open space outside. Gesturing to the area, he expined, "This is my pasture. I'll be pnting grass right in front of the gate soon."

  Fe seeds, he knew, didn't require much special preparation or tilling, making them easier to pnt than crops. All he o do was scatter the seeds on the ground and wait for the resilient grasses to grow on their own. Their growth cycle and rate were far superior to ordinary crops.

  Naoki immediately took out the bag of grass seeds and began scattering them across the open space.

  After settling Miltank in its new home, Naoki returo the , feeling a sense of aplishment. The process of raising Miltank was finally about to officially begin.

  With the day's ranch work pleted, Naoki made himself a cup of sweet bck tea, moved his rog chair uhe eaves, and sat down to rex. Sipping his tea, he gazed out at his steadily developing ranch.

  His mind drifted over the progress he had made—Cyclizar, Koraidon, Butterfree, Nacli, Skiddo, Alcremie, Smoliv, Pawmi, Dragonite, bee, and now Miltank. The Salt House, Pokémon House, and Chi House were all in good order, and the farmnd was thriving with crops.

  Refleg oransformation since he first arrived, Naoki couldn't help but sigh tentedly.

  Just then, out of the er of his eye, he noticed a small figure rushing into the pasture.

  Turning his head, Naoki saw the baby Teddiursa eagerly running toward him.

  Raising his eyebrows slightly, Naoki recalled the st time Teddiursa had visited aen the lucky pudding before leaving the ranch.

  'I wonder if it picked up anything good this time', he thought.

  As Teddiursa reached him, Naoki asked, "Are you here to exge something?"

  "Teddi, Teddi!" Teddiursa nodded eagerly.

  It stretched out its little bear paw and spread it open, revealing a small brown stohat looked rather ordinary.

  Naoki tilted his head in curiosity. The stone didn't seem to be anything special at first gnce. Gently, he took it from Teddiursa's paw.

  'What is this'? Naoki wondered, examining the sto didn't look like an evolution stone, nor did it resemble a Hard Stone or any other familiar item. He uzzled, unsure of the stone's significe.

  Naoki noticed that the sto warm to the touch. He wasn't sure if it was due to Teddiursa's body heat or if the stoself was naturally warm.

  "Did you pick this up?" Naoki asked, curious about the stone's in.

  "Teddi!" Teddiursa nodded enthusiastically, its eyes full of hope.

  Naoki couldn't help but smile at the sight of Teddiursa's eager expression. He could tell the little Pokémon was w if the stone could be exged for another delicious honey pudding.

  "Hold on," Naoki said, getting up to retrieve a pudding from the refrigerator. As he did so, he asked, "You didn't go to any other rao steal hohese past few days, did you?"

  Teddiursa shook its head vigorously, a look of siy on its face.

  "That's good," Naoki said, handing the pudding over. "Remember, stealing is wrong. You might get away with it now because you're small and cute, but what about when you grow up and evolve into an Ursaring? Ag cute might not work as well then."

  Teddiursa gobbled up the pudding in one gulp, but Naoki's words made it pause and think deeply.

  Naoki saw this a a sense of aplishment. 'If Teddiursa reize its mistakes and correct them, then all my efforts won't be in vain', he thought.

  "If I were you," Naoki tinued, "I would find a way to apologize to the ranchers you took honey from."

  Naoki then gave a small bottle of hoo Teddiursa. "Here, si's been tough finding food in the rain, sider this as a gift from me."

  Teddiursa caught the honey with its paw, a touched expression spreading across its face. "Yi..." it murmured gratefully.

  Naoki waved a hand dismissively as he reed in his rog chair. "I think anyone else would do the same. Now go on back."

  With its mission aplished, Teddiursa left the ranch happily, p over the events of the past few days as it made its way back to its cave.

  Meanwhile, Naoki examihe warm stone again, trying to figure out what it was. After a moment of ption, he came up with a vague hypothesis.

  'Could it be a fragment of a meteorite'? he wondered. sidering Rayquaza had retly appeared and dispersed the typhoon, he couldn't help but specute further. 'Could this be one of Rayquaza's leftover rations'?

  The thought gave him a thrill, but he quickly reminded himself that the stone was likely of little practical use—perhaps just a collectible.

  Naoki casually tossed the stoo a drawer along with the Stone of Unging that Teddiursa had brought previously.

  ...

  Later that evening, before bed, Naoki decided to make a bowl of bck truffle milk pe. This dish had been known to enhahe quality of milk produced by Pokémon to its fullest potential. It was because of this pe that Skiddo's milk had mutated, gaining some additional effects.

  Curious to see what effect it would have on Miltank, Naoki brought the pe over to the Pokémon House.

  When he opehe door, he saw Miltank sitting on a haystack, looking rather lonely.

  Naoki was slightly taken aback. "What's wrong?"

  "Milu..." Miltank responded with a gloomy expression.

  "Let me guess," Naoki said gently, "are you missing your Miltank friends?"

  Miltank nodded. "Milu..."

  Naoki uood. Though Miltank had been happy to e to a new ranch, it now felt lonely being the only one of its kind here.

  After a moment of thought, Naoki reassured it, "Give me a little more time. Once I've saved up enough money, I'll bring the other Miltank here as well."

  Miltank looked at Naoki, a smile slowly returning to its face as it said happily, "Milu!"

  Naoki smiled bad pced the milk pe in front of Miltank. "Here, try this. It's something special."

  Miltank eagerly pped up the pe. As it finished, a thought seemed to dawn on it. "Milu?" (Are you short of money?)

  Naoki raised an eyebrow, surprised by the question. "Huh?"

  Miltank proudly dispyed its udders and said with excitement, "Milu, Milu!" (The milk I produce be sold for a lot of money!)

  While at the ranch, Miltank had often observed how ranchers helped other Miltank by milking them and then selling the milk for money. It was something that Miltank had e to see as a natural part of life at a ranch.

  For Miltank, being milked was actually quite rexing. Because of the rge amount of milk they produced, Miltank would feel unfortable if the milk wasracted daily. So, aside from drinking it themselves, they usually relied on humans to help with the milking.

  Having seen and heard this so often, Miltank khat its milk could be exged for money, and this idea had clearly taken root.

  Naoki was initially a bit fused by Miltank's as, but as he watched, the realization dawned on him. "Do you wao help you with the milking?" he asked.

  "Milu milu!" Miltank nodded eagerly, firming Naoki's guess.

  Miltank's iion was clear: it wanted Naoki to help it produd sell milk, so they could earn more money—enough t the other Miltank to the ranch.