pared to the other, more distressing possibilities, Naoki would much prefer the first sario—that Teddiursa had been captured by a passing trainer. At least then, the little bear would be safe, with o worry about hunger or illness.

  "I hope it's safe and sound," Naoki murmured, his heart filled with genuine for the Pokémon.

  He shook his head, deg to set the matter aside for now, auro the house.

  Just as he was about to resume his work, Koraidon, Dragonite, and Cyclizar were drawn to the kit by the mouthwatering aroma of the honey buns. Naoki, smiling at their eager faces, shared the freshly baked bread with them.

  The three Pokémon immediately sat down on the floor and began enjoying the bread.

  Koraidon and Cyclizar both shifted intht positions, sitting alongside Dragonite on the wooden floor. Between them iic basket, covered with a striped tablecloth and filled with the fragrant bread rolls.

  The way the three Pokémon ate was surprisingly simir to how humans would. They each picked up a bun with their paws, tossed it into their mouths, and happily chewed before swallowing.

  Watg them eat, Naoki couldn't help but feel like he was raising three oversized, adorable babies. "They're all so cute," he thought fondly.

  "Enjoy!" Naoki enced, turning back to tinue making desserts with Alcremie.

  With Alcremie's enthusiastic assistahey soon crafted a sweet and delicious cream cake. Naoki added some freshly cut fruit for decoration and eveensils to create sh but charming ce designs on the cake.

  Whehing was fihe information about the cream cake appeared in his mind:

  [Birthday Cake (B)]: This cake is made of rich cream and finely baked cake dough, decorated with fruit to vey a sense of celebration.

  Cooking effebsp;Birthday Gift. If you feed this cake to a Pokémon on its birthday, it will receive a blessing that permaly increase one of its stats: HP, Physical Attack, Special Attack, Speed, Physical Defense, or Special Defense.

  ent: Give it to Pokémon as a gift! Maybe it will bring them ued surprises.

  'Hmm? A birthday gift?' Naoki thought, intrigued by the effect.

  He wondered whether the stat increase applied to the individual value or the base stat of the Pokémon. If it was the former, it was a ouch, but if it was the tter, that would be quite powerful.

  However, sidering it could only be used once a year, the effect probably wasn't too exaggerated. Especially for someone like him, who wasn't a professional trainer.

  After p for a moment, Naoki thought, "Well, it's better than nothing!"

  The cake's effect did remind him of something important, though.

  With that in mind, Naoki washed his hands, cut the cake into several slices, and shared them with all the Pokémon. The down at his desk, took out a piece of white paper, and began writing a letter.

  He realized that he didn't have records of most of the Pokémon's birthdays on the ranch.

  Like the Gogoat, Nacli, and Dragonite, many of the Pokémon on the ranch didn't uand the cept of years, months, and days, making it difficult to keep track of their birthdays. Without knowing when they were born, it was nearly impossible to celebrate their special days.

  Currently, the only Pokémon whose birth date could be traced was Cyclizar.

  So, iter Naoki wrote to Mayor Thomas, he primarily asked about the birth date of Cyclizar and included the ranch's phone the end, so he could be tacted directly by phone.

  After finishing the letter, Naoki called Ivan, the town's postman.

  About twenty mier, Ivan arrived on a Cyclizar and took the letter from Naoki. The mailing fee was 200 Poké Dolrs, the equivalent of half a bottle of Moo Moo Milk.

  "Don't worry, Mayor Thomas will get this letter soon!" Ivan assured him.

  Sure enough, at 5:50 in the evening, Naoki received a call from Mayor Thomas.

  As the call ected, Mayor Thomas's voice crackled through the old-fashioned switchboard phone. "Is this Naoki? I received your letter. I didn't expect you had a telephone installed at your ranch—this will definitely make unication easier iure!"

  Since Mayor Thomas's phone wasn't a videophone, Naoki couldn't see what was happening oher end. He nodded and replied, "Yes, it's me. Good evening, Mayor Thomas."

  "Good evening!" After exging pleasantries, Mayor Thomas began answering the question from the letter. "As for Cyclizar's birthday, let me think. It was born on August 20 st fall. Yes, that's the date!"

  August 20? Naoki thought, 'That means Cyclizar is only six months old, not even a year yet'.

  He gnced over at Cyclizar, who was happily mung on cake, its mouth covered in cream.

  "Got it. Thank you very much," Naoki said after a brief moment of thought.

  Mayor Thomas ughed heartily. "Haha, it's nothing! Keep up the good work on the ranch! Cyclizar will surely be a great helper for you."

  After hanging up, Naoki took a pen and wrote down Cyclizar's birthday in a promi spot, pnning to celebrate it with a special birthday cake wheime came.

  ...

  Time passed quickly, and before Naoki k, February 24th had arrived—the day of the Spring Cattle and Sheep Judging petition.

  At seven in the m, as Naoki was bing the fur of his Gogoat in preparation for the petition, a long-lost figure suddenly appeared on the ranch.

  Naoki was both surprised and relieved to see the disheveled Teddiursa, it's fur dirty and matted from peared to have been quite an adventure.

  "Ursa." Teddiursa trotted over to him, stretg out its little paw and spreading its palm.

  Naoki looked down and saw a clear blue stone lying quietly in Teddiursa's paw.

  It was a Water Stone.

  Naoki was a little surprised by the Water Stone, but before he could say anything, he heard a "gurgling" sound ing from Teddiursa's stomach.

  Teddiursa looked down at its belly and then raised a paw, giving a hopeful "Ursa-ursa!"

  There was a gleam of anticipation in its eyes, and as it thought of the delicious honey Naoki often gave it, Teddiursa couldn't help but swallow its saliva.

  Naoki sighed. "Looks like nothing much has ged," he thought with a smile.

  He relutly paused his preparations for the petitioeddiursa back to the , and took out a piece of pudding from the refrigerator. He also grabbed two honey buns from the cupboard and pced them in front of the hungry little bear.

  Teddiursa begaing ravenously, clearly having been hungry for some time.

  Naoki waited patiently for it to finish. Oeddiursa had eaten its fill, Naoki asked, "I haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been these past few days?"

  "Ursa." Teddiursa began, refleg on its ret experiences, a mix of excitement and fear in its eyes.

  After leaving the ranch that day, Teddiursa had been thinking a lot about what Naoki had said. Curious to see if other humans would treat it as kindly as Naoki did, Teddiursa decided to ve, leaving the familiar mountain behind in search of new pastures.

  But things didn't go as pnned. By some mistake, Teddiursa ended up in a human city, a pce full of tall buildings and unfamiliar sights. The world outside the mountains was vast, with many ndscapes it had never seen before.

  However, the excitement didn't st long. Soon after arriving iy, Teddiursa was attacked by the local Pokémon— a group of street Meourrloin that made their living by sging through trash s. They saw Teddiursa as an intruder and quickly surrou, attag from all sides.

  Just when things seemed hopeless, a mysterious Pokémon who called itself "Hero" came to Teddiursa's rescue.