In video games, bosses ae moypically stay within their designated areas and don’t wander off.

  But reality doesn’t always work that way.

  There are always some creatures who, despite being at the bottom of their own ecosystems, seek a better experience by venturing into weaker territories tn supreme.

  And then there are those who, simply out of sheer boredom, like to roam around aimlessly.

  Most of the time, rangers don’t bother intervening uhese creatures cause signifit disruptions to the local ecosystem.

  Like the Pokémon Absol had just mentiohe one heading toward the farm.

  Acc to Absol, this Pokémon didn’t seem to have any specific goal. It was as if it urely causiru in the forest just to spread fear.

  "Don't panic. Everything will be fine."

  Seeing Absol's obvious distress, Natsume extended his palm and eled the power of Viridian to soothe its emotions.

  Bathed in the soft green glow, Absol's previously restless heart seemed to settle. At the very least, it no longer appeared to be in a state of extreme panicertain of what to do.

  "Absol, go find Persian and Ogerpon for me."

  "I o cheething first."

  "Sol."

  Absol hen turned and leaped away, disappearing from Natsume's sight in just a few agile bounds.

  Although Absol wasn't a Pokémon known for its speed, it moved with remarkable dexterity.

  Rather than raw speed, its time spent navigating the wilderness had hos ability to jump and climb.

  It was likely more adept at sg rocks and leaping across terrain than ht sprinting.

  "Should we tact the rangers?"

  As Absol left, Mei turo Natsume and asked.

  Earlier, Natsume had already called the rao report the presence of a powerful Pokémon causing havo the northern forest.

  After firming the situation, the rangers had eve him a small banner of appreciation and a ￥5,000 reward.

  A symbolic gesture, more for encement than any real financial significe.

  Still, Natsume had accepted it happily. After all, he had been the kind of kid who always dreamed of earning a Bravery Award for doing the right thing.

  Now, he had kind of achieved that goal, right?

  The ranger who delivered the banner also left a personal taumber, further assistance if needed.

  At the time, Natsume had just saved the number without much thought.

  Now, it was ing in handy.

  "Yeah, let’s give them a call."

  "Though I think I already have a good idea of what's going on."

  Nodding, Natsume scrolled through his phoo find the ranger’s tact.

  Despite the arming nature of Absol’s report, he remained posed.

  When it came to ued situations, Natsume had a simple philosophy:

  For minor issues, there’s o panic—it’s pointless.

  For major ones, panig doesn’t help either—so why bother?

  In short, panig serves no purpose.

  Besides, no matter what happens, the farm isn’t going anywhere.

  It’s not like they could just pack up and leave.

  Sure, relog might seem like an easy option on the surface.

  But while Natsume didn’t have any deep seal attat to the farm itself, the idea of being forced to move was irritating.

  A minute or two ter—

  "As expected."

  Hanging up the call, Natsume’s expression was one of firmation rather than surprise.

  At first, he hadn't been able to picture what kind of powerful Pokémon Absol was describing.

  But after discussing it in more detail, he figured it out.

  That thing—it was Ting-Lu.

  One of the Treasures of Ruin.

  Not that he could really be bmed for nnizing it sooner.

  Most of the Legendary Pokémon introduced ier geions hadn’t left a deep impression on him.

  Among the four Treasures of Ruin, the only ones Natsume could vividly remember were Chi-Yu and -Pao.

  Mostly because they looked better.

  Especially Chi-Yu—arguably the best-looking of the four.

  At the end of the day, humans are visual creatures.

  Good-looking beings always get preferential treatment.

  "The ranger Unio into the forest and did enter the Pokémon," Natsume reyed.

  "But they couldn’t beat it."

  "They’ll probably issue a public alert soon."

  Aside from disaster warnings, there were also occasional Pokémoed alerts.

  Most of them involved Legendary Pokémon waking from their slumber, still groggy with "m rage," and rampaging through the nd.

  For small isnd nations, having one of these creatures wake up could mean plete destru.

  After all, Legendary Pokémon weren’t just symbols of absolute power.

  They were disasters inate.

  Even something as retively on as the trio of Legendary Birds could be as devastating as a natural disaster to the average person.

  "I see..."

  Mei nodded, her face tinged with .

  Natsume had briefly mentioned earlier that this Pokémon might be a Legendary of some sort.

  For Mei, a newly miraihe idea of fag a Legendary Pokémo almost surreal.

  Like something that oed ibooks suddenly appearing right before her eyes.

  She also remained blissfully unaware that Ogerpon was, in fact, a Mythical Pokémon.

  Then again, Ogerpon was naturally a low-profile creature. Very few people had ever seen one.

  And around the farm, it always wore the mask that Natsume had given it, wandering about in disguise.

  Even if Mei had noticed it, she wouldn’t have associated this gy little cutie with a Mythical Pokémon.

  She had simply gotteo the fact that the farm was filled with all kinds of Pokémon—some familiar, some she had never even heard of.

  "It’ll be fine. o worry."

  Seeing the in Mei’s eyes, Natsume smiled reassuringly.

  He could uand Mei’s s—after all, the idea of a Legendary Pokémon still felt a bit too distant for her.

  “Suosuo.”

  Yeah, yeah, don’t worry. I’m here.

  "That's right, Zorua is also—"

  Mid-sentenatsume suddenly realized something.

  He turned his head, only to find Zorua—who had somehow returned unnoticed—squatting on the ground, grinning mischievously at him and Mei.

  That smirk was seriously aggravating.

  Some people just have a natural talent for making others mad just by standing there doing nothing.

  Maybe it was a gift.

  "When did you get back?"

  He scooped up Zorua and gave its head a good, vigorous rub.

  To be ho, seeing Zorua again instantly put Natsume at ease.

  Even though he’d had some fidence before, the fact remaihat their oppo was a Legendary Pokémon.

  To say he wasn’t worried at all would be a lie.

  No matter how indiffereed on the surface, deep down, there was still a trace of unease.

  But now that Zorua was back, he felt reassured.

  At least the farm had a solid safety now.

  Thinking this, Natsume hugged Zorua and gave it another round of intense rubbing.

  Was it just his imagination, or did its fur feel even smoother than before?

  It also seemed… chubbier.

  "You little rascal… don’t tell me you gobbled up all those Pokéblocks in one go?"

  "Why do you feel heavier?"

  Natsume suddenly put two and two together.

  Before Zorua had left, it had taken a hefty supply of Pokéblocks with it—enough to feed Corviknight, Persian, and the shiny Furret for about a month and a half.

  Ahis little glutton had devoured them all ihan a month?

  No wo looked like it had gained weight!

  "Suosuo!"

  fortably led in Natsume’s arms, Zorua froze for a sed before immediately struggling in protest.

  What do you mean, fat?!

  I’m still growing! This is just my growth phase, okay?!

  At most, I’m just a little chubby!

  "So, you admit you got chubby."

  Natsume’s merciless remark nded like a critical hit.

  Zorua has fainted.

  These days, people like to act as if “a little chubby” doesn’t t as chubby at all.

  But holy?

  That’s just self-deception.

  Or maybe men and women simply have different definitions of "a little chubby"?

  Anyway, he was getting off track.

  "Suosuo…"

  Zorua tried its best tue that it hadn’t actually gotten fat, just grown bigger.

  But, in the end, Pokémon were no match for humans when it came to debating.

  "Alright, alright. I almost fot what I was doing thanks to you."

  Natsume casually tossed Zorua to the ground, cpped his hands, and looked up.

  Absol, whom he had sent to fetch the others, was already on its way back, its silhouette visible in the distance.

  But more noticeable than Absol…

  Was the shiny Furret charging toward him at full speed.

  "Fur!"

  The moment it spotted Natsume, the Furret’s eyes lit up.

  Even in broad daylight, that excitement was impossible to miss.

  "Fur!"

  It got even more fired up, increasing its already impressive speed.

  A gust of wind kicked up in its wake, sending stray bdes of grass flying.

  "Wait—hold on!"

  Natsume's expression ged the moment he saw Shiny Furret.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but it was already too te.

  After a running start, Shiny Furret built up momentum, gathered its strength, and leaped high into the air.

  Its long, slender body arced gracefully through the sky.

  And then—

  BAM!

  A head capable of breaking stone smmed directly into Natsume’s stomach.

  “Urgh—”

  Man and Pokémon rolled across the ground like a pair of tumbleweeds.

  It wasn’t a pretty sight.

  "How many times do I have to tell you? Stop charging at me like that!"

  Looking at the shiny Furret now sprawled across his stomach, fshing a cute, i look, Natsume exasperatedly ks head a few times.

  To Furret’s thick skull, though, the force was barely a massage.

  "Fur?"

  Tilting its head, Shiny Furret gave an adorably clueless smile.

  No wonder people called it a pink, fluffy ball of ess.

  Unfortunately, its reward for that smile was another round of Natsume’s "gentle discipline."

  If this were a edy manga, Furret would probably have a head full of cartoonish bumps by now—looking like a Buddha’s curly headpiece.

  "If it were anyone else, they’d probably be skipping the hospital and heading straight for the grave after a hit like that."

  "Fur."

  But I’d never poun a you, Natsume.

  "So… this is your special way of showing affe?"

  "Fur."

  Ehehe.

  Grabbing Shiny Furret by the underarms, Natsume lifted it and tossed it to the side before rubbing his sore stomach.

  Recalling the sensation from just now, he let out a sigh.

  His fluffy, pink, adorable little Shiny Furret…

  Was no more.

  Mei had mentioned before that Natsume hadn’t been cuddling Shiny Furret to sleep retly.

  At first, she suspected it might be because Shiny Furret was shedding.

  But then she residered.

  For someone like Natsume, who lived surrounded by Pokémon, a bit of shedding shouldn’t have been an issue.

  It was like cat owners—once you let a cat onto your bed, you just learn to accept the fur.

  So, clearly, the reason wasn’t that simple.

  In truth, the reason was quite straightforward.

  It was just that…

  "It’s not as fy as before."

  Ever since Shiny Furret had gotten hooked on training, its muscle growth had been unstoppable.

  Oside, it still looked like a smooth, fluffy bundle of ess.

  But the moment you touched it—

  It was like a bodybuilder wearing a fur suit.

  That was the feeling.

  Visually, Shiny Furret was still adorable.

  But as a cuddle buddy?

  Absolutely not.

  Sleeping with it now just felt unfortable.

  Luckily, Shiny Furret had beeing up early every day to train on its own.

  That actually made things more ve for both of them.

  "Meow."

  Trailing behind Shiny Furret, Persian took one look at Furret—who was grinning like an idiot—then shifted its gaze to Natsume, who was still getting up from the ground.

  It immediately uood the situation.

  This fool… pounced on Natsume again, huh?

  No matter how many times it was told not to, this bad habit just wouldn’t go away.

  Annoyed, Persian raised a paw and smacked Shiny Furret right on the head.

  It used to think this kid was alright, but somehow, somewhere along the line…

  It had goray.

  Hmph. Must be that stupid bird’s influence.

  ime that fool es to challenge me, I’ll make sure to hit harder.

  Persian made a silent vow.

  After all, it had seen Corviknight trying to "spread the gospel" to the other Pokémon way too many times—reending games, anime, and even keeping a notebook of famous quotes.

  Persian had every reason to believe that any Pokémon on the farm that had started ag weird…

  Had been corrupted by Corviknight.

  So, a little discipline every now and then?

  Perfectly reasonable.

  At that moment, Corviknight—pletely oblivious to its impending 800th defeat—was still deep in thought, brainst what trash talk to use during its afternoon training session.

  After long training sessions, even Corviknight found it challenging to keep up with its trash-talk repertoire.

  Damn, I almost ran out of lines during st night's training.

  No way—I o e up with more today.

  “Ummah.”

  The st oo arrive was Ogerpon, who wasly fast and had to rely on its short little legs to waddle over.

  pared to the other quadrupedal Pokémon, Ogerpon’s tiny legs were definitely a disadvantage when it came to running.

  But just like Shiny Furret, its eyes lit up the moment it saw Natsume, and it uself forward with a running leap.

  Fortunately, Ogerpon’s impact was much lighter than Furret’s—so much so that even an ordinary person could catch it without a problem.

  “All right, everyone. I called you here because there’s something important I o tell you…”

  Gcell