"Rewards, huh..."

  To be ho, Natsume hadn’t really thought about rewards.

  Now that the topic was suddenly brought up, he wasn’t quite sure what to ask for.

  "I have a reference list here, Natsume. You take a look."

  Notig Natsume’s hesitation, Shouhei stepped forward and spoke in a geone.

  From addressing him as "Mr. Natsume" at the start, to "rade" before their departure, and now back to "sir"—the ge in how Shouhei referred to Natsume reflected his evolving attitude.

  In this world, no matter how high your status is or how popur you bee, strength is the only real measure of worth.

  Powerful Trainers are the true mainstream, the real superstars of this world.

  Idols? Pretty boys? They all have to take a step back when fag a strong Trainer.

  You talk about how inspiring and talented your idol is all you want—but when it es down to it, that’s just words. Why not prove it in a real battle?

  That’s precisely why, even though Natsume gave up on being a traditional Trainer, he never did what some novel protagonists would—releasing all his Pokémon or iionally keeping up a ersona.

  After all, if you ck strength, you ’t even protect your own farm.

  A random passing Pokémon could just waltz in and take advantage.

  "Is that so? Then I’ll trouble you for it."

  Shouhei’s voice brought Natsume back to reality.

  Looking at the middle-aged Ranger before him, who carried a hint of exhaustion on his faatsume smiled as he responded.

  Those one-of-a-kind, dazzling super Trainers were certainly enviable, but people like Shouhei—silent, unreized, yet indispensable—were the true bae of a nation.

  "My personal suggestion would be to pick rewards that be quickly redeemed, like supplies or Pokémon that are already avaible."

  Taking out his phone, Shouhei opened an internal Ranger app and briefly expined how Natsume could exge his reoints.

  Essentially, this whole event was being treated as a mission, meaning Natsume was awarded a set amount of points, and specific resources would be unlocked for him.

  It might not maximize the bes, but it was an effit and acceptable solution for all parties involved.

  "Since I don’t know what the higher-ups are pnning, this is just for reference."

  "I hope it helps, Natsume."

  Putting away his phone, Shouhei gave Natsume an apologetic look.

  Strictly speaking, this wasn’t really part of Shouhei’s job.

  He was only assigo unicate with Natsume because they had spoken before the battle—it was a flimsy e at best.

  His actual task was simply to reach out and show goodwill.

  Someone else would officially hahings with Natsume ter.

  As long as he didn’t screw up, Shouhei was fine.

  Yet, he still chose to offer personal advice.

  Maybe he saw a younger version of himself in Natsume.

  Maybe he was grateful that this young man had resolved a huge crisis, potentially saving tless lives and Pokémon.

  Or maybe... he just wao cozy up to someone powerful.

  Shouhei chuckled at himself. With his personality, ging to a strong figure seemed like the best option.

  All those noble justifications? Not really his thing.

  "You’ve really helped me out."

  "Thank yer."

  If it weren’t for Shouhei’s suggestions, Natsume would probably still be stuck overthinking his options.

  Most young people nowadays suffer from decision fatigue to some extent—Natsume was no exception.

  "If I had to choose..."

  As his thoughts flowed, Natsume had already made up his mind.

  First, he wao expand his farm’s territory.

  Thanks to Pokémon, nd was not easy to acquire in this world.

  Whether for farms or city expansion, reckless development had historically led to too many Pokémoed is.

  Laws aions had long beeablished to prevent such issues.

  Sed, Natsume wanted Pokémon that were hard to e by.

  Pokémon like Indeedee, Audino, and Blissey.

  The tter two were the designated assistants for Pokémoer medical staff, making them almost impossible to find in the wild.

  As for Indeedee, there were no known wild poputions in Jadeleaf, making it an exceptionally rare Pokémon.

  Lastly, he needed some official certifications.

  Nowadays, everything required proper dotation, and some procedures were quite tedious.

  Although Natsume already met the ditions, he hadn’t received the official paperwork yet.

  Might as well take this ce to get everything sorted at once.

  Those were his three requests.

  It might seem like a lot, but sidering his strength and his role iing a Legendary Pokémon, this was far from excessive.

  If he were truly greedy, he could demand far more and walk away with an immense fortune.

  But so what?

  It would take time and effort and might leave a bad impression.

  This wasn’t some oime deal where he’d never have to i with these people again.

  There was no need for that kind of hassle.

  Getting the short end of the stick isn’t always a blessing, but being overly calcutive is definitely not.

  Natsume disliked endless bad-forth iations.

  It was tedious and a waste of time.

  If he had to deal with that, he’d rather just pretend Ting-Lu broke out of its Poké Ball and have another round of battle.

  Wouldn’t that be much simpler?

  "I’ll go bad report this. You return to your farm a for now."

  "Someone will officially reach out to you before dinner."

  After taking a few notes and exging taformation with Natsume, Shouhei informed him of the steps.

  As mentioned before, the moment Natsume battled Ting-Lu, his records had already been pulled up.

  Right now, he was somewhat of a rising name.

  The high-quality berries and Pokéblocks from his farm—far superior to the ones on the market—had already caught the attention of certain individuals.

  Whether sales would increase was uain, but at the very least, he might avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

  The cssic "urban protagonist face-spping" sario Natsume had envisioned?

  Yeah, that probably wasn’t happening to him.

  A bit of a shame, really.

  "Alright. See you."

  "See you, Natsume."

  Standing on Pidgeot’s back, Shouhei smiled.

  Another day of being a background character in someone else’s story.

  Some people were born to shine, destio be the ter of attention.

  And people like him?

  They were the crowd.

  The on folk, the stepping stones for the strong, the nameless challengers who lost before even making a name for themselves.

  But they were also the pilrs of their families.

  Despite his plicated emotions, Shouhei harbored ment.

  Once you have a family, your sharp edges naturally get worn down.

  In his younger days, he might have felt dissatisfied.

  But now?

  "...The reward for this mission should be det, right?"

  Shouhei was already sideriing his son’s first Pokémon.

  Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Shouhei, Natsume climbed onto Corviknight’s back.

  pared to Pidgeot, Corviknight was much rger and far more fortable to ride.

  After all, it was known as the "airboraxi" of the Pokémon world.

  Of course, when it came to pure speed, Corviknight couldn’t pete with Pidgeot.

  If Corviknight was an airbus, Pidgeot was a high-speed motorcycle.

  fort aside, speed and thrill were maxed out.

  In every sense of the word.

  "Caw-caw!"

  Are we heading back to the farm now?

  Spreading its razor-sharp wings, Corviknight g Natsume.

  There was oime when it had flown in the wrong direaking Natsume return home te and miss dinner.

  It had nearly gotteen up by the hungry Pokémon back at the farm.

  Sihen, Corviknight always double-checked the destination before taking off.

  "Hmm, let’s go home."

  Ruffling Corviknight’s head absentmindedly, Natsume’s tone carried a hint of something indescribable.

  At this moment, he seemed to suddenly uand what "home" truly meant.

  Home was never just a pce to live, nor a specific house.

  Home was wherever o at ease, where the things that mattered were.

  A pce where one could sleep peacefully.

  "Caw caw!"

  Alright! Crow Airliaking off!

  With a powerful fp of its wings, Corviknight shot into the vast blue sky.

  Just ten minutes ago, this same sky had been shrouded in sandstorms and blizzards.

  But now, it had returo its usual state.

  Clear, and serene.

  Natsume tilted his head back, gazing at the endless sky, his thoughts drifting far away.

  He thought of Rayquaza, guardian of the Sky Pilr, and of Zygarde, the deity of bance.

  When he finally came back to his senses, he lowered his head, looking down at the battlefield below.

  Caught in the midst of the fight, the sheer force of it had felt overwhelming.

  Every move in a battle between Pokémon could bring about massive devastation.

  But from up here, from this vantage point, it all seemed... so insignifit.

  The traces of that fierce battle—when viewed from the sky—were nothing more than faint marks on the nd.

  His fleeting sense of grandeur quickly faded.

  No, he still had a long way to go.

  He was far from reag the point where he could do as he pleased, without straint.

  Today’s battle, in more ways than one, had ged Natsume’s perspective.

  "Caw caw!"

  Natsume, we’re home.

  Lost in thought, Natsume barely noticed when Corviknight carried him back to the farm.

  Before they had even nded, he could see a crowd of Pokémon gathered at the farm’s entrance, waiting for him.

  "Lopuu!"

  The moment Lopunny spotted Natsume on Corviknight’s back, its expression visibly shifted—growied and relieved all at once.

  Ever since hearing that Natsume was going to fight a Legendary Pokémon, Lopunny’s heart had been in turmoil.

  The stant fear of bad news kept it on edge.

  It trusted Natsume, of course—but to an ordinary Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon were nothing short of untouchable myths.

  They represented absolute power—beings beyond the reaost Pokémon in their lifetime.

  But all that worry melted away the moment it saw him.

  "Lopuu!"

  As soon as Natsume touched the ground, Lopunny bolted forward and threw itself into his arms.

  With both arms ed tightly around him, it rubbed against him with the enthusiasm of a cat high on ip.

  "oo!"

  "Lili!"

  Oer ahe Pokémon from the farm rushed forward, swarming him like a hero returning from war.

  To the Pokémon living here, Natsume was uionably their hero.

  He was the one who provided them with food and shelter.

  And today, he had go to defeat a terrible ehat had threateheir home.

  They didn’t quite uand what a Legendary Pokémon was.

  All they knew was that Natsume had protected them.

  "Alright, alright, everyone, let me breathe a little."

  Surrounded by a sea of fluffy bodies, Natsume struggled to reach out, hoping Corviknight would give him a hand.

  Unfortunately, Corviknight either didn’t uand what he meant...

  Or perhaps it did uand, but simply couldn't help.

  After all, Corviknight was just a bird. It didn’t have hands to pull him out.

  Thud!

  Several crisp sounds echoed as Persian and the others emerged from their Poké Balls.

  Natsume’s Poké Balls had long since been modified to remove their log meisms.

  This meant that his Pokémon could e out on their own, whehey chose.

  In many situations, this allowed them to react quickly and assist their Trainer.

  Persian stepped onto the ground, zily lig its paw, pletely ign the pleading look in Natsume’s eyes.

  Slowking, oher hand, removed the "" from its head and began rummaging through something.

  For a moment, Natsume had the strange impression that, without the Shellder attached to its head, Slowking’s intelligence had regressed to its pre-evolution state.

  Ogerpon wao help, but its tiny body wasly suited for the task.

  In the end, it was Gardevoir who reached out and pulled Natsume free.

  As falde?

  That guy was still sulking, having spiraled into self-imposed isotion after losing trol of his emotions during the battle.

  It would probably take him some time to recover.

  "Saved at st."

  "Thanks a ton, Gardevoir."

  Natsume patted his chest, exhaling in relief. He had almost drowned in an o of fluff.

  Sure, fluff was cute—but that was not how he wao go out.

  "You worked hard, Natsume."

  Standing off to the side, Mei finally spoke up.

  The atmosphere just now had felt so... intimate. She wasn’t sure if she would’ve been intruding by saying something earlier.

  So, she had kept silent.

  "I wasn’t the one who worked hard. It was mostly Persian and the others."

  Straightening out his clothes, Natsume g Persian, who was already sprawled out on the ground, basking in the sun.

  He holy didn’t feel like he had done much.

  At the end of the day, his role was simply pnning strategies and providing support.

  The ones who had truly worked hard were Persian and the others—the ones who had faced the battle head-on.

  "As a reward for everyone’s efforts, let’s have a barbecue party tonight."

  Natsume really couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate.

  A barbecue was one of the few things he khat could liven up the mood and bring everyoogether for a fun time.

  "Lopuu!"

  "Yadon~"

  "Uma-uma!"

  As night began to fall, the person Shouhei had mentiohe one ing to meet with Natsume—finally arrived at the farm.

  Gcell