After the hectic first day of Rastor's Safari Zone finally came to a close, Arthur sank into his chair with a long, weary sigh. His eyes were bloodshot from hours spent glued to the monitoring screens in front of him.
Even a full day staring at his computer never left him this drained. Yet today, after only half a day, he felt completely worn out. Still, he couldn't complain—aside from his family, Rosaria's group, and Virelyra, he didn't trust anyone else enough to step into this monitor room and take over the task from him, let alone share the burden.
Unfortunately, none of the people he trusted seemed eager to commit to full-time observation duty. They might show interest during major events like today, but day-to-day monitoring? That would bore them to death.
Besides, they all had their own responsibilities to handle—everyone except Virelyra, at least.
His sister Lena probably had the freest schedule, but Arthur felt she'd already done more than enough for him during the early days of his Pokémon research. He was glad she could now focus on her own path—training her rain stall team and aiming to become a full-fledged Pokémon Trainer.
For the time being, he preferred to shoulder the task himself, while his apprentice Pokémon Ranger, Roland, took charge of fieldwork and helped care for the Pokémon on-site.
I really should find a coworker for Roland soon, Arthur thought with a tired smile. Other than me, he's probably the busiest person right now.
After the Safari Zone closed for the day, most villagers had successfully bonded with Pokémon they liked and left as official Rookie Trainers. As for those who hadn't caught anything yet, many weren't even trying—still holding out for a partner that truly resonated with them. They planned to return tomorrow and try again.
The Safari Zone wasn't huge, but even so, finding every species within a single day was unrealistic. Arthur only managed it thanks to the magical surveillance cameras—and a lot of help from Porygon.
---
Honestly, he still lost track of some Pokémon, but it was understandable. Some could phase through walls like Ghost-types, some hid deep beneath the lake, and others buried themselves underground. It was hard to account for them all.
Still, with the Safari Dome enclosing the entire Safari Zone like a globe, he was confident those vanishing Pokémon were still within the area. The risk of them being eaten by wild monsters was minimal—if anything with the strength of a First Ring creature appeared, Porygon would immediately restrain or weaken it, giving the other Pokémon an opportunity to gang up on it together.
At night, the situation wasn't as concerning. Most of the Pokémon had already reached at least level 5—they weren't helpless anymore. Aside from particularly weak species like Magikarp, most could find shelter or even befriend nocturnal Pokémon to stand guard through the night.
While Gen 1 didn't offer many nocturnal species, some daytime Pokémon could adapt and stay awake after dark, so the problem was manageable.
Even so, Arthur had instructed Porygon to keep a close watch. As long as it remained inside the Magic Grid, it didn't need sleep. The constant flow of mana sustained it entirely—allowing it not only to remain active indefinitely, but to grow stronger over time.
Thinking about this brought Arthur's mind back to a larger, more ambitious challenge: creating a Legendary Pokémon.
Maybe I could use Porygon as a reference point, he mused.
---
After preparing and enjoying dinner—Slowpoke tails once again sent by Reden that morning, a dish his family had grown quite fond of, and honestly, so had he—Arthur left his house and made his way to the entrance booth of the Safari Zone.
Today marked a historic moment for both him and Rastor Village: the official opening of the Safari Zone.
It had even been given a formal title, one Arthur personally disliked—The Rastor Grand Rite of Pokémon Companionship and Capture.
Still, the name had stuck. Most people seemed to like it, including his own family. And since he hadn't come up with anything better, he simply let it be.
In the years to come, today—the 1st of August—would be remembered as the day Pokémon were first introduced to the public. It would undoubtedly become a celebrated festival in Rastor Village.
Already, Arthur could see signs of change everywhere. Construction was underway in every direction. People from nearby villages—and even towns—were moving to Rastor Village, building homes and expanding the village's borders.
The Village Chief was busier than ever, caught up in land disputes and development plans.
Village Chief Joey had always preferred a quiet, peaceful village, but with the village's growth now centered around Pokémon, it seemed inevitable that things would never be the same.
When he first started raising his Rattata, he had already overestimated the potential of these creatures. Now, he realized he had been far too conservative.
If a humble Village Chief like himself could see this potential, merchants surely could—and it wouldn't be long before others caught on, too.
As a result, Rastor's economy, infrastructure, and population were all poised for rapid growth. It probably wouldn't be long before Rastor Village became Rastor Town.
After all, who could resist the thought of having these adorable Pokémon as partners?
Most newcomers, besides recognizing the village's growing promise, also hoped to leverage their status as Rastor villagers to try their luck in the Safari Zone.
Arthur felt a mix of worry and hope as he watched these changes unfold.
Thankfully, the village was protected by powerful guardians: Princess Rosaria, the enigmatic Village Chief Joey, and the legendary dragon race, Virelyra.
In fact, the frequency of crimes had risen sharply since the Safari Zone opened—all of them Pokémon-related: attempts to break into the Safari Dome, stealing Rookie Trainers' Poké Balls, forcing others to hand over their Pokémon, and more.
However, these incidents were swiftly handled by Village Chief Joey, Virelyra, and the ever-watchful Bloodthorn—who, under Rosaria's orders, disguised themselves to secretly guard the village.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the security in this small village was better than that of many cities.
---
Arriving at the entrance booth, Arthur met up with Roland, who looked like he'd aged a year but still brimmed with energy, clearly enjoying his current role.
"Great work, Roland," Arthur said with a smile. "I promise I'll find someone to share the workload soon."
"You'd better," Roland replied with a grin, stroking the head of his Farfetch'd affectionately. "Or else Farfetch'd might have to abandon its leek and drag me off to the Pokémon Center."
Arthur chuckled, suddenly remembering. Oh yeah... the Pokémon Center. With so many battles going on, Anna Joy must be busier than ever. He realized he'd completely forgotten to check in on her.
Though Rosaria had helped him stock up on plenty of potions, their effects weren't nearly as instantaneous as those in the real Pokémon World. As a result, the two Miltank and the Chansey still had to work hard.
The Miltank could barely keep up with healing, their Moomoo Milk being too low-grade, while the Chansey gradually grew exhausted after using multiple Life Dew and Heal Bell moves.
In fact, this Chansey's Life Dew was an enchanted variant—it actually had two versions of the move: one natural, and another copied from Lena's Lapras through Copycat.
Like String Shot, Life Dew had been significantly enhanced, offering stronger healing—but at the cost of draining slightly more stamina. On busy days like today, Arthur had instructed Anna Joy to prioritize potions, only resorting to Life Dew for serious injuries.
Though his research fund was being drained rapidly, it was still enough to cover the cost of these potions. Unlike a typical Pokémon Center where treatment was free, here, healing came at a price.
There was no way he could run the Pokémon Center for free—not only him, but even his funder, Rosaria, would eventually be completely broke!
However, he knew charging too much was unrealistic, given how often Rookie Trainers would bring their Pokémon in for treatment. So, he kept the fees as low as possible, barely making a small profit.
The real profit came from selling potions inside the Pokémon Center. But so far, sales were slow—no one had ventured far enough with their Pokémon to need them just yet.
Originally, he hadn't planned to sell potions there, but eventually decided it was a good idea.
Since not many people could use healing magic, future Trainers coming here to heal their Pokémon would definitely find potions useful; with nothing to do while waiting for their Pokémon to recover, and potions being sold right in front of them, they'd often choose to buy them here rather than making the trip to alchemist or potion shops.
In this regard, selling potions directly inside the Pokémon Center might be more effective than separating them into a Poké Mart—but that wouldn't be an issue if the Poké Mart were located right next to the Pokémon Center.
He had already freed up space next to the Pokémon Center just in case. So as soon as there were more Pokémon-related goods to sell, he planned to construct a Poké Mart.
While Arthur was reviewing the ledger and records, Roland casually mentioned, "There's a… unique pair—a Gastly and a witch-like woman. No clue if they get along, but Gastly seemed willing to go with her, so I let them."
Roland thought he should report this to Arthur, but since Arthur had already witnessed the entire capture process, he knew Gastly had indeed chosen the witch-like woman as its partner. He simply thanked Roland for the update and chatted a bit more about his thoughts on the Safari Zone's opening.
Scratching his head and looking away, Roland said, "It's fine for now, but doing this every day will turn my hair white by my late 30s, and my Farfetch'd will drag me to the Pokémon Center every day…"
You've already said that... Arthur smiled wryly and nodded. "I promise I'll find someone soon, really."
"Preferably someone to work at the exit side," Roland added. "Because I actually enjoy greeting the Rookie Trainers trying their luck at the entrance."
Nodding his head, he filed that away in his mind.
Finding someone wasn't difficult—there were plenty of applications from outsiders—but for now, he preferred a fellow villager.
However, most of his fellow villagers chose the path of Pokémon Trainer, focusing on training and battling, rather than becoming Pokémon Rangers who spent their days protecting the Safari Zone and helping wild Pokémon in emergencies.
The work of preserving peace and harmony between humans and Pokémon wasn't something most villagers cared about, much less the outsiders who came here solely to catch a Pokémon for themselves.
After Arthur finished reviewing the ledger and records, Roland pointed at the ledger and said, "As you can see, a lot of Caterpie and Weedle are crossed out—more than half are gone. I don't personally see the appeal, but they're pretty popular. We need more of them."
Arthur nodded, noting that most Rastor villagers tended to choose Caterpie and Weedle as their partners.
This was likely influenced by his parents, who had Butterfree and Beedrill—both of which often ventured deep into the forest with the hunting team—giving those Pokémon a certain prestige in the village.
How many Bug Catchers would be born in this village? Arthur found it amusing but also slightly blamed himself for not noticing this sooner.
Thinking further, besides increasing the numbers of Caterpie and Weedle, Growlithe populations should be boosted as well. With only a week left before the third batch of Rosaria's invitees arrived to capture their own Pokémon—and since most of them were from the Bloodthorn, destined to bond with Growlithe for some reason—it was important to prepare.
Besides popular choices like Caterpie and Weedle, there were also the less fortunate—Magikarp, for example.
Unsurprisingly, no one chose Magikarp.
Arthur had no intention of telling anyone that Magikarp evolved into the mighty Gyarados. Even if he did, most would likely just find the name intimidating, without realizing just how powerful a Gyarados truly was.
Speaking of Magikarp, he suddenly thought of Zeth. With how Zeth had started worshipping Arceus, Arthur doubted he'd find Magikarp lacking—so it should be fine.
Apart from Zeth, there was also Orav with his Magnemite, and another guy named Eren who had a Munchlax. All of them were worth keeping an eye on, and Arthur planned to ask Rosaria about them the next time she visited.
"Roland, here—take this home to share with your family." Arthur pulled a steaming bowl of Slowpoke tail soup from his spatial waist bag and handed it to Roland.
Roland looked at the soup, the fragrant aroma immediately filling his senses.
"Is this… Slowpoke tail?" he asked hesitantly as he accepted the bowl, eyeing the pieces of meat.
"That's right." Arthur was pleasantly surprised that Roland recognized it. It seemed he'd picked the right apprentice Pokémon Ranger—Roland had clearly been studying the Pokémon Encyclopedia Arthur had given him.
Of course, it mostly contained basic information and covered only Gen 1 Pokémon.
After thanking Arthur for the soup, Roland left his post with a cheerful smile, Farfetch'd trotting behind him.
Watching them go, Arthur returned the smile and stepped out from the entrance booth.
He inhaled the crisp night air deeply, a wave of relief washing over him.
The first day of the Safari Zone's opening had been a success!