Last time Naoki went to town, he bought six Poke Balls in total.
After using one on Cyclizar, four remained.
This meant he could bring back five Pokemon to the ranch today.
"One Tropius, two Skiddo and one Gogoat, plus two Nacli, just enough! Oh, no, I'm still missing a Pokemon that knows Rain Dance and Water Gun."
Naoki silently calculated in his mind.
Of course, if these Pokemon didn't want to be captured, he wouldn't force them.
The key was mutual consent because even if he captured them forcefully, they might not cooperate with his work back at the ranch.
So, the willingness of the Pokemon was also a very important factor.
Naoki circled around the area, observing the wildlife and the types and ecology of the wild Pokemon from above.
He wasn't in a rush to capture them right away; a qualified rancher must have enough patience.
After all, haste makes waste.
Just then, Naoki suddenly heard someone calling out.
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young man with a backpack and binoculars energetically calling out to him from a nearby watchtower.
"Hey there, fella! Hey! Over here!"
Naoki was slightly startled.
Was he being called?
He pondered briefly and said to Koraidon below him, "Let's go over there and take a look!"
"Gha-szz—"
Koraidon responded and turned to fly towards the watchtower standing by the lakeside.
When they got closer, the man could finally see Koraidon's appearance clearly.
His attention was instantly captured, and his surprised gaze carried a hint of curiosity: "What kind of Pokemon is this?"
Koraidon glanced at him sideways: "Ah-sszz?"
Naoki introduced from the side, "It's called Koraidon."
"Koraidon?" Upon hearing the name, the man hurriedly picked up a book from the ground, quickly flipped through it, and searched for something on the pages.
Soon, his eyes widened involuntarily.
A Pokemon not in the illustrated book!
Doesn't that mean it's an undiscovered Pokemon!
"It's astonishing!" The man circled around Koraidon, inspecting closely.
Koraidon looked at him disdainfully.
Seeing the man in a daze, Naoki speechlessly said, "Did you call me for something?"
The man snapped back to reality and quickly put away the illustrated book, introducing himself:
"I'm Yousuke, from the faraway Galar region, and I'm currently traveling around Paldea to research Pokemon ecology!"
His face showed a slightly awkward expression: "I just saw you riding it around the sky, so... I'm really sorry!"
"But speaking of which, the Pokemon ecology here in Paldea is truly fascinating! I've been staying at this watchtower for half a month now, and I've discovered up to forty-eight different species of Pokemon!"
Saying this, the man squatted down and took out a sketchbook from his casually placed satchel: "Look, these are the Pokemon I've illustrated! It records their ecological habits and areas of appearance in detail!"
Seeing this scene, Naoki felt a stir in his heart.
The range of Casseroya Lake was vast, and he wasn't familiar with the Pokemon appearance times there. Could he get more information on rare and seldom-seen Pokemon from this person?
With this thought, Naoki reached out and took the sketchbook from him, casually flipping through a page where he saw a hand-drawn depiction of a Pokemon from the Galar region.
It was an Urshifu.
It had a tall stature, with a benevolent smile on its face.
Beside it stood a slightly immature, short-haired boy.
Urshifu... it's a Legendary Beast!
Naoki was somewhat astonished.
Yousuke noticed his expression and came over, smiling as he looked at the scene in the drawing, asking, "Can you guess what their relationship is?"
Hmm? Naoki raised an eyebrow slightly, with Koraidon also leaning over to take a look.
"Trainer and Pokemon?" Naoki guessed.
"No!" Yousuke shook his head with excitement in his voice: "Father and son!"
What? Naoki was dumbfounded immediately.
His first reaction was how could that be...
But Yousuke seemed to have guessed what he wanted to say: "Quite surprising, right? But it's true. I encountered them in the Galar region, and they are exactly what made me realize that there are other possibilities between humans and Pokemon."
"At that time, I was really taken aback! It was only later that I found out, the child had been abandoned as a baby and floated down the river to where this Urshifu lived, being adopted by it."
"Humans and Pokemon, father and son, I never thought such a thing existed in this world!"
Yousuke spoke with great enthusiasm.
Naoki thought, what's so special about that? He's even heard of humans marrying Pokemon!
Like Gardevoir and female Machamp, they're regulars.
He didn't take this matter too seriously, instead focusing his attention on the sketchbook in front of him.
Then Yousuke leaned over again and asked, "Can I do a drawing of this Pokemon? As a reward, I can give you my specialty sandwiches that even Pokemon find delicious! Please, I'm begging you!"
Naoki: "..."
He waved his hand casually and sat down cross-legged: "Go ahead, draw!"
The man was overjoyed: "Arigato!"
He took out another half-used sketchbook and a pencil from his backpack, sitting on the ground and focusing intently on sketching Koraidon's figure.
Only then did Naoki notice that the sketchbook in his hands was already filled to the brim.
"Gha-szz..."
Hearing Koraidon's call, Naoki looked up to see it with a stiff body, pitifully gazing at him.
Just as Naoki was about to speak, Yousuke said, "No need to be too tense, just sit in your most relaxed, natural pose!"
So, Naoki gestured for Koraidon to come over, and Koraidon lay down beside him, resting its big head on Naoki's lap.
Seeing this, Yousuke's eyes lit up instantly: "Good, very good, just like that! Perfect posture! This Pokemon really trusts you!"
Naoki scratched Koraidon's chin with a smile and then flipped through the sketchbook in his hand, checking the Pokemon ecology around Casseroya Lake.
Indeed, the Pokemon in this area were more than he imagined.
Besides what he just discovered outside, there were also gentle Azumarill, Swablu with wings as white and soft as clouds, Sliggoo that lived in damp caves, and the pink loli Tinkaton with a hammer...
The book unfolded from Yousuke's perspective, and aside from the Pokemon he knew, there were some shrouded in mist, revealing only a vague outline.
Next to the shadows was a question mark, suggesting that even Yousuke hadn't seen these rare Pokemon.
Some of the shadows Naoki couldn't identify either, but when he flipped to a certain page, he suddenly saw a familiar silhouette.
It seemed to be a cliff, shrouded at the top in mist, with the shadow of a Pokemon within it.
The Pokemon had a plump body, looking very round.
A question mark was also drawn beside it.
Below the question mark was a description.
[Unknown Pokemon, appears promptly at seven every evening on the cliff, sits there still until five the next morning, and then flies back to the sea. Unfortunately, the cliff is too high for me to reach, and I can only see a blurry shadow due to the mist.]