"Boom!"
The next morning, Naoki was awakened by a clap of thunder.
He opened his eyes, dazed for a few seconds, then suddenly sat up from the bed.
It's raining!
The dense raindrops made a pattering sound as they hit the window, and the sky outside was shrouded in a gloomy rain curtain.
The Pokemon in the room were also awakened by the thunder, and they all opened their eyes in a bewildered manner, looking around.
On rainy days, there's no need to water the plants, so you can be a bit lazy. Hence, Naoki lay back down and closed his eyes.
Just then, he suddenly felt a gaze that could not be ignored focusing on him.
Naoki opened his eyes and saw Koraidon approaching with its big head to the side of the bed, looking at him eagerly, with a rumbling sound coming from its stomach.
Naoki: "..."
Sigh, alright.
He could only get up and dress with resignation.
The air inside the house on a rainy day was also filled with dampness, making one feel uncomfortable.
Before preparing breakfast, Naoki put on rubber boots and a raincoat, went to the storage room to fetch some firewood, and placed it in the fireplace to ignite it.
As the room temperature rose, the trace of humidity was completely evaporated, restoring the usual dryness.
Looking up at the old log cabin, Naoki muttered to himself, "Luckily, there's no leaking."
The Pokemon had all awakened, Alcremie left the cupboard and went to the window where Smoliv was, sticking to the glass with it, watching the pouring rain outside.
Koraidon settled comfortably on the wooden floor, patiently waiting for Naoki to cook.
Cyclizar, however, went under the eaves, standing there, feeling the breeze.
Above it, Dragonite was perched on that wooden box, gently flapping its wings, looking at the rain.
And Naoki was preparing breakfast with the ingredients, pondering as he did: "This old cabin has a history of several decades."
The original owner's grandfather lived here all his life. Back then, times were primitive and underdeveloped, and the rancher engaged in livestock farming.
So, aside from a cabin and an abandoned Pokemon House, nothing else was left behind.
As for why they didn't expand the cabin, maybe the old man thought it was enough for him to live alone? Naoki wondered.
Taking a deep breath, Naoki contemplated plans for expanding the cabin in his mind.
Soon, breakfast was ready, and Naoki served it on the table, then took out a Poke Ball to release Dragonite, who was fast asleep inside.
Dragonite woke up, rubbed its eyes, and soon noticed the rain outside.
This made its eyes light up, and it quickly said to Naoki, "Roar!" It's raining!
"I know." Naoki understood Dragonite's meaning: "Let's eat first, and after breakfast, we can go outside and take a look."
Dragonite immediately started devouring its breakfast.
Naoki simply drank a bowl of porridge, said to Dragonite, "I have to feed the chickens. After you deliver the milk, we can give it a try," and then grabbed a cucumber and headed out, munching it while running toward the sheep pen.
On rainy days, the Skiddo didn't want to go out either, the three of them huddled together under the rain shelter, watching the rain outside.
When they saw Naoki approaching, their eyes focused on him in unison.
Naoki glanced at their feed trough and, unsurprisingly, saw that the grassy seeds were all gone.
Naoki: "..." He had just filled it last night!
These three Skiddo sure could eat.
With a silent sigh, Naoki resignedly refilled the grassy seeds, noting that he was running low and needed to make more in the afternoon.
The Skiddo nearby let out cheerful growls.
"Baa baa baa~"
"Did you learn a new move as well?" Naoki asked casually.
"Baa!"
One of the Skiddo nodded.
"Oh?" Naoki was curious: "What is it? Can you show me?"
The Skiddo began to demonstrate.
With a serious expression, Grass Type Energy surged over its body, condensing into a sharp Leaf Blade.
The Skiddo controlled the Leaf Blade, slicing forward as if using a sword.
This was...
"Leaf Blade?" Naoki raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Baa~" The Skiddo seemed very pleased.
Watching this scene, Naoki inexplicably thought of the Legendary Pokemon King of Swords, Zacian, from the Galar Region.
He suddenly asked, "Can you make that leaf bigger and hold it in your mouth to attack?"
"Baa baa?" The Skiddo looked puzzled, apparently not understanding.
Naoki glanced beside him, plucked a blade of grass from the ground, and held it in his mouth to demonstrate to the Skiddo.
Ding!
A big light bulb lit up over the Skiddo's head.
It used Grass Type Energy to recreate the Leaf Blade, but this time, instead of attacking directly, it held the sword-like leaf horizontally in its mouth.
"Wow, cool!"
Naoki didn't expect the Skiddo to actually do it, now it could cosplay as Zacian in Galar.
With the Leaf Blade in its mouth, the Skiddo swung its head side to side, delightedly discovering it was easier to control this way!
The other two Skiddo watched with envy.
They wanted to do it too...
So they turned and started devouring the grassy seeds.
"..."
Watching this scene, Naoki felt somewhat numb.
He bade farewell to the Skiddo, headed to the Salt House, filled the feed for the group of Nacli inside, and played a little game of lift with them.
After that, he went to the Chicken House.
As soon as he entered, Naoki heard a series of soft chirps.
He looked down and was immediately delighted by what he saw on the haystack.
The eggs had hatched!
In the Chicken House, besides the original three hens and one rooster, there were now six new little lives.
Six fluffy, pale yellow chicks!
Wonderful!
Last time, Naoki set nine eggs, now six had hatched, with three still incubating.
"Good job!"
To reward the hardworking hens, Naoki filled their feed trough with chicken feed and water, then took out tools to clean the floor of the Chicken House.
Just then, Naoki noticed a row of inconspicuous little footprints on the Chicken House's ground.
"Huh?"
He squatted down to inspect, puzzled.
The plum blossom-shaped footprints led from the door to the feed trough and then doubled back outside.
Was it an animal? Or a Pokemon?
A few possible figures flashed through Naoki's mind.
He followed the small footprints outside, but outside the Chicken House, it was just grassland, and with the rain, the prints disappeared.
Standing by the door and looking around, he noted the Chicken House was built by the river, enclosed by wooden fences.
To enter, one had to cross the fence first.
But the gaps between the fence slats were small, suggesting the intruder wasn't large in size or was very agile, able to jump high.
Upon entering the Chicken House, it didn't harm the hens; instead, it chose to steal a bit of chicken feed, not alerting any other Pokemon at all.
This suggested the intruder was very cautious, acting with great care.
What could it be?