League Calendar Year 198, Spring, March 14th.
This is the last month of spring, followed closely by the scorching summer.
Naoki really dislikes the feeling of being drenched in sweat, so on this morning, he took the money he'd saved up these days and headed to Porto Marinada Town, intending to buy a few air conditioners.
He rode on Cyclizar all the way to the department store in town, and under the guidance of a sales assistant, returned to the floor selling appliances.
There, he selected four air conditioners, planning to install one in the Salt House where Nacli lives, one in the Pokemon House where Miltank lives, one in the Chicken House, and one in his own cabin.
A hundred and twenty thousand League Coins were spent in an instant, all money saved up over the past half month from selling crops, rock salt, milk, and goat's milk.
Even though he was mentally prepared, looking at his nearly empty wallet, Naoki couldn't help but feel a pang of pain.
But there's no choice, these are necessities of life that must be installed before summer arrives.
Seeing this customer buy so many air conditioners at once, the sales assistant was surprised but still arranged for staff to come and install them.
As soon as the four air conditioners were all installed, Naoki instantly felt relieved.
This way, by the time summer comes, he wouldn't be too hot to sleep!
Thanks to joining by Miltank and the rest, the ranch's funding problem was solved, and the ranch officially entered the next phase—a revival phase.
In this phase, Naoki mainly prepares to do two things.
First, expand his residence, turning it into a real home, a fully functional home with a bedroom, living room, cellar, study, and bathroom.
The bedroom is for resting, the living room can entertain guests occasionally visiting the ranch, and the study can be used to keep account books, read, and record recipes.
As for the cellar…
In another two weeks, summer will arrive, and the hop planting can officially start; without a cellar, it means he can't start a brewing business.
Besides that, he also needs to prepare some money to purchase barrels for brewing.
As for the second thing, it's to plant more summer crops and use them to develop even more new dishes.
Then see if any of the dishes meet the criteria, and use them to strengthen the Pokemon on the ranch, achieving a cycle.
At noon, Naoki began preparing lunch for all the Pokemon.
He opened the refrigerator, looking at the abundant ingredients inside, and his gaze paused on a jar of golden sticky liquid.
Soon after, the information about this jar of liquid popped into his mind.
[Tulip Honey: Honey made from the pollen and nectar of tulips, carefully tasting can bring out a faint floral aroma from it, making it an excellent ingredient for desserts.]
This is the honey that the Combee has gathered from the flower field recently.
The first time he saw them gathering, Naoki got a fright.
Because he remembered tulips contain mannose and galactose, which are toxic to bees in that world, so bees gathering tulip nectar would die on the flowers.
But it turns out that the constitution of Pokemon is beyond what ordinary bees can compare to.
Although they're both "bees," tulip nectar had no effect on the Combee.
Seeing this, Naoki felt relieved and let them gather.
It's a pity that Teddiursa left too early, if it had stayed a few more days, it could have tasted this new flavor of honey. Naoki thought.
All this honey has been used by him to make Lucky Pudding, but unfortunately, despite making so much of it, he hasn't managed to make a batch with a permanent luck effect again.
However, Naoki is not discouraged, because to him, whether it's permanent or not doesn't matter.
While he's in the ranch, he can have a pudding for the lucky effect at any time. If he keeps eating them, the effect they bring is virtually permanent when averaged out.
"I wonder where Teddiursa and Mew are right now."
Pressing down the concerns in his heart, Naoki started preparing lunch for Koraidon and the others.
Today's lunch is the same as usual: grilled steak and sandwiches, plus a serving of smashed cucumbers and a cup of optional Berry Juice and MooMoo Milk.
During the meal, Naoki looked at Dragonite and realized he hadn't asked about its move training progress in a long time, so he casually asked:
"Did you master the Electric Type move Thunder I taught you earlier?"
Talking about moves, Dragonite immediately became excited.
"Rawr!" It nodded its big head.
Not only that, but it has also managed to successfully execute the combo moveset of Rain Dance + Hurricane + Thunder that Naoki taught it last time!
"Oh?" Seeing this, Naoki was a bit surprised: "You've progressed quite quickly!"
"Rawr~"
So after the meal, Dragonite dragged Naoki outside with its big claws to show the progress it has made over this period.
Naoki stood under the eaves, with Koraidon and Cyclizar standing on either side of him.
They saw Dragonite flap its wings and fly into the air.
It concentrated, and the once clear sky was instantly covered with a dense layer of dark clouds, with tendrils of Electric Type Energy swirling within.
It started to rain.
At first, it was a light drizzle, but gradually, the rain grew heavier, forming strings that poured down with a patter.
Dragonite was bathed in this heavy rain, its body drenched glossy by the raindrops, its eyes seeming to blaze with flames.
The next second, Dragonite flapped its wings, and a gust of Hurricane formed, merging with the pouring rain to create a terrifyingly large storm.
Naoki watched the rather spectacular scene.
If an ordinary Pokemon faced this move without special environmental training, it would probably end up in a flustered mess.
At this moment—
There was a loud rumble.
A giant bolt of lightning flickered directly from the thundercloud down, striking the grass below into a deep pit.
Sss!
Naoki took a sharp breath.
What terrifying power!
If a Pokemon got hit by that move…he simply couldn't imagine.
At this moment, the storm began to subside, the dark clouds above gradually dispersed, revealing the clear blue sky.
"Clap clap clap!"
Naoki immediately started applauding, praising: "That's amazing!"
"Rawr…"
Hearing this, Dragonite sheepishly landed beside Naoki, using its big claw to scratch its head.
No way, it's still got a long way to go!
In Dragonite's mind flashed the image of the mysterious Pokemon it saw above the typhoon's eye, entirely pitch black, resembling a roaming dragon.
Looking at the transformed Dragonite before him, Naoki couldn't help but feel moved.
Extreme Speed, Dragon Tail, Thunder Punch, Hurricane, Agility, Dragon Dance, Rain Dance, Thunderbolt, Thunder.
Before he knew it, Dragonite had learned so many moves.
Naoki felt like there was nothing left for him to teach it.
Thinking of this, Naoki asked: "You've already learned so many moves, what are your plans next?"
Hearing this, Dragonite immediately panicked.
Because hearing Naoki's words, it seemed like he was saying I have nothing left to teach you, you can leave now!
Is he trying to send it away?
Dragonite didn't want to leave, and immediately looked forlorn as it furrowed its brow: "Rawr…"
Though humans and Pokemon can't speak the same language, looking at Dragonite's expression, Naoki somehow magically understood what it meant at this moment.
He felt a mixture of amusement and helplessness: "I'm not trying to send you away, I just want to ask about your next plans, I mean I'll soon have nothing left to teach you, by then will you want to leave the ranch and return to Dragonite Island?"
Naoki hadn't forgotten, Dragonite initially followed him wanting to learn moves.
Hearing this, Dragonite fell into contemplation.
At first, it was indeed because it wanted to learn moves that it followed Naoki.
But later…
Naoki gave it a Berry Platter to help it learn Extreme Speed.
Naoki got Koraidon to teach it to use Dragon Tail.
Naoki accompanied it under the rain to practice Thunder Punch and Rain Dance, and even got sick because of it.
Worried about Naoki, it then realized Agility while delivering milk.
At this moment, Dragonite wasn't staying with Naoki just because it wanted to get stronger anymore.
——It liked this human, and wanted to stay with him forever.