Another brand-new day.
This morning, after finishing his farm work, Naoki leisurely took a watering can and started watering the flowers in the garden.
Early in the morning, the diligent Combees began their labor.
They flew back and forth among the flowers, collecting nectar from the blossoms.
Naoki warmly greeted them, "Good morning, Combee!"
"Buzz~"
The Combees let out a melodious growl in response to Naoki's greeting, then continued with their work.
After watering, Naoki started patrolling his ranch, the home he and the many Pokémon had painstakingly built.
In the fields, Dragonite was, as usual, practicing Rain Dance.
In front of the Chicken House, Pawmi was herding the hens.
Over a month had passed, and the little yellow chicks that hatched from their eggs had grown quite a bit and started mimicking their mother, pecking at food in the grass.
At this stage, the chicks already knew they shouldn't eat beyond their fill, so there was no worry about them overeating. Naoki changed the feeding system in the Chicken House to free feeding.
This was much more convenient.
Upon seeing him approaching, the leisurely Pawmi on the grass merrily raised its paws, greeting him.
Over time, this lost Pawmi had completely adapted to life on the ranch.
Imitating his schedule, it began working from early morning till late evening. Every morning after breakfast, it would automatically head to the Chicken House to herd, and in the evening, it would herd the hens back into the house, then obediently return to the cabin to sleep with him.
Naoki smiled and nodded to Pawmi, then continued onward.
Ahead was the Pokemon House, where three Miltanks lived.
The pasture seeds he sowed on the land in front of the house over a fortnight ago had sprouted, and he believed it wouldn't be long before they grew into lush, delicious pasture.
The three Miltanks had finished producing milk and were lying on the grass, basking in the sun.
They simply loved life here.
Because the food here was much tastier than at their previous ranch.
To thank the rancher here, they put effort into producing milk every day.
—After all, leaving it is a waste; it's better to milk it all out, making them feel lighter.
Moving further ahead, they reached Nacli's Salt House.
However, recently, the weather had been improving, and the Naclis, led by the Alcremie, were frolicking outside every day.
This resulted in a significant decrease in rock salt production.
Naoki felt helpless about this but chose not to shut the Naclis inside, letting them play freely instead.
Finding no one in the Salt House, Naoki closed the door and headed to the Gogoats' territory.
The three Gogoats had finished their dancing for today and were lazily lying on the grass, munching on it.
Beside them, there was a figure that surprised Naoki.
Is that... Smoliv?
Curious, he walked over to the Smoliv by the Gogoats and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Smoliv swayed gently, happily responding, "Oliv~"
Because it's really cozy here!
At that moment, Naoki noticed a green glow emanating from beneath the Gogoats.
He instantly understood.
Thanks to the Gogoats, the Grass Type Energy on this patch of grass was particularly dense and abundant.
This environment was a sanctuary for plants and Grass-Type Pokémon, so they naturally gravitated toward it and stayed there.
"Gogoat, I'll leave Smoliv in your care for now; I need to get to work," Naoki said.
The Gogoats gladly agreed to look after Smoliv.
Meanwhile, Naoki went to the shed behind the house, took out an axe and a saw, and used the leftover wood and a simple workbench inside to start crafting a wooden fence.
He planned to handcraft a wooden fence, enclosing the flower garden and separating it from the fields, dedicating it solely for viewing pleasure.
Once summer came and those flowers wilted, Naoki planned to plant a batch of sunflower seeds there, establishing a beautiful Sunflora Field.
Such precise handiwork was beyond Koraidon's help; its strength was too excessive, likely snapping wood accidentally.
Thus, Naoki had to do it himself, and he toiled until the afternoon to barely finish the task.
Setting up the wooden fence around the garden and hanging a sign painted with flowers at the entrance, a complete garden was finally ready.
Naoki clapped his hands, realizing several calluses had formed unknowingly during his work.
He didn't mind it, though.
Perhaps for a farmer, these represented badges of honor for hard work?
Dusting off his hands, Naoki patted the heads of Koraidon and Cyclizar beside him, asking, "What do you guys want to eat tonight?"
"Ah guh!~"
"Gao!~"
The two Pokémon responded simultaneously.
Yet Naoki didn't understand a single word, laughing it off, "How about sandwiches then?"
Koraidon, Cyclizar: "..."
Saying that, Naoki took out their favorite steaks from the fridge, intending to make fried steaks.
Just then, the video phone behind him rang.
Naoki raised his eyebrow in surprise.
Who could be calling him at this time?
He washed his hands and went over to answer it, hearing Mayor Thomas's voice through the call.
"Good evening, Naoki!"
"Good evening, Mayor Thomas! What can I do for you today?"
"Haha, it's about the horse racing event at the end of March. Since you have a phone now, I'm calling instead of mailing you a letter."
"The town will be hosting a Spring Horse Race on the 25th of this month. Anyone with a Horse-type Pokémon can participate, along with numerous passing Trainers entering the race!"
"However, it seems you don't have any Horse-type Pokémon yet, so you might not be able to participate."
"But you can still come and watch the race. You can buy betting coupons at the event for the contestants you fancy. If they become the Champion, you can exchange the betting coupons for various items!"
Betting coupons? Isn't that just horse betting?
Hearing about exchanging for various items, Naoki's interest was piqued, and he inquired, "Items?"
Mayor Thomas answered, "Since most of the contestants are passing Trainers, we've prepared many items useful to Trainers, like various Evolution Stones, equipment for training Pokémon, and other wondrous items for Pokémon to hold."
Evolution Stones...
Naoki quickly thought of a goal in his life—to collect all Eevee evolutions.
Most Eevee evolutions require Evolution Stones, with the exception of Sylveon, Espeon, and Umbreon. To gather the other Eevee types, he'd need five Evolution Stones.
These are Fire, Water, Thunder, Leaf, and Ice.
Currently, he only had one Water Stone, which Teddiursa found and gifted him before.
Although he didn't have an Eevee yet, it was always good to be prepared.
Ending the call, Naoki began contemplating his current situation.
There were still 10 days left until the horse racing event.
According to Mayor Thomas, everyone could buy a limited amount of betting coupons.
These betting coupons could be used to bet on the contestants they supported, earning more coupons, and then exchanged for items.
Apart from that, one could also participate in the race themselves. Besides the Champion Trophy, the winner could select a free item as a reward.
If confident enough, they could even bet the coupons on themselves.
The question was, in those ten days, would he come across a Horse-type Pokémon?
Even if he did, could he nurture it to a level capable of winning the championship?
Hmm, that was a question indeed.