ales slept for a long time. In its dream, it cried and ughed, its emotions shiftiween joy and sorrow as if reliving its youthful days. Naoki and the Pokémon watg felt a mix of emotions as well.

  When they saw the graceful girl in the kimono age into an old woman with wrinkles, gray hair, and a hunched back, they couldn't help but feel moved.

  No wonder ales was so heartbroken. To see that person again, it had traveled so far and endured so much. But at least now, ale's wish had been fulfilled.

  When it woke up, its face returo its usual calm and serene expression, though this time with a hint of gentleness.

  It stood up from uhe tree, its nine rge, golden, fluffy tails swaying in the sunlight, and approached Naoki. With great siy, ales expressed its gratitude.

  "I will always remember this day," it said softly.

  "It's nothing, really," Naoki replied quickly, shaking his head and waving his hands. "I'm just gd I could help."

  He then asked, "Where will you go ?"

  ales looked into the distas gaze far away. It didn't answer directly but simply said, "I'll go where I'm meant to be."

  Naoki was slightly taken aback but nodded. "Alright then, safe travels."

  The only regret Naoki had was that the tavern wasn't built yet. As the first visitor, ales wouldn't get to see it. The thought made him feel a little sad.

  ales, sensing his emotions, nodded in gratitude once more. It then raised its head, let out a melodious cry, and, stepping on flickering fmes, ran toward the horizon, disappearing from sight.

  As Naoki stared in the dire ales had gone, he felt a wave of emotion wash over him.

  But wheurned around, he noticed that all the Pokémon on the ranch had tears in their eyes.

  Naoki: "…"

  Dratini and Dragonair had never seen a Pokémon like ales, nor had they experienced having their own trainers or such deep bonds. Yet, that didn't stop them from feeling moved by ales' story.

  Three Dratini and twonair stood there, eyes brimming with tears.

  They were both moved and a little envious. Moved by the deep affe between ales and its human, and envious that ales had been lucky enough to meet such a wonderful person.

  As they thought about their own futures, the five Pokémon turo Naoki with pitiful eyes, w if they would experienething simir.

  "Woo?" they all murmured.

  Naoki wao say something f. However, before he could, Dragoanding nearby, ched its fists, making them creak.

  With a determined expression, Dragonite marched over to the five young ones and sternly told them that Naoki was its trainer. If they wao be close to Naoki, they had to uand that Dragonite was the first and only priority!

  Naoki: "…"

  He sighed and said, "The most important thing is to live in the present and enjoy the moment."

  The group of Pokémon seemed to process his words, though they remained unsure.

  Naoki spread his hands helplessly. "Don't you think w about the future is exhausting? If we waste today stressing about what's to e, we miss out on the joy of living."

  "A day is a day, whether you're happy or sad. So why not make every day a happy one?"

  "So, don't worry too much about the future. I promise that each of you holds a special p my heart," Naoki said sincerely.

  Though his words felt a bit like the smooth talk of a sdrel, he meant every bit of it.

  Just like the pets he had raised in his past life, even Pokémon could get jealous. And while they were much smarter, that didn't make them immuo feelings of envy.

  Now, all Naoki had to do was ehey uood that eae of them ecial to him in their own way because that was genuinely how he felt.

  As expected, after hearing his words, the Pokémon looked moved.

  Naoki: "…"

  He sighed inwardly. Maybe he should develop a recipe for food that could extend lifespans!

  ...

  ales left, and the ranch returo its usual bustling state, as though the mysterious fox had never been there.

  Because of the ued visit, Naoki missed the fishing petition.

  Later, he heard from Ivan about how things turned out. Apparently, the petition was won by a dark horse — an older man wearing a straw hat. In just four hours, this man had mao catch 28 Magikarp.

  People in town niamed him Uncle Magikarp. After winning the fishing petition, Uncle Magikarp tinued his journey with a smile on his face.

  The townsfolk felt sorry that their fishing king, Naoki, hadn't participated.

  Naoki: 'Well, it's a good thing I didn't go. It would've been embarrassing to lose to him.'

  ...

  The m, Kelly returo the ranch to tinue stru, while Naoki started a new round of crop pnting.

  Taking advantage of the good weather, Naoki po expand his farmnd and grow more crops.

  Early that m, he made his way to the Diglett hole and called out a few times.

  Soon enough, a tiny Diglett poked its head out of the ground, looking up at Naoki with curiosity.

  "Dig?"

  Naoki smiled and said, "I need your help today."

  Hearing this, Diglett's eyes sparkled with excitement.

  Sinaoki had hired Diglett, it had been living in an underground cave with a group of Naclstack, enjoying the food Naoki provided each day.

  Grateful for Naoki's kindness, Diglett had always wao repay him, but it hadn't had the opportunity. Now, hearing that its help was needed, Diglett felt energized and eager to work.

  "Dig-dig!"

  Naoki raised an eyebrow, amused at how much Diglett seemed to love w.

  But that was a good thing for him. So, Naoki led Diglett to the nd he po cultivate and said, "This is it. I need you to till the soil. We're going to pnt more crops here."

  Diglett uood immediately.

  With high spirits, it burrowed into the ground and began w. It moved like a tiny mae, quickly plowing the nd.

  The soil became soft and fresh, giving off a pleasahy fragrance. Soon, a ly prepared field stretched out before Naoki.

  Watg this, Naoki felt very satisfied.

  It was no wonder Pokémon like Diglett were so popur among farmers— they were incredibly effit workers.

  "Great, the step is to set up the trellises and pnt the hops," Naoki thought to himself.

  The st batch of hops had already been harvested and stored, ready for brewing. But the amount still wasn't enough, so he po expand the pnting.

  By the time Diglett finished plowing the entire field, it was nearly noon.

  With the heat rising, Diglett was visibly tired, sweating from the effort. Seeing this, Naoki offered it a bottle of juid some Moomoo Milk, then told Diglett to rest in the cool underground.

  Diglett obediently agreed and dived bato its tunnel.

  Seeing it was getting te, he decided to make lunch first and save the trellis building for the afternoon.

  Lunch today was simple but refreshing: sandwiches, grilled steaks, fruit juice, and Moomoo Milk. Because of the hot weather, Naoki added iced watermelon and cream smoothies to the Pokémon's menu to help them cool off.

  He also experimented with some of the vegetables and fruits from his st harvest, like pumpkins, pineapples, and onions, trying to incorporate them into new dishes.

  Unfortunately, the results weren't great.

  Without any special traits like glowing pineapples or oversized pumpkins, the dishes turned out rather ordinary. They only restored physical strength and replenished energy—raordinary effects.

  This left Naoki feeling a bit regretful.

  To save money for building the new house, Naoki sold most of the crops after harvest, keeping only one or two of each type for himself. This meant the dishes he made couldn't serve as good references for future recipes.

  "Maybe I'll wait until the batch of atures, then try experimenting more carefully," Naoki thought to himself.

  The afternoon sun bzed even brighter, and the weather was unbearably hot. Naoki had no desire to work in such heat, so he stayed indoors in the air-ditioned room with his Pokémon, watg TV.

  A food show was on, where the host was teag viewers how to make a simple but beloved snack—pop, especially popur among kids.

  Watg the s, Naoki suddenly remembered that the in his own field was nearly ripe. He g the Pokémon lounging around him and noticed their eyes glued to the pop on the s.

  He couldn't help but feel amused. "They're well fed every day, but they still get so greedy…"

  Then again, the thought hit him—'they've probably never eaten pop before, have they?'

  After dinner, with nothing else to do, Naoki decided to make pop for the Pokémon. He picked a few ears of from the field, asked Koraidon to help rub the kernels off the cob, and after washing them, he followed the steps he had seen on the food show.

  First, he heated a pan and poured in some oil. Ohe oil was hot, he added the and began stirring.

  As soon as the kernels began popping, Naoki quickly covered the pot. Dull popping sounds echoed from inside.

  The sudden artled the Pokémon, and they gathered around, curious about what was happening i.

  Ihe kernels were transf, growing rger until they exploded into fluffy, golden pop.

  The popping grew louder, like rapid firecrackers going off in a pan. But gradually, the noise faded, and when Naoki lifted the lid, the pot was full rant, plump pop.

  As soon as he saw the overflowing pop, Naoki realized, "Uh-oh! I put way too much in there!"

  He quickly grabbed a rge basin to catch the pop spilling out of the pot. After emptying it all into the basin, he looked down at the fluffy snacks.

  In an instant, information about the pop appeared in his mind.

  [Exploding Pop (B)]: A simple snack made from . Perfect when paired with a soda for watg movies.

  Cooking Effect: Explosion Specialization Level 1. Feeding this to Pokémon streheir explosive moves, increasing the power of such attacks.

  ent: A very tasty snack, particurly loved by kids.]

  "Explosion specialization?" Naoki pondered aloud.

  His mind immediately recalled the explosioed moves in the Pokémon world. The most famous one, of course, was Self-Destruct

  It's a risky move where a Pokémon sacrifices itself by causing a massive explosion, severely damaging all surrounding Pokémon, but leaving the user in a state of near-fainting.

  The set of moves are Explosio Crash, and Overheat.

  If we t moves that are explosion-specialized, we'd also have to include Bst Burion, and the legendary Z-Move, Inferno Overdrive.

  Although it sounds useful, it's not particurly relevant for the Pokémon around Naoki.

  Wait a sed!

  Not all is useless.

  Naoki suddenly remembered the description of Koraidon's exclusive move.

  Collision Course: It transforms midair and crashes violently, causing a prehistoric explosion. If it strikes a oint, the power is further increased.

  So the question is, this move be cssified as an "explosion" move?

  There's only one way to find out.

  Naoki hahe freshly popped pop to his Pokémon, watg as Koraidon happily devoured it.

  Afterward, he motioned for Koraidon to follow him outside, a mysterious glint in his eyes.

  "Rao?" (What's going on?) Koraidon looked at him, fused.

  Naoki led it to a patch of grass and said, " you show me the Collision Course?"

  Koraidon blinked, a bit puzzled, but nodded. Without hesitation, it readied itself to dispy the move.

  Naoki stood still, trating, holding his breath in anticipation.

  Koraidon opes arms wide, and then jumped into the air. The vibrahers on its head spread like wings, transf its form as it plummeted toward the ground with tremendous force.

  BOOM!

  A massive explosion followed, shaking the earth beh Naoki's feet. The deafening noise rang in his ears, and a huge cloud of dust obscured his vision.

  Naoki, caught off guard, ihe dust and started coughing. Waving his hands in the air to clear the smoke, he looked around frantically for Koraidon.

  As the dust settled, Naoki's eyes wide the sight before him. Not only was Koraidon standing there, unharmed, but there was also an enormous crater in the ground.

  Koraidon looked back at Naoki with a puzzled expression. It had held back its strength, but the sheer power still left a giant hole in the ground.

  Naoki's breath hitched. His visio blurry for a sed as he processed the se.

  He had just mowed this wn!

  It wasn't fair—he hadn't fully grasped the raw destructive power of a legendary Pokémon like Koraidon.

  Naoki shook his head and refocused ouation. "It looks like your Collision Course was enhanced by the pop just now," he muttered, half in disbelief.

  "Rao? Rao, rao!" Koraidon excimed, startled at first, but then nodding as it realized what Naoki meant.