Alliance dar Year 198, early August, autumn.

  Somethiing happened on the ranch that m.

  It was the harvest season for the fruits in the orchard they had pogether.

  Naoki stood in the orchard, looking at the rge, ripe fruits hanging heavily from the branches, a a wave of happiness.

  "What a great harvest!"

  The feeling of seeing something you pnted with your own hands grow is inparable!

  With nothing else to do, he decided to take his Indeedee sister for a stroll through the orchard.

  Sister Indeedee, who followed closely behind, was also happy.

  But remembering Naoki's usual schedule, she couldn't help but ask, "Ai-e?" (Aren't you going to visit Mr. Giratina today?)

  "Not today." Naoki shook his head, deg to stay at the rand enjoy the orchard. Besides, he also had pns to decorate the gss greenhouse.

  The greenhouse had been built a while ago, but he hadn't visited much since he had been busy with Giratina and the Water of the Reverse World.

  To be ho, he hadn't been there often since his st trip to Giratina's Reverse World—maybe once a week at most.

  Giratina wasn't the easiest to get along with, and the "Reversal" dishes hadn't shown much effe the Pokémon at the ranch.

  The three buckets of water weren't even used up yet; Naoki had stored them all in G's ice celr.

  "Ai eh."

  Sister Indeedee nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

  At that moment, somethiraordinary caught Naoki's eye on a fruit tree.

  Amid the rustling green leaves hung a plump, golden fruit!

  Naoki's eyes widened. He focused his attention on the fruit, and suddenly information about it fshed in his mind.

  [Golden berry: A rare ingredient, a variant of the berry. Its aroma and nutrition surpass those of ordinary berries and are highly popur with Pokémon. When given to wild Pokémon, they beuch easier to catch. It also signifitly enhahe taste and quality of Poffins made with it.]

  "Wow!"

  This rare mutated fruit wasn't something that could grow on just any fruit tree. It was clearly cultivated by the Gogoats using its Grass-type energy!

  Without hesitation, Naoki picked it.

  Now that the berries were ripe, he could share them with the Pokémon on the rand see how they pared to ordinary berries!

  Seeing this, sister Indeedee smiled and headed off.

  A short while ter, she returned usielekinesis to carry a wicker basket into the orchard.

  Sinaoki had hired two wild Dragonites, he had to make sure they had their daily Poffins, and the stock of berries at home was running low.

  Before, they had to go to town to buy berries, but now things were different. The ranch had a bountiful harvest of fruit, so all they had to do ick them straight from the orchard.

  Naoki put the golden berries into the basket and tirolling through the orchard.

  As he picked the fully ripe fruits, he kept an eye on the branches, hoping to spot more mutated fruits.

  Sure enough, after a short while, he found a sed, third, and even fourth mutated fruit.

  [Golden Phoenix Fruit], [Silver Banana Fruit], [Silver berry Fruit]

  By the time his basket was full, several molden fruits had appeared as well.

  Carrying the basket back to the wn outside, Naoki poured the fruits onto the ground, creating a small hill, and began s through the pile, pig out the golden and silver ones.

  "Owo, three... six, seven. Huh? So many?"

  Three golden berries and four slightly less rare silver berries.

  Naoki was amazed by the sight.

  The probability of these tree fruits mutating was much higher than the crops he had pnted in his field!

  After the initial surprise, a sense ret followed.

  Berries of this caliber were best suited for making Poke blocks.

  As the top sna the Pokémon world, Poke blocks were sidered a nearly perfect, all-around food.

  Not only could they provide Pokémon with riutrition and energy, but they also made Pokémon's fur shiny and smooth, enhaheir maturity, and improved overall vitality. Plus, they could keep a Pokémon's belly full for quite some time.

  In short, Poke blocks were far more beloved and effective than ordinary food.

  Unfortunately, Naoki hadn't yet learhe method of crafting Pokéblocks using berries.

  Last time, Ivan had promised to help him find a cultivator skilled in making Pokéblocks, but it seemed that person hadn't been fou.

  After carefully pag the fruits and st them in the fruit ste et at home, Naoki retrieved a dozen flowerpots from the utility room. With the help of Brother Indeedee, they carried them to the flower field.

  Time flew by. It was already August, and soon autumn would give way to the cold grip of winter.

  Though it wasn't quite winter yet, the whole world had retly been affected by a sudden cold snap.

  A weather-reted TV program reported that the sea around the distant e Isnds had frozen over, and wild Pokémon from around the world were abandoning their habitats, rushing toward the isnds across the frozen sea.

  Naoki specuted that the events from the movie "The Power of One" had likely begun.

  In that film, a fanatical collector named Lawrence III sought to capture Lugia, the guardian of the seas, as part of his colle. To aplish this, he captured Moltres. This act throws off the bance of nature, which then causes Zapdos to move into Moltres' territory.

  Lawrence III then attempts to capture Zapdos, and this causes further chaos. Eventually, Artio, the Ice-type Legendary Bird, gets involved as well, leading to a battle betweehree birds—Moltres, Zapdos, and Artio, which led to a disturban the weather across the world, freezing the seas.

  At first, Naoki felt ed about the situation.

  But soon enough, the cold assed.

  Naoki figured that Ash and his friends must have calmed the fury of the three legendary birds with the help of Lugia, rest bance.

  Although the Paldea region was far from the e Isnds, the cold wave had made an impression. The temperature had dropped slightly, but the effects weren't too severe for the people.

  However, it wasn't as easy os.

  The sudden drop in temperature had a visible effeany of the flowers in Naoki's flower fields. They had wilted and looked like they were on the brink of dying.

  Determio save them, Naoki dug up the affected flowers, transphem into pots, and moved them into the newly built gss greenhouse.

  The gss greenhouse, and tidy, bathed in sunlight through its brand-new gss panes, appeared bright and inviting. The temperature inside was higher than outside, thanks to the underfloor heating Kelly had installed in the basement. Even in the cold of wihe greenhouse would stay warm.

  The floor heating owered by electricity, and all of the ranch's electricity was now geed by Pawmot.

  inally, Dragonite hahe ranch's power supply, but since Pawmo evolved into Pawmot, it has takehe job and bee a reliable source of energy for the ranch.

  Naoki smiled at the thought, feeling proud of how dependable Pawmot had bee.

  With a satisfied expression, he pced the flower pots on the wooden stands ihe greenhouse. The pastoral style he had chosen for the decoration gave the space a cozy, rustic feel.

  There was a light-colored wooden flower stand on each side of the room, with a small tea table and a cozy sofa in the middle. A bookshelf stood nearby, and a delier hung above, casting a warm glow over the space.

  The bookshelf was filled with books that Naoki had bought from town. Some told stories of young trainers embarking on journeys with their first Pokémoually being world-famous Pokémon Masters. Others were lighthearted Pokémon fairy tales about wild Pokémon buildis in tree holes, resg each other, and pying happily together.

  There were also darker tales, like one about a Caterpie that lived peacefully in the forest with other Pokémon until a Pidgeot invaded, killing all the Caterpie except for the protagonist. Fueled by a desire for revehe surviving Caterpie trained hard, eventually evolving into a powerful Butterfree. Using a bination of Silver Wind, Poison Powder, and Air Ssh, it defeated the Pidgeots and aves fallen friends.

  How did Naoki know all this? Well, because he had read a few of these books during his free time.

  After all, in this world, there weren't smartphones or puters to py AAA games on.

  At first, Naoki hadn't expected much, but after reading a few, he realized the local books were actually quite iing.

  Once all the flower pots were arranged oands, the greenhouse, which had felt a bit empty before, suddenly seemed warm and full of life. The blend of natural beauty and modern furniture gave the room a cozy, f atmosphere.

  On snowy days, Naoki could picture himself rexing here with his Pokémon, lying on the soft sofa and reading stories from the bookshelf. And if any of his Pokémon were curious, he could share the tales with them, too.

  "All set!" Naoki said, pulling out his Psyduck-shaped watering to give the flowers a drink. Theuro the Indeedee siblings and said, "Could y bee and Butterfree here for me?"

  "Ai Ai!" younger Indeedee chirped cheerfully, turning to leave the greenhouse.

  Naoki g the older sibling, who stood there looking as serious as ever and grinned.

  "If you ever have nothing to do, feel free to e here," Naoki said with a chuckle.

  "Ai Yi," replied the older Indeedee, nodding calmly, still wearing that little grown-up expression.

  Naoki added with a smile, "Just think of this pce as your home. We're going to be together for years, maybe decades."

  "Ai Yi," the older sibling nodded again, keeping his serious demeanor.

  Naoki sighed internally. 'He's always so serious!'

  Before long, Sister Indeedee returned with bee and Butterfree in tow.

  Naoki smiled at them and asked, "So, what do you think? Do you like it?"

  The three bee and Butterfree opeheir i eyes wide, looking around curiously.

  A warm enviro, beautiful flowers, a cozy home.

  They loved it here!

  "Mmmm~"

  "Buzz~"

  Seeing their happy expressions, Naoki's heart swelled with joy.

  He thought for a moment and said, "When winter es, I'll move the beehive and the wooden boxes here. You live in the greenhouse!"

  By then, the flowers in the gss greenhouse would be in full bloom, providing plenty of ar. Butterfree and the bee wouldn't have to worry about food anymore.

  After finishing the decorations in the greenhouse, Naoki lingered for a while, enjoying the peaceful feeling of reading, drinking tea, and napping in such a lovely enviro. Then, he finally got up a.

  Ba the ranch, the Pokémon were pying as usual.

  Koraidon was lying on the grass, sunbathing, but Naoki noticed its eyes were gng in his dire.

  The Cyclizar eeding across the wn with Alcremie on its back, and five Naclstack were happily chasing after them.

  Two wild Dragonite seemed to have gotten themselves into trouble. They sat on the grass looking rather dejected as they listeo another Naoki's Dragonite scolding them.

  The Gogoats and Dolliv were gathered around the base of the World Tree, peacefully mung on berry snacks.

  Naoki couldn't spot G right away, but wheiced the flowers rustling nearby, he guessed it robably out for a quiet walk.

  The ranch was bustling with life! Naoki felt a deep sense of happiness. His life truly felt plete.

  Just as he was about to prepare some Poffins for the Dragonite, Ivan arrived at the ranch, riding a Cyclizar.

  Naoki noticed the letter in his hand and asked, "Oh? Is there another festival happening in town?"

  Ivan curled his lips and said, "Autumn Horse Rag."

  Naoki casually opehe envelope and, as expected, it was an invitation to him, as a rao participate iumn horse race.

  "This?" Naoki raised his eyebrows. The problem was, he didn't have a horse Pokémo, so he couldn't participate.

  Ivan, still sulking over the money he lost in the spring horse race, grumbled, "I'm definitely not betting this time!"

  Naoki: "..." He still remembers that i!

  Ivan gnced around the ranch. He hadn't visited in a while, and it seemed like there hadn't been any major ges.

  Looking around, he didn't see what he was hoping for, so he asked, "You still haven't caught a horse Pokémon?"

  Naoki shrugged, "Eh? There's no rush. There's plenty of time until the spring horse rag."

  Ivan, c his fa frustration, sighed, "Ah, it looks like I'll never get those Poke Dolrs back. My poor money!"

  Naoki: "…"

  Iva out a long sigh, clearly losing hope over the whole thing. "Yeah, I get it. The ranch keeps you busy, so you don't have time to go out and catch a horse Pokémon. Oh well. If I 't win it back, I 't win it back!"

  "Don't worry," Naoki said, trying to fort him, "I'll find a way to help you win it back."

  After all, they had made a deal before—Ivan would help Naoki find the Butler Pokémon, and iurn, Naoki would help Ivan win back the money he lost in the spring race.

  With the Butler Pokémon found, it was now Naoki's turn to keep his promise.

  Ivan, no longer holding out much hope for horse Pokémon in winter, shifted the versation to something more iing.

  "Naoki, have you heard?"

  Seeing that Ivan wasn't in a hurry to leave, Naoki offered, "Why don't you e in and sit for a while?"

  Ivan grinned, "Don't mind if I do!"

  Naoki led him to the living room, and sister Indeedee kindly brought them both cups of tea.

  After taking a big gulp, Ivan tinued, "I've got some big news! I heard it while delivering mail. It's about a legendary Pokémon!"

  "Hm?" Naoki's mind quickly cycled through the legendary Pokémon of the Paldea region.

  Koraidon, Miraidon, -Pao...

  But Ivan's answer was ued: "It's the legendary Sea Guardian, Lugia!"

  Naoki blinked in surprise.

  Iva on, clearly excited, "You remember the cold wave that hit Paldea a while back, right? Turns out, it was all reted to Lugia!"

  "I heard from a tourist visiting from the e Isnds that a collector there tried to capture Lugia, and in doing so, ahe Legendary Birds—Zapdos, Artio, and Moltres!"

  "They caused such a huge mess. I heard the o even froze over, like the end of the world! Wild Pokémon from all athered on the frozeo watch them fight!"

  Naoki, while not surprised (he had expected this), still listened ily.

  But what Ivan said caught him off guard.

  "Ahis—apparently, during the battle between the legendary Pokémon, two Teddiursa somehow got involved! Not only that, but they almost stole the treasure guarded by the Legendary Birds!"

  "The three birds—Zapdos, Artio, and Moltres—immediately stopped fighting and chased after the two Teddiursa, but they couldn't catch them! They were furious!"

  "In the end, someone mao find the two bear cubs and vihem to returreasure, expining it could cause a massive disaster if they didn't."

  "It's weird, though. How could those legendary Pokémon, ractically gods, not catch up to two little Teddiursa? They almost got away with it!"

  Ivan pondered, "Maybe they had the Run Away ability? No, it's more likely Pickup! Pokémon with Pickup are always ied in shiny little tris!"

  Naoki: "???"