Chapter 62: Combee
Every night, the chicken coop's door was closed, yet the intruder managed to enter without breaking anything. This meant it must be pushing the door open and even closing it upon leaving to avoid detection. However, it overlooked one crucial detail: the weather. It left footprints on the floor.
Judging by how dry the prints were, the thief had likely struck in the early morning.
The truth was clear!
Naoki made up his mind to set a trap as soon as he returned from town.
After refilling the chicken feed, Naoki checked the silo and saw that it was running low. He made a mental note to buy more in town later.
At that moment, Dragonite, carrying the small red bag, landed in front of Naoki.
Looking at the money Dragonite handed him, Naoki's face lit up with surprise. "Hey, you delivered the milk already?"
"Roar!" Dragonite nodded.
"Why are you back so early today?" Naoki asked, even more surprised.
Dragonite seemed confused as well.
On its way to town, it felt guilty remembering how Naoki had gotten sick because of helping it practice its moves. Determined to deliver the milk as quickly as possible and return to check on Naoki, Dragonite had pushed itself to fly faster than it ever had before.
And that's how it ended up like this.
As Dragonite thought about it, it suddenly realized something.
"Roar!"
It had learned a new move! The practice it had been doing on the milk delivery route finally paid off!
Eager to show Naoki, Dragonite concentrated, and a faint blue aura appeared in its eyes.
Then, it felt its body become lighter, and its flying speed seemed to increase.
"Agility?" Naoki was surprised.
Despite his surprise, Naoki was genuinely happy for Dragonite.
Extreme Speed, Thunder Punch, Agility, plus the yet-to-be-mastered Rain Dance and Thunderbolt—Dragonite's move repertoire was expanding!
But for now, he really needed to go to the hospital.
Since Dragonite was here, Naoki decided to ask it to take him to town.
Dragonite readily agreed.
Naoki said a few words to Koraidon and Cyclizar, then mounted Dragonite and flew off to Mesagoza.
Koraidon and Cyclizar were left behind on the ranch, gazing at the receding figures of the man and the dragon in the sky.
"Gaah."
"Cyclizar."
.....
Mesagoza had all the necessary infrastructure: a hospital, a market, a town hall, a department store, a bank, and various other shops.
Of course, the hospital and the Pokémon Center were separate entities. One treated humans, while the other catered to trainers and Pokémon.
The process of visiting the hospital was similar to what Naoki remembered from his previous life. After a series of examinations, it was confirmed that his cold and fever were due to catching a chill.
After getting his medication, Naoki headed to the Happy Ranch. Upon learning of his purpose, the old man went to the warehouse to fetch some feed.
Naoki and Dragonite waited at the counter. Dragonite looked around boredly, while Naoki's eyes were on the list of animals/Pokémon displayed on the counter.
Ordinary Animals: Rooster 600, Hen 800, Duck 800
Pokémon: Combee 2500, Fomantis 2500, Smoliv 2600, Noibat 3000, Mareep 10,000, Miltank 20,000, Nacli 10,000
Feed: Chicken Feed 50/portion, Pokémon Food 100/portion, Sweet Feed 100/portion, Salty Feed 100/portion
Naoki mentally calculated the ranch's funds.
During this period, Nacli and Skiddo had earned him a considerable amount of money, enough to buy a few new Pokémon.
He already had Nacli, Alcremie, and Smoliv on the ranch.
He had no plans to expand his breeding operation for the time being. Firstly, he couldn't handle it alone, and secondly, it would be too ambitious.
After attending the Cherry Blossom Festival, Naoki realized that the pace of life in this world was very slow and leisurely. People didn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Moreover, making money here wasn't difficult, and resources were abundant, which led to a general attitude of contentment with having enough to get by.
Compared to them, Naoki felt he was becoming almost workaholic.
Therefore, he decided to focus on the Pokémon he already had at the ranch.
That left only Combee, Noibat, Mareep, and Miltank as options.
"Noibat can bring back fruit from the wild, but I've already planted many fruit trees on the ranch, so I don't really need them."
"Mareep can produce a lot of wool, which is a good material for making clothes and can be sold at a high price. Well, it's okay to raise some."
"Miltank can produce Moomoo Milk. If I raise them, I won't need to buy Moomoo Milk from the market. But the Pokémon shelter hasn't been repaired yet."
"Combee are pretty good. They don't require any special infrastructure or facilities. You just need to place a hive on the grass, and they'll automatically build nests and make honey there."
Not only that, but the ranch had plenty of newly planted flowers, from which the Combee could collect nectar and produce various flavored honey. For instance, tulip honey, rose honey, and so on. These honeys were delicious and often sought after by wild Teddiursa and Mothim.
Considering everything, Combee seemed the most suitable addition to the ranch at present. He had some money on hand, so Naoki decided to take a few back with him.
Just then, the old man returned from the warehouse with the feed. He saw Naoki looking at the Pokémon list and asked, "What Pokémon are you looking to bring back this time? But I have to tell you, we're out of Miltank."
"Huh?" Naoki was puzzled. "Out of stock?"
"Yes, they're all sold out." The old man explained, "Miltank aren't native to the Paldea region. The ones we have at the ranch are all imported from the distant Johto region."
"But not long ago, the ship carrying the Miltank ran into trouble. It seems it encountered a storm at sea and lost contact. You know, the sea is a formidable force. In its presence, humans are insignificant."
This was true. No matter the world, people lost their lives to tsunamis and sea storms every year.
Naoki sighed and said, "I hope the people on that ship and the Miltank are safe."
"Indeed," the old man nodded, then asked, "Are there any other Pokémon you're interested in?"
Naoki said, "Combee."
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