It's a new day once again.

  This m, after pleting his usual chores on the ranaoki leisurely took a watering and began to water the flowers in the flower field. The early hours of the day saw the three hardw bees already out and about, busily flitting among the blossoms, colleg ar with tireless dedication.

  Naoki greeted them cheerfully, "Good m, bees!"

  "Buzz~" they respoheir harmonious buzzing filling the air as they tiheir work.

  With the flowers watered, Naoki turned his attention to iing his ranch, the home that he and his Pokémon had lovingly cultivated together.

  In the farmnd, Dragonite was still focused on practig Rain Dance, diligently summoning clouds as part of its training. Nearby, Pawmi was busy herding the hens in front of the chi coop.

  Over a month had passed, and the little yellow chicks that had hatched from their eggs had grown signifitly. They had begun to follow their mother's example, scratg at the ground and learning te for food among the grass.

  By now, the chicks had learo stop eating when they were full, so Naoki no longer had to worry about them overeating. He had even adjusted the feeding system in the coop to allow for free feeding, making things much more ve.

  As Naoki approached, Pawmi, who was tentedly grazing on the grass, raised its paws iing a out a cheerful cry. During this time, Pawmi had pletely settled into life on the ranch. It had picked up on the routine and now eagerly participated in the daily work. Every m after breakfast, it would dash off to the chi coop to mahe grazing hens, and in the evening, it would lead them baside before returning to the to sleep.

  Naoki smiled and Pawmi before tinuing on his way.

  Ahead y the Pokémon House where the three Miltanks resided. The grass seeds Naoki had sown on the nd in front of the more than half a month ago had already sprouted, and he k wouldn't be long before they grew into lush, delicious grass.

  The Miltanks, having fiheir m milking, were now lounging on the grass, basking in the sun. They adored life on this ranch, where the food was far superior to what they had at their previous home. Grateful for their new life, they worked hard every day to produce as much milk as possible. 'Why keep it?' they seemed to reason. 'It's better to give it all and feel rexed.'

  As Naoki tinued, he approached the salt house where the Nacli usually stayed. But with the weather improving, the little Naclis had been spending most of their time outdoors, running around uhe watchful eye of Alcremie. As a result, rock salt produ had noticeably decreased.

  Naoki sighed with a mix of amusement and resignation. He didn't have the heart to fihe Naclis inside just to maintain the salt produ; instead, he allowed them the freedom to py and explore.

  Finding the salt house empty, Naoki closed the door and headed toward the area where the Gogoat grazed. The Gogoat had fiheir m routine and were now lying zily on the grass, tentedly mung away.

  But as Naoki approached, he noticed something ued—Smoliv sitting peacefully o one of the Gogoat.

  Curiosity piqued, Naoki walked over and asked, "What brings you here, Smoliv?"

  Smoliv swayed slightly and responded with a cheerful, "Fu~"

  'Because it's so fortable here!'

  Naoki then noticed a soft green glow emanating from beh the Gogoat. It dawned on him immediately—thanks to the Gogoat, the grass energy in this area articurly rid abundant. For pnt and grass-type Pokémon like Smoliv, this was like a sanctuary, a pce they naturally gravitated toward for its nurturing enviro.

  "Gogoat, Smoliv is in your care. I have to go to work," Naoki said.

  The Gogoat gdly accepted the responsibility of looking after Smoliv.

  Naoki then headed to the utility room at the back of the house, where he took out an axe and a saw. Using the leftover wood and the simple workbenside, he began crafting a wooden fence.

  He po enclose the flower field with this fence, separating it from the farmnd to create a dedicated viewing area. When the flowers wither in the summer, Naoki inteo pnt sunflower seeds, transf the area into a beautiful field of sunflowers.

  Koraidon wasn't much help with such delicate work, as its strength could easily snap the wood if not handled carefully. Therefore, Naoki took oask himself, w diligently until the afternoohe fence was finally plete.

  A wooden fenow encircled the flower field, with a siging flowers hung at the entrance, marking the official pletion of the garden.

  Naoki cpped his hands, notig the calluses that had formed on them without his realizing it. But he didn't mind.

  'Maybe for a farmer, it's a badge of honor for hard work,' he thought.

  After brushing off the dust from his hands, Naoki patted the heads of Koraidon and the Cyclizar beside him, asking, "What do you want to eat tonight?"

  "Raao?"

  "Gao!"

  The two Pokémon responded in unison.

  Naoki chuckled, "How about sandwiches?"

  Koraidon and Cyclizar both seemed unimpressed, but Naoki ughed and added, "Alright, alright, I'll make some fried steak too."

  At that moment, the videophone behind him rang.

  Naoki raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'Who would be calling at this hour?'

  He washed his hands, went over to ahe phone, and was greeted by Mayor Thomas's voice.

  "Good evening, Naoki!"

  "Good evening, Mayor Thomas! What brings you to call today?"

  "Haha, it's about the horse rag event at the end of March. Since you've got a telephone installed now, I thought I'd call instead of sending a letter."

  "The town will be holding a spring horse ra the 25th of this month. Ah a horse Pokémon enter, and there will be many passing trainers participating as well!"

  "It's just that you haven't started raising any horse Pokémo, so you won't be able to participate. But you still e to watch the rad pce bets on your favorite Pokémon. If your pick wins, you exge the winning tickets for various items!"

  Horse rag tickets? Isn't that just betting on Pokémon races?But when he heard about exging tickets for various items, Naoki was intrigued and asked, "Items?"

  Mayor Thomas replied, "Because most of the partits are passing trainers, the torepared many things that trainers use, such as various Evolution Stones, equipment to help Pokémon train, and magical items for Pokémon to carry."

  'Evolution Stones.'

  Naoki quickly thought of one of his life goals: to collect all the Eeveelutions. Most of them require Evolution Stones. Apart from Sylveon, Espeon, and Umbreon, colleg the rest of the Eeveelutions would require a total of five Evolution Stones: Fire, Water, Thunder, Leaf, and Ice.

  'I only have a Water Stht now, which the baby bear found and gave to me,' he mused. 'Even though I don't have an Eevee yet, it's always good to be prepared.'

  After hanging up the phone, Naoki began to pte his current situation.

  'There are 10 days left until the horse rag event begins,' he thought. 'Acc to Mayor Thomas, each person only purchase a limited number of race tickets. These tickets be used to bet on the pyers you support, thereby gaining more tickets, which then be redeemed for items.'

  'You also participate in the petition yourself. Besides the championship trophy, the winner gets to choose an item for free. If you're fident enough, you could eve on yourself.'

  'But the real question is, I find a horse Pokémon withien days? And even if I do, could I train it well enough to win the championship?'

  He sighed, p the challenge ahead. 'Well, that's a tough problem to solve.'