In the evening, Zack drove his truck over to collect the goods. As he stepped out, he observed the many Pokémon running around in the pasture and grinned widely, "It's getting more and more lively here!"

  Naoki stood beside him, also watg the bustling Pokémon, and a bittersweet feeling emerged in his heart. "I'm getting more and more tired. I have to spend a long time every day making Pokémon food and taking care of them."

  Zack chuckled and replied, "Of course, that's a on for someone like you, who enjoys cooking for your Pokémon yourself. If you want to ease the burden a bit, you might sider capturing a butler-type Pokémon or hiring a butler."

  'A butler-type Pokémon.' Naoki had thought about this before, but suon were rare in the wild. As for hiring a housekeeper, that wasn't an option just yet. He was still living in a small with a group of Pokémon, and there was simply no space for a housekeeper.

  Zack seemed to realize this and leaned in with a mysterious smile. "Of course, there's a third option."

  Naoki, curious, asked, "What is it?"

  Zack burst out ughing and said, "Find a girlfriend, marry her, have a child, and run the ranch together as a family of three! What a happy life that would be! Then, when you're older, your child i the rand help you take care of all these Pokémon."

  Naoki was momentarily speechless. "Fet it," he finally said. "I'm not sidering that right now. I'm more ied in enjoying this peaceful and fortable life."

  Zack shrugged pyfully. "Well, if that's your choice, there's nothing more to say!"

  After weighing the milk and loading it onto the truck, Zack said, "The total is 58,600 Poke Dolrs. Here you go!"

  Naoki took the payment from Zack, who then hopped bato his trud waved through the window. "See you tomorrow!"

  "Bye-Bye!" Naoki waved back.

  As Zack's truck disappeared down the road, Naoki turned back to the ranch, preparing dinner for the Pokémon. It had been a long, tiring day, so he kept the meal simple. He heated some oil in a pan, took out some steaks, and fried them to perfe. Then, he ed the fried steak in two slices of toast, added crispy lettuce, and spread a yer of sad dressing. With that, Naoki's secret sandwich was ready.

  He let Koraidon and the others eat first and took some snacks to the cave at the back of the ranch.

  Wheered the cave, he noticed a few ges sihe m. There were several frozen flowers pext to the Ice Stone, clearly the flowers that G had brought back from Alcremie and the Nacli.

  Naoki pced the food in front of G and asked, "Do you like flowers?"

  "Bu-yi," G nodded slightly.

  "That's great!" Naoki said with a smile. "I'll be pnting some other kinds of flowers around the ranch soon. They're all very beautiful, and you'll get to see them before long."

  A hint of anticipation sparkled in G's blue eyes. "Bu-yi."

  Naoki smiled softly, deg not to say more. He turned ahe cave.

  As he passed by the utility room, something caught his eye—the geor's energy bar was full.

  "Um?"

  Seeing the 100% charge, Naoki leasantly surprised.

  But soon, Naoki seemed to realize something and shouted toward the front of the house, "Dragonite!"

  There was a cry of "Awooo," and then Dragonite appeared iility room, looking eager.

  Naoki poi the geor and asked, "Did you do this?"

  "Ouch~" Dragonite nodded happily.

  At that moment, Naoki finally uood the loonite had given the geor earlier that m. Because he had previously mentiohat watering the nd could help train Rain Dand delivering milk could strengthen willpower, Dragourally assumed that providiricity to the geor was another form of special training!

  "..."

  For a moment, Naoki didn't know what to say. He thought for a bit and then slowly expihe fun of the geor tonite—how it could provide electricity for the ranch, keep the refrigerator running, power the lights, and more.

  Naoki then paused and asked, "Did it help you practioves?"

  "Ouch~" Dragonite nodded eagerly.

  Dragonite found the sensation of eling its interricity and releasing it in a trolled surge to be quite u even had a creative idea: if it could use a move with such focused energy iure, the power of that move would be immense. Dragonite had tried this when Naoki wasn't watg but had yet to succeed. It felt that more practice was needed.

  Naoki was even more puzzled. ' this really help practice moves?' he wondered. While he was gd to be helping Dragonite and happy that Dragonite could supply electricity to the ranch, he realized the importance of ensuring safety.

  "Ohing to note," Naoki said seriously, "is that you 't overload the geor, or it could explode!"

  He expihe potential sequeonite, pointing to the energy bar and emphasizing that it could be charged ter but should never be overcharged. An explosion could be catastrophic, ranging from a burned-down house to worse outes.

  Dragonite's eyes widened with fear as it stared at the geor. 'Thank goodness I stopped in time.'

  "But don't worry too much," Naoki added, seeing Dragonite's frightened expression. "As long as you're careful, everything will be fine. You always ask me to e with you when it's time to recharge."

  "Ouch," Dragonite agreed, nodding to show it uood and would remember.

  "Alright then, go ahead and py!" Naoki said with a smile.

  After Dragonite left, Naoki switched the ranch's power source from the external power pnt to the newly charged geor. This would save a signifit amount oricity bills each year.

  With that task done, Naoki returo the house and sat down for dinner. As usual, he turned oV and tuned in to the Weather el.

  The female anchor on TV was rep the forecast.

  "Rain is expected in the southwestern part of the Paldea region early tomorrow m, but don't worry, the rain won't be heavy. This is Paldea Meteical TV rep for you!"

  "Huh? It's going to rain?"

  Naoki quickly got up and brought the clothes and bedding hanging outside bato the room. He also made sure to close the door of the chi coop.

  Late at night, Naoki was sleeping in bed with Pawmi in his arms when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of tinuous rain outside. The raindrops fell on the eaves, making a soothing, crag sound.

  "It's raining."

  Naoki looked out the window and saw the darkness outside, with rain sliding down the gss and leaving streaks. He didn't dislike rainy days; in fact, he found them perfect for sleeping, especially with his beloved Pokémon by his side.

  He turned back around, stopped watg the rain, and snuggled closer to Pawmi, falling asleep to the rhythmic sounds of the rain.

  Meanwhile, over in the salt house, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from one of the Nacli.