Just like in a game, where pyers challenge dungeons and gain a lot of experience from them, Naoki envisioned something simir for his ranch. If a Pokémon had a higher level of prehension, it might be able to leareiques for using moves from the Gogoats.

  Naoki already had a name for this new "challenge."

  He called it the Green Grass Trial!

  If other Pokémon were ied, they could participate as well. Just like Dragonite, who worked hard to practid always wao grow strohey could test the bination of moves like Rain Dance + Hurrie + Thunder on challengers.

  Naoki was excited by the idea, but he knew he still o make detailed pns for everything ter.

  For now, his priority was buying a wn mower.

  After entering the town, his Gogoat slowed its pace. Its hooves cttered on the red brick road, eg softly in the bustling streets. Naoki’s attention was drawn to the brick path beh them. He immediately thought about the crude wooden paths he had built at the ranch.

  The wooden paths were structed with excess wood from the ranch, giving them a rustic charm, but Naoki had noticed that their durability was g. After just a few heavy rains, the wood had started to rot, and Naoki doubted the paths would st through the summer.

  "Well, it’s time to officially pn the roads at the ranch," Naoki thought. "Otherwise, when it rains, the paths will turn to mud, and I’ll end up with muddy boots every time I go out."

  If he could install red brick paths like those iown, it would solve his problem.

  vely, he was heading to Kora's shop, so he could inquire about the bricks while he was there.

  Though Naoki hadn’t visited the town in a few days, it was still as lively as ever. Because it was located by the sea, many tourists from innd regions came to enjoy the coastal views.

  Speaking of the seaside, Naoki recalled a versation with his friend Ivan, who had mentiohe town’s grand fireworks festival every summer. The event would draw crowds to the beach, where a bustling market would spring up, selling treats like sushi, takoyaki, and oden.

  But it was still early in the month, so there lenty of time before the festival.

  Naoki refocused his thoughts and guided his Gogoat toward Kora’s shop.

  When he arrived, he spotted Kora sitting on a wooden stake outside her shop, surrounded by a group of Grass-type Pokémon.

  A Sawsbu its summer form stood proudly beside a Steenee and Toedscruel. Nearby, a pyful Sprigatito pranced about, while a mischievous Grookey tapped rhythmically on the wooden stake Kora was seated on.

  Kora fed the Pokémon some snacks from her hand as she heard Naoki approag. She turned with a smile when she reized him.

  "Sing your ride this time?" she teased, notig the Gogoat by his side.

  Naoki hopped off his Gogoat and chuckled. " Cyclizar is practig its moves at the ranch, so I had my Gogoat bring me here."

  His eyes drifted to the group of Grass-type Pokémon surrounding Kora. "Are they all from the forest?" he asked, remembering how Kora had oold him that injured wild Pokémon would often seek Kora for help.

  Kora nodded gently. "Yes, it's rare to have them all together like this. I had some free time today, so I came out to spend it with them. There's something so peaceful about being with them—it fills me with a sense of calm I've missed."

  Naoki smiled at her words. "Maybe that’s the magic of Pokémon," he said, his gaze nding ooedscruel. "Toedscruel is a pretty rare Pokémon, isn’t it?"

  Kora looked fondly at the Pokémon. "Rare or not, they’re all the same to me. I think that’s because I’m not a trainer," she said softly, stroking Sprigatito's fur.

  Naoki paused, then nodded in agreement. "You’re right."

  Whether it’s a on Grookey by the roadside or a Toedscruel deep in the jungle, all Pokémon share the same pure heart, Naoki thought.

  Kora stood up, brushing off her hands with a smile. "So, what brings you here today?"

  "I need a wnmower," Naoki replied. "The weeds in the pasture are growing too fast. The Gogoats and Miltank areing enough of it, so I o cut it all back."

  Kora chuckled and said, "The Pokémon on your ranch are so lucky."

  Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why’s that?"

  Kora expined, "Not many ranchers gh the trouble of preparing different foods for their Pokémon like you do."

  In the wild, Pokémon like Gogoats and Miltanks would graze on whatever wild grass and flowers they could find. If they were lucky, they might stumble across a fruit tree and sna some fallen berries.

  But on Naoki’s ranch, their food was much more varied—he ehey were well-fed with fresh grass, fruits, and other meals he specially prepared.

  "In parison," Kora tinued with a smile, "you’re really spoiling them."

  Naoki uood Kora's point and ughed, saying, "That expins why my gas bill is several times higher than other ranches!"

  Kora chuckled and motioned for him to follow her. "e o's take a look."

  They walked inside, and Kora pushed out several wn mowers from the warehouse, introdug eae as they passed by.

  "These are all we have. Each mower varies in prid performahe cheapest is this one, priced at 5,000 Alliance s. It's a bit old and makes quite a bit of noise when you use it. The rest are simir, but the price depends on the brand ara features."

  Naoki houghtfully, iing eae before finally settling on a push-type mower for 7,000 Alliance s.

  Just as he was about to finalize the purchase, ahought crossed his mind. "By the way, do you sell red bricks? I want to pave a red brick path at the ranch."

  Kora nodded. "We do, but I suggest you pn the ranch yout first. If you start paving now, you might block areas where you'll want to build other facilities ter on. It'll be a headache to redo the path."

  "Good point," Naoki agreed, deg to hold off on the bricks until he'd made proper pns. "I'll head back, take a closer look, and e bace I've got everything figured out."

  "No problem at all, I'm here whenever you need me," Kora said with a smile.

  After leaving town, Naoki returned directly to the ranch.

  He let his Gogoat return to the goatpen, then grabbed a pen and paper, called Dragonite, and took to the sky. From the air, he could see the entire yout of the ranch. He begag a rough topographic map, marking the location of each building aure.

  Although Naoki was tempted to start pnning the ranch's expansiht away, there were more pressing tasks at hand.

  He hahe pen and paper to Cyclizar and asked it to put them on the desk. Then, he grabbed the new wn mower and started cutting the rown grass.

  The ranch was vast, ae the facilities already installed, there remained a rge expanse of unused nd. Acc to his memories of the inal owhere had once been a sprawling grassnd here where the inal randfather had raised dozens of cattle and sheep Pokémon.

  As Naoki pushed the mower and cut the grass, he mentally calcuted the size of the pasture.

  Only about a quarter of the ranch had been fully utilized. On a day-to-day basis, the size wasn’t overwhelming, but as Naoki began mowing, it hit him. This pce was enormous!

  He thought of the Elif family’s cherry orchard, with its acres of trees. How did a family of four mao maintain such a rge operation?

  "I’m already feeling sed just dealing with this."