By the time Naoki finished ing the room, it was already one o'clo the afternoon.

  The egg fried rice he had prepared for himself had gone cold, sitting oable.

  After putting the rag away, Naoki looked at the cold fried rid thought about the Pokémon's behavior earlier. He felt a bit hesitant.

  Sitting down at the table, he began to refle what he wao do but had always been too afraid to try.

  However, after thinking for a long time, he couldn't e up with anything specific.

  Should he try it? See if the fried rice had the same effe humans as it did on Pokémon?

  In the end, Naoki decided to give it a shot.

  He picked up the spoon and begaing.

  There was still a bit of warmth left, the rice was soft and fluffy, and the eggs were rid fvorful. It actually tasted pretty good.

  Naoki realized he was quite hungry, so he quickly fihe bowl of fried rice. Once done, he even grabbed a gss of ice-cold juice from the fridge and took a few sips.

  "Huh? Nothing particurly strong happening?" Naoki wondered.

  But in the moment, a sudden thought popped into his head—something he'd fantasized about but never acted on before.

  Cuddling G and rubbing his face against its soft, fluffy fur!

  He'd never dared to do it before, afraid of startling G or worried it would think he was some kind of weirdo.

  But now...

  Naoki suddenly felt a surge of ce building within him for no apparent reason.

  'Why not just try it?'

  'Pick up G and cuddle like you do with Pawmo!'

  But soon after, Naoki stopped himself, wanting to test whether an ordinary person could resist the effects of the dish.

  So, with the ce subsiding, he retracted his raised foot and sat ba his chair. After a while, the feeling of impulsiveness faded away.

  Naoki g the empty bowl of fried rid reflected.

  "It seems eating this egg fried rice gives the eater a burst of ce, making them impulsively a things they’ve always wao do but were too afraid to try."

  "This feeling isn’t overwhelming. A person with strong willpower e. As long as you stay firm, you avoid being swayed by the cooking’s effects."

  "Ohe ce fades, the influence of the dish disappears."

  Still, this food could be incredibly useful to help someone make decisions when they're wavering or feeliant.

  For instance, people whle with deaking or those who are introverted and don’t know how to express themselves or say no.

  Thinking of this, Naoki suddenly remembered the girl from the seed shop, Hugh's daughter, Bell.

  Hugh had always said she was trying hard to overe her psychological barriers but could never make up her mind.

  So, the question was: 'Could this dish help her?'

  Sinaoki nning to head into town to buy a new bed that afternoon, he decided he'd give it a try.

  So Naoki got up, took out the ingredients from the refrigerator, made ara portion of fried rice, packed it into a lunch box, and hopped onto his Cyclizar to head into town.

  He had bought this lunch box some time ago, intending to use it while expl the wild, but he never got the ce to use it—until now.

  Cyclizar was fast, and it took him just over ten mio reach the town.

  Standing in front of the seed shop, Naoki g the sign above the door. To avoid what had happe time, Naoki returned Cyclizar to its Poké Ball before entering.

  It was mid-afternoon, and the shop wasn't very busy.

  Hugh, the shop owner, was dusting the shelves with a feather duster. When he heard footsteps, he turned and saw Naoki approag.

  Hugh showed some surprise, then smiled warmly and said, "Good afternoon! Did you fet to buy something?"

  "No," Naoki shook his head, holding up the lunch box taining the Ce Fried Rice. He briefly expihe magical effects of the dish.

  After listening, Hugh was astonished. "A dish like that? How you make food that gives people ce?"

  Naoki repeated what he'd told Carter earlier, looking at his palm as if in refle.

  "I see." Hugh murmured, nodding in uanding.

  When he heard that Naoki had this special ability, he wasn’t envious or jealous but genuinely happy for him.

  Hugh wao say that maybe Naoki had lost someone important in this world and that perhaps this was a gift from above to help him, but he hesitated, not wanting t up anything painful. Instead, he ged the topic. " it really give someone ce?"

  Naoki smiled and nodded. "T happio others—that's the true meaning of food."

  Hugh nodded and gnced upstairs. "Bell should be in her room painting. I'll call her down!"

  He walked toward the stairs and called up, "Bell! Bell! e down quickly!"

  Soon, the head of a shy girl appeared at the top of the stairs.

  She only exposed half of her body, looking down cautiously. Upon seeing a stranger in the house, she quickly withdrew, much like a startled little hamster.

  Hugh sighed helplessly and turo Naoki, "Bell is very shy and timid. Her room is her only safe space. Aside from meals, she stays locked inside, fog on what is her."

  Naoki nodded in uanding and hahe fried rice to Hugh. "In that case, you give it to her."

  Hugh smiled, "Please wait here for a moment!"

  Naoki had no objes.

  Hugh took the fried rice upstairs, knocked gently on his daughter's door, "Bell?"

  Soon, the door creaked open.

  With anticipation, Hugh hahe lunch box to his daughter and expihe magical properties of the fried rice, how it could give someone ce.

  Bell's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? Is there really food like that?"

  "I don't kher. Naoki specially sent this to help you," Hugh expined. "Naoki is the owner of the ranch you visited that day. He came to town in the spring."

  As he spoke, Hugh whistled toward the window, and moments ter, a small, ino scurried in through the open window.

  "Why not give it a try?" Hugh enced, hoping his daughter could overe her psychological barriers, stop isoting herself, and live more freely.

  "Okay," Bell said, feeling her father's hope and expectation. She took a deep breath and carefully opehe lunch box.

  A delicious aroma immediately filled the air. The egg fried rice looked as though it had just been made, still steaming with warmth.

  The golden egg mixture coated nearly every grain of rice, each piece distinct. The fragrance of the oil, rice, and eggs blended harmoniously, giving off a goldehat was incredibly appetizing.

  Even though Bell had just eaten lunch, she couldn’t help but swallow in anticipation.

  Hugh was simirly impressed. He hadn’t expected Naoki to be so skilled at cooking. Maybe this dish really could help Bell?

  "Go ahead, try it," Hugh urged.

  Bell picked up a spoon and cautiously took a bite.

  The moment she tasted the egg fried rice, her eyes lit up.

  Hugh asked with anticipation, "How does it feel?"

  Bell blinked and savored the fvors for a moment before she suddenly felt a wave of ce rising within her.

  She bit her lip, and after a brief pause, as if making a decision, she turo her father and said:

  "Dad, I don't want to go out. I want to stay at home."

  Hugh was taken aback by her words.

  Bell herself didn’t seem to expect that she would blurt out what was truly on her mind.

  Startled, she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry," but then tinued:

  "I know you and Mom wao go outside more often, but the world outside is dangerous. There are Pokémon everywhere, and I could lose my life if I’m not careful."

  Hearing his daughter's s, Hugh felt a deeper sense of worry. "Is that really how you feel?" he asked.

  As the effects of the Ce Fried Rice faded, Bell covered her mouth, guilt washing over her. "I'm so sorry!" she repeated.

  Hugh sighed aly asked, "You don’t like it when your parents keep pressuring you to go out, do you?"

  "No." Bell lowered her head, feeling as if she were about to admit defeat. "I just... I just think it's really dangerous outside. If I walk down the road, I might get hit by a car, and in the forest, I could be attacked by scary Pokémon!"

  "Every Pokémon terrifies me! I could get electrocuted, burned alive, or sliced in half by a Scyther! Even small Pokémon—if they bite me, I might die from an iion! I don’t want to end up like that, alone on some vast pin!"

  Hugh was stunned. His daughter had always been quiet, but he hadn't realized her fears ran this deep. He sighed, trying to make sense of it all. He gently said to Bell, "We'll talk more when your mother es baaoki is still downstairs—why don't you tinue painting for now?"

  Hugh turned a downstairs.

  Seeing the worry etched on Hugh's face, and after hearing part of the versation, Naoki asked, "Is everything okay?"

  Hugh let out a heavy sigh. "I just wao go out more, experiehe world so that when her mother and I are no longer around, she’ll be able to live in this world on her own."

  "Is that really how she feels?" Naoki asked.

  Hugh nodded, "Yes, it seems so. But we still have you to thank, Naoki. If it weren’t for you, I might still be f Bell into situations that made her unfortable, without realizing it."

  Hearing this, Naoki thought that Bell might have some deep-seated fears or even paranoid delusions, but it was not his pce to interfere in another family's issues.

  He offered fort instead. "Don’t worry too much. There's plenty of time for things to ge. Bell may grow out of this as she gets older."

  "I hope so," Hugh replied, clearly burdened by his worries. He grabbed a bag of fertilizer from a nearby shelf and offered it to Naoki. "In any case, we really appreciate your help today. This is the test fertilizer we have in stock."

  "Oh, I ’t accept this," Naoki said, shaking his head. "I just wao help in any way I could."

  But Hugh was insistent, holding out the fertilizer. "We’re neighbors, after all. This is a fruit fertilizer, desigo help fruit trees grow more abundantly. It’s ock, so I haven’t tried it yet. Please take it a me know how it works. If it’s effective, maybe you’ll buy a few more bags."

  Realizing that Hugh wasn’t going to take no for an answer, Naoki smiled and accepted the fertilizer. "I uand. If it works well, I’ll definitely be baore."

  Hugh expio Naoki iail at what stage the fertilizer should be applied and how much to use for each tree.

  Naoki nodded, indig he uood and would remember everything.

  He thehe seed shop and released his Cyclizar from its Poké Ball. Refleg on the events of the day, Naoki couldn’t help but shake his head.

  “What a sweet little girl,” he thought.

  As he looked back toward the seed shop, he noticed someoanding at the sed-floor window. It was Bell, watg him. The moment she realized he had noticed her, she quickly shrank back, like a quail retreating into its shell.

  Naoki sighed. "Fet it!" He patted Cyclizar on the shoulder and said, "Let's go!"

  With his bed broken by Koraidon, Naoki had to buy a new one.

  To prevent another i like this iure, Naoki decided to switch to a Japayle tatami bed. These beds had no legs and sat ft on the wooden floor, making them much harder for Koraidon to damage.

  Plus, with a partition underh the house, he didn’t have to worry about the quilts getting damp. Even if they did, the strong summer sun would dry them out, leaving them soft and smelling like sunshier a day outside.

  The streets of town were pristine, with charming shops and houses lining both sides of the road.

  At three o'clo the afternoon, after purchasing the tatami bed from the shop, Naoki returo the ranch.

  He immediately began applyiilizer to the newly pnted fruit trees and transphe taller fruit trees from the farmnd to the orchard area.

  After finishing that task, Naoki, ign the dirt on his hands, went to the utility room. There, he built a simple wooden feo enclose the orchard, leaving a small gate for easy entry a.

  With Koraidon's help, he pced a sighe gate featuring a picture of tree fruits, indig that this was a dedicated park frowing and cultivating tree fruits.

  That evening, after a busy day, Naoki finished his dinner ao bed early.

  With the atami bed, Koraidon no longer had to worry about breaking it. In fact, Koraidon seemed to enjoy it even more, boldly resting its tail on the bed and almost sprawling its entire body across it.

  Whenever Naoki saw this, he couldn’t help but suspect that Koraidon had deliberately crushed the previous bed. But looking at Koraidon's i, tent expression, Naoki felt guilty for thinking so.

  There weren’t maertai options on the ranch, so bedtime came early every night.

  Perhaps because he wasn’t used to sleeping on a tatami, Naoki had trouble falling asleep that night.

  He y there alongside Pawmo, staring at the ceiling, thinking about how would be if this era could develop faster.

  He missed his smartphohe ability to browse the i and py games.

  But for now, none of that existed. Naoki sighed quietly to himself.

  Turning his head, he caught Koraidon's golden eyes shining in the dark.

  "Why aren’t you asleep yet?” he asked.

  Koraidon looked ecstatic, as usual: “Raao~”

  “You silly thing,” Naoki said, exasperated but amused. He draped his ankles over Koraidon's tail.

  Koraidon, happy as ever, thought to itself, 'I'm not silly!'

  Naoki pulled the quilt over his head and announced, “Enough. Time to sleep!”

  And with that, they both drifted off into a peaceful night.