At 4:30 p.m., the chi soup was finally ready.

  Naoki lifted the lid of the casserole, and the rich aroma of chi mixed with the fragrant st of wild mushrooms filled the air.

  The soup in the casserole was bubblily, with a thin yer of shiny oil floating on top. The chi and mushrooms looked plump and translut, fully infused with the fvorful broth.

  [Chi Stewed with Mushrooms (A):A dish made by stewing freshly picked wild mushrooms with three-yellow chi. The soup is delicious and is quite popur among some Pokémon.

  Effebsp;Glossy Level 3 – After eating, the fur of furry Pokémon will bee shiny and smooth, redug shedding, and increasih to its maximum.

  ents: The perfect dish for autumn!

  Naoki smiled to himself, thinking, Glossy and smooth fur, huh? This is especially effective for furry Pokémon. Not bad—this will be great for Pawmo and G.

  Other breeders might spend a lot of effort and time feeding their Pokémon the right bination of energy cubes to achieve the same effect, but with this dish, it seemed all Naoki needed ot of chi stewed with mushrooms.

  He picked up a piece of chi and tasted it carefully.

  The chi was tender and fvorful, with the firm texture of well-cooked meat, while the wild mushrooms added a rich, earthy aroma. It erfect.

  Meanwhile, outside on the grass, Koraidon, who had been dozing in the sun, twitched its nose as it caught a whiff of the tempting aroma.

  "Raao!" Koraidon stood up immediately, and Dragonite, along with Cyclizar, also caught the delicious st. Before long, several Pokémon were floating into the house, drawn by the smell.

  Hearing the otion behind him, Naoki turned off the heat and carefully pced the hot casserole on the small dining table.

  "Be careful, it's really hot!" he warned.

  The casserole was ioo hot for the Pokémon to handle directly, and sihey weren’t very skilled at using utensils, they could only sit by the table, staring longingly at the food.

  Naoki chuckled, theo the kit and grabbed a few small bowls. He dished out portions of the chi and mushrooms for them.

  While some Pokémon like Alcremie, Oricorio, and Nacli weren’t very ied in the smell, G and Pawmo seemed to like it quite a bit, with both of them eyeing the food eagerly.

  G, for example, was gazing at the steaming chi, trying to grab it with its paws but quickly withdrawing after getting slightly burned.

  After a moment of thought, G blew a breath of cool air o meat, then eagerly gobbled it up.

  Notig this, Cyclizar and the other Pokémon looked over curiously.

  "Raao?" Cyclizar gnced down at its own portion of meat, then at G’s y pte.

  "Bu-yi!" G blinked, realizing it had attracted the attention of everyone. Feeling the pressure, it quickly blew another cool breath on a pieeat in front of Cyclizar

  Cyclizar happily began to eat, and the other Pokémon followed suit. G, seeing this, resigself to blowing cool air o meat for everyone, making its signature "Bui Bui" sound, while sneaking bites of its own.

  Watg the Pokémon enjoy their meal a along so well, Naoki smiled.

  He g Pawmo, who was eating happily, and teasingly asked, "How’s the taste?"

  "Pawmo~" Pawmo nodded enthusiastically, clearly enjoying the meal.

  Naoki then asked with a grin, "What if I decide to use those hens to cook iure?"

  "Pawmo?!" Pawmo stopped mid-bite, blinking in surprise. It seemed to be seriously pting Naoki’s words, looking flicted.

  Retly, Pawmo had grown quite attached to the group of hens it was taking care of. Even though they couldn’t speak or uand its care, it felt a sense of fulfillment watg the fluffy chicks grow into full-sized chis.

  But, the chi was really delicious.

  On one side, there was the tasty chi stew, and oher, there were the hens it had raised. Pawmo was torn, unsure what to choose.

  It even worried that the ime it saw the chis, it might remember the taste of the delieal it had just eaten.

  "Pawmo." Pawmo looked very troubled.

  At that moment, Cyclizar chimed in, "Gaao." (Hens are food.) It had uood this even before arriving at the ranch.

  Hearing this, Pawmo’s internal struggle seemed to shift. The ban its heart tilted.

  "Pawmo." Pawmo sighed, still flicted.

  Seeing its dilemma, Naoki couldn’t help but ugh. "Don’t worry," he said gently, "I won’t use the hens for cooking."

  They were just a few ordinary chis, after all. If Pawmo enjoyed raising them, Naoki was happy to let him tinue. Money wasn’t an issue when it came to letting Pawmo enjoy its duties.

  Naoki sat down at the table, eating and refilling the bowls of the Pokémon with more chi and mushrooms.

  Even though he had cooked several chis, they were all finished quickly, as the Pokémon eagerly devoured the meal.

  After dinner, Koraidon led Cyclizar and the other Pokémon outside, lying down on the grass with a satisfied look on its face.

  Seeing this, Naoki smiled to himself, thinking he probably wouldn’t o cook dionight. It seemed the Pokémon were full enough from their hearty meal.

  Perfect—he could finally take a break.

  By the time Naoki finished washing the dishes, the sun had already set, and evening had arrived.

  Just then, Zack drove up in a rge truck to pick up the ranch’s goods. While chatting with him, Naoki helped load buckets of Moo Moo milk, goat milk, and a rge bag of rock salt into the truck.

  "Hey, did you hear? There was a mine colpse in Kitakami Town!" Zack said suddenly.

  Naoki looked surprised. "A mine colpse? What happened?"

  Zack expined, "Apparently, a stru team actally disturbed a wild Tyranitar while digging a tunnel. It got angry and caused a lot of the mio colpse! Thankfully, it happe night, so aside from a dozen miners getting injured, no one died."

  Tyranitar, niamed the Sandstorm Lord, was incredibly powerful and seudo-legendary Pokémon from the Johtion.

  Naoki’s curiosity iqued. "Is it still there?"

  Zack shrugged. "No idea. It might have left. But after the earthquake caused the mio colpse, a bunch of a ruins were uncovered underground! Now, a lot of adventurers are heading there, hoping to find the legendary areasures."

  'Areasures,' Naoki thought.

  "Well, I’ve got to run. Still have more rao visit for colles. See you ter!" Zack waved goodbye, climbing bato his trud driving off with the loaded goods.

  After ing up all the day's work, Naoki took a deep breath, feeling a wave of rexation wash over him. He decided to take a shower, thele in for the evening with some TV before heading to bed.

  Just as he was about to rex, another visitor arrived at the ranch.

  Hearing footsteps, Naoki turned around to see the seed shop owner, Hugh, approag. He was a bit surprised. "Mr. Hugh? What brings you here?"

  Hugh expined, "Well, I’ve heard that the goat milk here in town is from your ranch, and it’s bee so popur that it’s hard to get a hold of. I was w if I could order some directly from you."

  "Of course!" Naoki replied. He then called over Dragonite and expihe situation.

  After listening attentively, Dragonite puffed up its chest and fidently reassured them, "Awoo!" 'Leave it to me!'

  Naoki patted Dragonite's head. "Thanks, Dragonite."

  Hugh smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much."

  Naoki waved his hand casually. "No problem at all! We’re neighbors, after all. Besides, you gave me that bag of fertilizer, remember?"

  Hugh chuckled, touched by Naoki’s generosity. Remembering their earlier versation, he sincerely added, "Thanks to you, Abby and I finally stopped pushio do something she didn’t want to do. I ’t thank you enough."