Naoki's thoughts wandered back to Bell, the young girl suffering from paranoia. He casually asked, "How is Bell doing these days?"

  Hugh sighed, "Still the same. She stays in her room all day, drawing. She hardly es out, except for meals."

  Naoki houghtfully, and an idea came to him. "I think I might have a way to help, though I'm not sure if it will work."

  "Hmm?" Hugh asked eagerly, "What is it? Please tell me!"

  Naoki expined, "It might help if you let your daughter raise a Pokémon from an egg."

  "I don't think she's just afraid of Pokémon, she's scared of the outside world in general. As you said, her childhood experiences left her with deep psychological trauma, making her believe that everything outside is full of danger."

  "In this kind of situation, we 't expect immediate success. It o be a gradual process. Start by giving her a Pokémoo take care of."

  "A Pokémon egg is harmless and probably won't scare her. It's just an egg, after all."

  "Once she's used to the egg, and if she mao hatch it, she might not be as frightened by the Pokémon. In fact, she could feel ected to the Pokémon, having nurtured it from the start."

  Hugh nodded enthusiastically, his eyes lighting up. "Why didn't I think of that? It’s a wonderful idea!"

  Naoki smiled. "It's just a suggestion. Hopefully, it might help."

  Hugh thought about it for a moment and then asked, "But what kind of Pokémon egg should I give?"

  Naoki sidered this carefully. "First, it shouldn't be something intimidating like a Scyther's egg, nor should it be a Pokémon that grows te ressive."

  "Agreed," Hugh said. "What else?"

  "It should be a Pokémon that’s easy to get along with and won't cause trouble by breathing fire or dischargiricity. For instance, a Pikachu might not be suitable because it could discharge electricity when startled."

  Hugh nodded again.

  Naoki thought of a few options and suggested, "A Ralts might be a good choice. It's small, humanoid, aive to its trainer's emotions, using its psychic powers to uand them."

  He tinued, "Other options could be Vulpix, Togepi, Sunkern, Slowpoke, or Eevee."

  But then, Naoki realized that Pokémon like Ralts and Vulpix were quite rare, and it might be difficult for an ordinary person to obtain their eggs.

  After a moment of refle, he cluded, "I think Eevee would be the best choice."

  "Eevee is harmless, easy to care for, and very popur as a panion Pokémon. Many families raise Eevee as pets."

  Hugh hummed iement and said, "I uand now. Thank you so much for your adviaoki!"

  Naoki smiled, watg as Hugh prepared to leave. He then asked Dragoo apany him to familiarize itself with the route to the town, as it would begin delivering milk to the seed shop starting tomorrow m.

  Dragonite had no objes, noddihusiastically before following Hugh.

  As Naoki watched them leave, he couldn't help but wonder what he would do if more people started milk from the ran the future. Would Dragonite be able to hahe deliveries alone?

  The image onite Isnd popped into his mind.

  'Could I hire more Dragonite from the isnd to help with deliveries?' he thought.

  Naoki remembered his st visit tonite Isnd, where several Dragonites had expressed i in joining him. The idea seemed feasible, but he would o sult Dragonite before making any decisions.

  Taking advantage of the free time, Naoki headed off to wash up. After drying his hair aurning to the house, he was surprised to see Dragonite already back at the ranch.

  He noticed Dragonite holding a package in its arms. "What's that?" Naoki asked, curious.

  "Awoo~" Dragonite responded cheerfully, pg the bundle oable.

  Naoki ope to reveal a pile of fresh berries. He raised an eyebrow, "Did Hugh give these to you?"

  "Awoo!" Dragonite nodded.

  "Alright," Naoki smiled. He knew Hugh was likely thanking him for the advice about Bell. It would be impolite to refuse such a gesture, so Naoki accepted the berries ahem aside as a snack for the Pokémon.

  As the sky darkened, Dragonite, ready to head outside to watch the fireflies and stars, was uedly stopped by Naoki.

  Dragonite looked fused. "Awoo?"

  Naoki smiled and asked, "Dragonite, what do you think of the group onites onite Isnd?"

  Immediately, Dragonite’s mood shifted to alertness. 'What was Naoki talking about?' it thought. 'Did Naoki want another Dragonite?' No way! Naoki was its trainer! Having one Dragonite should be enough!

  With a serious expression, Dragonite shook its head, clearly unhappy, and started speaking ill of the Dragonites from the isnd. "Awoo!" "Awooo," "Awoo".

  Naoki stood there, blinking. Although he couldn't uand Dragonite’s exact words, he could tell from its tone what was going on.

  His Pokémon was jealous.

  After thinking for a moment, Naoki crified, "I’m not looking to tame them. I want to hire them to help out on the ranch."

  Dragoilted its head in fusion. "Awoo?"

  "I’m thinking that if more people start milk iure, you won’t be able to manage all the deliveries by yourself. You could ask the Dragonites from the isnd to help deliver the milk."

  Naoki tinued, "Plus, they probably don’t know much about the world outside the isnd. You could be their leader, introduce them to the outside world, and guide them in delivering goods to the town."

  Dragohought about it, and a vision formed in its mind: Itself as the king of all Dragonites, leading a mighty fleet of them across the skies, delivering milk far and wide. The once weakest Dragonite, now the leader of them all! The more it thought about it, the more it liked the idea.

  Seeing Dragonite’s expression rex, Naoki quickly asked, "So, what do you think? Want to give it a try? And if they ’t hahe job, we fire them."

  Dragonite blinked. "Awoo?" 'What does ‘fire them’ mean?'

  "It means they’ll stop delivering goods and go back tonite Isnd."

  "Awoo!" 'That sounds fine!'

  "So, it’s settled?" Naoki asked.

  Dragonite nodded excitedly before happily hugging Naoki. 'Naoki is so kind! He was worried that I might get tired, so he wao get other Dragoo help me!' Dragonite was deeply touched by the thought.

  Naoki patted Dragonite’s back with a smile. "Alright, let’s not rush into it. Go enjoy your time outside!"

  This was all just a pn for the future. Right now, there were only two ers milk, and Dragonite could hahe job just fine.

  Besides, the ranch was still in the early stages of development. Bringing in dozens o once would drain his resources quickly. 'If only there were dishes that provided a sting feeling of fullness.'

  That thought reminded Naoki of something. In the Pokémon anime, May once made "May's Purple Surprise," a special recipe given to her by Professor Oak. It was a very special type of poke block, ohat could fill up even Snorx, known for its massive appetite.