The m, Naoki stood by the farmnd, watg Dragoer the crops, when Ivan suddenly rode in on his Cyclizar from a distance, calling out excitedly, "Naoki, the thing you asked me about st time has been sorted!"

  Naoki was momentarily fused, trying to recall what he'd asked Ivan for. Then it clicked—he had asked Ivan to help him find a butler Pokémon during the spring horse race.

  With excitement building, Naoki responded, "Tell me more!"

  Ivan hopped off his Cyclizar and expined, "A few days ago, I got a letter askio deliver it to someone in Boping City. When I was there, I heard that the owner of a rge manor was looking for someoo take care of two butler Pokémon!"

  "I immediately thought of you, so I asked around. An elderly man, frail but kind, told me that he'd be willing to meet you and show you the two Pokémon."

  Naoki was surprised. "Two Pokemon?"

  Ivan nodded. "Yes, both have rich experien serving, and the elderly man wants someorustworthy to look after them."

  Naoki, still puzzled, asked, "Why would this person offer suon?"

  Ivan shrugged. "He didn't say much, except that his only request is for you to take good care of them. We go visit whenever you're free."

  "I’m free now!" Naoki said, heading into the house to ge his clothes. "Where’s the manor located?"

  Ivan replied, "In Boping City, not far from here. We get there in about two hours by riding our Cyclizar."

  "Perfect," Naoki said, nodding. After ging his clothes and pag his bag, he instructed Koraidon to watch over the ranch while he was gone. "I’ll be ba the afternoon. There's food in the fridge, so make sure everyos fed at noon."

  Koraidon nodded obediently, showing no signs of jealousy. Naoki patted its head. "Be good, and I'll make something special for you ter."

  With that, Naoki hopped onto his Cyclizar, and the two set off towards Boping City.

  As they rode, Naoki asked, "Aren’t you supposed to be at work today?"

  Ivan grinned, "It's the weekend! The post office is closed for two days, so no work today."

  Naoki blinked in surprise. He had pletely fotten about the weekend. "Right," he muttered.

  Ivan teased, "Have you been living alone for so long that you fot what day it is?"

  "No," Naoki replied truthfully. "I just didn’t expect you to have two days off without any overtime. That’s enviable."

  Ivan chuckled. "Is the ranch work that tiring?"

  "Not really," Naoki said. "With all the Pokémon helping out, things are pretty easy. I only get busy during pnting and harvest seasons, and I spend a lot of time preparing food for everyo’s tiring, but it's worth it seeing all the Pokémon happy ahy."

  Naoki sighed inwardly, refleg on how different life in this world was pared to his previous owo days off a week and no overtime—luxuries that would have been unthinkable back then.

  Not wanting to delve too deep into those thoughts, Naoki ged the subject. "I’ve never been to Boping City before."

  Ivan smiled, happy to ge the topic. "Boping City is much bigger than our Kosaji Town."

  The town of Kosaji is located in the northwest of the map, while Boping City is located in the tral area of the Paldea regioo the Paldea Crater, and is separated from Kosaji by a vast desert area.

  Thinking of this, Naoki asked, "Do you want to gh the desert first?"

  Ivan shook his head. "No, the desert is too dangerous. The Pokémon there are very aggressive, and the climate is extremely hot. Today, we’ll take the main road. This road was built by the official Paldea Alliance, and there are no dangerous Pokémon along the way, so it’s safe for travel."

  Naoki nodded and said nothing more.

  The two of them tinued along the road.

  Because of what Ivan had said, Naoki kept an eye on the Pokémohe roadside and noticed they were just as Ivan described—small, gentle, and not particurly aggressive.

  Besides them, they passed a few trucks, some backpackers camping in the fields, and trainers battling their Pokémon.

  Time flew by, and as the sun rose higher, the air became hotter. Finally, the bustling, prosperous Boping City appeared in front of them.

  "We're here!" Ivan excimed happily.

  Naoki looked up and saw that Boping City was built on a cliff, with the ey divided into three yers due to the terrain.

  Beyond Boping City, steep cliffs could be seen in the distaheir peaks hidden by white clouds. Naoki squioward the horizon.

  "That must be the Paldea Crater," Naoki thought.

  Just from the outside, the crater looked magnifit and imposing. Naoki couldn't help but wonder what it looked like on the ihough he wasn’t sure if he’d be allowed to explore it.

  They entered Boping City, and Naoki dismounted his Cyclizar which transformed into an upright form, walking beside him.

  The streets were paved with blue and white tiles, and in the distance, a beautiful fountain park caught Naoki’s eye. A huge, stunning waterfall flowed down from the top, eg the different yers of the city.

  People wearing summer outfits, some in bikinis or shorts, strolled leisurely around, giving the city a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

  Ivan smiled and said, "Look at how full of energy this pce is."

  "Yeah," Naoki nodded. Boping City reminded him of a pce like Venice, with water-themed architecture everywhere he looked.

  However, they didn’t have much time to admire the sery. They took the elevator to the third floor, passed through the bustling city streets, and arrived at a grand manor.

  Two guards stood at the entrance. Ivan expined why they were there, and after a moment, one of the guards looked Naoki over before respectfully stepping aside and opening the gate.

  "The master has been waiting for you. Please, e in," the guard said.

  Master? Naoki thought the title sounded odd but kept it to himself.

  He followed Ivan into the manor, and the vast estate immediately struck him. 'This pce is enormous!'

  Ivan leaned over and whispered, "I was shocked the first time I came here too! But don’t worry, the owner is really kind, not like the rich people you see on TV."

  Naoki nodded as they tinued walking, but soon enough, they found themselves lost within the sprawling grounds of the estate.

  Ivan looked around the huge garden maze, scratg his head. "Strange, did I remember it wrong? Why isn't this the road?"

  Naoki, starting to feel the unease of the situation, asked, "Didn’t anyone lead you st time?"

  Ivan, gng around at the empty, eerie surroundings, replied, "Yes! Last time, there were plenty of people in the manarderimming the hedges, butlers in tuxedos, maids watering the pnts."

  As Ivan spoke, a cold realization hit both of them. "Huh? Why is there no ooday?"

  Naoki, sensing the odd atmosphere, jokingly asked, "Is this one of those haunted manors? You know, like in the movies, where all the people are ghosts, luring visitors in to, you know."

  Just then, a cold gust of wind swept past them, as if something unseen was watg.

  Ivan, wide-eyed with fear, stammered, "D-don't scare me like that!"

  The two Cyclizar following behind them trembled nervously, letting out soft, frightened sounds: "Gaao."

  Naoki chuckled awkwardly. "I was just kidding."

  Ivan exhaled in relief, but before he could fully rex, Naoki added, "But, to be fair, ghosts do exist in this world."

  Ivan and the two Cyclizar froze, their eyes wide with fear, as they hurriedly navigated through the garden maze. "Wait, what? Have you actually seen one?" Ivan asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  Naoki nodded nontly. "Yeah, once when I was traveling in the Gar region."

  He went on to vividly describe how he had entered a little ghost girl who asked him to deliver a letter to her old friend. When Naoki found the man, he was an old man in his seventies, who expihat the girl had been his childhood sweetheart. She had disappeared many years ago, and he hadn’t seen her since.

  Naoki paused. "Turns out the girl had died when she was a child. She became a ghost, wandering the streets, waiting for someoo deliver her message."

  Ivan clutched his Cyclizar tightly, trembling as the story unfolded.

  Naoki smiled and asked, "Is it really that scary?"

  Ivan and his Cyclizar nodded furiously in unison.

  Naoki turo see his own Cyclizar also looking terrified. It let out a soft, fearful noise. "Gah."

  He patted his Cyclizar on the shoulder, holding its paw to fort it. "Don’t be scared," Naoki reassured, and the Cyclizar seemed to calm down a bit.

  As they tinued walking, Naoki tried to lighten the mood. "You know, the ghost girl didn’t have any bad iions. Some people say the ghosts we fear are the ohers miss dearly, but will never see again."

  He smiled, recalling the stra memorable enter. "After I delivered the letter for her, she left me a gift—an ented Spell Tag with spiritual power."

  Naoki shrugged. "See? Not all ghosts are scary."

  Ivan, calming down, thought about it. "Yeah, I guess that’s one way to look at it."

  Just as they were about to tiheir versation, the two finally emerged from the maze and were greeted by a beautiful fountai on a rge wn.

  Around the fountain, a group of Pokémon had gathered.

  There rigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, a Bou, a pair of Pachirisu, and even a Greavard among them.

  Naoki’s eyes widened in surprise. These were starters Pokémon, some of them were from ions. His amazement only grew when he saw the little creature they were all gathered around.

  Ivan noticed it too. In the middle of the group was a small, Meowth.

  To be precise, it was an injured Meowth.

  "It's hurt!" Ivan excimed.

  The group of Pokémon surrounding it notiaoki and Ivan, but instead of being scared, they simply turheir heads to look at the newers.

  Seeing the situation, Naoki stepped forward and checked on the Meowth. It looked very weak, so Naoki took out a bottle of juid milk from his backpack to restore its strength.

  The juid milk had inally been packed for his Cyclizar in case it got thirsty during their journey, but it was now ing in handy for the injured Meowth.

  Meowth quickly drank the etle of juid milk, and within moments, its wounds started to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

  The surrounding Pokémon watched in surprise, casting curious g Naoki.

  Meowth stood up eically, letting out a soft "Meow~" in thanks.

  Seeing the Meowth back to its eic self, Naoki smiled. "Okay, take care of yourself and be more careful ime."

  "Meow~" the Meowth purred, before it and the group of Pokémon—Sprigatito, Fuecoco, Quaxly, and others—jumped and ran off into the garden maze, starting a game of hide-and-seek.

  Watg this, Ivan once again marveled at the generosity of the manor's owner.

  "Was this garden maze built just for these Pokémon to py hide-and-seek?" Ivan murmured in awe.

  Naoki chuckled. "It seems that way."

  He began to wonder if he should build a small maze back at his ranch for his Pokémon to enjoy.

  Ivan sighed, "So rich."

  Naoki smiled, turning his attention to the grand building in front of them. "Let's go. That should be our destination."

  As they walked around the garden fountain, they finally spotted another person besides themselves. It was a maid in an apron, sweeping with a broom.

  Naoki approached her politely, introdug himself and expining the purpose of their visit.

  The maid smiled and urning around auring with her broom. "Please follow me! The master has been expeg you."

  For some reason, Naoki couldn't shake a feeling that somethi slightly off. He g Ivan, who seemed blissfully unaware.

  They followed the maid into the grand vil.

  Upoering, Naoki's eyes fell on an elderly man sitting on a sofa in the living room. He was wearing a blue kimono, his hair silver with age, and his face lined with wrihe man appeared tired as if burdened by time.

  Oher side of the old man stood two Pokémon that looked simir. Both had two horns on their heads, but one Pokémon's horn pointed upwards while the other's pointed downwards.

  The Pokémon with the upointing horn had a half-closed, expressionless eye, giving off an air of detat. Meanwhile, the oh the doointing horn had a gentle smile, with its eye open wide and a warm, kind expression.

  Naoki's mind fshed with reition. These were Indeedee, the butler Pokémon—one male and one female, known for their trasting expressions and roles in taking care of their trainers.

  He quickly recalled the details about Indeedee. The male Indeedee tends to have a more stoid reserved demeanor, while the female Indeedee is more nurturing ale, which expins their different expressions.

  They stood respectfully beside the old man, eyeing the newers who had just ehe Indeedee—both the male with a calm demeanor and the female with a gentle smile—watched quietly, their expressions refleg their characteristitrast.

  "Are these the ones?" Naoki thought as he and Ivan were led by the maid to the elderly man sitting on the sofa.

  The old man spoke after a moment. "You’ve finally arrived. Please, have a seat."

  Naoki and Ivan nodded and sat on the sofa opposite him. "Hello," Naoki greeted politely. "I’m Naoki, and I run a ran Kosaji Town. This is my partner, Cyclizar."

  The old man nodded slightly and murmured to himself, "A ranch owner." After a pause, he tinued, "Just call me Sato. What do you think? Is he suitable?"

  He turo the two Indeedees beside him.

  "Aiya," the male Indeedee on the left nodded calmly.

  The female Indeedee on the right gave Naoki a warm, approving smile. "Ai-ah~"

  Seeing their reas, the old man ughed heartily. "That's good. I think he's a fine choice. He'll take good care of the children."

  Naoki was caught off guard by the ent. "Excuse me, Mr. Sato, but what do you mean by this?"

  Notig Naoki's fused expression, the old man chuckled. "Ah, you must have thought I was referring to these two Pokemon. They've been with me for over 20 years; I 't bear to part with them. No, the ones I want you to care for are their children."

  "Let me be clear, Naoki. When you arrived, I set a little test for you."

  Naoki's mind fshed back to the injured Meowth by the fountain. He began to piece things together.

  The old man smiled. "You showed great kindness in helping a Pokémon you didn’t even know, saving it without hesitation. That was no ce."

  He leaned forward slightly. "And that ghost story you told in the garden? It was wonderful. The line about ghosts being those who are missed but never seen again—so true!"

  For a moment, the old man seemed lost in thought, but he quickly regained his focus. "But that’s not the main point. The real test was when your Cyclizar was frightened. You forted it immediately, holding its hand. That showed real patiend uanding."

  Naoki felt a bit embarrassed at the old man’s praise. He hadn't thought much about his as at the time.

  The old man, seeing Naoki’s modest expression, ughed softly. "Five me, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your versation. I heard from my servants that you actally wandered into the garden maze."

  "Because many Pokémon usually py there, for their safety, I had surveilnce cameras installed," the old man expined.

  Naoki shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

  "In that case, please follow me." The old man stood up, gesturing for them to follow.

  Naoki and Ivan exged gnces before following the old man down the hall until they reached a warmly decorated baby room.

  There, Naoki saw two baby Indeedee, the children of the butlers. They were small as if they had just been born.

  The old man smiled fondly. "These are their babies, just two weeks old—a brother and a sister. Would you like to meet them?"

  Naoki nodded and approached the young Pokémon, croug in front of them.

  The baby Indeedee siblings noticed the newer. The sister, with wide eyes, gave Naoki an i smile, "Ah~!" She waved her little hahusiastically.

  Her brother, oher hand, had a much more serious demeanor. He g his sister's eagerness and gave a disapproving look as if he were the mature one of the two.

  Naoki smiled and reached into his backpack, taking out two bottles of juice milk and two lucky puddings.

  He turo the old man and asked, "Mr. Sato, is it alright if they have some snacks?"

  The old man and the two adult Indeedee butlers nodded. "Of course."

  With their permission, Naoki gently hahe juice milk, and pudding to the young Pokémon. The baby sister, sensing the milk's smell, immediately grabbed the bottle and began drinking it with ation.

  "Ah!" She took a big gulp and stopped, looking tent.

  Naoki then opehe package of lucky pudding and offered it to her. The sister eagerly took it and, after finishing the pudding, looked at Naoki with bright, happy eyes.

  "Ah!" she waved her tiny arms, asking for a hug.

  Naoki carefully picked her up, feeling her soft, fuzzy body in his hands. His movements became instinctively gentle as he cradled her.

  He then g the brother, who was still standing by with his usual stern look. "Don't you want to try?" Naoki asked.

  The brother tio gnce disapprovingly at his sister, maintaining his mature posture.

  Smiling, Naoki gently pushed the milk bottle closer to him. "How about a sip?"

  The little butler blinked, smelling the milk. His expression softened slightly, ae himself, he couldn't resist. After quietly swallowing, he took a cautious step forward and sipped from the bottle.

  Seeing this, Naoki let out a soft ugh. "Quite cute."

  However, upon hearing Naoki's ughter, the baby butler quickly blushed and turned aretending as if nothing had happened. His serious expressiourned as if to say, "I wasn’t enjoying that."

  Naoki didn’t press the matter, tent to py with the baby sister for a while, cradling her gently.

  The two adult Indeedee behind the old man watched the se with gentle expressions, unig softly with each other.

  "Ai eh," murmured the male butler.

  "Ai ah~," respohe female butler with a smile.

  Hearing their versation, the old man also smiled warmly. "It seems the brother and sister like him very much."

  Turning to his two butlers, he asked once more, "Are you sure it's him?"

  The Indeedee both nodded solemnly.

  "Ai eh," they firmed in unison.

  ...

  After about ten more minutes of py, the baby sister grew tired and, along with her brother, drifted off to sleep. Being so young, they needed plenty of rest each day.

  The group returo the living room downstairs.

  The old man spoke again, "If it's alright with you, I would prefer to wait until they are a bit more capable before handing them over to your care. During this time, we'll teach them basic housework, and I also believe it would be good for their parents to watch them grow a little more. That way, they be at ease wheime es."

  Naoki nodded immediately, "Of course, no problem."

  He, too, had grown fond of the two baby butlers, but he agreed it was important for them to stay with their parents during these crucial early stages of growth.

  Seeing Naoki's agreement, the old man smiled, visibly pleased. "Then please give me your address. In two months at most, when they are ready, I will send them to your ranch."

  Naoki uood. Pokémon, especially ones like the Indeedee, matured quickly.

  "Okay," Naoki said, giving the old maailed address of his ranch. Before leaving, he asked, "Do I o pay a deposit or anything?"

  The old man shook his head gently. "That won't be necessary. We only have one request: take good care of the two little butlers."