After Ivan delivered the letter, he left.

  Watg Ivan's figure gradually disappear into the distanaoki finally opehe letter in his hand.

  [To Naoki:

  This is Kosaji's beach ma office. We will hold a summer festival on the beach at 8 PM on the 31st of this month. You are hereby io attend.

  You will spend a wonderful night with the people and Pokémon of the town, watg the geous fireworks blooming in the night sky. Summer is about to reach its climax, and we are looking forward to your arrival.

  —Kosaji Beach Ma Office]

  "Summer Festival…" Naoki murmured softly. He could already picture the se in his mind. Smiling, he put the letter away and turned back toward his house.

  Just as Ivan had said, as soon as Naoki returned home, his ph. It was Mayor Thomas, calling to tell him about the fishing test.

  "Naoki! The town is holding a fishing petition oh of this month. You have to join! The location is at the ke on the east of the town. The event starts at 8 AM. Just follow Ivan—he's participating too!"

  Naoki sighed internally. 'It looks like I o brush up on my fishing skills; otherwise, my title as 'Fishing King' might get exposed.'

  "Okay, I'll be there," Naoki said with a hint of reluce.

  Mayor Thomas chuckled, "Great! Do your best!"

  Suddenly, Naoki remembered something. "By the way, Mayor, do we our own fishing rods and bait, or will they be provided?"

  Mayor Thomas paused before answering, "Ah, I almost fot! You'll your own rods and bait. My memory isn't what it used to be! The petition is about catg the most fish withiime limit. Whoever catches the most will be decred the champion."

  "Got it," Naoki replied.

  After hanging up the phone, he calcuted the time in his mind. Today was May 7th, leaving him 13 days until the 20th. During that time, he o harvest his crops and pnt the batch.

  Standing at his desk, Naoki g the dar, pnning out the days ahead. Lost in thought, he didn't notice several small figures floating up behind him, h just over his shoulders.

  'Somethi off'. Naoki quickly turned around, and there they were—several Dratini and Dragonair with their distinctive white noses, smiling at him.

  "Ah!" Naoki yelped, startled by their sudden appearance, and stumbled backward onto his desk.

  Meanwhile, the Dratini and Dragonair happily greeted him.

  "Woo~"

  "When did you follow me? Wait, how did you eve here?!" Naoki was baffled.

  Three Dratini, including the pink shiny Dratini, floated pyfully around Naoki, while the twonair eyed his space backpa the bed, clearly delighted.

  Only then did Naoki notice the open zipper on his backpack, with bottles of juid milk spilling out. It didn't take long to figure out what had happehese Pokémon had sneaked into his backpack while he wasn't paying attention and followed him all the way back to the ranch.

  'Isn't this... a bit too bold? What if I had been a bad guy?' Naoki thought, holding his forehead in disbelief. His initial rea wasn't surprise, but shock.

  With a serious expression, he scolded them gently, "Everyone onite Isnd will be worried if you sneak off like this!"

  Seeing Naoki get angry, the Dratini and Dragonair immediately lowered their heads, giving him pitiful looks.

  "Woo…" they whimpered.

  Naoki: "…"

  His heart softened, but he still asked, "Does anyone know you're here?"

  The Dragonair shook their heads. They had sneaked into the space backpack while the other Dragonites were distracted, afraid of being caught and scolded by the elder Dragonites.

  "Fet it," Naoki sighed helplessly. "e with me. I'll have to figure out how to tell Dragonites on the isnd that you're here."

  The five Pokémon followed him to the grassy field outside.

  Naoki sed the area aually spotted Dragonite by the river. He called out to it.

  As soon as Dragonite saw the Dratini and Dragonair trailing behind Naoki, its eyes widened in shock. It rushed over, clearly upset.

  When Naoki expihat the Dratini and Dragonair had snuck away from the isnd, Dragonite immediately started scolding them like an elder reprimanding youngsters.

  But Dragonair wasn't fazed by Dragonite's scolding.

  It raised its head and muttered, "Woo..." (You used to sneak off every day, and one day you just didn't e back. Everyohought you were captured by bad people...)

  Dragonite paused, taken aback. It thought about Dragonair's words and realized they wereirely wrong—it hadn't been the most responsible in the past either.

  Feeling guilty and unsure of how to respond, Dragonite scratched its head and looked to Naoki for help.

  Naoki thought for a moment and said, "The first thing we o do is let the other Dragonites on the isnd know they're here."

  He then turo Dratini and Dragonair. "As you see, this is where we live. It's not as great as Dragonite Isnd. There aren't many fruit trees, no o, and not much water."

  The fruit trees here hadn't yet fully grown, and they wouldn't bear fruit until autumn. Young Dratini couldn't stay away from water for too long, and while there was a small ke on the ranch, it was nothing pared to the one onite Isnd.

  Hearing this, the Dratini and Dragonair turned and looked around, taking in the enviro with curiosity.

  The pasture was retively bare, with only a few rge trees scattered around. The green wn stretched across the ground, with a few houses nearby. In the distahere were flower beds and fields filled with various fruits and flowers.

  Other Pokémon were also living on the ranch. In addition to G, Alcremie, Koraidon, Butterfree, and Cyclizar—who they'd already seen—there were many others, some watg curiously, while others basked zily in the sun, clearly tent and rexed.

  Ohey had finished looking around, Naoki asked, "So, do you want to go back to the isnd, or do you want to stay here for a few days? If you want to go back, I'll have Dragoake you. But if you want to stay and py for a bit, I send you back ter."

  To be ho, Naoki hadn't yet learned how to make Pokéblocks, so he wasn't prepared to raise too many Pokémon at once. Dratini and Dragonair were manageable for now, but if they evolved intonite while living here, they might end up eating him out of the house and home!

  'Py for a few more days?'

  Hearing Naoki's offer, the Dratini and Dragonair quickly chose to stay and py for a while longer.

  Naoki had expected this.

  He sighed and Dragonite, who looked resigo its fate. With a final, ster the mischievous Dratini and Dragonair, Dragonite spread its wings and flew off toward Dragonite Isnd to inform the others.

  Naoki brought Dratini and Dragonair to the circur ke on his ranch. When he first arrived in this world, he had caught two Magikarp and put them in the ke, but after realizing how much trouble it was to feed them, he released them bato the river.

  He had thought the ke would remain unused forever, but now, it was ing in handy.

  The ke water was clear, with a few fallen leaves and flower petals floating on the surface, probably blown over by the wind.

  "You guys stay here for now!" Naoki said as the Dratini and Dragonair spshed into the water, their little heads poking out as they curiously looked at the shore.

  Watg them, Naoki felt like he was hosting neighborhood kids at a pool party.

  He shook his head to dismiss the odd thought and was about to get some food to feed them when he suddenly remembered something important. Turning back, he called out, "Oh, by the way, feel free to wander around the ranch, but don't go outside. Got it?"

  "Woo?" Dratini looked fused.

  Naoki gently poked its nose and, in a pyful yet serious tone, warned, "There are bad people out there. If they see you, they'll capture you and lock you in a tiny Poké Ball, and you'll never be able to return tonite Isnd."

  Hearing this, the Dratini trembled with fear. Their heads, which had been fully out of the water, now dipped down until only half of their faces were visible above the surface.

  Meanwhile, Dragonair asked curiously, "Woo?" (Did you catcle Dragohat way?)

  Naoki paused, momentarily taken aback. He went baside the house, grabbed a handful of seeds, shelled them, and popped the seeds into his mouth.

  "What did you just say?" Naoki asked, still chewing.

  Dragonair repeated, "Woo?" (Did you catcle Dragonite like that?)

  Naoki nearly choked. "No, no! I made a promise with your Uncle Dragohat it would bey Pokémon, and I'd help it grow stroell me, hasn't it gotten stronger?"

  Dragonair thought about it for a moment. Back when their Uncle Dragonite first left the isnd, it had been a bit of a slow learner, uo master many moves. But then one day, it left the isnd and didn't return for a while.

  When it finally came back, it had undergone a drastic transformation in strength, being one of the most powerful Dragonites oire isnd.

  The Dratini and Dragonair chuckled happily, "Woo~" (If you're like Uncle Dragonite, we'd love to be caught by someone like you!)

  Naoki was taken abad couldn't help but ugh. "Not everyone is like me," he said with a grin. "To some people, you're as valuable as diamonds."

  "While some may take good care of you," Naoki tinued, "others might capture you for profit, selling you to people who'd keep you in captivity or use you as part of a colle."

  The Dragonair didn't fully grasp the cept.

  Naoki decided to give them an example. "Let's say I were a bad person. If I caught your Uncle Dragonite, I could sell him for 10,000 berries."

  The Dragasped, "Woo" ("So many berries!")

  But soon, one of the Dratini couldn't help but ask, "Woo?" (Why don't you just catch us, then?)

  Naoki blinked, amused by the question. "Well, as much as I'd love to," he replied, "if I did, your Uncle Dragonite would get angry and jealous. I really don't want to deal with an angry, jealous Dragonite!"

  He tinued with a pyful smile, "So, while I take care of you, feed you delicious food, and help you grow stronger and learn new moves, I 't put you in a Poké Ball."

  The Dratini seemed to half-uand what he was saying, but not fully.

  Meanwhile, Dragonair's eyes lit up with excitement. "Woo?" (Does that mean we live with you like Uncle Dragonite, without being put into a Poké Ball?)

  Naoki chuckled, a bit surprised by the cleverness. "You're pretty smart! But remember, you guessed that yourself—I never said it."

  "Woo~" The group onair and Dratini giggled.

  Having finished his seeds, Naoki found it harder to follow their pyful chatter. He stood up, g the setting sun, and took a deep breath. "Alright, you all keep pying here. I o prepare dinner for your Uncle Dragonite."

  Before heading to the kit, Naoki found Pawmo, who had been rexing nearby, and gave it a ask.

  "Pawmo, you help me keep an eye on the Dragonair and Dratini while they're here? Make sure they don't wander off the ranch, okay?"

  "Pawmo!" Pawmo patted its chest fidently, signaling its agreement to keep an eye on the pyful Dratini and Dragonair.

  With that assuranaoki headed off to prepare dinner with peaind.

  Tonight's meal sisted of his signature sandwiches and fried steaks, paired with a few berries and some fresh milk. For dessert, he had fragrant poffins and a creamy smoothie ready. The preparation was simple and quick. However, even after finishing, Dragoill hadn't returned fronite Isnd, so Naoki decided to fry up a whole pot of transtioo pass the time.

  As he looked at the steaming seeds, their caramel aroma filling the air, Naoki murmured, "I really o i in an automatic shelling mae."

  Eating them one by one while talking or thinking was too time-ing. With a handful of peeled seeds, it would be much easier to sna them without the hassle. He even sidered how ve it would be if there were a Psychic-type Pokémon around—they could just use their powers to pop open a whole batch of seeds at once!

  This thought brought to mind the Pokemon siblings who were supposed to arrive soon. Naoki recalled the manor's owner mentioning that their delivery would take two months, and it had already been nearly a month. Still a bit of a wait, he thought.

  But that was fine by him.

  Naoki begaally ting his resources. With all the Nacli Pokémon on the ranch having evolved into Nacclstack, the produ of rock salt had surged. He had expected to wait until the end of the month to gather enough funds, but the profits had been higher than expected, allowing him to save money faster.

  By mid-month, ohe atured and were sold, Naoki expected to have saved up two million.

  With that, he could ask Kelly to e and expand the house, a project that would take about oo two months to plete.

  By the time the renovations were dohe Pokemon siblings would be arriving as well, right on schedule.

  At around 7 PM, Dragonite finally returned fronite Isnd, nding in the middle of the ranch.

  Naoki walked over and asked, "So, what did the Dragonite on the isnd say?"

  Dragonite responded with a cheerful "Ouch!"

  Naoki blinked, interpreting the message. It seemed the Dragonite on the isnd had agreed to let the Dratini and Dragonair stay and py for a while longer.

  He smiled. "Great! e in and have some dinner!"

  Dragonite didn't o be told twice. It dashed into the house, eagerly grabbing a sandwid chowing down.

  But there was ohing Dragonite hadn't mentioned.

  When it visited the isnd, a couple of mischievous Dragonites had overheard the news about the Dratini and Dragonair staying at the ranch. They too wao e along and py, even going as far as to secretly follonite back to Naoki's ranch.

  Fortunately, Dragonite had noticed them early and had shooed them away before they could sheir way over.