https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-122-Spring-Horse-Racing-Let-s-Begin-/12537133/
Chapter 121: Gouledon Gets Jealous
Chapter 121: Gouledon Gets Jealous
The next morning, Naoki woke up early while the sky was still dimly lit.
A light rain was falling outside, casting the entire ranch in a grayish hue. The grass was wet and shimmering with a soft glow from the misty rain.
"Still raining?" Naoki muttered to himself as he opened the door to let the cool breeze in. He took out some sandwiches and eggs from the fridge, quickly preparing a simple breakfast, and asked Moto Lizard to deliver it to Ice Eevee.
After a swift breakfast, Aerodactyl was already waiting outside under the eaves, ready for work, with its small red bag slung over its shoulder.
Naoki handed over two bottles of packaged sheep milk, saying, "You've been working hard!"
"Aar!" Aerodactyl replied, taking the milk and disappearing into the rain.
Naoki changed into his rain boots and stepped out with an umbrella. He turned to Moto Lizard and Gouledon, who wanted to follow, and quickly stopped them. "I'm just going to feed the Ride Rydons. You two stay here and behave. I'll be back soon!"
On rainy days, the ground could get muddy, and although Moto Lizard and Gouledon wouldn't roll in the mud, their claws would undoubtedly track dirt into the house.
The two Pokemon could only stand forlornly under the eaves, watching Naoki walk into the misty rain.
The rain didn't dampen the spirits of the Ride Rydons in the slightest.
When Naoki approached their pen, the entire area had transformed into a dazzling stage lit by neon lights.
The three Ride Rydons were wildly dancing inside, carefree and unrestrained.
Mini-Ninetales, by their side, seemed accustomed to this scene, basking in the abundant Grass-type energy and gently swaying her body in comfort.
Naoki nonchalantly poured a bag of grass dumplings into the feed trough and filled the nearby water trough to the brim.
The three Ride Rydons immediately surrounded him, poking their heads into the trough to enjoy their breakfast.
Naoki stood there, feeling a sense of satisfaction as he watched this heartwarming scene.
The Ride Rydons were growing stronger and healthier, and their height had increased noticeably after evolution.
If they stood up to their full height, they even gave off a subtle sense of pressure, as if they were legendary Swords of Justice like Cobalion, Terrakion, or Virizion, rather than mere Ride Rydons.
Naoki shook his head, dispelling these odd thoughts from his mind.
Next, he made his way to the chicken coop, retrieved the feed from the silo, and poured it into the trough. He then closed the doors and windows to shield the chickens from the rain, preventing them from getting sick.
In the Pokemon house, the three Miltank had already milked themselves.
Naoki collected the milk, placed the buckets in the corner, and took out a brush to groom them.
The Miltank relished the attention, clearly enjoying their lives.
For them, this kind of life was a dream come true.
Every day, someone would help them with milking, feeding, and brushing, and they had access to fresh, nutritious grass.
They loved the ranch.
As Naoki brushed the Miltank, he observed their cheerful moods, and his own happiness grew.
These three Miltank may have looked similar, but their personalities were vastly different.
One was gentle and caring, always willing to share her milk with the weaker Pokemon on the ranch.
Another was docile and quiet, preferring to eat the lush grass that grew outside. On sunny days, she would leisurely bask in the sun, surrounded by the grass.
The third Miltank was lively and energetic, always full of spirit, and loved to communicate with the other Pokemon on the ranch.
"All done!" Naoki patted the Miltank on their heads and hung the brush back on the wall. "Have fun! I'll go feed Salazzle next door."
The Miltank happily agreed.
Seeing their contentment, Naoki smiled and turned to head to the neighboring pen.
As Rock-type Pokemon, Salandit didn't enjoy rainy days. They typically chose to stay indoors rather than venture out in such weather.
The door to the Salt House was tightly closed, and Naoki's mind conjured up images of the five diminutive figures within. A smile tugged at his lips as he pushed open the door.
The first thing that greeted him was a massive figure composed entirely of rocks.
It was a Pokemon whose body was squarely built, as if constructed from building blocks.
Naoki's eyes widened as he immediately realized what had transpired.
The Salandit had evolved into Salazzle during the rainy night! Before him, the other four Salandit gathered around their newly evolved companion, looking on with admiration.
As Naoki entered, they scurried over to him, surrounding him excitedly.
"Salazzle!"
"Sal... Salazzle..."
Even the evolved Salazzle stepped forward, its limbs moving with a sense of newfound confidence.
Naoki looked at this Salazzle with fascination and asked, "When did you evolve?"
"Rui... Rui!" replied the Salazzle.
The night before, as it slept soundly, it had suddenly felt a surge of magical power coursing through its body.
And when it woke up, it found itself transformed into its current form.
"Congratulations!" Naoki exclaimed, reaching out to pat its head.
But the next second, the Salazzle before him spat out a pile of crystalline, pure rock salt.
The amount of rock salt was astonishing, and in the blink of an eye, a "salt mountain" had formed on the floor beside them.
"Wow!"
Naoki's eyes widened in shock as he took in this sight.
He had known that Salazzle could produce more rock salt, but he had never expected it to be so exaggerated.
The amount produced in one go exceeded the total amount from the past two weeks!
The happy Salazzle looked at the pile of salt and then at Naoki, its expression proud. "Rui! Rui~"
The carefree life on the ranch had not erased the Saltrock's memories of the past.
It remembered how Naoki had protected and cared for them, bringing them to the ranch when they were weak and helpless, and building them a beautiful home.
Saltrock had not forgotten any of this.
At that moment, the simple-minded Saltrock expressed its gratitude to the human before it in the only way it knew how.
This was the only thing it could do.
Saltrock nuzzled Naoki affectionately with its blocky head.
Although they didn't share a common language, Naoki somehow felt the emotions of the pure-hearted Pokemon in front of him.
It was expressing its gratitude!
The emotions of the Rock-type Pokemon were as sturdy and reliable as mountains.
Naoki was deeply touched. He patted Saltrock and said, "Thank you, Saltrock. I appreciate your sentiment."
"Rui~"
The four unevolved Salandit nearby were green with envy.
They jumped up and down, crying, "Yanyan! Yanyan!"
Seeing this, Naoki smiled and picked them up one by one, saying, "You guys need to work hard too! But remember, Salazzle is not the end; there's an even more powerful evolution beyond it, the Saltgeist."
"Yanyan!" They nodded, determined to do their best.
At this point, Naoki suddenly recalled that the Saltgeist was over two meters tall.
If all five Salandit evolved into Saltgeists, the current Salt House would be too small and narrow for them.
"Looks like I'll have to ask Kris later if she can build a bigger Salt House," Naoki mused aloud.
Then he returned to the wooden house to fetch some bags to store the rock salt and took the opportunity to inform Frost Fairy about the Salandit's evolution.
As expected, upon hearing the news, Frost Fairy immediately expressed her desire to go and see for herself.
So, Naoki brought Frost Fairy to the Salt House.
When Frost Fairy laid eyes on the Salazzle, her eyes widened in shock. "Mama..."
Was this really the tiny Salandit from before? Frost Fairy had always been like an older sister to them, taking them out to play.
Now, seeing the Salazzle taller than herself, she felt like their roles had reversed.
The Salazzle had woken up to find that the little brother who used to follow her around was now taller than herself...
However, Salazzle didn't seem to notice Frost Fairy's thoughts. It happily greeted her, "Rui~"
Naoki, who was busy filling bags with rock salt, said to Frost Fairy, "Wait till the Salazzle evolves again, and they'll get even bigger! They'll be taller than me!"
"Mama?!" Frost Fairy was even more shocked.
Naoki continued, "Then you can stand on the Saltgeist's back and let them take you for a ride."
He pictured Frost Fairy being carried by the five Saltgeists, becoming their knight.
Hearing this, the Salandit and Salazzle were overjoyed and looked forward to the day this would happen.
"Alright, I'm going to put this salt away. Do you want to come with me or stay here and play with the Salandit?" Naoki asked, standing up.
The Salandit and Salazzle wanted Frost Fairy to stay and play with them.
Seeing the familiar look in Salazzle's eyes, Frost Fairy suddenly realized that no matter how much they changed, they were still her good friends who followed her around and played together.
With the bag of rock salt on his back, he left the Salt House.
The rain outside had not let up, and by the time Naoki had put away the salt, the Aerodactyl that had gone to deliver milk had returned.
It landed on the eaves, and Naoki walked over to unhook the small bag from its waist, then took out a towel to wipe the rain from its body.
On rainy days, there wasn't much work to be done.
The fields didn't need watering, and the mother chickens couldn't be let out to pasture, so Naoki gave Bulbasaur and Aerodactyl the day off, letting them rest inside the house.
Aerodactyl sat on the floor with a basket of small breads that Naoki had made; the breads were so tiny that Aerodactyl could eat one in a single bite.
Bulbasaur watched this scene with admiration.
Ever since it saw Aerodactyl release so much electricity the day before, Bulbasaur had been in awe of it.
Naoki noticed this and suddenly found that observing the interactions between different Pokemon could be very interesting.
Just like Frost Fairy and the Saltrocks, Butterfree and the three Combee, Ride Rydon and Mini-Ninetales, Aerodactyl and Bulbasaur, and the group of Pokemon that brought flowers to Ice Eevee.
Of course, the most interesting pair was still Gouledon and Moto Lizard.
As it turned out, Pokemon would also get jealous of each other because of their relationships with their trainer.
For example, right now, Naoki was sitting on the carpet, watching TV, initially leaning against Moto Lizard, but he suddenly noticed Gouledon's sulking expression.
Then, Naoki stood up to brew a cup of black tea that Mrs. Tangtis had given him before, and he casually sat next to Gouledon.
Gouledon immediately revealed a happy expression.
Seeing this, Naoki moved back to Moto Lizard's side.
Gouledon started getting jealous again.
"Pfft!" Watching this, Naoki couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Moto Lizard, who had been intently watching the distance between Naoki and himself, finally noticed Naoki's actions, its eyes widening in shock, as if it couldn't believe what it was seeing.
"A-gawr!"
Then it turned away, sulking.
Seeing this, Naoki quickly went over to appease it, saying, "Alright, alright, I wasn't doing it on purpose. Come and watch TV together!"
Gouledon lay on the carpet with its eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, but the slight movement of its eyelids gave it away.
Moto Lizard, who was next to it, also looked over, tilting its head in confusion, "Gawr?"
Gouledon kept its eyes closed, pretending not to hear.
Naoki said, "Moto Lizard, Aerodactyl, and Bulbasaur are all watching you, you know?"
Hearing this, Gouledon couldn't sit still anymore.
It had always felt that it used to be so foolish, but now its behavior didn't seem to be much different from before.
How could it let Moto Lizard see it like this?!
Gouledon was so ashamed and angry that it wanted to escape immediately.
But at this moment, Naoki patted the spot next to him and said to Gouledon, "Come and watch TV together!"
Gouledon: "..."
It pathetically went over and lay down behind Naoki, acting as his backrest.
Moto Lizard didn't understand Gouledon's behavior at all. It tilted its head, looking at Gouledon beside it, "Gawr?"
Gouledon kept his eyes closed.
If I don't hear it, it didn't happen.
Seeing this, Naoki really wanted to laugh but managed to hold it in.
This Gouledon's personality was truly adorable!
It had an outwardly loud and domineering appearance but a calm and reliable character, occasionally revealing a bit of foolishness, much like the silly Moto Lizard.
Naoki grabbed its large claw and held on.
Hmm, what should one say in this kind of situation?
Something about them being his wings?
He fell into deep thought, and at that moment, a news report on the television caught his attention.
"...Starting today, the Mega Evolution, jointly discovered by Dr. Oak and Dr. Foot, will officially be introduced into Pokemon battles. Will this brand-new battle style ignite the world of Pokemon Trainers? Let's wait and see!"
Immediately after, the screen showed two trainers battling with their Pokemon, both utilizing Mega Evolution.
Seeing this, Naoki was surprised.
Mega Evolution is only being introduced into trainer battles now?
He had thought it had started long ago!
"No wonder the trainers I met before didn't use Mega Evolution," Naoki muttered.
But this also proved that the current time was indeed very early, as Piper was still a child and hadn't lost her parents yet. There was at least a decade before the events of the main story would unfold.
A decade later...
By then, he would already be thirty years old!
(End of Chapter)
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