Chapter 181: The Summer Festival
Chapter 181: The Summer Festival
At two in the afternoon, Claire arrived at the ranch to see a massive pit in the lawn.
Her face contorted in shock. "Did a meteorite hit here?"
Naoki remained silent.
Gourmeton, standing beside him, hung its head low. It hadn't meant to cause such destruction.
Witnessing this, Claire was even more astonished. "Gourmeton did this? It's so powerful!"
"I asked Gourmeton to demonstrate its moves for me," Naoki explained helplessly. "I didn't expect the move to be so powerful."
He pushed a small cart, filled with soil that he and Gourmeton had dug up from the mountain to fill the pit.
Naoki overturned the cart, emptying the soil into the gaping hole. It took several trips back and forth to finally level the ground.
However, the turf where Gourmeton's Full-Force Crash had landed was now bare, creating a stark contrast with the surrounding lush lawn.
Naoki paused to think, then turned and retrieved a packet of grass seeds, which he sprinkled evenly over the affected area. He then called over the riding goats, who were relaxing in the shade of the trellis, and asked them to tend to the newly seeded area.
He wanted the grass to grow back quickly; after all, a bald patch wasn't a pleasant sight.
This was a simple task for the riding goats, and they immediately surrounded the area, infusing it with their grassy energy to stimulate growth.
"There!"
Naoki patted the head of one of the riding goats and turned to see Claire commanding several Machamp to begin work.
Over the past few days, they had dug a large square pit and created a rudimentary cellar using moisture-proof building materials and wooden boards.
While Claire was busy, Naoki had no intention of idling.
He had cut down all the sunflower heads from the last harvest and left them to dry in the sun. Several Pokemon then worked together to remove the now-dry sunflower seeds.
The three fields of sunflowers yielded a total of five large boxes of seeds.
With some free time on his hands, Naoki carried the boxes to the kitchen and began roasting the seeds, planning to vacuum-seal and store them for future snacks.
By the time Naoki finished roasting the seeds from the five large boxes, it was already the end of May—the 31st, to be precise.
This day marked the Summer Festival.
At eight in the evening, people would gather on the beach west of Drench Town to watch the fireworks display.
"Hey, Naoki, don't forget to watch the fireworks tonight!" Zack reminded him as he loaded several buckets of milk onto the truck.
"I won't forget," Naoki assured him. He was quite excited, as he had only ever seen such festivals in anime before.
He thought of the Houou Festival in the Kujoo region of Kanto, where there were also Geisha singers performing the legend of Houou and Lugia through plays.
"Good," Zack said with a grin, as if he had something more to say. But then his eyes landed on Naoki's blue work clothes. "You can't wear that to the summer festival!"
Naoki was taken aback.
Zack continued, "You should change into traditional festival attire!"
Naoki was speechless. Could he admit that he hadn't prepared any?
"From the looks of it, you haven't prepared yet, have you?" Zack teased, his mouth stretching into a wide grin. "By this time, the shops in town should be closed. Wait a moment! I have a set at home—it belonged to my nephew, and he never wore it. I'll bring it to you!"
Naoki waved his hands frantically. "No, no, that's alright. I'll just change into a clean set of clothes."
Zack frowned. "That won't do! This only comes once a year, so you should take it seriously!"
"Alright, alright," Naoki conceded.
"That's more like it!" Zack exclaimed, his eyebrows dancing with excitement as he patted Naoki's shoulder. "Wait here, I'll bring it to you in a jiffy!"
As Zack walked away, Naoki returned to the house, took a quick shower, and changed into a fresh set of clothes.
He then called out to the Pokemon on the ranch, "Who wants to come with me to the summer festival?"
"Wum!"
Several mischievous Bagon and Hakuryu immediately responded.
"Great!" Naoki nodded, then turned to the other Pokemon.
Gourmeton, Motoxu, and Kairyux naturally wanted to join, as did Feiboisu, Konglong, Bingyi Bu, and Badahhu.
In the end, all the Pokemon on the ranch were recalled into their Poke Balls, including the three Beedrill and the Blissey.
Only Gourmeton, Hakuryu, and the Mini Long remained outside.
Looking at the pile of heavy Poke Balls in his pocket, Naoki was slightly dazed.
Unknowingly, he had captured so many Pokemon!
After storing the Poke Balls in his space backpack, Naoki turned to the Mini Long and Hakuryu. "Would you like to come inside too?"
The three Mini Long and the two Hakuryu looked at him with shining eyes.
One by one, they crawled into the space backpack. After the last Hakuryu went in, it skillfully zipped up the bag with its tail, leaving a small gap in the zipper. The Pokemon peeked at Naoki through this slit.
Naoki, in turn, observed the situation inside his space backpack.
From the outside, the backpack showed no signs of bulging, despite the presence of the Hakuryu and Mini Long within. It seemed that the internal space was much larger than he had imagined.
Even when he picked it up, he didn't feel any excessive weight, a testament to the incredible technology behind the space backpack.
Just then, the sound of a horn rang out from outside the ranch.
Naoki looked up to see Zack jumping out of the truck and walking towards him with a bag in hand.
"Here, change into this. It's already 6:30; we can set off now!" Zack said as he handed over the bag.
Naoki took the bag and opened it to find a set of gray kimono.
"I won't be joining you. My wife and little son are waiting for me at home!" Zack explained with a grin before waving goodbye and turning to leave the ranch.
"..." Naoki was left feeling a little helpless.
He returned to his room and changed into the kimono, feeling a little uncomfortable at first but gradually adapting to it.
"Let's go!" he said, taking a deep breath. With his space backpack on his shoulders, he mounted Gourmeton and set off, his heart filled with excitement and anticipation.
"Ah ga si!" Gourmeton responded, ready to go. It started running towards Drench Town.
By the time they arrived at the beach, quite a few people and their Pokemon had already gathered.
The sky had darkened, and people were chatting in small groups, some lying down, others sitting, enjoying the company of their families and Pokemon.
Not far away, a colorful row of stalls had been set up, displaying various items.
There were steaming takoyaki, wooden carvings as souvenirs, and masks of all shapes and sizes.
Naoki's eyebrows lifted slightly at the sight.
With some time to spare before the fireworks display, he decided to wander over to the stalls with Gourmeton.
The surrounding crowd surged like a tide.
There were children being led by their parents, youths with Pikachu on their shoulders, elderly folks with bent backs accompanied by their Furfrou, and a young girl with bright eyes staring at the takoyaki alongside her Gengar...
Amidst the glowing lights, Naoki and Gourmeton blended into the lively atmosphere.
Naoki paused at a stall selling masks.
There were masks of various Pokemon—Pikachu, Eevee, Zorua the Fox Pokemon, and even a Squirtle.
The stall owner's face lit up with a brilliant smile at the sight of a customer. "These masks suit you very well. Would you like to buy one? It's only 2,000 Pokedollars!"
2,000...
The price wasn't expensive, so Naoki paid and chose the Zorua mask.
He put on the mask and turned to Gourmeton, asking, "How does it look?"
Gourmeton smiled, its eyes narrowing happily. It seemed to be in a good mood: "Ah ga si~"
"It suits you very well!" the stall owner praised.
Naoki smiled faintly, and just then, a hawker's cry from a distance caught his attention.
He and Gourmeton made their way through the crowd and soon came upon a middle-aged man with a red hat at a stall.
On display was a transparent, large fish tank filled with Magikarp swimming slowly, their eyes vacant.
Upon seeing potential customers, the man immediately called out, "Hey there, my friend! How about buying one? These Magikarp of mine are all very talented Pokemon! You definitely won't regret buying one, I assure you!"
This scenario was both familiar and foreign to Naoki.
Familiar because he had seen the Magikarp salesman in the anime, but foreign because this was his first time encountering it in reality.
Naoki's curiosity was piqued. "What's so special about your Magikarp here?"
Hearing this, the man's face lit up with enthusiasm as he replied, "Of course they're special! These Magikarp are incredibly rare and carefully selected by me. They possess exceptional talent. Once they evolve into Gyarados, they'll be able to take on Gym Leaders and the Elite Four with ease!"
Naoki twitched his lips. Before he could say anything, a young Trainer holding a Pokedex interjected,
"You're obviously lying. Anyone can tell you're a fraud. How could there be such Magikarp in the world?
The man's face turned red with anger as he muttered, "Little brat!"
Naoki remained silent, unsure how to react to this peculiar situation.
The man's sharp eyes then noticed the backpack the young man in front of him was carrying.
Through the gap in the zipper, he caught sight of several pairs of eyes curiously observing him.
After getting a clear look at the owners of those eyes, the man sucked in a breath and exclaimed in disbelief, "Mini Long!"
Naoki was taken aback for a moment before realizing that the Mini Long in his backpack had been discovered.
The man's eyes gleamed with excitement. "So many Mini Long! Where did you catch them all?"
"I didn't catch them," Naoki shook his head. "They followed me on their own."
"How is that possible?!" The man was dumbfounded. "Mini Long are rare! I'm willing to pay a high price for one. Will you sell one to me?"
"No," Naoki refused without hesitation.
"How about a trade, then?" The man said as he took out a Poke Ball.
With a flash of white light, a Seadra appeared in the water tank in front of him.
"I'll trade my Seadra for one of your Mini Long. How about it?"
"No," Naoki rejected him flatly. "Don't even think about it. I absolutely won't trade."
The man felt dejected, and as he watched Naoki turn and walk away, his eyes were filled with envy.
"There really are people here who trade Pokemon," Naoki couldn't help but complain to Gourmeton. "I wonder what they're thinking."
"Ah ga si..." Gourmeton replied nonchalantly.
"Never mind, forget about them," Naoki said as he turned his backpack around to the front and opened the zipper, allowing the Mini Long and Hakuryu inside to come out and get some fresh air.
After walking around for a while longer, Naoki started feeling a bit tired. He bought over a dozen takoyaki and, along with Gourmeton, found a spot on the beach that wasn't too crowded to relax.
"Everyone, come on out!"
He took out his Poke Balls, and with a series of white flashes, one Pokemon after another appeared on the beach.
Pokemon like Blissey, Badahhu, Bingyi Bu, and Motoxu hadn't seen sand before, so they quickly started playing and having fun on the beach.
Naoki took out a picnic mat from his backpack and spread it on the ground. He placed the takoyaki and the tree fruit he had brought on the mat and then turned to instruct the others:
"Don't go too far, just play nearby! Gourmeton, Riding Goats, keep an eye on them."
"Ah ga si!"
"Meeeh!"
As they were playing, some passersby walked by.
A little girl was attracted by the large number of Pokemon.
"Wow! Mom, look over there!"
The woman had been chatting with her husband but immediately turned at the sound of her daughter's voice.
Then they witnessed a startling scene.
"So many Pokemon!" The woman exclaimed. This guy must have brought his whole family!
"Big brother, are all these Pokemon yours?" The little girl asked innocently.
Naoki smiled and nodded. "Yes!"
"Wow! You're so cool!" The little girl's eyes shone with determination. "When I grow up, I want to be a great Trainer and catch lots and lots of Pokemon, too!"
"You can do it!" Naoki encouraged her.
As the little girl still had to go buy some food, she couldn't stay long. She waved goodbye to Naoki as she left with her mother.
"See you!"
Naoki took off the Sorua mask and turned to see Motoxu already building a sandcastle with Bingyi Bu and Konglong.
The three Miltank were also excitedly playing in the sand nearby.
Sanmiefeng and Badahhu lost interest in the sand after a while and returned to Naoki's side, landing on the picnic mat.
Naoki asked Gourmeton, "Don't you want to play with them?"
"Ah ga si," Gourmeton replied, sounding a bit disdainful. It was no longer a child.
Naoki understood Gourmeton's tone and thought of how it usually acted. He couldn't help but laugh.
Gourmeton: "..."
Naoki: "Only children sleep with their adults."
Gourmeton heard the teasing in Naoki's tone and felt ashamed, so it tried to defend itself: "Ah ga si!"
"Isn't that right?"
Of course it was!
Gourmeton pitifully lowered its head, and even the feathers on its head drooped.
It just... it just wanted to be with Naoki all the time.
(End of Chapter)
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