Chapter 286: Super Sheep Milk, Comparable to Sacred Ash!
Chapter 286: Super Sheep Milk, Comparable to Sacred Ash!
In the year 199 of the Pokemon League, spring had just arrived in the region of Padia, and the temperature was still a bit chilly.
As the snow melted, tender green sprouts emerged across the land.
The gentle breeze blowing through the mountains and the babbling brooks in the valleys signaled the beginning of a new annual cycle.
After being covered in snow for half the winter, the ranch finally emerged, with grass sprouting and garden vines climbing up the trellises.
The Electabuzz that had flown south for the winter returned, flapping their wings as they landed on the roof, preening their feathers while observing the bustling activity on the ranch.
Below, Pokemon with full bellies chased and played with each other.
The morning sun shone through the floor-to-ceiling windows as Naoki enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while catching up on the Padia morning news.
On the television screen, a unique and impressive academy stood in the heart of a bustling city.
A group of students in uniforms, accompanied by their Pokemon, had gathered at the academy's entrance.
In front of them, a principal-like figure was giving a speech:
"Welcome back to Padia Academy! Starting today, the famous Padia Academy Treasure Hunt will continue!"
"Go forth, students, and seek your own treasures across the lands of Padia!"
..."It seems like this treasure hunt is a tradition of Padia Academy," Naoki thought to himself as he watched the scene unfold.
Last year, several treasure hunters had ventured to his ranch, and he wondered if the same would happen again this year.
Naoki, along with his Pokemon partners, Aerodactyl and Diglett, looked forward to the potential arrival of trainers, eager for the opportunity to engage in real battles and gain valuable experience to become even stronger.
"There's no rush, though," Naoki mused. "If they're following the program, those students are just setting out from the school now."
Given the liberal academic culture of Padia Academy, there would undoubtedly be students who preferred to stay on campus, focusing on classes and Pokemon breeding rather than venturing out on adventures.
It might take a couple of weeks before any trainers showed up at the ranch.
With that in mind, Naoki finished the last mouthful of porridge and got up to clear the table.
Today, he had an even more important task at hand.
Over the past period, the Riding Goats had been consuming a large number of World Tree leaves, and they had also been receiving nourishment from the World Tree itself.
Naoki was curious to see if these factors would have any impact on the milk produced by the Riding Goats.
After putting away the cleaned dishes, he picked up a milking machine and, with Golurk's help carrying the milk bucket, made his way over to the World Tree.
Early in the morning, the Riding Goats had already begun their daily "milking the tree" routine.
The three goats formed a triangle around the World Tree, their bodies enveloped in a faint green aura.
The grass energy coalesced into green particles that emanated from the goats, flowing into the trunk of the World Tree.
Even the leaves at the top of the tree emitted a soft green glow.
Upon seeing Naoki approach with the milking equipment, the Riding Goats paused and bleated happily, "Meeeh~"
"How are you feeling today?" Naoki asked as he patted one of the goats on the head and placed the milk bucket underneath. He then squatted down and began milking.
The other two Riding Goats waited patiently in line, while the one being milked looked delighted:
"Meeeh!"
"Is that so?" Naoki replied, looking down at the bucket filled with milk that exuded a rich, creamy aroma.
The next second, information about the bucket of milk appeared in his mind.
[Riding Goat's Milk (Super Perfect)
: Fresh goat's milk imbued with the power of nature, surpassing the limits of perfection. It contains several times more nutrients than regular milk.
Consuming it brings tremendous benefits to the body. It is said that Pokemon, regardless of how severe their injuries are, will immediately recover upon drinking it. It can also be used to create top-grade cheeses and butter.]
"As I thought..." Naoki murmured to himself, "The leaves and essence of the World Tree have indeed influenced the Riding Goats' milk."
Previously, the Riding Goats' milk had already been enhanced by the juice-milk, which improved the quality and nutrition of fresh milk, elevating it to a top-grade level.
Now, after consuming the World Tree's leaves, the quality of their milk had undergone another remarkable upgrade.
The effect of healing any injury, no matter how severe, was comparable to that of a Revive or Max Revive.
Perhaps it would even rival the effects of the sacred ash that could bring the dead back to life!
Sacred Ash was a mythical item born from Ho-Oh. It was said to restore all the health of a Pokemon on the brink of death.
Legend had it that Ho-Oh once used Sacred Ash to resurrect three Pokemon who had perished in the Burned Tower.
Those three Pokemon later became the three legendary beasts—Entei, Raikou, and Suicune, the embodiment of North Wind.
Naoki's first thought at this wasn't how shocking the effect was, but rather, "Oh no! I need to raise the price!"
"I'll have to ask Zach to re-examine the milk's quality and set a new price," Naoki thought.
This was a common occurrence in ranches and farms.
The physical condition of Pokemon varied greatly. Take Miltank, for example; some might be inherently weak and produce thin, low-quality milk.
In such cases, Moo-Moo Milk would be sold at a lower price.
On the other hand, some Miltank might be robust and healthy, and if they consumed high-quality pasture grass, their milk would be perfect and could be sold at a premium.
Zach and the other purchasers wouldn't stick to a single price for fresh milk; the actual price would fluctuate depending on the specific quality of the milk.
After a moment of contemplation, Naoki milked the other two Riding Goats.
Speaking of which, these three Riding Goats were the backbone of his ranch!
Naoki's ranch had gradually grown and prospered thanks to these three goats.
Naoki was filled with emotion as he saw the Riding Goats waiting for his next command. He couldn't help but smile and say, "Alright, everything's fine now. Today's work is done..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Naoki suddenly remembered one more task that required the Riding Goats' help.
He asked Golurk to put away the milk, then led the Riding Goats to the ranch's warehouse.
This place was now filled with saplings and grass seeds that he had previously ordered from town.
Today, Naoki was ready to officially commence the restoration project for the mountains at the ranch's back.
"Do you remember those Pokemon we rescued from the mountains before?" Naoki asked.
The Riding Goats thought carefully and then nodded vigorously, bleating, "Meeeh!"
Those Pokemon who had escaped the forest fire...
The Riding Goats still remembered them vividly.
That fire had devoured everything in its path, and many Pokemon had lost their lives.
The once-thriving mountains had become a desolate place, and the surviving Pokemon were filled with sadness and fear.
Seeing that the Riding Goats remembered, Naoki reached out to pat their heads and continued, "Today, I plan to help them rebuild their homes. We'll plant these grass seeds and saplings."
Hearing this, the Riding Goats immediately replied, "Meeeh!"
They wanted to help too!
"Good boys," Naoki said with a smile. "Then I'll leave it to you! From here on, you'll need to transport these goods to the mountains."
"Meeeh!" the Riding Goats replied enthusiastically, ready for the task.
Naoki began loading the grass seeds and saplings onto the Riding Goats' backs. Soon, the three goats were laden with the cargo.
Carrying the hopes of the rescued Pokemon, they followed Naoki and Golurk to the orchard.
There, the Pokemon who had heard the news earlier were already waiting.
Chinchou, Elgyem, Scatterbug, Electabuzz, Dedenne, Tynamo, Flabebe, Hoppip, Swirlix, and Shroomish.
Except for the Golurk that had flown away earlier and the Kricketune that had joined the band, all the Pokemon that had survived the fire were present.
They had spent the winter safely on the ranch, and their charred, bald patches of fur had now fully regenerated.
Seeing Naoki and Golurk approach, the adorable Pokemon became excited and jumped with joy.
Their eyes followed Naoki, filled with anticipation.
Witnessing this, Naoki felt a surge of emotion. He exhaled slowly and said in a loud voice, "The time has finally come. Are you ready?"
"Chii!" Chincough exclaimed, jumping up and down in the grass.
Naoki smiled and didn't say much else. He simply added, "Since that's the case, let's set off!"
"Waa!"
"Gomo!"
The Pokemon cheered, and they immediately transformed into little tails, following Naoki to rebuild their homes.
Seeing this, Naoki paused, a puzzled expression on his face.
Noticing his actions, the group of Pokemon revealed confused looks on their faces as well.
"Is someone still missing?" Naoki asked.
Hearing this, the group of Pokemon looked around, and Chestnut the Patrat suddenly snapped its claws, finally remembering who was missing.
"Chii! (It's the Lazy Otter who loves sleeping in!)
" Chestnut said as it turned and ran towards the depths of the orchard.
Naoki asked the Riding Goats to wait there, while he followed the group of Pokemon to the deeper parts of the orchard.
Soon, he spotted the Lazy Otter, who had turned a different color after eating the colored fruit, sleeping in the grass under a fruit tree.
At that moment, the Lazy Otter was still fast asleep.
"... As expected of a Lazy Otter," Naoki thought to himself.
Chestnut quickly ran to the Lazy Otter and shook it with its small claws.
The Lazy Otter woke up, its eyes half-open, looking drowsy.
Chestnut shouted at the Lazy Otter, "Chii!"
The Lazy Otter looked at Chestnut with a blank expression, not understanding.
Then... it yawned lazily.
"......" Naoki couldn't help but think, "The whole family of Slaking are like this."
Chestnut sighed helplessly.
"Forget it, if it wants to sleep here, let it sleep!" Naoki said. After all, one less mouth to feed at the ranch wouldn't make a difference.
Chestnut was eagerly looking forward to the reconstruction of their home, so it also ignored the Lazy Otter and quickly followed Naoki back.
Along the way, Chestnut began to fantasize about the future.
After the tall trees in the forest grow back, it wanted to find the tallest and largest tree, dig a spacious hole in it, and fill it with all the berries it could find until it was packed full!
After returning to the group of Pokemon, Naoki was surprised to see Babo the Marill, Flygon, Froslass, Motostoke, Glaceon, Eldegoss, the Waitress and Waiter duo, and Butterfree, among other Pokemon from the ranch, gathered there as well.
And behind the group of Pokemon, a Reuniclus was floating elegantly in the air with its feet off the ground.
Noticing Naoki looking at it, Reuniclus said gently, "I made a promise to you before. When it's time to rebuild the mountains, I will also come to help."
Naoki smiled and nodded, "Then thank you! It's getting late, let's set off!"
Naoki picked up his tools and led the group of Pokemon towards the back mountains.
Meanwhile, at the Pokemon Rescue Center in Drizzit Town, the Padia League was also planning to head to the back mountains to carry out an ecological restoration project.
The previous mountain forest fire had caused quite a stir, and the Padia League paid special attention to this matter.
In order to restore the area as soon as possible, they had called in forest rangers and tree planters from all over Padia.
Even the Champion, Yezi, had come. She was not only there to work on League business but also to visit the group of surviving Pokemon.
Not far away, Nurse Joy was looking at the Champion with admiration as she said to Miss Junsha beside her:
"I always feel that the Champion is surprisingly approachable!"
Miss Junsha looked at Yezi in the distance. She had heard from a League staff member that the Champion was usually very busy with work.
Sometimes, she would be so tired from work that she would go to the Pokemon League with a Leppa Berry still tied to her hair, not even realizing it.
But now, Yezi had taken the time to come and inspect the aftermath of the fire.
Miss Junsha nodded slightly, agreeing with what Nurse Joy had said.
Their Champion was a very reliable person.
At that moment, Miss Junsha's walkie-talkie crackled to life.
She exchanged a few words with the person on the other end, then looked up and said to the group, "Alright, the forest rangers are all ready, let's set off!"
Yezi also heard this and straightened up, putting her hands behind her back as she prepared to go and take a look as well.
The League staff member beside her was startled and quickly straightened up, bowing as he said, "Ch... Champion!"
Yezi reassured him, "I'll also go and take a look, don't be nervous, just pretend I'm not here."
League Staff Member: "Y... Yes!"
Yezi smiled slightly, "Then, let's go!"
(End of Chapter)
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