https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-309-Dan-Di-Challenges-the-Grassland-Trial/12537386/
Chapter 308: Flapple's Survival Instincts, The Arrival of Dan Di
Chapter 308: Flapple's Survival Instincts, The Arrival of Dan Di
"Naoki?"
Hearing that name, Ye Ci thought she had misheard. Was it the Naoki she knew?
Dan Di saw the expression on Ye Ci's face and knew that she indeed knew this person. "Yes, Naoki!"
To prevent confusion with other people of the same name, Dan Di added, "Besides his Reuniclus, he also has a very powerful red Pokemon by his side. I think its name is Golett? They should both be unique to the Pardia region, right?"
Ye Ci: "..."
Golett was indeed a Pokemon native to the Pardia region, but Reuniclus was not.
She had heard from Naoki that Reuniclus used to live in the Galar region and was revered as a king by the people there. However, it was eventually forgotten as time went by.
Now, from the looks of it, Dan Di seemed to be unaware that Reuniclus was a legendary Pokemon from the Galar region? Ye Ci was at a loss for words for a moment.
After a brief moment of thought, she gradually sorted out her thoughts.
'Naoki went to the Galar region last year, found the forgotten Reuniclus, and caught it. After that, he used Reuniclus in a competition. Coincidentally, Dan Di was also there, but for some reason, Naoki withdrew from the competition midway, leaving a deep impression on Dan Di, who has been wanting to spar with this powerful trainer ever since.
So, he made a visitation request to the Pardia League and came to the Pardia region.'
However...
"Naoki isn't a trainer from the Pardia League," Ye Ci told the truth. "He doesn't work for the Pardia League either."
Dan Di was stunned. "What?"
Ye Ci looked at the cheerful and open-minded young man before her and explained, "Naoki is currently running a ranch in a rural town in the Pardia region. If you want to look for him, I can tell you his exact location."
Upon hearing this, Dan Di was dumbfounded.
A ranch owner?
Ye Ci was familiar with this feeling. She smiled slightly and said, "When I first heard about this, I was just as surprised as you are!"
"But later I learned that Naoki used to travel to other regions. He returned to Pardia last spring, inherited his late grandfather's ranch, and settled down there with a group of Pokemon."
"No wonder!" Dan Di exclaimed, as things started to make sense.
A retired champion finding a new career in the countryside? Just like his master, Mustard, who bought an island and opened a dojo.
Starting a new life by leisurely running a ranch with a group of Pokemon is indeed a great choice! Since that was the case, he decided to pay him a visit.
Seeing the expression on Dan Di's face, Ye Ci guessed what he was thinking.
"Drizzling Town, Naoki's ranch is in Drizzling Town. When you get there, just ask the townspeople, and they'll point you in the right direction. After all, Naoki's ranch is quite famous around here!" Ye Ci said.
"Great! Thank you!" Dan Di smiled broadly and then stood up and walked towards the door.
Ye Ci saw him out.
Dan Di took out a Poke Ball, and with a flash of white light, a sturdy Charizard with sharp eyes appeared in front of the League Headquarters.
Dan Di took out a map and carefully checked the exact location of Drizzling Town.
Standing behind him, Ye Ci couldn't help but remind him, "...Mr. Dan Di, I think you're holding the map upside down."
"Ah? Oh!" Dan Di quickly turned the map over. After confirming the direction of Drizzling Town, he mounted the Charizard and pointed towards the direction of their destination.
"Char!"
Charizard let out a deep roar and then flapped its wings, taking off into the sky.
Ye Ci stood in the corridor, watching the departing figure of Dan Di, and she felt that she now understood why he had taken so long to arrive.
Time passed unknowingly, and night fell once again. Flapple had fully recovered its energy after a good sleep.
Once more, Naoki was awakened by Flapple's flapping.
"Flapple?"
He glanced at the clock. It was already 11:00 p.m.
Golett and the others were still asleep, occasionally smacking their lips as they dreamed, looking content.
Flapple, with its pair of bright red eyes, gazed at the human in the dark, thinking: It's time to hunt tonight, or else there won't be any food left.
"Dream?"
Naoki resignedly turned over and got out of bed. He went to the kitchen and took food out of the refrigerator to feed Flapple.
But to his surprise, Flapple still didn't give up on going out even after eating.
It floated anxiously around the room.
Naoki was perplexed. He turned and looked outside, asking, "Do you want to go out?"
Flapple nodded. Its instincts told it that it was time to hunt for food, or they would starve.
Starving would mean losing their strength, and if other Pokemon took advantage of that moment to attack, they would be in grave danger.
That was why Flapple was so anxious and restless.
Seeing this, Naoki fell into deep thought.
He didn't quite understand Flapple's behavior, but after some contemplation, he decided to go out and see what Flapple wanted to do.
Naoki opened the door and followed Flapple outside.
The ranch was quiet in the middle of the night, except for the occasional cricket chirping in the grass. There wasn't a sound to be heard.
The moonlight shone down, illuminating the night, making it translucent though not as clear as daytime, but one could still make out the nearby surroundings.
The Combee trio had burrowed into their honeycomb, dreaming sweet dreams in the fragrant wooden hive.
Meanwhile, Butterfree settled on a branch of the World Tree and drifted off to sleep.
Naoki followed Flapple, who glanced around before floating towards the outskirts of the ranch, into a dense forest.
Flapple hovered in the shadows, then turned to look at Naoki, who was walking nonchalantly on the path, confusion evident on its face.
'How did this human catch so many prey? If he just walks out like this, all the prey will be scared away.'
Naoki finally asked, "What are you doing?"
At that moment, there was a rustling sound from the grass in front of them.
Flapple's attention was immediately drawn, and it turned to capture the prey.
Seeing Flapple's action, Naoki instantly understood its intention.
It was hunting! This was Flapple's survival instinct, a primitive ecological habit inherent to its Ancient species!
"No!" Naoki stopped Flapple just as it was about to attack a passing Dewpider.
Startled by the sound, Dewpider used its powerful jumping ability to leap ten feet high and scurried away in panic.
Flapple, whose hunting attempt was thwarted, didn't get angry. Instead, it looked at Naoki with confusion.
Naoki asked, "Were you trying to catch prey just now?"
Flapple nodded. "Yes."
Naoki shook his head. "No, there's no need to hunt for prey anymore. Didn't I tell you before that I will take care of you? It means I will provide you with food, and you don't have to hunt for yourself anymore."
Flapple still looked perplexed.
Naoki didn't elaborate further. Instead, he led Flapple back to the ranch, into the living room, where he opened the storage room and refrigerator doors to show Flapple the abundance of food inside.
Flapple's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the food piled up like small mountains.
"Wow..." Flapple was amazed.
"This human is an incredible hunter!" it thought admiringly as it looked at Naoki.
Naoki sighed. "It seems you still don't understand the concept of a Pokemon Trainer."
Just then, several Pokemon, roused by their voices, emerged from their rooms.
Naoki turned to them and explained to Flapple, "For a Pokemon, a Trainer becomes the most important partner, friend, and even family member in their life."
"After living with a Trainer, Pokemon no longer need to search for food because the Trainer will prepare all sorts of delicious meals to nourish and train them."
In the moonlight, Naoki looked into Flapple's eyes and said, "You have become my Pokemon, and I will take care of you just like this."
Flapple listened, only partially understanding. Over the past two days, through Golurk's introduction, it had learned about this new world and the relationship between humans and Pokemon.
It knew that humans and Pokemon lived together in this world, but it still had questions, especially about humans who didn't seem to have hunting abilities. How did they obtain food?
Naoki guessed Flapple's thoughts and took it outside to the orchard and farm. "Food grows here, and for meat, I go to town and buy it with money."
Naoki realized that Flapple might not comprehend these concepts, so he further explained, "To be precise, it's a form of exchange. For example, someone might have meat but needs fruit, so I can trade these fruits grown here for meat. Do you understand now?"
Flapple felt that these concepts were too complex. It listened with a dazed expression, and in the end, it still didn't quite grasp everything.
Naoki sighed. "Never mind. All you need to know is that I will take care of everything. You don't have to understand it all. Just remember that I am your Trainer."
"From now on, I will provide you with food. All you need to do is sleep well and have fun playing with Golurk! Got it?"
Flapple gazed at Naoki, still unsure about the concept of a Trainer.
Was a Trainer a human who hunted for Pokemon? If so, why did they do it?
Flapple couldn't comprehend, finding humans to be very peculiar creatures.
Sensing Flapple's confusion, Naoki paused for a moment before explaining under the moonlight, "Humans become Trainers because they like Pokemon and want to live together with them. That's why they do all these things."
"Like?" Flapple wondered. "What does 'like' mean?"
Naoki continued, "I'm not sure if you understand the concept of 'like,' but for us humans, 'like' means we are willing to do anything for the other person."
As Naoki spoke, an image flashed in Flapple's mind—the Ghost-type Pokemon it had encountered the first time it met Golurk, the one that had sacrificed itself to protect Golurk.
"Did that Ghost-type Pokemon... like Golurk? Was it protecting Golurk because it liked it?" Flapple wondered, having its first-ever moment of introspection.
In that instant, it felt like it had gained a tiny bit of insight into the relationship between Trainers and Pokemon.
The Motostoke Pokemons gradually returned to their resting places, and Naoki turned to look at Flapple, only to see that it had no intention of going back to sleep.
"...Fine, let it be for now. I'll buy some coffee later to see if I can make a refreshing drink to help adjust Flapple's sleep schedule to match the others."
To prevent any mishaps, Naoki gave Flapple some final instructions before leaving: "Don't go hurting the other Pokemon. If you get hungry, you can get food from the fridge or the storeroom by yourself. If you still don't understand, just use your eyes to look and ask, okay?"
As he said this, he reached out and patted Flapple's head for the first time.
Flapple stared at him, not resisting.
Naoki thought of the ability he had gained from the Golden Right Hand earlier in the day and decided to try it out on Flapple.
However, Flapple showed no reaction.
"Hmm... As expected, this ability has no effect on paradox Pokemon," Naoki mused to himself.
He retracted his hand and bid Flapple farewell before turning back to his room.
Bathed in the moonlight, Flapple silently watched the retreating figure, murmuring, "...Dream."
The next day, life on the ranch returned to its usual peaceful rhythm.
The weather was excellent, a sunny day without a cloud in the sky. After breakfast, Naoki immersed himself in the ranch's work.
Meanwhile, in Drizzling Town, Dan Di and his Charizard had finally arrived at the seaside town, guided by a squad of angry Tropius taxis.
They had encountered this squad the previous afternoon.
One enthusiastic driver had greeted him and, upon learning that Dan Di was unfamiliar with the area and that Drizzling Town was indeed his destination, immediately offered for Dan Di to join them.
Knowing his terrible sense of direction, Dan Di obediently followed the squad to ensure he wouldn't get lost again and to hasten his encounter with the trainer he sought.
With the drivers' guidance, he successfully reached Drizzling Town without any detours.
The Charizard breathed a sigh of relief.
After landing, Dan Di bade farewell to the drivers and recalled his Charizard. He then politely asked a passing uncle for directions: "Hello, sir. Could you please tell me how to get to Naoki's ranch?"
"Naoki's ranch?" The uncle's face lit up with excitement. "Are you here for the legend, too?"
Dan Di was puzzled. "What legend?"
"Why, the legend of the King of Abundance, of course!" The uncle eagerly shared the local legend with the outsider.
"They say that Naoki has a deep connection with the legendary Pokemon Rayquaza! The people of Drizzling Town worship Rayquaza, and it's all thanks to Naoki!"
"Rayquaza?" Dan Di was even more confused, his mind flashing back to the large-headed Pokemon he had seen in competitions alongside Naoki. Was there some unknown legend surrounding it?
Why did the townspeople seem to hold it in such high regard?
"Hey now! You don't know about this?" The uncle was surprised. "Rayquaza has become quite famous in the Paridia region lately!"
"To be honest, I'm from the Galar region and only recently arrived in Paridia," Dan Di admitted.
"No wonder!" The uncle nodded in understanding. "If you don't know, let me tell you the story then!"
"There's a legend about a Pokemon named Rayquaza, who brings abundance to the land. It is said that in ancient times, humans affectionately referred to it as the King of Abundance."
"However, as time passed, people gradually forgot about the King, causing it to lose its beloved steed and wander alone in the cold snowfields."
"Then, Naoki discovered a record of it in an ancient text and firmly believed in the King of Abundance's existence. Rayquaza sensed his faith, and from that day forward, his ranch was blessed by the King."
"Later on, Naoki shared the story of Rayquaza with the townspeople, and they, too, began to trust in the King."
"Perhaps Rayquaza sensed their faith as well, for it descended upon the Paridia region. Not long ago, in a forest that had been burned to ashes, it performed a miracle, restoring the entire mountain to its former glory in an instant."
"Because of this, the Paridia League built a shrine for it on the mountain, and it is said that Rayquaza now roams that mountain, appearing before humans with sincere hearts."
"There's... really such a story?" Dan Di exclaimed, his eyes wide with disbelief. That legendary Pokemon, Rayquaza, was so powerful!
The uncle was taken aback. "You didn't know? I thought you were here to learn more about the legend of Rayquaza from Naoki!"
"Actually, I came for another reason," Dan Di explained.
"Alright then." The uncle nodded and proceeded to give him directions to Naoki's ranch.
Dan Di thanked him and turned to leave, but the uncle called out to him once more.
Dan Di turned back.
The uncle was pointing at a handicraft store, and on its shelves, Dan Di spotted rows of Pokemon statues.
Among them was the very Pokemon he had seen by Naoki's side during competitions!
The uncle smiled warmly and said, "Buy a little wooden statue. Rayquaza will bless you!"
(End of Chapter)
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