Chapter 35: Choosing a Target
Chapter 35: Choosing a Target
...Is that a Dragonite?
As Naoki gazed at the silhouette, an image of Dragonite's chubby and rotund body immediately popped into his mind.
He was about to ask Yang about this Pokemon, but when he looked up, he saw that Yang was completely focused, his expression serious as he painted.
Naoki thought for a moment and decided not to disturb him for now.
He continued flipping through the picture book in his hands.
However, with his thoughts entirely occupied by that Dragonite, Naoki found himself lacking interest in the subsequent Trevenant, Exeggutor, and Foongus depicted in the book.
About an hour later, the man finally put down his brush.
Looking at his painting, a pleased expression appeared on his face. "Perfect! Take a look!"
He handed the piece of paper with the drawing of Golurk to Naoki.
In the illustration, Golurk lay calmly by Naoki's side, its large head resting on his leg, while Naoki was focused on reading a book.
The scene looked natural and heartwarming.
"Wow!" Naoki gave a thumbs-up. "You've been painting for a long time, huh?"
Yang scratched his head. "Not really. My parents signed me up for art classes, but I only attended for three months before I ran off to travel. I'm still on my journey."
Naoki didn't know much about this aspect.
Satisfied, Yang put away his brush and closed the picture book. With a keen interest, he asked, "But speaking of which, are you also a traveling trainer?"
"No." Naoki shook his head. "I'm a ranch owner and currently manage a ranch. If you need eggs, you can buy them at Naoki Ranch east of Drizzlip Town."
Naoki didn't forget to promote his ranch while answering.
Upon hearing this, Yang widened his eyes. "A ranch owner?"
"Yup!"
"Well." Yang opened his mouth, "I thought you were a trainer who came to catch Pokemon in Lake Verity. There are many varieties of Pokemon inhabiting this area, and I often see trainers coming here to catch them these days."
Talking about wild Pokemon, Naoki took the opportunity to open the page with the illustration that resembled Dragonite and placed it in front of Yang. "Is this Pokemon still here?"
"You mean that one? Yes, it's still here!" Yang exclaimed with surprise. "Are you interested in it, too?"
Naoki didn't deny it. "If it's not a problem, can you tell me about it?"
"Of course!" Yang began to recall and narrate, "I discovered it about a week ago."
"At that time, I was investigating a Pokemon on Lakever Island in the western part of Lake Verity, one that doesn't exist in the Galar region. It had taken the form of a sushi."
"Out of curiosity, I wanted to observe it up close, but then, for some reason, I was suddenly attacked by a Stufful."
"In a panic, I fell into the lake and was chased by a group of Skinny Barraskewda. Like that, I was washed up by the lake waters to the bottom of a cliff by the lakeshore. When I looked up, I saw this Pokemon sitting on the mountain cliff, gazing at the moon."
"However, fog rises over Lake Verity in the evening, and I couldn't make out its appearance clearly; I could only see a vague silhouette."
"There aren't any Pokemon like that in the Galar region, and I was intrigued, so I started observing it. Later, I found out that it comes to that spot punctually every evening at seven."
"It stays there until five in the morning the next day and then flies back into the sea without fail, regardless of the weather."
"It's a shame I don't have a flying Pokemon, so I can't reach such a high place.
"It's possible..." Naoki hesitated.
The mysterious Pokemon only came around at seven in the evening, but he couldn't stay here too long. He had to get back to the ranch and take care of some work, as well as prepare dinner for his Pokemon.
After thinking for a moment, Naoki asked, "It will stay here for the whole night and won't leave in the middle, right?"
Yang nodded, "That's right."
"Then, I'll come back after seven o'clock in the evening," Naoki suggested.
He explained that he still had work to do back at the ranch.
"No problem, I'll wait for you here!" Yang immediately agreed.
After making their plans, Naoki mounted his Golurk and left the lookout tower.
He looked at the five Poke Balls in his hand, contemplating which Pokemon he should bring back to the ranch.
First, for the current stage of the ranch, Salandit was the most needed.
Its salt production and value were exceptionally high.
According to the Ranch Compendium that Mayor Thomas had given him, Salandit produced salt just by moving and rubbing against the ground.
As a result, people would build special salt houses for them, lining the floors with a custom-made absorbent membrane to collect the salt.
On average, a Salandit could produce a small bag of about 500 grams of rock salt every five days.
A small bag of this rock salt sold for 3,000 Pokedollars on the market.
The reason for the high price was that the rock salt contained a plethora of minerals, which had tremendous benefits for both humans and Pokemon if consumed over a long period.
Moreover, this rock salt could be used directly on Pokemon to heal their wounds at a rapid pace.
After deducting the cost of raising them, each Salandit could earn over 2,500 Pokedollars in five days, which amounted to 15,000 Pokedollars a month. With ten Salandit, that number would jump to 150,000 Pokedollars.
And when they evolved into Salazzle and then Salazzle-GX, their salt production would increase even more.
If a ranch owner didn't mistreat the Salandit, fed them well, spent time playing with them, kept them happy, and took care of their health, they would be in for a substantial profit.
With that in mind, Naoki directed his Golurk toward the location where he had previously discovered the Salandit.
The site was located east of Great Pot Lake, near a rocky area close to Frosting Mountain.
There was a cave at the back, which seemed to be where the Salandit lived.
Naoki gently patted Golurk's neck, and it let out a garbled cry before descending in front of the cave.
Several Salandit, who had been basking in the sun and playing on the rocks, sensed the unfamiliar presence and scattered in panic, fleeing back into the cave.
Naoki was taken aback, wondering if he was that intimidating.
Despite this initial setback, Naoki remained undeterred.
He took out his pride and joy—salted fish jerky and salted plums.
Concerned that suddenly intruding into the cave might startle the Salandit, Naoki opted to stand outside and throw the fish jerky and plums into the cave.
(End of Chapter)
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