https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-65-The-Riding-Sheep-s-Weight-Problem/12537064/
Chapter 64: Capture, Thief in the Moonlit Night! [4000]
Chapter 64: Capture, Thief in the Moonlit Night! [4000]
The moon hung high in the night sky.
Bubao had returned to the ranch once more. It was hungry, desperately so. Ever since it had become separated from its parents, it had lost its source of food and was now forced to forage for itself.
Over the past few days, it had observed that this place was inhabited by a human and a group of formidable Pokemon.
There was the little sheep mount that exuded a terrifying energy, the Saltrock that always moved in a group, the Butterfree that hovered above the ranch and could spit out electric nets, and...
The most frightening and ferocious-looking red-skinned beast of them all.
These creatures haunted Bubao's dreams, keeping it from restful sleep.
Bubao dared not show itself during the day, too afraid and too hungry. It could only venture out at night, waiting until the terrifying creatures were fast asleep before cautiously leaving its hiding place to sneak into the chicken coop, the safest place, to steal the "little cookies" made from barley grains.
Tonight, it had come again, taking advantage of the deep sleep of the ranch's inhabitants.
Leaving the safety of its tree hole, it approached the dreaded place once more.
Squeezing through the fence, Bubao scurried to the chicken coop, extending its tiny claws to gently push open the door.
Suddenly, a strange sound emanated from within the coop.
"Ba-mo!"
Bubao's fur stood on end, and it darted into a hidden corner, becoming a mere shadow.
Its heart pounded wildly, as if it would burst from its chest.
Bubao pressed itself against the wall, not daring to move a muscle.
The sound soon faded, and after a long while, there was no further disturbance.
All clear? Bubao cautiously poked half its head out to survey its surroundings.
Inside the small chicken coop, the hens were dozing on the haystack, and a group of fluffy yellow chicks snuggled up against their mother, fast asleep.
The hens hadn't woken up.
Bubao looked elsewhere.
The moonlight streamed in through the window, casting an eerie calm over the scene.
The feed trough, pitchfork, and water bucket—everything seemed unchanged from the previous nights.
Bubao quietly exhaled in relief.
Satisfied that there was no danger, it scurried out from its corner and made its way to where the cookies were kept.
Seeing the remnants of the cookies that the hens had left behind, Bubao's eyes lit up, and it eagerly began to munch on the leftover treats to replenish its energy.
On the roof beam of the chicken coop, a Butterfree watched silently, its eyes reflecting the scene of the tiny Bubao eating in the moonlight.
"Hmm...?"
In the moonlight, the Butterfree gently flapped its wings, and countless sparkling lights rained down, like a brilliant starry river flowing towards Bubao below.
Bubao, who was munching on the chicken feed, paused, sensing something. It stopped chewing and looked up, curious.
The next moment, it beheld an incredibly beautiful sight.
But before it could react, a powerful wave of drowsiness washed over it.
Bubao couldn't suppress a huge yawn, and the feed it had been holding fell from its paws with a soft patter.
So sleepy...
Unable to resist any longer, Bubao plopped down on the ground and fell into a deep slumber.
When Naoki received the notification and rushed over with a flashlight, this was the scene that greeted him.
A tiny Pokemon was fast asleep in the feed trough of his chicken coop.
Without a doubt, this was the nocturnal thief that had been visiting his chickens.
A Bubao.
Bubao, a Pokemon unique to the Padia region, was an Electric-type mouse Pokemon, much like Pikachu.
It had orange fur all over its body, with light brown fur on its paws and tail, round yellow electric sacs on its cheeks, and pink pads on its claws.
"Good job, Butterfree," Naoki praised.
"Ba-yi~" Butterfree fluttered its wings happily.
Naoki picked up the sleeping Bubao from the ground.
It was tiny, its skeleton protruding slightly, indicating that it was underweight. Its fur was dull and coarse to the touch.
Naoki turned the little Pokemon over in his hands, examining it carefully.
The sleeping Bubao was like a plush toy, unreactive to having its paw pads pinched or its fur stroked.
"It's quite cute," Naoki remarked.
He didn't feel angry about Bubao stealing the chicken feed. Instead, he was curious as to why it had chosen to steal the chickens' food instead of something else.
While the feed was made from various grains, it was perfectly edible for Pokemon as well.
After some thoughtful consideration, Naoki closed the door of the chicken coop and took Bubao back to his house.
Bubao awoke from its deep sleep.
As it opened its eyes, it found itself face-to-face with the formidable red-skinned beast.
A terrified cry escaped its mouth— "Ba-mo!"
Golurk tilted its head, confused. "Ga-si?"
Bubao curled up, shivering, and began to rub its cheeks with its claws.
Naoki sighed at the sight, "Golurk, don't scare it. It's about to shock you."
Before evolving, Bubao's electric sacs on its cheeks were not fully developed, so it couldn't release electricity like Pikachu. As a result, it had to rub its paw pads vigorously to generate electricity.
When Bubao felt anxious, it would start rubbing its cheeks in preparation for an electric attack. It would rub its cheeks back and forth to charge up, and then release the electricity from the pads of its palms, shocking its target through touch.
Naoki recalled this detail from the Pokedex entry.
However, Golurk was completely unfazed by Bubao's electric attack. Instead, it smiled at Bubao as if greeting it.
But this only prompted Bubao to unleash its electricity, enveloping Golurk in a dazzling display of lightning.
Bathed in the electric glow, Golurk remained unperturbed, as if Bubao's attack had no effect on it at all.
Naoki: "..."
As expected of a Dragon-type Pokemon with double resistance to Electric-type moves.
Seeing that its attack had no effect on the massive red beast, Bubao froze, stunned.
How could this be?
Naoki, exasperated, walked up to the tiny Bubao.
At that moment, Bubao finally tore its gaze away from Golurk and noticed the other Pokemon and the ranch owner gathered around.
As Naoki approached, Bubao's heart sank, its eyes filled with terror.
It had been caught!
Bubao's mind flashed back to its parents' warnings about the bad guys who would hunt them for sport, and how it should always run away if it ever encountered them.
But now, with this terrifying red beast before it, escape seemed impossible.
In that moment, Bubao's mind went blank, leaving only one thought:
It's over. It's going to be eaten!
Bubao closed its eyes in fear.
Naoki: "..." What was going on in that tiny head of its?
Were they that scary?
"Listen, Bubao," Naoki said, "no one here is going to hurt you."
"Ba-mo?" Bubao paused, taken aback.
Naoki recalled how it had been stealing chicken feed and turned to fetch a Pecha Berry from the cabinet, offering it to Bubao. "Here, you must be hungry. Go on, eat up!"
Bubao hesitated, then looked at the berry in disbelief.
This human wasn't angry at all!
Not only that, but he was offering it a berry!
Bubao was indeed hungry, and after ensuring there was no danger, it eagerly took the berry and began to nibble on it.
Naoki shooed away the curious Pokemon who had gathered to watch and, after Bubao finished eating, asked, "Does your home lie somewhere nearby?"
After eating the Pecha Berry, Bubao felt less fearful of the human before it.
At the question, Bubao's expression darkened, and it hung its head. "Ba-mo..."
"Then, is it very far away?" Naoki probed further.
This time, Bubao nodded.
It used to live in a grassy field, and one day, while sleeping next to a rock, it was accidentally scooped up by a migrating Sudowoodo, rock and all.
When it woke up, it found itself inside the Sudowoodo's bag, far from home.
Frightened, it had used its electric attack inside the bag, startling the Sudowoodo, who then dropped it and the rock.
Fortunately, they fell into a river, and Bubao escaped unharmed. The ranch was located right next to that river.
Seeing Bubao's nod, Naoki continued, "Do you remember the way back home?"
"Ba-mo..."
Bubao shook its head sadly. It hadn't been able to see anything while inside the Sudowoodo's bag.
"I see," Naoki sighed. "So, to summarize, your home is very far away, and due to certain circumstances, you ended up here, but you don't remember the way back."
Bubao nodded. "Ba-mo." That was about the gist of it.
In response, Bubao wobbled to its feet, flapped its little arms, and pretended to fly.
It looked around, then opened its mouth and placed a Persim Berry seed in it, puffing out its cheeks.
After "flying" for a while, Bubao opened its mouth again and spat out the seed.
Naoki was perplexed. What did that mean?
He asked tentatively, "Did you fly here?"
"Ba-mo!" Bubao shook its head.
"So, you wandered out to play and accidentally got lost, then stumbled upon the ranch?"
"Ba-mo..." Bubao shook its head again.
That left only one possibility.
Naoki thought of Bubao's action of spitting out the seed while flapping its arms, which reminded him of a Padian region Pokemon, the Sudowoodo.
It was a stork-like bird Pokemon that used the downy feathers from its chest to make bags. It enjoyed dropping things from high places and would also use its chest bag to carry food back to its nest.
Could it be...
A bizarre idea popped into Naoki's head. "Could you have been brought here by a Sudowoodo?"
"Ba-mo ba-mo!" Bubao's eyes lit up, and it nodded vigorously.
"Is that really what happened?" Naoki was quite surprised.
It was similar to the fairy tale of Thumbelina floating down the river on a leaf.
"Have you thought about what you'll do next?" Naoki asked.
Bubao's expression turned glum. "Ba-mo..."
Naoki asked in a timely manner, "Would you like to stay at the ranch and work with us?"
Upon hearing this, Bubao froze.
"Ba-mo?" Could it?
"Of course," Naoki smiled. "In our human world, we call this employment. You work for me, and I'll provide you with food so you don't go hungry."
"Ba-mo..." But it didn't know what it could do...
Although Naoki mentioned employment, he was just making up a reason. After some thought, he casually said:
"How about managing the chicken flock? Of course, you don't have to feed them. Just watch over them and prevent them from running out of the ranch or getting hurt by wild Pokemon."
"Ba-mo!"
Bubao nodded in agreement.
Reaching his goal, Naoki felt delighted.
Finally, his ranch had a fluffy Pokemon! And so, Bubao settled down at the ranch.
———
Early the next morning, when Bubao saw the Muu-Muu milk and various delicious foods on the dining table, its little face showed a look of shock.
"Ba-mo..."
Naoki looked at it with satisfaction and said, "Eat up! After breakfast, I'll give you a bath."
This Bubao didn't know where it had been hiding, but it was dirty, with even cockleburs stuck in its fur.
Bubao immediately dug in, and after taking a bite of a pastry, tears of happiness flowed down its face.
This was the most delicious food it had tasted in days!
After breakfast, Aerodactyl went to town to deliver milk, Froslass and Clefairy went to play with Salandit, and Naoki heated a tub of water to give Bubao a nice, warm bath.
Golem and Arbok lay nearby, watching.
Naoki applied shower gel to Bubao's body, and soon, a fragrant, clean, and tidy Bubao emerged.
There was no hairdryer in the house, so Naoki first used a blanket to wipe Bubao's body dry, then called over Butterfree to use Gust and help blow-dry Bubao's fur.
Butterfree flapped its wings, and a gust of wind, neither too strong nor too weak, blew towards Bubao, who closed its eyes and enjoyed the breeze.
Butterfree looked at Bubao and thought about how it had used Sleep Powder on it the night before, so it quietly apologized: "Bu~ee."
Hearing this, Bubao also felt embarrassed. "Ba-mo..."
Butterfree felt happy. "Bu~i!"
"Ba-mo!"
Naoki couldn't understand Pokemon language, but from their expressions, they seemed to be getting along well.
Soon, Bubao's fur was completely dry.
Butterfree stopped, and Naoki pinched Bubao's armpits, lifting it high into the air.
Bubao cried out in surprise, "Ba-mo!" as it flew against the light.
"So cute!" Naoki thought, pressing his face into Bubao's soft, fluffy abdomen and inhaling deeply.
Ah~ It was indeed so cute!
(End of Chapter)
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