Pokémon: Farm Story

"Rewards, huh..."

To be honest, Natsume hadn’t really thought about rewards.

Now that the topic was suddenly brought up, he wasn’t quite sure what to ask for.

"I have a reference list here, Natsume. You can take a look."

Noticing Natsume’s hesitation, Shouhei stepped forward and spoke in a gentle tone.

From addressing him as "Mr. Natsume" at the start, to "comrade" before their departure, and now back to "sir"—the change in how Shouhei referred to Natsume reflected his evolving attitude.

In this world, no matter how high your status is or how popular you become, strength is the only real measure of worth.

Powerful Trainers are the true mainstream, the real superstars of this world.

Idols? Pretty boys? They all have to take a step back when facing a strong Trainer.

You can talk about how inspiring and talented your idol is all you want—but when it comes down to it, that’s just words. Why not prove it in a real battle?

That’s precisely why, even though Natsume gave up on being a traditional Trainer, he never did what some novel protagonists would—releasing all his Pokémon or intentionally keeping up a weak persona.

After all, if you lack strength, you can’t even protect your own farm.

A random passing Pokémon could just waltz in and take advantage.

"Is that so? Then I’ll trouble you for it."

Shouhei’s voice brought Natsume back to reality.

Looking at the middle-aged Ranger before him, who carried a hint of exhaustion on his face, Natsume smiled as he responded.

Those one-of-a-kind, dazzling super Trainers were certainly enviable, but people like Shouhei—silent, unrecognized, yet indispensable—were the true backbone of a nation.

"My personal suggestion would be to pick rewards that can be quickly redeemed, like supplies or Pokémon that are already available."

Taking out his phone, Shouhei opened an internal Ranger app and briefly explained how Natsume could exchange his reward points.

Essentially, this whole event was being treated as a mission, meaning Natsume was awarded a set amount of points, and specific resources would be unlocked for him.

It might not maximize the benefits, but it was an efficient and acceptable solution for all parties involved.

"Since I don’t know what the higher-ups are planning, this is just for reference."

"I hope it helps, Natsume."

Putting away his phone, Shouhei gave Natsume an apologetic look.

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t really part of Shouhei’s job.

He was only assigned to communicate with Natsume because they had spoken before the battle—it was a flimsy connection at best.

His actual task was simply to reach out and show goodwill.

Someone else would officially handle things with Natsume later.

As long as he didn’t screw up, Shouhei was fine.

Yet, he still chose to offer personal advice.

Maybe he saw a younger version of himself in Natsume.

Maybe he was grateful that this young man had resolved a huge crisis, potentially saving countless lives and Pokémon.

Or maybe... he just wanted to cozy up to someone powerful.

Shouhei chuckled at himself. With his personality, clinging to a strong figure seemed like the best option.

All those noble justifications? Not really his thing.

"You’ve really helped me out."

"Thank you, Ranger."

If it weren’t for Shouhei’s suggestions, Natsume would probably still be stuck overthinking his options.

Most young people nowadays suffer from decision fatigue to some extent—Natsume was no exception.

"If I had to choose..."

As his thoughts flowed, Natsume had already made up his mind.

First, he wanted to expand his farm’s territory.

Thanks to Pokémon, land was not easy to acquire in this world.

Whether for farms or city expansion, reckless development had historically led to too many Pokémon-related incidents.

Laws and regulations had long been established to prevent such issues.

Second, Natsume wanted Pokémon that were hard to come by.

Pokémon like Indeedee, Audino, and Blissey.

The latter two were the designated assistants for Pokémon Center medical staff, making them almost impossible to find in the wild.

As for Indeedee, there were no known wild populations in Jadeleaf, making it an exceptionally rare Pokémon.

Lastly, he needed some official certifications.

Nowadays, everything required proper documentation, and some procedures were quite tedious.

Although Natsume already met the conditions, he hadn’t received the official paperwork yet.

Might as well take this chance to get everything sorted at once.

Those were his three requests.

It might seem like a lot, but considering his strength and his role in defeating a Legendary Pokémon, this was far from excessive.

If he were truly greedy, he could demand far more and walk away with an immense fortune.

But so what?

It would take time and effort and might leave a bad impression.

This wasn’t some one-time deal where he’d never have to interact with these people again.

There was no need for that kind of hassle.

Getting the short end of the stick isn’t always a blessing, but being overly calculative is definitely not.

Natsume disliked endless back-and-forth negotiations.

It was tedious and a waste of time.

If he had to deal with that, he’d rather just pretend Ting-Lu broke out of its Poké Ball and have another round of battle.

Wouldn’t that be much simpler?

"I’ll go back and report this. You can return to your farm and rest for now."

"Someone will officially reach out to you before dinner."

After taking a few notes and exchanging contact information with Natsume, Shouhei informed him of the next steps.

As mentioned before, the moment Natsume battled Ting-Lu, his records had already been pulled up.

Right now, he was somewhat of a rising name.

The high-quality berries and Pokéblocks from his farm—far superior to the ones on the market—had already caught the attention of certain individuals.

Whether sales would increase was uncertain, but at the very least, he might avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The classic "urban protagonist face-slapping" scenario Natsume had envisioned?

Yeah, that probably wasn’t happening to him.

A bit of a shame, really.

"Alright. See you."

"See you, Natsume."

Standing on Pidgeot’s back, Shouhei smiled.

Another day of being a background character in someone else’s story.

Some people were born to shine, destined to be the center of attention.

And people like him?

They were the crowd.

The common folk, the stepping stones for the strong, the nameless challengers who lost before even making a name for themselves.

But they were also the pillars of their families.

Despite his complicated emotions, Shouhei harbored no resentment.

Once you have a family, your sharp edges naturally get worn down.

In his younger days, he might have felt dissatisfied.

But now?

"...The reward for this mission should be decent, right?"

Shouhei was already considering getting his son’s first Pokémon.

Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Shouhei, Natsume climbed onto Corviknight’s back.

Compared to Pidgeot, Corviknight was much larger and far more comfortable to ride.

After all, it was known as the "airborne taxi" of the Pokémon world.

Of course, when it came to pure speed, Corviknight couldn’t compete with Pidgeot.

If Corviknight was an airbus, Pidgeot was a high-speed motorcycle.

Comfort aside, speed and thrill were maxed out.

In every sense of the word.

"Caw-caw!"

Are we heading back to the farm now?

Spreading its razor-sharp wings, Corviknight glanced at Natsume.

There was one time when it had flown in the wrong direction, making Natsume return home late and miss dinner.

It had nearly gotten beaten up by the hungry Pokémon back at the farm.

Since then, Corviknight always double-checked the destination before taking off.

"Hmm, let’s go home."

Ruffling Corviknight’s head absentmindedly, Natsume’s tone carried a hint of something indescribable.

At this moment, he seemed to suddenly understand what "home" truly meant.

Home was never just a place to live, nor a specific house.

Home was wherever one felt at ease, where the things that mattered were.

A place where one could sleep peacefully.

"Caw caw!"

Alright! Crow Airlines, taking off!

With a powerful flap of its wings, Corviknight shot into the vast blue sky.

Just ten minutes ago, this same sky had been shrouded in sandstorms and blizzards.

But now, it had returned to its usual state.

Clear, and serene.

Natsume tilted his head back, gazing at the endless sky, his thoughts drifting far away.

He thought of Rayquaza, guardian of the Sky Pillar, and of Zygarde, the deity of balance.

When he finally came back to his senses, he lowered his head, looking down at the battlefield below.

Caught in the midst of the fight, the sheer force of it had felt overwhelming.

Every move in a battle between Pokémon could bring about massive devastation.

But from up here, from this vantage point, it all seemed... so insignificant.

The traces of that fierce battle—when viewed from the sky—were nothing more than faint marks on the land.

His fleeting sense of grandeur quickly faded.

No, he still had a long way to go.

He was far from reaching the point where he could do as he pleased, without constraint.

Today’s battle, in more ways than one, had changed Natsume’s perspective.

"Caw caw!"

Natsume, we’re home.

Lost in thought, Natsume barely noticed when Corviknight carried him back to the farm.

Before they had even landed, he could see a crowd of Pokémon gathered at the farm’s entrance, waiting for him.

"Lopuu!"

The moment Lopunny spotted Natsume on Corviknight’s back, its expression visibly shifted—growing excited and relieved all at once.

Ever since hearing that Natsume was going to fight a Legendary Pokémon, Lopunny’s heart had been in turmoil.

The constant fear of bad news kept it on edge.

It trusted Natsume, of course—but to an ordinary Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon were nothing short of untouchable myths.

They represented absolute power—beings beyond the reach of most Pokémon in their lifetime.

But all that worry melted away the moment it saw him.

"Lopuu!"

As soon as Natsume touched the ground, Lopunny bolted forward and threw itself into his arms.

With both arms wrapped tightly around him, it rubbed against him with the enthusiasm of a cat high on catnip.

"Cinoo!"

"Lili!"

One after another, the Pokémon from the farm rushed forward, swarming him like a hero returning from war.

To the Pokémon living here, Natsume was unquestionably their hero.

He was the one who provided them with food and shelter.

And today, he had gone out to defeat a terrible enemy that had threatened their home.

They didn’t quite understand what a Legendary Pokémon was.

All they knew was that Natsume had protected them.

"Alright, alright, everyone, let me breathe a little."

Surrounded by a sea of fluffy bodies, Natsume struggled to reach out, hoping Corviknight would give him a hand.

Unfortunately, Corviknight either didn’t understand what he meant...

Or perhaps it did understand, but simply couldn't help.

After all, Corviknight was just a bird. It didn’t have hands to pull him out.

Thud!

Several crisp sounds echoed as Persian and the others emerged from their Poké Balls.

Natsume’s Poké Balls had long since been modified to remove their locking mechanisms.

This meant that his Pokémon could come out on their own, whenever they chose.

In many situations, this allowed them to react quickly and assist their Trainer.

Persian stepped onto the ground, lazily licking its paw, completely ignoring the pleading look in Natsume’s eyes.

Slowking, on the other hand, removed the "crown" from its head and began rummaging through something.

For a moment, Natsume had the strange impression that, without the Shellder attached to its head, Slowking’s intelligence had regressed to its pre-evolution state.

Ogerpon wanted to help, but its tiny body wasn’t exactly suited for the task.

In the end, it was Gardevoir who reached out and pulled Natsume free.@@novelbin@@

As for Gallade?

That guy was still sulking, having spiraled into self-imposed isolation after losing control of his emotions during the battle.

It would probably take him some time to recover.

"Saved at last."

"Thanks a ton, Gardevoir."

Natsume patted his chest, exhaling in relief. He had almost drowned in an ocean of fluff.

Sure, fluff was cute—but that was not how he wanted to go out.

"You worked hard, Natsume."

Standing off to the side, Mei finally spoke up.

The atmosphere just now had felt so... intimate. She wasn’t sure if she would’ve been intruding by saying something earlier.

So, she had kept silent.

"I wasn’t the one who worked hard. It was mostly Persian and the others."

Straightening out his clothes, Natsume glanced at Persian, who was already sprawled out on the ground, basking in the sun.

He honestly didn’t feel like he had done much.

At the end of the day, his role was simply planning strategies and providing support.

The ones who had truly worked hard were Persian and the others—the ones who had faced the battle head-on.

"As a reward for everyone’s efforts, let’s have a barbecue party tonight."

Natsume really couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate.

A barbecue was one of the few things he knew that could liven up the mood and bring everyone together for a fun time.

"Lopuu!"

"Yadon~"

"Uma-uma!"

As night began to fall, the person Shouhei had mentioned—the one coming to meet with Natsume—finally arrived at the farm.