Pokémon: Farm Story

Standing dazed at the edge of the battlefield, Mei’s thoughts drifted far away.

The moment the match ended, a wave of disappointment surged over her like a rising tide.

The once-deafening cheers, applause, and shouts from the crowd now felt distant and muffled, as if separated by an invisible barrier.

All around her, the audience remained as lively as ever.

Laughter, conversations, and celebrations blended into a sea of joy.

But none of it had anything to do with her.

She felt like an isolated island, floating alone in the middle of this roaring ocean.

"Mei? Are you okay?"

"Mei?"

Someone was calling her name.

Who was it?

The buzzing noise in her ears gradually faded.

The blurry scenery before her eyes slowly came into focus.

"...Ah, I'm fine."

Snapping out of her daze, Mei quickly wiped her face, pretending everything was normal.

Ah, that was such an intense and exhausting match.

I must've been sweating.

Taking a deep breath, she returned Steenee to her Poké Ball and, at the referee's signal, turned to walk into the tunnel.

At the moment she stepped into the dim passageway, the cheers and excitement from outside seemed to grow even louder.

A part of her felt a little... sad.

Looking back on the match, was there anything she could have done better?

Probably... not.

She had prepared as much as she could.

She had trained, strategized, and given her all.

There should be no regrets.

Right—she had done everything she could.

Serperior and the others had fought their hardest, too.

Everyone had given their all, from training to the final battle itself.

There was nothing to regret.

That’s how it should be.

So why do my footsteps feel so heavy?

"Plop."

Back in the waiting room, Mei collapsed onto the couch, as if all the energy had been drained from her body.

She let the soft cushions swallow her whole.

"...Ah, I'm so tired."

Tilting her head back, she blankly stared at the bright ceiling lights.

She wasn't sure what she was thinking.

The distant sounds of the tournament still echoed faintly in the background.

Were they discussing the last match?

Or had the next round already begun?

She didn’t know.

And she didn’t really feel like thinking about it.

"Knock, knock."

"Come in."

Hearing the knock, Mei quickly sat up, straightened herself, and called out.

"Are you okay?"

Pushing open the door, Natsume walked in.

His expression carried a trace of concern.

He had once said that a Trainer should have a strong mentality.

That they shouldn’t need comfort from others.

...Of course, that was previous Natsume speaking. What did that have to do with this Natsume?

"I'm fine."

"It's really not that bad."

"After all, both I and my Pokémon gave it our all."

"So there's nothing to regret."

Taking the drink Natsume handed her, Mei took a small sip and spoke with feigned lightheartedness.

Her slender fingers wrapped around the bottle, seemingly at ease.

"Is that so?"

Natsume studied her for a moment.

Then, instead of pressing the topic, he casually shifted the conversation.

"Slowking told me that ever since I left the farm, things have been pretty chaotic. No idea what's going on."

Comforting others wasn’t his strong suit.

That was something Natsume had always been aware of.

If there were gaps in his knowledge, this was a full-on black hole.

Not just clueless—completely clueless.

So, instead of saying anything unnecessary, he just kept talking about the farm.

"Hmm."

Mei quietly listened, occasionally responding with soft murmurs.

Then suddenly, she pointed to the slightly ajar door.

"Natsume, can you close the door?"

"I have zero energy left."

She never liked leaving doors open during private conversations.

Even if no one was eavesdropping, it still felt... uncomfortable.

Like something personal could be overheard.

"Oh, sure."

Natsume got up, walked over, and shut the door.

Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly felt a gentle breeze behind him.

Two arms wrapped around his waist from behind.

"...Just let me borrow your back for a moment."

Mei pressed her face against his back, her voice muffled.

"I gave it everything I had."

"I shouldn't feel this way."

"There shouldn't be anything to be upset about."

"But it still hurts a little."

"I feel like I could've done more... that I still had so much I wanted to show."

She turned her head slightly, murmuring softly.

Sometimes, emotions were unreasonable.

They didn't listen to logic.

Mei knew she had done her best.

But she still wanted to do more.

Natsume stood still for a moment, his hands hovering awkwardly in the air.

After a brief hesitation, he gently placed them over Mei’s arms.

"...Yeah."

No unnecessary comfort.

No analysis.

Because no matter what the victor said, it would always feel like salt in the wound.

The room fell into silence.

Time seemed to stretch on and on.

---

During the finals, Natsume abandoned his usual strategy of rotating Pokémon.

Instead, he sent out Shiny Furret and obliterated his opponent’s entire team in a crushing sweep.

One-hit knockouts.

All of them.

The total battle time didn’t even last as long as Mei’s Steenee versus Marshtomp match.

Honestly, he looked more like a tired office worker rushing home than a tournament finalist.

To be frank, Natsume thought his opponent had just been lucky to get this far.

Skill-wise… well, it was complicated.

There were no signs of any pre-match training or strategizing.

The guy just winged it, playing completely by instinct.

And his battle commands?

A mess.

Constantly barking orders, forcing his Pokémon to follow his every move.

No adaptability. No solid tactics.

If it had been Tei Akira instead, he probably would’ve won this whole thing without breaking a sweat.

"Let’s give a round of applause for our champion—Natsume!"

Standing on the podium, expressionless, Natsume’s thoughts had already drifted far away.

...When I get home, I should ask female Indeedee to help make something good for dinner.

Even though Natsume usually cooked for himself, his skills were just... average.

Passable.

Enough to fill his stomach, but not enough to call it delicious.

But female Indeedee?

Now she was a true superhuman.

In just the few days she had been at the farm, Natsume had yet to find anything she wasn’t good at.

Whether it was housework, combat, or even art—she had effortlessly displayed talent in everything.

Even in drawing, something Natsume himself had been struggling to improve.

Lost in thought, Natsume was suddenly pulled back to reality by the host’s voice.

"Natsume? Natsume?"

"...Ah, I’m here."

Snapping back to the present, he turned to the host, who was holding a microphone near his mouth.

Taking two seconds to process the question…

It was probably about his thoughts on winning.

Was that it?

"Natsume, any thoughts? Any comments?"

The host subtly reminded him, sensing Natsume’s hesitation.

If it were someone else, the host might not have been this accommodating.

But right now, this guy was the golden goose of the entire event. The online livestream was practically riding on his presence.

Of course, most of the audience watching the stream were just here for the entertainment.

But hey, engagement was engagement!

A speech...

Once again, this was outside his realm of expertise.

After a brief two-second pause, Natsume recalled something he had overheard when Corviknight was watching videos out loud.

Since he didn’t know what to say, why not borrow from someone else?

"Well, first of all, winning this championship makes me very happy."

The host glanced at Natsume’s completely expressionless face.

"I also want to thank all the opponents I encountered along the way. They are all strong and skilled trainers."

The trainers who had been completely shut out by Natsume silently covered their faces.

"This has been an unforgettable journey, one that has left a deep impression on me."

Feeling a bit guilty, Natsume hesitated for a moment.

"I also want to thank all the spectators who traveled from afar to watch the competition."

The audience members, who had been forced to attend after their workplaces gave them free tickets to fill seats, looked around awkwardly.

"And then..."

Uh-oh. Forgot the next part.

Midway through his speech, Natsume suddenly blanked.

Well, not much he could do about it. He never liked playing sounds out loud in public.

So when Corviknight did it, he immediately put a stop to it.

Which meant he never actually heard the rest of the speech.

Whatever. If he didn’t know, he didn’t know.

Time to wrap it up.

"I also want to thank my partners."

"That’s all."

Shoving the microphone back into the host’s hands, Natsume drifted off into his own thoughts.

Huh, it's not over yet?

He was starting to feel a little hungry.

"What a wonderful speech."

Having seen it all, the host remained unfazed.

This was nothing.

The fact that Natsume could string a full sentence together was already impressive.

Trainers were a troublesome bunch.

The host knew this very well.

The inexperienced ones could barely squeeze out a word and avoided eye contact.

The veterans, on the other hand, would say anything—and often, way too much.

Both were potential disasters for a live broadcast.

Compared to that, Natsume’s speech, while odd, was actually pretty great.

Soon, the event moved on to the final prize-giving segment.

"Natsume, here are your winnings and prizes."

"Prizes?"

Taking the briefcase from the host, Natsume was slightly puzzled.

He distinctly remembered that this tournament originally had no prizes.

"This is an additional reward from our sponsor, XXX brand, after witnessing your outstanding performance in the competition."

The host explained it like that.

Ah. Got it. Just riding the hype train.

"The prizes include a Soothe Bell and a Silk Scarf."

Huh, not bad.

Alright, he’d take them.

Happily accepting the gifts, Natsume didn’t comment on the organizer’s actions.

As long as the prize money was in place, everything made sense.

But if it wasn’t in place... well, then he’d have no choice but to get a little passive-aggressive.

With the event quickly wrapping up, Natsume headed back to the farm with his winnings and prizes, completely satisfied.

The organizers, meanwhile, took his championship photo and happily started their promotions.

The audience had new topics to discuss and gossip about.

Everyone was satisfied.

Except for the trainers who had been steamrolled by Natsume.

Well—except for one particular exception.

Tei Akira, the moderator of the Natsume super-topic, the admin of the Natsume fan forum, and the president of the Natsume fan club.

After being eliminated by Natsume, he had placed a bet on him winning the entire tournament undefeated.

The odds weren’t high, but he still made a small profit.

---

When Natsume and Mei returned to the farm, they were met with an enthusiastic welcome from the Pokémon.

Persian led a group of Pokémon, waiting at the farm entrance to greet Natsume’s return.

Meanwhile, Slowking and Gallade rushed forward to lodge a complaint.

"Galla!"

"Yadon!"

The two spoke over each other, leaving Natsume struggling to understand them for a while.

Eventually, he managed to piece together the situation.

Basically, while Natsume was away, the Pokémon at the farm had been busy with their own affairs.

Hisuian Zorua had taken the Mightyena family on a scouting mission nearby and stumbled upon a group of Ghost-type Pokémon.

It nearly escalated into an all-out battle.

In the end, Persian and Gallade had to step in to put a stop to it.

Additionally, it seemed that many of the Pokémon on the farm had been inspired by Corviknight and its group.

They had voluntarily joined Furret's training sessions.

Which had thrown the whole farm into chaos.

Maybe that doesn’t sound too bad.

But to put it into perspective—

Imagine a bunch of Might Guy clones shouting about youth and passion, training outside your window.

And occasionally, they handstand their way up to your window to say hello.

That should give you a clearer picture.

Besides that, there were a bunch of other small, annoying incidents.

Not major, but definitely frustrating.

Given the situation, Natsume could only instruct Slowking and Persian to take charge for now.

He’d deal with everything tomorrow.

It was already late, after all.

Whatever needed handling could wait until morning.

"Yadon."

"Meow."

Slowking and Persian nodded in understanding.

Why not Gallade, though?

Well, he just wasn’t assertive enough for the job.

On the second floor, in Natsume’s room, Togepi—who had rushed home ahead of everyone—was scurrying around under the bed.

"Finally home."

Just then, the door creaked open.

Seemed like Natsume had come in.

"Chagi?"

Tilting its head, Togepi prepared to jump out and surprise him.

But in the next second, a furry little paw pressed it down.

"Suosuo!"

Hisuian Zorua, who had followed them back unnoticed, held Togepi in place, signaling it to stay quiet.

Confused, Togepi followed Zorua’s gaze.

A few seconds later, another pair of shoes stepped into the room.

"You worked hard today, Natsume."

Mei’s voice drifted over as the two casually chatted.

Then suddenly, her shoes quickly shifted closer.

For a brief moment, she lightly stood on her tiptoes.

"Goodnight, Natsume."

For some reason, Togepi felt like Mei’s voice sounded a little shy.

Then, she hurriedly left the room.

What just happened?

Togepi didn’t quite understand.

Turning its head, it saw Zorua looking at it with an expression of utter exasperation, as if staring at a hopeless case.

"Chagi?"

Now Togepi was even more confused.