Pokémon: Farm Story

"Well, that's about the situation."

"There's still one slot left. Does anyone else want to join?"

Sitting on the steps, Natsume looked at the gathered Pokémon and asked.@@novelbin@@

The upcoming competition followed a 3v3 format. The event was relatively short, with a modest prize of 5,000 yen and a special commemorative Poké Ball.

Normally, such meager rewards wouldn't attract many participants. However, since the entry requirements were low—even amateur trainers like Natsume, who had never seriously pursued a Trainer's path, could join—the competition still had a decent turnout.

The first two slots had already been taken by Corviknight and the shiny Furret, both of whom had been eagerly awaiting an opportunity like this for a long time.

It was their first time showcasing themselves in an official match, so it seemed fitting to let them have the stage.

"Cino?"

"Lopuu."

Cinccino and Lopunny exchanged glances before opting out of the selection.

They had never been particularly interested in battling. When they first arrived at the farm, they had made it clear to Natsume that fighting wasn’t their thing, so they wouldn’t be much help in that regard.

Next to withdraw were Persian and Butterfree.

Persian, having grown up alongside Natsume and roamed the wilds with him, neither loved nor disliked battling. Whether it competed or not didn’t really matter.

As for Butterfree, it had already settled into a peaceful retirement.

These days, it resembled an old government official enjoying post-retirement life—helping Natsume make Pokéblocks, wandering around the farm, chatting with new Pokémon to help them settle in.

After Persian and Butterfree declined, many of the other Pokémon followed suit.

Sandshrew, devoted to farming, Yamper, busy learning herding techniques, and Mightyena’s pack, responsible for patrolling the farm, all stepped back.

While some were somewhat interested in the competition, none felt strongly enough to participate.

That left Togepi, the mischievous little troublemaker; a shiny Pidgeotto, who didn’t really understand what was happening but was there for the excitement; and a Mudkip that had somehow tagged along unnoticed.

Speaking of Mudkip, ever since Slowpoke evolved into Slowking, it had been spending a lot of time alone, lost in thought.

Natsume wasn’t sure what was on its mind. Occasionally, it would show a look of determination as if it had made an important decision, only to clam up and change the subject whenever it tried to talk to him.

Natsume was curious, but he couldn’t read minds.

Understanding what Pokémon were thinking was often tricky.

Some might wonder why Natsume didn’t just use his Viridian powers to "turn on the idiot filter" (not really), but truthfully, he preferred to let things unfold naturally.

As long as there were no major problems, he wanted to respect the Pokémon’s privacy.

It’s like when you’re chasing someone who clearly likes you back—would you really use a hypnosis app to force a confession?

That’d be like taking off your pants just to fart.

"Do all three of you want to go?"

Seeing the trio's eager expressions, Natsume looked a bit troubled.

If they just wanted to tag along for fun, he could bring extra Pokémon along.

But for actual competition, only one more could enter.

And since registered Pokémon had to be officially listed before the match, a decision needed to be made soon.

"Toki?"

"Mud?"

Togepi and Mudkip exchanged glances and started whispering to each other.

Seeing this, the still-clueless shiny Pidgeotto was pulled into the discussion as well.

Under Natsume's watchful eye, the three Pokémon reached an agreement.

"Mud."

They decided to let Mudkip have this chance.

But next time, Togepi and Pidgeotto would get to go!

Waving its tiny fingers, Togepi declared their pact.

Meanwhile, the shiny Pidgeotto looked a little disappointed.

Even though Togepi had promised to share some Pokéblocks as compensation, it still felt a little down.

After all, it had wanted to show off its dazzling golden feathers to humans.

Showing off to fellow Pokémon was getting old—no one in its flock was that impressed anymore.

Even the most brilliant golden plumage lost its charm after being admired for too long.

Oh well… next time.

With a glance at Mudkip, which was now walking toward Natsume, Pidgeotto shook its head.

That little guy sure was determined—especially when it came to getting stronger.

"Mud."

Standing before Natsume, Mudkip let out a soft cry and sat obediently at his feet.

"Then I’ll be counting on you to bring me victory, Mudkip."

Natsume chuckled, gently stroking its smooth head.

Feeling the warmth on its forehead, Mudkip instinctively nuzzled against Natsume’s hand.

It had to work hard.

That thought echoed in Mudkip’s mind.

When it first arrived at the farm, it had lived a carefree, happy life.

Lounging by the lake, chatting idly with Slowpoke, feeling the cool breeze—it had been a peaceful existence.

Whenever it got hungry, it could go to Natsume for Pokéblocks.

Fresh berries were always within reach.

Mudkip had loved that life.

But then Slowpoke evolved into Slowking.

And that peaceful life disappeared.

Slowking had found its own path and its own purpose.

Every day, it was busy.

And Mudkip?

At first, it had vowed to train seriously and become stronger.

But it had been too easy to get swept up in the farm’s relaxed atmosphere.

Before it knew it, it had fallen far behind its only friend.

Slowking had tried to be considerate, never making it feel left out.

But for someone as sensitive as Mudkip, the more Slowking tried to accommodate it, the worse it felt.

This couldn’t go on.

It had to get stronger.

That was the only way.

"Alright, then the lineup is decided."

"Corviknight, shiny Furret, and Mudkip."

"By the way, does anyone want to come along just to watch?"

Standing up, Natsume announced the final roster, then turned to ask if anyone wanted to tag along.

As expected, the moment he finished speaking, a wave of soft, fluffy, and slippery bodies swarmed him.

Even Emolga had somehow climbed onto his head, chirping and rubbing against him affectionately.

"Wait, wait! Give me a second!"

"I can’t breathe!"

Buried under the excited Pokémon, Natsume barely managed to stick out a hand.

But in the next second, Yamper—a true Husky at heart—leaped at him, flattening him completely.

"Lopunny!"

Natsume—!!!

Lopunny, looking flustered, anxiously watched the chaotic scene before…

It leaped in as well.

Don’t get the wrong idea—it was trying to rescue Natsume.

Though… its method seemed a bit off.

Pinned beneath the playful pile of Pokémon, Natsume felt like he’d been tossed into a ball pit—except instead of plastic balls, it was full of restless, energetic kids.

Though he could’ve easily shaken them all off with his strength, that would’ve spoiled the fun.

After much effort, Lopunny finally managed to drag Natsume out, grumbling at the other Pokémon in exasperation.

Then, it handed him a clean towel to wipe his face.

After all that roughhousing, Natsume’s clothes were a mess.

Luckily, ever since moving to the farm, he mostly wore dark-colored or work-style outfits, so it wasn’t too noticeable.

If anything, a little dirt made them look even more authentic.

"Alright, alright, it’s fine, Lopunny."

Lowering the towel, Natsume ruffled its head.

"Lopp."

Pouting, Lopunny still looked a bit huffy.

If Natsume hadn’t stopped it, it probably would’ve started knocking heads like a wooden fish.

There was no doubt about it—Lopunny could absolutely pull this off.

Not liking battles had nothing to do with strength.

More often than not, those who preached peace were the ones who could fight the hardest.

"Cino..."

Cinccino, crouched beside Natsume, looked at his clothes with a conflicted expression.

They were filthy. Should it clean them?

But Natsume had just said he would change once they got home. Cleaning them now would be a waste of energy.

Maybe it would be better to just toss everything into the washing machine later—that would save some effort.

But if it didn’t clean them now, it would feel unbearably uncomfortable.

Cleaning them now would be a hassle, but leaving them dirty made its fur crawl, like ants were running all over its body.

In the end, Cinccino couldn't fight its instincts.

Leaping onto Natsume, it began its cleaning ritual.

For Cinccino, its tail was the best cleaning tool.

Of course, most of the time, it preferred using actual cleaning supplies—getting itself dirty was a hassle.

Too many baths weren’t good for its fur.

Cinccino had learned that from the internet.

Determined to master the art of cleaning, it had seriously studied various cleaning techniques online.

It had even bought a bunch of cleaning tools.

All with the allowance Natsume had given it, of course.

"Alright, alright, come down now, Cinccino."

The constant swishing of that fluffy tail was making Natsume squirm with laughter.

But Cinccino refused.

It wasn’t coming down until the job was done.

After some playful tussling, the Pokémon eventually scattered.

Aside from a few who decided to tag along to watch the action, the others had things to do.

"Oh, right! I need to tell Mei."

Handing Lopunny a towel, Natsume suddenly remembered the guest he had unintentionally left hanging.

Mei had come as a guest, yet he had completely forgotten about her.

That was pretty rude of him as a host.

"Lopu."

Alright then, Cinccino and I will head back first.

Nodding, Lopunny picked up Cinccino—who was wiping imaginary sweat off its forehead—and headed home.

At this point, those two had basically become the household’s cleaning crew.

They handled everything from top to bottom.

Whether it was cleaning or other chores, Lopunny and Cinccino took care of it.

Otherwise, just keeping up with basic tidiness would be a nightmare for Natsume.

"Huh? Natsume is joining the tournament too?"

Mei blinked in surprise.

From what she remembered, Natsume had never been the type to care about competitions.

Even when there was a tournament with incredibly generous prizes, he had barely glanced at his phone before setting it aside.

"Yeah, a lot of the Pokémon at the ranch want to battle."

"Keeping them cooped up in the ranch, only training among themselves, isn’t ideal."

Natsume, sitting beside Mei, explained as they watched Corviknight unleash a torrent of trash talk while ruthlessly drilling Mei’s four Pokémon.

Among them, the one performing best was Dewott.

Technically, Dewott and Servine were about the same in strength—if not slightly weaker.

But Corviknight's Flying and Steel typing gave it a quadruple resistance to Grass-type moves.

With an existing gap in power, plus the type disadvantage...

Servine’s attacks weren’t just ineffective—they barely even registered.

At best, they were an annoyance.

"It feels like Servine and the others are getting used to this level of trash talk."

Watching her Pokémon maintain their composure, Mei sighed in amazement.

Previously, Servine had always reacted emotionally to taunts.

But now, it had learned to ignore them and focus on the battle.

"Want to add some more pressure?"

"Huh?"

"Corviknight! You can step it up a notch now!"

Cupping his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, Natsume called out to Corviknight, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.

"Caw!"

Got it!

Corviknight’s eyes gleamed with excitement.

Natsume had warned it earlier—if it went all out from the start, it might completely crush Servine and the others.

So Corviknight had been holding back, both in battle and in trash talk.

But now that they were adapting, it was time for the next stage.

"Caaaw kak caw!"

Go home and cry to your mom, loser!

With a powerful beat of its wings, Corviknight soared into the sky.

Earlier, it had been carefully watching its words because of Natsume’s restrictions.

Normally, its trash talk would be something like:

"You’re lucky to last a minute against me—your dead ancestors must be watching over you."

Stuff that was way too brutal to say out loud.

Even in a place like Zaun, its words would still be considered pretty aggressive.

Natsume had strictly forbidden it from saying things like that.

But now, Corviknight felt like it was finally free!

"Eh?! Eh?!"

Since Mei couldn’t understand Pokémon speech, she had no idea just how vicious Corviknight’s words were.

But she could tell that her Pokémon had suddenly snapped.

They looked like they wanted to tear Corviknight apart on the spot.