Pokémon: Farm Story

For Natsume, Mei was the first friend he made after taking over the farm.

And, at this rate, she might just become his only friend.

After all, ever since he took over the farm, Natsume had lost contact with his former classmates.

He had always been the type to disappear as soon as vacation started and go completely off the grid after graduation.

After elementary school, he vanished from his classmates’ radar.

After middle school, no one could find him anymore.

After high school? Even more so.

To Natsume, being in the same class as someone was a kind of fate.

But whether that turned into friendship was a different matter entirely.

The same applied to dormmates.

Just because they ended up in the same room due to some random dorm assignment didn’t mean they had to be friends.

Everyone came from different places, grew up in different environments, and had different values.

If they got along, that was great.

If they didn’t, well, that was just how things were.

No need to feel bad about it or wonder if you were the problem.

Honestly, Natsume considered it a win that he hadn’t become one of those novel protagonists who single-handedly isolated everyone around them.

Not everyone could maintain a calm mindset and interact with a bunch of kids using the rational thinking of an adult.

It had been pretty rough for him, to be honest.

Not that he hated kids or anything.

But seeing them go through their cringey, edgy phases made him recall his own dark history.

Just watching them made him want to curl his toes so hard he could dig a hole through the floor.

My embarrassing past is currently delivering flying elbow strikes to my soul.@@novelbin@@

On the flip side, Natsume was also an important friend to Mei.

With her bright and cheerful personality, it was no surprise that she had a lot of friends.

Back in school, plenty of girls were happy to befriend her.

What? Bullying?

First, you’d have to beat Mei in a fight.

She was never the type to just take a hit and cry about it.

Whether it was Pokémon battles or actual combat—

Mei, 18 years old, a genius fighter who could throw hands.

For now, both Mei and Natsume had a pretty good impression of each other.

As friends, sure.

As members of the opposite sex? Also, sure.

Honestly, love at first sight and whirlwind romances were overrated.

Most relationships started with two people thinking the other seemed decent, dating to see how it went, and just continuing from there.

Not that many made it to the finish line, though.

"Delicious~!"

Mei beamed, happily munching on a skewer of grilled meat.

For the first time in a while, the farm's open space was hosting a barbecue party.

The last time had been shortly after Natsume moved in.

Since then, he hadn’t bothered doing it again.

Not because of his cooking skills or a lack of ingredients—

Just pure laziness.

After all, barbecuing wasn’t just about grilling food.

It meant prepping ingredients, setting up the grill, getting skewers ready, and worst of all—cleaning up afterward.

More importantly, barbecuing was about the atmosphere.

Even with Pokémon around, eating alone just felt... off.

But now that Mei was here, Natsume had finally dug out his neglected barbecue set from the storage.

"Right? I do have some confidence in my cooking skills," Natsume grinned from behind the grill.

Beside him, Lopunny carefully wiped the sweat off his forehead with a small towel.

Compared to the barbecue itself, Lopunny was more concerned about Natsume.

As long as the other Pokémon were having fun, that was good enough.

"Natsume, you're really amazing. It feels like you can do anything," Mei said, watching him work with admiration in her eyes.

To her, Natsume was the definition of an all-rounder genius.

Pokémon battles, training, Pokéblock making, everyday life—he seemed to excel at everything.

Compared to that, Mei felt like a brainless brute who only knew how to fight.

Especially when it came to daily life skills.

Sure, traveling had forced her to pick up a few things here and there, but—

Compared to Natsume, she might as well know nothing.

Better not to compare.

Otherwise, she’d start feeling self-conscious.

Her brown eyes reflected Natsume’s face, illuminated by the firelight.

For a moment, Mei found herself staring absentmindedly.

“…What’s wrong?”

Placing a freshly grilled skewer on the tray, Natsume turned his head—only to see Mei watching him, completely lost in thought.

Her expression was like… he had flowers growing on his face or something.

"Huh? Nothing, nothing!" Mei quickly waved her hands, snapping out of it.

Her fair cheeks seemed to have taken on a slight red tint—probably from the firelight.

"Right, about that tournament you mentioned before."

"I actually signed up for it, too."

After a brief pause, Mei awkwardly changed the subject.

Though, to be fair, she had wanted to tell him this earlier.

She’d just been too distracted by Serperior’s evolution.

Now was as good a time as any.

"Oh?"

"That means we’ll be opponents then, Mei."

Natsume didn’t seem too surprised by the news.

Handing Mei and the Pokémon their grilled skewers, he wiped his hands on his apron and smiled.

"Opponent? Yeah, no, I have zero chance of winning."

Mei accepted the food with a helpless smile.

At this point, she couldn’t see any way to beat him.

Earlier, Natsume had mentioned his tournament team: Mudkip, a shiny Furret, and Corviknight.

Mudkip was one thing.

But the other two? Straight-up powerhouses who could solo entire teams.

"Just… go easy on me, alright, Natsume?"

Mei grinned playfully, putting her hands together in a pleading gesture.

She even leaned in slightly, giving his shoulder a light squeeze—like she was trying to butter him up.

"Got it. Full power, no mercy."

Without hesitation, Natsume declared that he’d give it his all.

"Eh?! You’re my official translator! Shouldn’t you at least let me save some face?!"

"Giving my all to defeat my opponent is the greatest form of respect!"

"I don’t need that kind of respect!"

Mei huffed and gave his shoulder a hard squeeze in protest.

Would it kill him to be a little gentler with girls?!

Looking at Natsume’s face, Mei suddenly had the urge to bite him.

Just a tiny little shock to his system.

The barbecue party celebrating Serperior’s evolution and their first day of special training wrapped up in a lively atmosphere.

Back in her room, Mei instinctively reached for her phone to send Natsume a goodnight message.

Then, she suddenly remembered—

They were only separated by a single wall.

Barefoot, she padded across the floor and knocked on the door next to hers.

"Hm? What is it, Mei?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to say goodnight."

"Well then, goodnight, Mei."

"Mm-hm. Goodnight, Natsume."

That night, Miss Mei slept very well.