The st time he went to town, Naoki had purchased a total of six Poké Balls. After he used one on Cyclizar, there were still five left. This meant he could bring back five new Pokémon to the ranch today.

  "Oropius, two Skiddo, two Nacli that's perfect! Oh wait, we still need a Pokémon that use Rain Dand Water Gun," Naoki calcuted silently.

  Of course, he wouldn't fory Pokémon to join him if they didn't want to. It had to be a mutual agreement. Otherwise, even if he captured a Pokémon by force, it might not cooperate with him on the ranch. The Pokémon's willingness was crucial.

  Naoki surveyed the area, the types and behaviors of wild Pokémon from the sky. He wasn't in a hurry to capture them immediately. A skilled rancher needed patience – after all, good things came to those who waited.

  Suddenly, Naoki heard someone shouting. He looked in the dire of the void saw a young man with a backpad a telescope calling out to him from a watchtower nearby.

  "Hey, you up there! Hey! Over here!" the young man yelled.

  Naoki was slightly taken aback. Was he being called? He thought for a moment and said to Koraidon.

  "Let's go over there and have a look!"

  "Roar!"

  Koraidon respourning and flying towards the watchtower by the ke.

  As they got closer, the man could clearly see Koraidon. His attention was immediately captured, and his eyes widened with curiosity.

  "What kind of Pokémon is that?"

  Koraidon squi the man and said, "Gah?"

  Naoki introduced Koraidon, and the man, upon hearing the name, quickly grabbed a book from the ground, frantically flipping through the pages. Soon, his eyes grew wide with astonishment.

  'A Pokémon not in the Pokémon Encyclopedia! Doesn't that mean it's an undiscovered Pokémon'?

  "This is truly astonishing!" The man examined Koraidon with rapt attention. Koraidon, in turn, eyed him with disdain.

  Seeing the man's infatuated expression, Naoki interrupted, "Did you call me over for something?"

  The man finally snapped out of it, quickly put away his Encyclopedia, and introduced himself: "My name is Yosuke. I came from the distant Gar region and I'm currently traveling in Paldea, studying the Pokémon ecology in various pces!"

  He looked slightly embarrassed as he tinued, "I just saw you riding that Pokémon in the sky, so, I'm very sorry!"

  "But I must say, the Pokémon ecosystem in Paldea is truly fasating! I've been living in this watchtower for half a month, and I've already discovered 48 different types of Pokémon!"

  As he spoke, the man squatted down arieved a hand-drawn book from his bag: "Look, these are all the Pokémon I've sketched! It meticulously records their ecological habits and habitats!"

  Intrigued, Naoki's i iqued. Casseroya Lake was vast, and he had no idea when specifion might appear. Could he glean information about rare or elusive Pokémon from this person?

  With that in mind, Naoki reached out and took the sketchbook, opening it to a random page. His eyes fell upon a hand-drawn Pokémon from the Gar region – an Urshifu. It stood tall, a gentle smile on its face. Beside it stood a young boy with short hair, looking a bit inexperienced.

  Urshifu. A Legendary Pokémon! Naoki was surprised.

  Yosuke, standing nearby, notiaoki's expression and came over. He g the drawing and asked with a smile, "Care to guess their retionship?"

  Hmm? Naoki raised an eyebrow, and Koraidon beside him also came over to take a peek.

  "Trainer and Pokémon?" Naoki ventured a guess.

  "Nope!" Yosuke shook his head, eyebrows raised, "They're father and son!"

  'What'? Naoki was taken aback.

  His first rea was disbelief. But Yosuke seemed to anticipate his rea.

  "It's surprising, right? But it's true. I entered them in the Gar region, and they were the ones who showed me that there are other possibilities between humans and Pokémon."

  "I was scared at first! Later I learhat the child had been abandoned as an infant, floating down a river to where the Urshifu lived, and ted by it."

  "Humans and Pokémon, father and son. I hought such a thied!"

  Yosuke's excitement alpable.

  Naoki thought to himself that this was nothing pared to what he had heard – even humans marrying Pokémon.

  He didn't dwell oter, fog instead on the sketchbook in front of him. Yosuke, meanwhile, approached again and asked pleadingly

  " I draw your Pokémon? As a reward, I'll make you my best sandwich. Even Pokémon love it! Please!"

  Naoki simply waved his hand and sat down cross-legged.

  "Go ahead, draw away!"

  The man was thrilled. "Thank you!"

  He pulled out another half-used sketchbook and a pencil from his backpack, sat down, and focused ily og Koraidon.

  Only then did Naoki realize that the sketchbook in his hand was already filled with drawings.

  "Gah."

  Hearing Koraidon's cry, Naoki looked up to see it standing stiffly, gazing at him with a pitiful expression. Just as Naoki was about to speak, Yosuke said

  "Don't be nervous! Just sit in your most rexed and natural posture!"

  Naoki waved to Koraidon, who then y down beside him, resting its rge head on Naoki's legs. Yosuke's eyes lit up at this sight. "Okay, very good, that's it! Perfect posture! This Pokémon trusts you very much!"

  Naoki smiled and scratched Koraidon's , then flipped through the sketchbook in his hand, examining the Pokémon ecology around Casseroya Lake. There were indeed more Pokémon in this area than he had imagined.

  In addition to the ones he had just seen outside, there were also the docile Azurill, the blue Swablu with wings as white and soft as clouds, the slimy Sliggoo dwelling in damp caves, and the pink, hammer-wielding Tinkaton.

  The book was narrated from Yosuke's perspective. Alongside the Pokémon he reized were some shrouded in mist, with only their vague outlines visible. Question marks apahese phantoms, suggesting they were rare Pokémon Yosuke had never entered before.

  Naoki couldn't identify some of the phantoms, but as he turned a page, a familiar outline suddenly caught his eye. It appeared to be a cliff, its top enveloped in fog, with the shadow of a Pokémon looming within the mist. The Pokémon's body was rge and seemingly quite round.

  Beside it was another question mark, followed by a description:

  [An unknown Pokémon es here every night at 7 pm, sits quietly until 5 am the m, and then flies back to the sea. Unfortunately, the cliff is too high for me to climb as appearance clearly. I only make out a blurry shadow.]