Pokemon: A New Path

Alliance calendar year 198, spring, March 14th.

This marked the last month of spring, with the impending arrival of the hot summer.

Naoki despised the sweltering heat and the feeling of sweating profusely. So, that morning, he took the money he had diligently saved up and headed to the town to purchase a few air conditioners.

He rode his Cyclizar all the way to the department store in town. After some guidance from the shopping assistant, he found himself on the floor selling electrical appliances. Naoki selected four air conditioners, planning to install one in the salt house where Nacli lived, another in the Pokémon house where Miltank resided, a third in the chicken coop, and the last one in the wooden house where he lived.

In an instant, one hundred and twenty thousand Poke Dollars were spent—his hard-earned savings from selling crops, rock salt, milk, and goat milk over the past half month. Despite being mentally prepared for the expenditure, Naoki couldn't help but feel a sharp pang of pain as he looked at his nearly empty wallet.

But what could he do? These were necessities that needed to be installed before summer's heat became unbearable.

The shopping assistant was surprised to see someone buy so many air conditioners at once but quickly arranged for their installation at Naoki's home.

When all four air conditioners were finally installed, Naoki felt an immense sense of relief. Now, when summer arrived, he wouldn't have to endure sleepless nights due to the oppressive heat!

Thanks to the addition of the Miltank, the ranch's financial problems were resolved, and the ranch officially entered its next phase—the revitalization stage.

During this stage, Naoki planned to focus on two major tasks.

Build a proper home—a fully functional house with a bedroom, living room, cellar, study, and bathroom.

The bedroom would be for rest. The living room could be used to entertain the occasional guest who visited the ranch. The study would be perfect for keeping account books, reading, and recording recipes.

As for the cellar.

With summer approaching in two weeks, hop cultivation could officially begin. Without a cellar, he couldn't start his brewing business. Additionally, he needed to set aside some money to purchase wine barrels for brewing.

Grow more summer crops and use them to develop new dishes.

He planned to see if any of the new dishes could meet specific requirements, allowing him to strengthen the Pokémon on the ranch, thus completing a cycle.

By noon, Naoki began preparing lunch for all the Pokémon. He opened the refrigerator and glanced at the variety of ingredients inside, his eyes finally resting on a jar of golden, viscous liquid.

Then, information about the jar of liquid surfaced in his mind.

[Tulip honey: Honey made from tulip pollen and nectar. If you taste it carefully, you can discern a hint of floral fragrance. It's an excellent ingredient for making desserts.]

This was the honey that the Combee had recently collected from the flower fields. Naoki had initially been alarmed when he saw them collecting tulip nectar. He recalled that in the world he knew, tulips contained mannose and galactose—sugars toxic to bees—causing bees to die while collecting from these flowers.

But as it turned out, Pokémon were far more resilient than ordinary bees. Despite both being called "bees," the nectar of tulips had no adverse effects on the Combee.

After realizing this, Naoki felt relieved and allowed them to continue collecting.

'It's a pity that Teddiursa left too early,' Naoki mused. 'If it had stayed just a few days longer, it could have tasted this new flavor of honey.'

He used the honey to make more lucky puddings, but despite making so many, he still couldn't replicate a pudding with permanent lucky effects.

However, Naoki wasn't discouraged. To him, it didn't matter if the effect was permanent or not. 'While on the ranch, they can eat a portion of pudding anytime they want the lucky effect. As long as they keep eating it, the effect will be permanent.'

'I wonder where Teddiursa and Mew are now,' he thought briefly before setting aside his concerns to focus on preparing lunch for Cyclizar and the others.

Today's lunch menu remained the same as usual—fried steak and sandwiches, accompanied by a portion of smashed cucumber, with a choice of tree sap juice or Moomoo Milk to drink.

As they ate, Naoki glanced at Dragonite, realizing he hadn't asked about its progress with practicing moves in quite some time. So, he asked casually, 

"Have you mastered the Electric-type move Thunder that I told you about before?" Naoki asked, curious about Dragonite's progress.

Dragonite's eyes lit up with excitement. "Awoo!" it nodded eagerly.

Not only had it mastered Thunder, but it had also successfully performed the combination of Rain Dance + Hurricane + Thunder that Naoki had taught it!

"Huh?" Naoki was genuinely surprised. "You're making rapid progress!"

"Awoo~" Dragonite beamed, clearly proud of its achievements.

After finishing their meal, Dragonite was too excited to wait and dragged Naoki outside to show him the fruits of its training.

Naoki stood under the eaves with Cyclizar and Koraidon flanking him. He watched as Dragonite flapped its wings and soared into the sky.

With focused concentration, Dragonite summoned a dense layer of dark clouds, shrouding the previously clear sky. Electric energy crackled within the clouds, and soon, raindrops began to fall. At first, it was just a drizzle, but the rain intensified, forming thick lines that pelted the ground with a rhythmic sound.

Dragonite bathed in the downpour, its body drenched as flames of determination flickered in its eyes. It then flapped its wings, conjuring a violent wind that merged with the rain, creating a storm of formidable magnitude.

Naoki marveled at the sight before him. 'This is incredible,' he thought. 'An ordinary Pokémon would probably panic in the face of such a move, especially without special environmental training.'

And then—

Boom!

A colossal flash of lightning split the sky, striking the ground with terrifying force, leaving a smoldering crater in the lawn below.

'Hiss!' Naoki sucked in a breath. 'What terrifying power! If a Pokémon were hit by that…' He couldn't even finish the thought.

As the storm subsided, the dark clouds gradually dispersed, revealing the clear blue sky once more.

"Pah, pah, pah!" Naoki clapped his hands in awe. "That's amazing!"

"Awoo…" Dragonite landed beside Naoki, feeling a bit embarrassed. It scratched its head with its large claw, unsure of how to handle the praise.

'No, I'm still not there yet,' Dragonite thought, recalling the mysterious Pokémon it had once glimpsed above the eye of a typhoon—a pitch-black creature that looked like a swimming dragon.

Naoki couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion as he looked at Dragonite. 'Extreme Speed, Dragon Tail, Thunder Punch, Hurricane, Agility, Dragon Dance, Rain Dance, Thunderbolt, Thunder—it's learned so many moves already,' he thought. 'I feel like I have nothing left to teach it.'

With this in mind, Naoki asked, "You've learned so many moves. What are your plans next?"

Upon hearing this, Dragonite's heart skipped a beat. Naoki's words sounded to Dragonite like he was saying, 'I have nothing more to teach you; you're ready to go out on your own'.

'Is he trying to send me away?' Dragonite panicked. It didn't want to leave and immediately frowned, looking up at Naoki with a pleading, almost teary-eyed expression. "Awoo..."

Although humans and Pokémon don't speak the same language, Naoki miraculously understood Dragonite's meaning at that moment. He suddenly felt a bit awkward. "I'm not trying to drive you away," he reassured, "I just want to know what your next plan is. What I mean is that I'll soon have nothing left to teach you. Will you leave the ranch and return to Dragonite Island when the time comes?"

Naoki hadn't forgotten that Dragonite had originally followed him to learn new moves.

Hearing this, Dragonite fell into deep thought.

'At first, I did follow Naoki because I wanted to learn new moves,' Dragonite reflected. 'But then,'

Naoki had given it a fruit platter to help it learn Extreme Speed.

Naoki had asked Koraidon to teach it how to use Dragon Tail.

Naoki had braved the stormy skies alongside Dragonite to practice Thunder Punch and Rain Dance, even falling ill because of it.

And when Naoki was sick, Dragonite had learned Agility while delivering milk, all the while worrying about him.

'Now,' Dragonite realized, 'I'm not just staying with Naoki because I want to get stronger.'

'I like Naoki. I want to stay with him forever.