7 p.m.
After preparing dinner for the Motorized Lizard, Frost Milk Fairy, and Mini-Foo, Naoki told them that he was going on a trip, and rode Gullton to Cauldron Lake.
The moonlight is bright tonight, there is a light mist on the Cauldron Lake, and the hazy moonlight pours on the lake.
When the Pokémon below jumps out of the water, the silver-white full moon will shatter as the water ripples.
"You finally came!"
Yosuke did not return to the observation tower, but simply set up a simple campsite by the lake. The bonfire lit in front of the tent was extremely conspicuous in the night.
Standing next to him was a Pokémon holding a shield in his left hand and a sword in his right hand, with thick black eyebrows and a calm expression.
And the group of salt and stone treasures snuggled up next to the fire and fell asleep.
Naoki placed the prepared food in front of them, and the young Pokémon immediately opened their eyes with surprise on their faces.
"Sure enough, the salt and stone treasures like your dried fish more than my sandwich!" Yosuke touched his head: "They didn't eat tonight."
His secret sandwich was unattractive to this group of salt gems.
Looking at the salt treasure that started to eat, Naoki said with a smile: "After all, Pokémon was born from the rock salt layer underground. It will definitely not treat food the same as humans."
Yosuke quite agreed, "That's right."
He glanced at the time and said, "It's already seven-thirty, when do we set off?"
Naoki said: "You can do it now."
"Great!" Yosuke looked very excited. He stood up, took out the picture book and pen from his backpack and put them in his pocket, and then said to the knight-like Pokémon: "Onion Soldier, I'm leaving it to you. oh!"
"Gah!"
The Scallion Soldier saluted and said that he would definitely protect these salt and stone treasures.
Zhi Shu looked at the Green Onion Duck from the side with great interest, and asked curiously: "Is it evolved from the Green Onion Duck?"
"That's right, only the Green Onion Duck in the Galar region can evolve into the Green Onion Ranger." Yosuke introduced with a smile: "It is a very brave and hard-working Pokémon. Its posture during battle is very similar to the heroic one in the movie. Here are the warriors who are fighting hard!”
Naoki nodded, and his eyes were attracted by the Onion Ranger's hands holding a sword shaped like an onion stem and a shield made of onion leaves.
That kind of green onions is a very important thing. They will use it as a weapon. For the green onions, the green onions that have accompanied them for many years are more important than anything else.
But at the same time, its green onions are also excellent ingredients.
Feeling an ill-intentioned gaze cast on him, Scallion Soldier's expression turned sharp and he turned his head to look over.
Yosuke on the side followed Naoki's gaze and said with a smile: "What the Onion Ranger is holding is Galar green onions that only grow in the Galar region. Do you want it? I still have it in my backpack. I can give you a few."
Naoki is also very curious about Galar green onions, because according to his understanding, that kind of green onions is a very delicious condiment, and adding it to dishes can make the taste more delicious.
"Then I'll say thank you in advance." Naoki turned around, looked at the Cauldron Lake in the distance, and said to Yosuke: "It's time for us to set off. Do you still remember the location of that Pokémon?"
"certainly!"
"Then come up!"
Zhi Shu patted Gu Ledun, and Gu Ledun leaned down obediently.
Naoki rode up first, and when it was Yosuke's turn, he looked flattered: "Can I also ride this Pokémon? It won't be angry, right?"
Hearing this, Zhishu looked at Guluton.
For Zhi Shu's sake, Luton shook his head magnanimously: "Gah!"
Yosuke immediately became excited: "Thank you very much!"
He rode on carefully.
After he sat firmly, Guluton flew into the air, flying above the light mist.
Yosuke looked around, identified the direction, then pointed to the west and said: "That place is on the west side of the Cauldron Lake, close to the Padia Sea. We have to cross the Cauldron Lake first."
"Okay." Naoki said concisely.
It was night, and some Pokémon that were difficult to see during the day began to appear in the area.
Naoki glanced down and saw a few dark crows staying on the branches, sneaky dream monsters who didn't know what they were doing.
At this time, Yosuke suddenly exclaimed: "Oh my God! The King of Leave has stood up!"
Naoki followed his gaze and saw a Leave King walking around on the grass below.
As if sensing the unfamiliar aura, the "Leave King" raised his head keenly and looked over here.
"It found us!" Yosuke was a little shocked.
As we all know, Pokémon like Vacation King are very lazy. They lie motionless on the ground all day long. They usually live lying down and only eat grass that grows within reach.
Only when the surrounding grass is eaten up will it reluctantly move to other places. Even if the trainer makes trouble in front of it, it will not react.
But now, instead of lying down, the Leave King was walking around very actively. His expression was also very keen, and he was constantly observing the situation around him.
That look didn't look like a leave king at all.
A sentence that he had heard when playing games before came to Naoki's mind - when you encounter a Leave King wandering around, it must not be a Leave King, but a Variety Monster or Zoroark. of.
So...is it Dicaptor or Zoroark?
Judging from its keen and vigilant movements, Naoki felt that there was an 80% probability that it was a Zoroark.
Zoroark, the furry fox Pokémon, the phantom overlord.
Naoki's heart moved.
Therefore, Luton did not stop, and the three of them quickly moved away from the area, and the Leave King also disappeared from their sight.
Naoki glanced at the scene behind him with a little regret.
At the first moment, he even wanted to give up looking for the mysterious Pokémon and go down to verify whether it was the King of Leave or Zoroark.
Forget it, you can’t pick up the sesame seeds and lose the watermelon.
There will be bread, and there will be milk.
Cauldron Lake is right here, and he can come and explore it anytime in the future.
Naoki gathered his thoughts. At this time, Guluton also crossed the wide Cauldron Lake and came to the other side.
Yosuke behind him looked at the cliff not far away and said excitedly: "That's it!"
Zhi Shu looked down the road and saw a familiar Pokémon on the top of a steep cliff.
That Pokémon has a round body, a delicate dragon horn and whiskers on its head, and a pair of small dragon wings on its back.
It was sitting on the grass on the top of the cliff in a daze, looking at the moon in the sky with a melancholy expression, and sighing sadly from time to time.
It turned out to be Kuailong!
Naoki suddenly felt excited.
Dragonite, a quasi-god Pokémon from the Kanto region, is powerful and extremely rare. It is the signature Pokémon of the famous Dragon King Yuryuto.
He certainly didn't disappoint!
"That Pokémon is?!"
After seeing Kuailong's appearance clearly, Yosuke behind him couldn't help but look shocked.
Naoki slowly spit out its name: "Kuailong."
Therefore, Luton hovered in mid-air and did not land immediately.
The dragon didn't know if it didn't notice them or if it did notice them and didn't care.
After observing from above for a while, Zhi Shu let Gu Ledun land behind Kuailong.
Yosuke immediately took out a pen and picture book and drew the scene in front of him of "A dragon looking at the moon".
Hearing the sound coming from behind, Kuailong turned around in confusion. When he saw the sudden appearance of several people and Pokémon, he was startled, and a surprised expression immediately appeared on his face.
"Ouch?!" Wha...when did you come here? !
So cute! Naoki's eyes turned to the dragon.
In reality, Kuailong is very round and chubby. His big belly looks soft at first glance, but I don’t know what it feels like to touch.
That plump and plump dragon claw also looks so cute.
As expected of being fat!
Zhi Shu really wanted to take this dragon back to his family ranch to raise it.
Therefore, he released his kindness towards the other party as much as possible.
"Good evening, Kuailong!"
Kuailong blinked its big, round eyes, showing no hostility or attacking. It just looked at it a few times, sighed quietly, then stood up, flew into the sky, and left here. Flying to the depths of the sea.
Naoki and Yangjie who stayed behind looked at each other.
After a long while, Naoki said: "Did we... disturb it?"
Yosuke looked at Kuailong's back and murmured: "It always feels like it is very sad."
Does Kuailong, who is at the top of the Pokémon ecosystem, have troubles that he can't solve?
Yosuke seemed to suddenly remember something: "You should have sent out Gullton to fight it immediately, defeat it and put it into the elf ball, right?"
"...That would be too difficult for a strong dragon, right?" Naoki said tactfully: "Besides, I am not a trainer, and I don't plan to be a trainer. Even if I conquer it, I won't use it to fight. I just want to fight with it. It lives together, you should know that feeling, right?"
Yosuke looked like he understood: "A collecting habit? I've seen some people before who only catch specific Pokémon for collection."
These words immediately reminded Naoki of the perverted collector in Lugia Explosion.
He couldn't help but ask: "It shouldn't be made into specimens and collected as I imagined, right?"
"How is that possible?" Yosuke's eyes widened: "Those guys just have weird hobbies, and they are not perverts. I have seen people who only tamed furry, cute and small Pokémon. It is said that that guy would interact with those Pokémon every day. Sleep with the dreams and enjoy the feeling of being surrounded by them.”
"There are also trainers who only like muscular Pokémon, such as strong Pokémon such as Monster, Blazing Roaring Tiger, Boomerang, Hairy Troll, and Block Bear. I think they must have been very insecure when they were young. .”
Naoki: "..."
An awkward yet polite smile appeared on his face.
What a coincidence, he is one of them.
Yosuke asked again: "But then again, aren't you going to chase me?"
Naoki thought for a while, shook his head and said: "Forget it, forcibly contacting it may cause it to resent it. If I guess correctly, it will come here again later, and then we can get to know each other slowly." "
Moreover, he couldn't stay out all night, otherwise the Motorized Lizards would be worried.
Yosuke also agreed with this sentence: "That's right."
The two returned to the campsite on the east side of Cauldron Lake. After filling their bellies, the Salt Stone Treasures huddled around the warm campfire and fell asleep.
Yosuke lowered his voice and whispered: "Are you going back?"
Naoki also lowered his voice: "Well, come back tomorrow."
In addition to feeding Salt Shibao, he has one more important thing to do.
That is to catch fish in the Cauldron Lake and bring it back to the ranch to sell.
If the following group of salt stone treasures left with him, there would be five more mouths to eat in the pasture.
Not only that, he also had to find Keri to build a salt house specifically for Salt Shibao to live in, so that he could easily collect rock salt.
The little money he had alone wasn't enough.
Now looking at the traces left by these salt stone treasures walking around on the ground, Zhi Shu felt heartbroken.
Money is needed everywhere, and he can't do it without working hard.
"When you have time in the future, you can go and sit in my ranch. I will entertain you well then."
Opposite Naoki, the traveler from the Galar region told him the specific location of the ranch.
A smile appeared on Yosuke's face: "Well, I'll go there after I finish investigating the Pokémon ecology here in Cauldron Lake."
He was curious about what the ranch built by the young man in front of him would look like.
Naoki also smiled and nodded, turned around to say goodbye to him, and rode Guluton back to the ranch.
Before leaving, he left all the salty food in his backpack. He had to go to town tomorrow morning and might not arrive until noon.
By the time Naoki returned to the ranch, it was already late at night.
Although it was very late, the Motorized Lizard had not gone to bed yet. It lay under the eaves and looked outside.
Seeing Zhi Shu and Gu Ledun coming back, the Motorized Lizard's eyes suddenly lit up, and it straightened up happily.
Zhi Shu came up and touched its head. Knowing that the Motorized Lizard was working hard to guard the pasture, he said with a smile: "Okay, I'm back, go to sleep!"
"Gah~"
Motorized Lizard went to rest, while Naoki went to the chicken hut to check the chicken feed and water in the breeding trough, as well as the status of several chickens.
Seeing that the sink was almost empty, he added more water to it and went to bed after finishing his work.
Early the next morning, after finishing his work at the ranch, Zhi Shu went to the town. Following the signs on the roadside, he found the fishing gear store in the town and purchased several extra-large fishing nets from there.
It's a pity that the armored chrysalis has not evolved into a bad butterfly, otherwise he could make his own fishing net.
In the next few days, Naoki became busy.
He and Gulton kept traveling to the Cauldron Lake, the Hypadian Sea and the pasture to catch fish, sometimes even until close to the early morning.
Not only him, but even the legendary Pokémon Gullton was exhausted.
Although it was very hard, Gu Lerton did not complain at all. Instead, he felt happy and fulfilled.
Seeing him running back and forth between the ranch and Cauldron Lake, Yosuke also felt the hard work of running the ranch.
When Naoki went to visit the Salt Stone Treasures and brought them food, Yosuke couldn't help but said: "Are you working too hard? Sometimes you need to relax properly!"
Naoki was sweating profusely, and while handing Gulton a bottle of juice to restore physical strength and energy, he said:
"There are still a lot of things waiting for me to do in the ranch, and there are still many mouths to rely on for food. I can't help but make more money!"
"All right."
Seeing that he could not be persuaded, Yosuke waited for Naoki and Gulton to leave, then turned around and began to talk about the five salt gems in front of him.
"The Salt Stone Giant was subdued by human trainers and will never come back."
"Did you see? The food these days is given to you by that person. He hopes that you can return to the ranch to live with him."
"Salt salt..."
In the minds of the Salt Stone Treasures, Naoki worked at Cauldron Lake and took time to visit them and give them delicious food.
Even the leader may not be able to be so kind to them.
What's more, the current leader was taken away by humans and will never come back again.
The faces of the Salt Stone Treasures showed moved expressions.
The five little ones looked at each other, then made up their minds, and decided to follow the human who protected them and brought them food to leave here and live in his pasture.
The salt stone treasures are not yet mature in their understanding, but at this moment they can vaguely feel that no one in this world will be so kind to them except Naoki.
