Not Being a Trainer This Time

[Rancher: Please wait a moment.]

Professor Oak stood there waiting.

After about two minutes, a plump Pokémon with a big belly landed in front of him.

It was Dragonite!

Professor Oak was slightly surprised.

That Dragonite stared at him for a moment, then turned around and called to him.

”Awuu!”

Professor Oak was slightly taken aback, then pointed to himself and asked, ”Do you want me to get on?”

”Awuu!” Dragonite nodded.

”Did your trainer send you to pick me up?” Professor Oak asked again.

Dragonite still nodded.

Seeing this, Professor Oak understood.

He said nothing more and promptly mounted Dragonite’s back.

Dragonite flapped its wings and flew into the sky, heading towards the outskirts of the town.

Very soon, a ranch appeared in the fields ahead.

Dragonite landed in the ranch, and as soon as Professor Oak dismounted, he saw a familiar figure.

Naoki, who had been waiting there, smiled and greeted him, ”Long time no see, Professor Oak!”

Professor Oak was wide-eyed in disbelief.

”It’s you!”

Last year at the Unova banquet, this trainer had attended with Unova Champion Alder; not only that, he had defeated the renowned Dragon Envoy Lance from the Kanto region...

Because of this, Professor Oak had a very deep impression of this trainer.

Naoki smiled and nodded, ”It’s me. Hello, Professor Oak, let me formally introduce myself! I am Naoki, the rancher of this farm, welcome to the Paldea Region.”

*

At first, Professor Oak did not think there was anything special about being a rancher.

Upon Naoki’s invitation, he was ready to go to the living room to drink some tea and rest.

Along the way, Professor Oak saw a variety of Pokémon.

Various crops grew in neat rows.

And beside the fields, a perfectly bred Dragonite was using Rain Dance.

Under Dragonite’s control, a rain cloud formed above the farmland, and a drizzle began to water the fields below.

”That’s my Dragonite; it’s currently working as the watering Pokémon on the farm,” Naoki noticed Professor Oak’s gaze and introduced it to him.

Professor Oak nodded, and then he saw a large flock of black Pokémon flying overhead.

Looking up, Professor Oak saw that all those Pokémon were Dragonite, each carrying satchels!

”Those Dragonite are...?!” Professor Oak exclaimed, amazed at so many Dragonite!

He had once visited the Land of Dragons, but even there, in the Dragon’s Holy Sanctuary, there weren’t as many Dragonite!

Naoki glanced up and said, ”Oh, those! They are couriers from the ranch. I opened an online store a few days ago, and when customers order goods from the store, the Dragonite set out to deliver the goods to the customer.”

”???”

At this moment, Professor Oak finally realized something was off.

Catching so many Dragonite and even seemingly capturing the legendary Pokémon Calyrex, this person claims to be a rancher?

Shouldn’t he be a champion-caliber trainer?

In decades of life, Professor Oak had never seen such a rancher.

Not even Whitney, who opened MooMoo Ranch in Goldenrod City, was like this.

Could it be retirement?

Professor Oak knew that some trainers chose to retire in adulthood and enter other professions.

That must be it!

”You still look young, why retire so early?” Professor Oak asked confusingly.

”Retired?” Naoki didn’t react for a moment.

But soon, he understood what Professor Oak meant.

—Professor Oak thought he was a champion who retired to run a ranch.

Naoki had encountered this many times before, and now he didn’t want to explain too much, so he said:

”Compared to Pokémon battles, I’d rather live a simple life with my Pokémon here.”

”I see!” Professor Oak looked at those Pokémon and said with a smile, ”You must really like them.”

He noticed that these Pokémon looked very spirited and were obviously well cared for by Naoki.

”Indeed!” Naoki smiled.

The two continued walking, and Professor Oak’s attention was drawn to other Pokémon on the ranch.

”Koraidon, Cyclizar, Pawmo, Alcremie, Ogerpon, Flutter Mane, I remember them!” Professor Oak said excitedly, as Naoki had sent them out during that previous banquet battle.

Naoki smiled and nodded, then looked at a few Pokémon over there and introduced them to Professor Oak:

”That’s Gholdengo, next to Alcremie is Garganacl, the black horse is Spectrier, and the white horse is Glastrier. They are all Calyrex’s beloved steeds.”

The other Pokémon were playing in Snorlax Park on the other side of the river. Naoki wasn’t in a hurry to introduce them, as Professor Oak seemed very curious about these Pokémon and would likely study them later.

Naoki planned to introduce them to Professor Oak when the time came.

Looking at these unfamiliar Pokémon, Professor Oak was so excited he almost fainted.

So many Pokémon! Is this place heaven?

The variety of Pokémon living on this ranch surpassed even those in his research lab!

As a Pokémon ecology researcher, Professor Oak wanted to immediately start observing these Pokémon.

But reason told him there was still a more important task to do.

He hadn’t met the legendary Pokémon with the title of The King of Bountiful Harvests that could browse the web using a Rotom Phone.

Seeing Professor Oak’s expression, Naoki smiled, and the duo arrived in front of the house.

Naoki pushed open the door, ”Please come in!”

”Then I’ll intrude!”

Professor Oak walked in, full of excitement, and immediately noticed the Pokémon sitting upright on the sofa.

That is... Calyrex!

Professor Oak was extremely thrilled; he finally saw it!

”I believe I don’t need to introduce it?” Naoki said with a smile.

Calyrex also saw Professor Oak at that moment and elegantly nodded slightly, speaking with Telepathy, ”Greetings, Professor Oak.”

It spoke!

Professor Oak gasped.

But quickly, he realized that Calyrex hadn’t actually spoken; it was Telepathy.

”Please have a seat!” Naoki invited Professor Oak to sit on the sofa.

Nearby, Indeedee brought a cup of tea for the guest.

Professor Oak drank it all at once, then looked excitedly at Calyrex.

This wasn’t the first time Professor Oak had seen a legendary Pokémon.

Decades ago, he had seen the Pokémon Celebi, said to freely traverse time, in a forest.

But even so, Professor Oak still felt very excited.

After all, this was an extremely rare legendary Pokémon!

”When did you meet Calyrex?” Professor Oak asked.

Naoki thought for a moment and replied, ”About the winter before last!”

The year before last was 198, so it had already been two years.

”At that time, Calyrex had lost its power and memory, wandering alone over the vast snowy plains.” Naoki continued.

Hearing about Calyrex’s past, Professor Oak couldn’t help but be very surprised, ”How could that be?”

Naoki asked back without answering, ”Does Professor Oak know about the Galar Region?”

Galar Region... Professor Oak nodded.

”Calyrex used to live in the Galar Region,” Naoki continued, ”It was the king there, revered by the people thousands of years ago. The people then built temples for it and offered sacrifices.”

Hearing this, Professor Oak was slightly taken aback.

The legendary King of Bountiful Harvests was a king from ancient Galar...

This news was truly astonishing!

But soon after, Professor Oak noticed another sentence Naoki had said earlier.

If Calyrex was so revered at that time, why did it lose its power and memory and become lost on the snowy plains?

Could someone have launched a sneak attack to seize the throne from Calyrex?