By the time the sun hung directly overhead, the entire morning had slipped away.
Shiryu wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.
“Tiring, but worth it.”
He looked over the ten newly planted Oran Berry saplings, then toward the hundred square meters of Wishing Wheat that had already been sown.
Everything was in place; all he needed now was the final push.
He still had three Ranch Crop Growth Accelerators.
Using just one on the wheat field would instantly turn all those freshly planted seeds into mature stalks ready for harvest, while another could transform the ten Oran saplings into full-grown trees bearing ripe Berries.
For now, however, Gloria was still around.
Shiryu decided against using the accelerators in front of her.
Watching ten saplings turn into mature fruit trees in an instant would probably leave her wondering whether she’d finally lost her mind.
On Gloria’s side, a full morning of cutting weeds had cleared roughly three hundred square meters of land for Drilbur to cultivate.
“Looks like we’ll have to keep at it this afternoon.”
According to Shiryu’s plan, the first priority was to finish [Cultivate another one hundred square meters of farmland].
After that, he could have Zigzagoon sow another hundred square meters of Wishing Wheat and then use a Growth Accelerator on everything at once.
That way, he could get the most out of every system reward instead of wasting any of them.
“I wonder how Beldum’s doing up in the mountains.
And whether the Wooloo managed to find any more friends…”
Almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a new notification appeared.
[While excavating ore in the mountains, Beldum discovered a Hard Stone!]
“Oh?
Nice.
I didn’t expect the mountains around here to have something like that.”
Hard Stone was particularly useful to Rock-type Pokémon.
When held, it could strengthen Rock-type moves by twenty percent, and some Pokémon could even consume it to improve their own strength and their affinity for Rock-type attacks.
“Too bad I don’t have a Rock-type yet.”
Shiryu wasn’t especially concerned.
He would catch one eventually.
“Shiryu!
It’s already noon.
I promised Mom I’d be home for lunch.
Want to come with me?”
Gloria jogged over.
Shiryu considered it.
He had no idea what he was going to eat for lunch anyway, so accepting a free meal at Gloria’s house sounded perfect.
“Sure.
Let’s go.”
Before leaving, Shiryu gave Drilbur and Zigzagoon their instructions.
Drilbur was to continue cultivating the cleared ground, while Zigzagoon could keep sowing Wishing Wheat.
Once everything was arranged, Shiryu left the ranch with Gloria and headed back toward Postwick.
His family’s ranch wasn’t literally on top of a mountain, but the terrain around Postwick rose and fell considerably.
Most residents lived in the lower parts of town, while the southeastern area near the mountains sat noticeably higher.
As they returned to the familiar streets, Shiryu noticed Wooloo merchandise everywhere.
Some roadside stalls displayed Wooloo plushies, while others sold blankets and quilts made from Wooloo fleece.
If Postwick had an excess of anything, it was Wooloo.
They were practically the town’s unofficial mascot.
No matter where Shiryu looked, there always seemed to be another Wooloo rolling around or quietly grazing somewhere nearby.
Eventually, they reached Gloria’s house on the western side of town.
Standing outside was Gloria’s mother, dressed in blue overalls and wearing red-framed wooden glasses.
“Hello, ma’am.”
Shiryu greeted her politely.
The brown-haired woman had been watering flowers.
When she heard the familiar voice, she turned toward the entrance.
“Oh!
Shiryu?
It really has been a long time.”
Her face immediately brightened.
Three years earlier, their families had been neighbors, and Gloria’s mother had been very close with Shiryu’s own mother.
She had practically watched him grow up.
Now that he had returned as a young man, her excitement was almost like seeing a son come home after years away.
“It really has.
Have you been doing well?”
“Very well.
Gloria told me yesterday that you’d come back, and I was already planning to invite you over for a meal.
Oh, right—I heard you’re rebuilding your family’s ranch.
Have you run into any trouble?”
Her concern was genuine.
Shiryu shook his head.
“Not so far.
Everything’s going smoothly.
If things follow the plan I’ve made, the ranch should be properly up and running within a week.”
“That’s wonderful.”
She clasped her hands together happily.
“Come inside, Shiryu.
Wash your hands and eat.
I made plenty.”
“Thank you.
I hope I’m not imposing.”
Shiryu remained perfectly polite.
Gloria, standing beside him, looked mildly offended.
“Mom, did you forget you have a daughter too?”
“Gloria, look at yourself!
You’re a young lady and you’ve somehow managed to come home covered in dirt.
Honestly, I don’t even know what to say.
Go upstairs, change your clothes, clean yourself up, and then come eat.”
Apparently, Gloria received a very different level of hospitality.
She opened her mouth to argue, only to discover that her mother had already disappeared into the kitchen.
With the defeated expression of someone accustomed to this injustice, Gloria trudged upstairs to wash and change.
…
“Shiryu, your mother told me you were one of the best students in your class back in Unova.
Why did you decide to come back to Postwick and rebuild the ranch?”
Gloria’s mother genuinely couldn’t understand it.
Neither could Shiryu’s parents.
With the results Shiryu had achieved at Pokémon School, he could easily have received one of Unova’s starter Pokémon through Professor Juniper and begun traveling the region as a Trainer.
He was even talented enough to qualify for a Pokédex.
From the perspective of his parents and Gloria’s mother, walking away from such an opportunity seemed like an enormous waste.
Shiryu smiled.
“Let’s leave the past in the past.
As for why I came back to rebuild the ranch…”
He paused briefly.
“Postwick used to be known for its Wooloo ranches.
In recent years, though, most of those ranches have shut down.
I don’t think that’s good for the town.”
He continued, sounding increasingly serious.
“Even when Galar talks about regional development, Postwick is practically forgotten.
People from other parts of the region barely even know this place exists.”
Shiryu straightened slightly.
“So I’ve decided it’s my duty to restore Postwick’s ranching glory!”
The declaration was so earnest that Gloria’s mother stared at him in surprise.
She hadn’t expected Shiryu to have such grand ambitions.
Until now, part of her had assumed he was simply going through a phase.
“Shiryu, I know you can do it!”
Gloria’s voice broke the brief silence.
Only then did Shiryu and her mother realize that she had already finished changing.
Now dressed in a loose T-shirt and denim shorts, Gloria came downstairs and took the seat beside Shiryu.
“Shiryu, can I keep helping at your ranch?”
She looked at him as she asked, then glanced toward her mother as though seeking both of their opinions.
“You want to work at the ranch too?”