When the finished wooden house finally stood before him, Shiryu needed a moment to take it all in.
He slowly walked inside and looked around.
The first floor had a separate kitchen and bathroom, along with a storage room for supplies.
A staircase led to the second floor, where there was a private bedroom and washroom, while the hallway opened onto a spacious balcony.
There was enough room outside to hang laundry or simply sit in the sun.
Put a lounge chair out there and Shiryu could easily imagine spending an entire afternoon napping in the warmth.
Even at night, lying back and watching the stars would be incredibly relaxing.
“Not bad.
I really like this place.”
Then Shiryu looked around the completely empty rooms.
“But seriously, no furniture?”
He couldn’t help complaining.
The system had gone through the trouble of producing an entire two-story house, yet apparently he was expected to furnish it himself.
A new set of quests appeared.
[Main Quest: Build the world’s greatest Pokémon ranch.]
[Ranch Quest 1: Cultivate another 1,000 square meters of farmland and expand the variety of crops grown on the ranch.]
[Quest Description: Expanding usable land is essential for any capable rancher.
A successful ranch must also cultivate a variety of crops to support the Pokémon that will live here in the future.]
[Quest Reward: Ranch crops mature at twice the normal rate, a complete set of household furniture for the wooden house, 2,000 Ranch Coins, and a small quantity of Exp.
Candy.]
[Ranch Quest 2: Catch ten Wooloo.
(7/10)]
…
[Ranch Quest 3: Build a Wooloo Shelter.]
[Quest Description: Set aside an area of the ranch and construct a shelter so the Wooloo have a comfortable place to live.
Remember to surround the area with fencing so they don’t roll around the ranch and destroy the crops.]
[Quest Reward: 1 Pokémon Egg Rapid Incubator, 1,000 Ranch Coins, and 10 Luxury Balls.]
…
“So that’s how it works.
The rewards come in stages, and I have to finish the next quest before the system gives me furniture.”
Shiryu didn’t mind too much.
As long as there was a way to earn it, he could save a substantial amount of money.
“And now there’s a quest to build a Wooloo shelter.
Guess I’ll need some lumber.”
Standing on the second-floor balcony, Shiryu looked toward the forest to the south.
It was enormous.
According to the memories he’d inherited, Shiryu had accidentally wandered into that forest as a child and gotten lost.
He hadn’t returned even after nightfall.
Strangely, he had no memory of how he’d eventually made it home.
That part of his past simply wasn’t there.
The forest was said to be a smaller counterpart—or perhaps an offshoot—of the famous Slumbering Weald.
Locals called this one the Drowsing Weald.
People in Postwick generally avoided entering it.
According to local stories, dense white mist gathered in the depths of the forest.
Anyone who wandered into that mist would lose their sense of direction and become unable to find the way home.
“I’m only planning to cut down a few trees around the outskirts.
Surely the forest won’t punish me for that.”
Shiryu scratched his head and laughed.
After leaving the balcony and heading downstairs, he went straight back to clearing weeds.
Before he could build a Wooloo shelter, he first needed enough open ground to put it on.
At present, aside from the two hundred square meters set aside for Wishing Wheat, the ranch had only about another hundred square meters of cleared but undeveloped land and the small Oran Berry orchard.
Even the orchard was still overgrown.
Shiryu had merely cut the grass short enough to plant the ten saplings rather than properly clearing the entire plot down to the roots.
After another two hours of work, they finally managed to open up another hundred square meters.
“Zigzagoon, I’ll leave the sowing to you again.”
“Zigzagoon~!”
With another load of high-quality Wishing Wheat seeds strapped across her back, Zigzagoon happily began sprinting around the freshly cultivated field.
Shiryu had to admire the stamina of Galarian Zigzagoon.
Unless she was sleeping on the haystack, she seemed to spend virtually every waking moment running somewhere.
…
The sun gradually sank toward the horizon, casting warm red light across the ranch.
Drilbur and Zigzagoon had worked all day and were now sprawled together on the haystack, finally taking a well-earned rest.
From the rocky mountains to the southwest, Shiryu spotted Beldum slowly floating back toward the ranch, his silver body reflecting the evening light.
Then Shiryu noticed something else beneath him.
A small silver Pokémon seemed to be following Beldum.
The little creature wasn’t particularly fast, but its pace was remarkably steady.
Only when the pair drew closer did Shiryu finally get a good look.
“Is that an Aron?”
A status panel appeared.
[Pokémon: Aron (♂)]
[Level: Lv.
11]
[Type: Steel / Rock]
[Ability: Rock Head — Protects the Pokémon from recoil damage.]
[Individual Values: HP (28), Attack (31), Defense (31), Sp.
Atk (26), Sp.
Def (28), Speed (25)]
[Moves: Tackle, Harden, Metal Claw, Rock Tomb…]
[Egg Move: Head Smash]
[Held Item: None]
[Potential: Elite Four Tier]
…
“Wait…
an Elite Four-tier Aron just wandering around out there?
And he already knows Head Smash as an Egg Move?”
Shiryu stared at the little Pokémon in surprise.
Hold on.
If he remembered correctly, for the Aron line to inherit Head Smash, one of its parents would have needed to come from a compatible species such as Rampardos, Tyrantrum, Drednaw, or another Pokémon capable of passing down the move.
Which meant…
Shiryu looked toward the rocky mountain.
Was there a chance that fossil Pokémon like Rampardos or Tyrantrum were actually living somewhere up there?
Of course, Drednaw was probably the more likely explanation.
Still, Shiryu had a hard time imagining Drednaw making their home in the mountains.
Pokémon from that line generally preferred habitats near water.
“Beldum, how did you end up bringing back a…
friend?”
Shiryu looked at him curiously.
“Beldum~”
Beldum floated closer and rubbed his head against Shiryu, apparently trying to explain what had happened.
Shiryu rested a hand against Beldum’s head.
With the help of Viridian Power, he quickly understood the story.
While searching the mountain for tasty ore, Beldum had encountered the little Aron.
Perhaps because both of them were Steel-types, they had immediately gotten along.
After playing together for a while, Beldum explained that he was looking for good ore to eat.
Aron had lived in those mountains his entire life and regularly dug up ore for food, so naturally he knew exactly where the best deposits were.
He happily led Beldum to one of his favorite spots.
The two spent some time mining together, found plenty of good ore, and ate until they were full.
Afterward, Aron gave Beldum the Hard Stone he’d previously dug up, treating it as a symbol of their new friendship.
Beldum had been delighted by the gift and started telling Aron about Shiryu, his other companions, and the newly rebuilt ranch.
The more Beldum talked, the more excited he became.
And the more Aron listened, the more interested he became.
Eventually, Aron decided he wanted to visit the ranch too.
After spending the rest of the afternoon playing together in the rocky mountains, the two new friends had returned side by side.