No wonder the system notification at noon had said Beldum obtained a Hard Stone while searching for ore in the rocky mountains rather than saying he’d dug one up.
So Aron had given it to him.
Shiryu smiled and scratched his head before crouching down in front of the little Pokémon.
“Aron, welcome to my ranch.
Feel free to look around wherever you want.”
Shiryu was exceptionally friendly toward him.
Aron was Beldum’s friend, and that made him Shiryu’s friend too.
Normally, when a wild Pokémon wandered onto the property, the system would trigger some variation of the Defend the Ranch quest.
Aron, however, had come as Beldum’s guest, so no such mission appeared.
Still, Shiryu would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted to catch him.
This was an Aron with Elite Four-tier potential, excellent stats, and Head Smash as an Egg Move.
Pokémon like this certainly didn’t come along every day.
“Aron~”
Aron narrowed his eyes happily and began wandering around the ranch on four stubby legs.
Having spent his entire life in the rocky mountains, he’d never visited a ranch before, much less seen a strange building like Shiryu’s new wooden house.
He climbed the wooden steps and wandered inside, with Beldum floating after him.
Beldum was just as curious.
When he’d left that morning, there had only been a shabby thatched cottage here.
By the time he returned that evening, it had somehow transformed into a beautiful two-story wooden house.
Could Shiryu perform magic?
Beldum’s admiration for his Trainer rose another notch.
And another.
And another.
After finishing his tour of the house, Aron wandered over to the haystacks near Zigzagoon and promptly flopped down on one of them.
The soft grass felt wonderful beneath him.
Aron had spent his entire life resting on hard stone.
Compared with that, the haystack might as well have been the most luxurious bed in the world.
He immediately decided he liked it here.
Seeing Aron settle in as though he had no intention of leaving anytime soon, Shiryu walked over and crouched beside him.
“Aron, do you like the ranch?”
“Aron~”
Aron’s eyes curved into a cheerful smile.
Shiryu took the opportunity to place a hand on his hard metal head.
A gentle current of Viridian Power flowed into Aron.
The mysterious energy could heal Pokémon, soothe injuries and exhaustion, and calm their emotions.
It also naturally helped Shiryu establish trust with Pokémon more quickly.
When Aron opened his eyes again, there was already a little more affection in the way he looked at Shiryu.
“Then how about staying here?”
Shiryu extended the invitation without hesitation.
Aron thought for all of two seconds before happily nodding.
Shiryu immediately pulled out a Luxury Ball and tapped it against Aron’s metal head before the little guy could reconsider.
Red light flashed.
Aron disappeared into the Luxury Ball, which barely moved before—
Click.
Capture successful.
“Come back out, Aron!”
The moment Aron reappeared, Shiryu called toward the other Pokémon.
“Everyone, come over!
We’ve got a new member of the ranch!”
Beldum was already floating beside him.
Drilbur and Zigzagoon sprang up from the haystack and hurried over as well.
“Aron, this is Drilbur, and that’s Zigzagoon.”
Then Shiryu turned toward the other two.
“Drilbur, Zigzagoon, this is Aron.
He’s our newest partner.”
He smiled at Aron.
“Welcome to the ranch—officially this time.”
“Aron~!”
If Zigzagoon was socially anxious, Aron seemed to suffer from the exact opposite condition.
He had been on the ranch for only a few minutes and already behaved as though he’d lived there his entire life.
Before long, he was happily getting acquainted with both Drilbur and Zigzagoon.
Beldum hardly needed an introduction.
The two had known each other for less than a day and were already practically sworn brothers.
In fact, Shiryu had Beldum to thank for how easily he’d managed to catch Aron.
Apparently, Beldum had learned from Shiryu himself and spent the afternoon selling Aron on the dream of life at the ranch.
By the time Aron arrived, he’d already been thoroughly convinced that this place was going to be amazing.
Not tricked, of course.
Inspired.
“Aron, if you have any good friends up in the mountains, feel free to bring them over sometime.
The ranch is huge.
There’s plenty of room for more Pokémon.”
Shiryu wasn’t about to waste such a perfect opportunity.
Compared with battling every wild Pokémon he wanted to catch, he much preferred convincing them to join voluntarily.
And if his Pokémon were willing to do the recruiting for him?
Even better.
“Aron!”
Aron puffed out his chest and slapped it proudly with one foreleg, looking as though he were boasting that everyone on the mountain was practically his brother.
The message was clear enough: just wait until tomorrow.
He’d go back and recruit the rest.
Shiryu grinned.
“Good, good.
In that case, I’m putting you in charge of developing the rocky mountain area from now on.”
Then an idea occurred to him.
“Actually, I already have plans for those mountains, so I’m officially appointing you head of the Rocky Mountain Development Division.”
He paused.
“That’s too long.
We’ll just call you the Mountain Chief.”
Aron’s eyes immediately lit up.
“You’ve got two responsibilities.
First, convince the Pokémon living in the mountains to join our ranch family.
Second, help locate and excavate ore deposits.
The higher the quality, the better.”
“Aron!”
Aron thumped his chest again, clearly promising that he wouldn’t let Shiryu down.
He also looked extremely pleased with his new title.
“Beldum!”
“Drilbur!”
“Zigzagoon!”
The other three Pokémon immediately protested.
Aron had a title now.
They wanted titles too.
“All right, all right.
Everyone gets one.”
Shiryu thought for a moment before pointing toward Beldum.
“Beldum, we’ll inevitably have intruders on the ranch in the future.
Your responsibility is to protect everyone here, which means you need to keep getting stronger.
From now on, you’re the Chief of Ranch Security.”
“Beldum?”
Beldum considered the title.
“Beldum~!”
He liked it.
“Drilbur, you’ve done more than anyone else when it comes to opening up new farmland.
You’re now Captain of the Digging Team!”
“Drilbur!”
Drilbur had absolutely no idea whether that was a prestigious title, but somehow he suddenly felt even more motivated to cultivate land.
“And Zigzagoon, you’re the one who sows all our Wishing Wheat, so you can be the Sowing Specialist!”
“Zigzagoon!!”
Despite being a girl, Zigzagoon clearly thought the title sounded incredibly cool.
Just like that, the four Pokémon seemed to gain an even stronger sense that they were all part of the same team.
Then Shiryu suddenly remembered something.
Where was the Wooloo flock?
As for Blue-Ribbon Wooloo…
Shiryu supposed he could give him the title of Lord of the Flock.
His primary responsibility would be breeding.
After all, if Shiryu wanted the ranch’s Wooloo population to keep growing in the future, Blue-Ribbon Wooloo had a very important job ahead of him.