Dawn had barely broken, and the morning mist carried a faint chill through the air.
Once Shiryu realized he was still lying on the second-floor balcony of his wooden house, he finally relaxed.
“So it really was just a dream?”
Still, it had felt far too real.
As he recalled what he’d seen, the image of that strange figure with the enormous dark-green bud above its head resurfaced in his mind.
“Calyrex!”
Shiryu turned toward the south, though the forest blocked his view.
He knew what lay beyond it.
Past the forest and across the snowy mountains was Galar’s frozen southern region—the Crown Tundra.
According to legend, two powerful Pokémon had once ruled the Crown Tundra in ancient times: Glastrier and Spectrier.
Both had been proud rulers of the region and fiercely rejected humans who entered their territory, attacking intruders and their Pokémon without hesitation.
That changed when Calyrex appeared.
One after another, Glastrier and Spectrier were defeated and eventually became Calyrex’s loyal steeds.
By using the Reins of Unity, Calyrex could merge its power with either of them, becoming Ice Rider Calyrex when mounted on Glastrier or Shadow Rider Calyrex when riding Spectrier.
When mounted on either steed, the enormous bud above Calyrex’s head would glow while the appendages behind it lengthened like a flowing cape.
Its psychic power would also awaken to an entirely different level.
But Calyrex was known for more than its legendary steeds.
It had another title.
The King of Bountiful Harvests.
Legends described Calyrex as a compassionate Pokémon with the power to soothe hearts and cause plants to sprout.
It was said that a wave of its right hand could make flowers bloom and grass flourish, while a wave of its left could enrich the soil and bring about abundant harvests.
For someone running a ranch, a Pokémon like that was practically the ultimate dream partner.
Calyrex also possessed the unusual ability to draw power from human faith.
If people stopped believing in it, however, that power would gradually fade.
“Why would I dream about Calyrex?
And Shadow Rider Calyrex, specifically…
Wait.”
Shiryu’s brows furrowed as another detail suddenly clicked into place.
“The white horse I was riding in that dream…
was that Glastrier?”
Something about the whole situation felt increasingly strange.
He had played Pokémon Sword and Shield and explored the Crown Tundra in the game, but in this world, he’d never actually been there.
He knew virtually nothing about what the real Crown Tundra was like.
“Could Calyrex have been calling me through that dream?”
Shiryu murmured to himself.
It didn’t sound impossible.
In the games, Calyrex had gradually lost much of its strength after humans stopped believing in it, eventually becoming so weakened that even its beloved steed left its side.
Only after the player repaired its statue in Freezington did Calyrex finally appear and offer its thanks.
In this world, Shiryu had never heard anyone speak about Calyrex.
At the very least, he doubted most people in Postwick knew anything about the legendary Pokémon.
And since Shiryu had never visited the Crown Tundra himself, he had no idea what was happening there now.
“That dream was strange enough that I shouldn’t ignore it.
When I get the chance, I’ll visit the Crown Tundra, stop by Freezington, and take a look at the Crown Shrine.”
Shiryu quietly made up his mind.
He climbed out of the hammock and stretched.
For some reason, despite having slept through the night, he still felt strangely tired.
Then he stepped toward the balcony railing and looked out over the ranch.
What he saw immediately brightened his mood.
Beldum, Drilbur, Zigzagoon, Aron, Scyther, and the Wooloo flock were all primarily active during the day and had spent the night sleeping.
Fomantis, however, was nocturnal.
After eating her fill the previous evening, she’d apparently started working.
Clearing weeds.
What Shiryu hadn’t expected was just how much she’d managed to accomplish.
In a single night, Fomantis had cleared the weeds from an enormous stretch of land around the ranch.
“She’s way more efficient at this than Scyther!”
Shiryu couldn’t help staring in admiration.
If he’d caught Fomantis earlier, neither he nor Gloria would’ve needed to spend hours sweating in the fields with sickles.
“Foma~”
As Shiryu admired the newly cleared land, an exhausted Fomantis returned to the second-floor balcony.
“Good work, Fomantis.”
“Foma~”
She gave him a tired response, crawled onto her high-grade bed, and immediately collapsed.
Within moments, she was asleep.
“Get some rest.
Nighty-night, Fomantis.”
Shiryu headed downstairs and stepped outside.
“Beldum~”
Beldum was already awake and immediately floated over when he saw Shiryu.
Drilbur had also started working.
Shiryu walked out into the ranch and surveyed the fields.
The crops planted yesterday consisted of one hundred square meters of Heal Herbs, one hundred square meters of Wishing Wheat, one hundred square meters of Rolling Beans, and one hundred square meters of Sticky Mushrooms.
That meant the ranch currently had four different types of crops growing.
Once they matured and were harvested, Shiryu would complete [Grow and harvest more varieties of crops.
(1/3)].
As for the remaining empty farmland, he wasn’t in any hurry to plant anything there yet.
Today’s main objective was different.
He wanted to build a proper shelter for the Wooloo and complete [Build a Wooloo Shelter].
If possible, he also wanted to increase the flock to ten and finish the quest requiring ten Wooloo.
“Now that the weeds are gone, cultivating new land is going to become the bottleneck.
Drilbur’s doing most of it alone, and Aron’s still getting used to Dig.
It’ll be pretty slow with just the two of them.”
Shiryu rested a hand against his chin before making a decision.
“Aron, could you head back into the mountains and see if you know any Pokémon that are good at digging?
A friend of yours would be even better.
Tell them they can come live at my ranch and…”
He almost said work for me, then stopped.
That sounded a little too much like exploiting prospective employees.
So he changed tactics.
“…they’ll never have to worry about food, and they’ll have plenty of opportunities to become stronger.”
“Aron~!”
Aron nodded to show that he understood, then set off toward the mountains southwest of the ranch.
Next came the Wooloo.
“Wooloo!”
Shiryu walked over to where the flock was sleeping and woke them all up.
They had already spent an entire day and night resting.
It was time to contribute again.
He couldn’t exactly let them eat, sleep, and live here for free forever.
“Come on, up you get.
Head into town and round up more Wooloo friends for me.”
After sending the flock on its way, Shiryu went down to the stream to wash up.
As he did, his eyes drifted toward the ten Oran Berry trees planted beside the water.
Then he froze.
“Oh?
They actually produced fruit overnight?”
His face lit up.
When Shiryu had used the Ranch Crop Growth Accelerator the previous day, it had caused the Oran saplings to grow rapidly into mature trees.
Apparently, the effect also extended to flowering and fruit production.
It had taken longer than the Wishing Wheat—an entire night, in fact—but by morning, clusters of blue Oran Berries were already hanging from the branches.
“Beldum, get ready.
We’re harvesting Berries.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Shiryu noticed something moving among the branches.
There was a small figure hiding in one of the trees.