Friedrich was still a little surprised, watching as the Lycanrock slept with content in the Poke Ball, surrounded by a rocky field
"Seems like you got your answer"
The kid, Nate, was smiling at him, a gentle and thankful smile.
"I was worried that he might have rejected" He admitted. "But I'm happy to say, congratulations on becoming a trainer!"
It took a moment to register the information, but then a smile appeared on his face.
Trainer.
Not a Hunter.
Not a Berserker.
Not an Armstrong.
Just a trainer.
He liked the sound of it.
______________________________________
He was happy.
Lyka decided to come and he had a trainer now!
He found it a bit strange that he, of all pokemon, was happy to have a trainer, but it might be because of boredom.
Not to talk bad about the Ranch, the place is incredible.
But he has seen practically everything this place has to show, cut out some forbithem areas where he wasn't allowed, such as personal roons, and now he was itching to see something new.
He was once again on the mountain's, who he now knew was called Friedrich, shoulder, the Grookie was once again on the man's hand and the Skiddo was at his feet, chewing on his pants.
Not that the man minded.
"Is it ok if I stay out?"
The four of them now had their own Poke Balls, but he wasn't comfortable staying in it for now, so, when he saw the other humans pulling their Poke ball to put the Pokemon away, he decided to ask.
"Of course" The man asked.
He sighed in relief, bit saw the way the humans were looking at him
"The Poke Balls that Nature make are much better than the one back Kalos" He explained "But I don't really like staying in them, I prefer open spaces"
They all nodded, seeming to understand.
But then he heard.
"Guys!"
"Scary lady!"
He turned just to see the Raboot sister flee like her life depended on it, while Tapu Lele floated to the other deities
The brother was there, accompanied by a group of humans, but wary.
He followed the Raboot's gaze, seeing Helena with a sheepish smile.
"What did you do to scare her that much?" He asked.
But it wasn't Helena who answered.
"Killed her pride" Her fiance, now known as Aiden, said.
He tilted his head confused for a moment.
Then he understood.
She must have flustered the sister.
He heard that before from Lyka, Raboot are easily flustered, and doing so could be the same as killing their pride.
"And she was going to do the same with me!"
The brother approached, keeping a safe distance, of course.
The humans approached too, eyeing him with surprise.
"New visitors?" He asked the brother.
"Hardly" He responded "Found then hurt in the forest while babysitting"
He was a bit surprised, but not that much.
Soon or later that would happen.
"Did you get a trainer?"
The brother was looking at Friedrich with curiosity, making him snort and jump from the man's shoulder and approach the brother.
"Yeah" He said "Me, Lyka and the two kids over there"
The Raboot's eyes wide as he retreated a little.
"The old mutt decided to go?!"
He barked a laugh at the brother surprise.
"I'm as surprised as you, but I tell you, I will love not having to keep an eye on the Tapus from now on"
That earned an envious glare from the brother.
"Don't tempt me" He said "We're not quite ready to leave yet"
"Not tempting, just saying"
The brother sighed, but he could see a smile while he extended a fist.
"'till next time?"
He smiled back, doing the same.
"'till next time"
They greeted each other with a fist bump.
The brother was five years younger than him, but the two of them have always been good friends, so it was kind of sad to leave.
But if they wanted to stay, he wouldn't force them to go.
"Excuse me?"
His attention was taken by the new female human, she looked terrible, definitely not eating enough and exhausted, but also stunned and confused.
But she was not looking at them, but at the other humans.
"I'm confused" She said "What kind of place is this?"
There was a beat of silence.
He turned to the Raboot, the poor thing was red as a Tamato berry and sweating like a Soble.
"You forgot to tell them?" He asked.
Another moment of silence, the brother was avoiding his gaze.
"Yes…"
His voice was quiet, barely audible.
And then Tapu Koko cackling echoed through the Ranch.
"Stop laughing!" The brother said.
But the deity just ignored it, cackling louder, leaving the Raboot even more flustered.
To the point of attacking.
He watched as the Raboot took a rock from the pocket formed by his fur, letting fall just to kick it, a coat of fire covering it while it flew in Tapu Koko's direction.
The deity didn't dodge, just blocked the attack.
"I'm not used to having to explain things!" The brother said a bit too loud "Humans used to know everything! How am I supposed to remember it all the time?"
"Great Arceus" Was all he said, an amused smile on his face "What do we do with you?"
"You'll do nothing 'cause there's nothing to do!" The brother shouted "Now go already before I send a Blaze to you too and burn the rest of your feathers!"
"This is your mess! Keep my feathers out of it!"
"Then scram!"
Then hell breaks loose, they start to fight, Tapu Koko cumming with a Tackle, and then the children decide to join in with Helena soon after.
Yeah, the Ranch was chaotic most of the time, full of fights at any corner and unbearably loud when there was a chance.
But hey, it was a good place.
And for many, a home.
So yes, he might be leaving now, but there's no way that he wouldn't come back to visit this crazy place.
"Enough"
"Oh shoo-"
He definitely wouldn't miss the scolding sections.
______________________________________
A man was on the way back to his house after a long day at work.
He was scrolling on his phone, looking for a present for his brother, who would come home for the weekend to celebrate his birthday.
Finding nothing, he sighed, deciding to take a look in social media.
Maybe he could find something.
While scrolling, he did saw something.
[Pokemon Ranch - Opening Day!
Today is the first day of our Pokemon Ranch, come and meet your future partner for life!]
He raised a brow, clicking in the post and taking a look.
It was surprising, to say the best.
Many strange beasts were shown in the post, not like any Demonic Beast or Beast he knew, but definitely not like any normal animal.
These were actually cute, like a Hornet Rabbit, but tamed.
He saw the pictures and the videos with interest, a funny thought forming in his head.
'Sounds like something he would like'
And then he paused.
Yes, his brother loved Beasts, especially the exotic ones, and some of these creatures looked similar enough.
With a smile, he made his decision while taking notes of the information such as location and contact.
He would take his brother to take a look at this place.
______________________________________
She was amused and surprised at the scene in front of her.
Her guide, the talking Pokemon, the bush-goat, the green monkey, the chick, the young eagle, Tapu Koko and Soaring Sky's guild master were on their knees.
And a young boy was standing in front of them with crossed arms, his green hair was puffed like cat fur, the tip of his braid moving like a cat tail.
"What have we talked about fighting?"
His tone was cold and with no emotions.
"Fights are only permitted in the arena…" The talking pokemon said, along with the cries of the other pokemon, who seemed to say the same thing.
Then the boy turned to Soaring Sky's guild master.
"This also applies to you too, miss Helena"
She nodded profusely, avoiding his gaze.
And she couldn't blame her, she herself was scared of the boy.
The air around him was so heavy and dense that one could cut it with a knife.
She had seen the whole scolding section, and was stunned at how loud the boy could be, even with his sweet appearance.
She watched as the tension in the air slowly dissipated, and soon a sigh could be read coming from the boy as his hair turned back to normal, who pinched his own nose.
"Seriously" He said, in a calmer tone "Why today of all days? First was Tapu Koko and Zarude, then Snorlax and his Gigantamax, now even you two?"
The talking Pokemon and her guide stayed quiet, not daring to say a thing.
That earned another sigh.
"Let's not bid farewell with a fight" He said "Ok?-
All of them nodded, which made the boy smile.
"Good!"
The boy put his hands on his waist, a wide smile on his face, his green eyes shining with excitement while looking at her guide and Tapu Koko.
"Since now this is resolved" He said "What about we talk with our new visitors?"
With a relieved nod from both, the boy turned to them while the rest of the pokemon and Soaring Sky's guild master turned to run, dragging the other humans with them.
______________________________________
"It's ok to just leave like that?"
Aiden was a bit surprised by the reaction of the Pokemon.
"Don't worry" The Hawlucha said "That happen too many times for him to be really mad, and it's the best option"
The other pokemon nodded in agreement.
"If you said so" Was the only thing he said while they all left the place.
______________________________________
"You can call me Nate, and welcome to the Pokemon Ranch!"
The boy took them to the restaurant area, where her guide and his (now back from God knows where) sister brought a few drinks for them.
It would actually be amusing with it wasn't for the Tapus hovering them.
Well, only two, Tapu Koko have headed to the forest once again.
"My name is Abigail Audree" She said, extending her hand.
The rest of her team remained quiet, but she could feel their disdainful gazes on her.
Well she did expect a similar look from the boy, bit he only smiled at her and greeted her back taking her hand.
No malice.
No disgust.
Just a simple and professional greeting.
"I was told that your group got lost in the forest" Said the boy.
She assumed that her guid must have teke the time she was out to report to the boy.
"We came to hunt some of the Demonic Beasts around here" She admitted "But we overestimate ourselves, luckily we were found"
He hummed, not seeming to really hear her.
"I should have imagined something like that would happen" He muttered.
He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then froze, eyes fixating on nothing, but so focused on then again.
"That's good!" He said "But I now you might have a lot of questions"
She did have many questions, but decided to focus on the ones she knew were more important.
"What is this place?" Was the first one.
"A ranch" The boy said "Just a simple ranch full of Pokemon"
Well, he did say that the place was a ranch when reintroduced the place.
"But why make it in such a dangerous place?" She asked.
The boy stopped, not hesitating, just thinking.
"This place was abandoned when I first came" He said "And since it was a hill, it have the space required to build a good environment for the pokemon, as some of them prefer specific types of environment, like Onix, who lives in rocky terrains or big cave systems"
She paused, mind blank for a while.
"You… used the whole hill?" She asked.
The boy looked at her as if she said something funny.
"But of course!" He said "And it somehow wasn't enough, so I expanded the place and also used spatial arrays to make it bigger"
The boy looked frustrated.
As if it was the hill's fault for be too small for all this madness.
She might add that this hill was the biggest in history, bieng full of resources and famous atractions.
She didn't know how to react, neither did her team, her mouth was opening and closing just like a fish, trying to say something.
She heard a familiar snickering, and saw her guide.
He was seated in the restaurant balcony, a red and spiky fruit in his paw, his sister, by his side, had the same fruit with her, they both seemed amused by the situation, but the sister had the decency to hide her laugh.
It took her some time for her next question.
"H-How many of these… Pokemon you have here?"
She honestly didn't want to know, but it would be a good report to the guild later.
Who wouldn't want to know more about the place that keeps creatures capable of killing a Demonic Beast with ease and feel disappointed with it?
What if this place had an army of these things?
"Oh? We have a little less than a few tens of thousands"
She froze, heart skipping a beat.
Her guide then let out what she assumed was a whole heart laugh, the sister was now falling to contain herself.
The two Tapus didn't really react, just enchanted an amused look.
Only the Pokemon seemed to notice her reaction, as the boy continued.
"But not many go out like Tapu Koko, they are all way too young, unable to go or don't have the confidence, usually is just the rescues and one or two Zarude"
They don't go out?
She let a sigh of relief escape her mouth, but a few things got her atencion.
"How young are they not able to go out?"
"The oldest Pokemon born here is just one year and four months old" The boy said "That Zarude you met is just a few months old, the oldest ones are the Tapus and rescues, like the Raboot siblings, they are fourteen years old and twelve years old, the brother being the oldest, or like our oldest rescues, Gothitelle, with fifty years old, that just got adopted, but thankfully we only have a bit over a hundred rescues, and just around forty are willing to go out to follow Tapu Koko"
"Boot!"
She took a look at her guide, he had an exasperated look on his face.
Ignoring that, she turned back to the boy.
"What are these rescues you keep talking about?"
The boy smiled, opening his fanny bag, it expanded a bit when he put his hand inside it, so it must be a spatial bag, as many do this when you take something considerably bigger from it.
He took a folder, putting it on the table in front of her.
"The rescues are Pokemon who have been taken from places less them ideals for them" The boy said "You can take a look if you want"
She gave the boy a look, them looked at the siblings, who seemed to calm down and were looking at her.
Those two were rescues, but they seemed fine to her.
She took the folder and opened it, seeing the siblings file right away.
And it wasn't what she expected.
Their case was surprisingly sad, to be captured for being a shiny to be abandoned for the impatience of someone else.
She turned the page, seeing the file of the talking Pokemon.
Another one that was surprisingly sad.
Turning page after page, she discovered a story more sad than the other, from a Pokemon who lost their home to a poor thing that had been hunted down.
It was depressing.
To a point she would understand their desire to remain inside.
She closed the folder, making eye contact with the boy.
"Why would you have so many of these pokemon here?" She asked.
The smile on the boy's face didn't falter as he took the folder back and put it away.
"I sell Pokemon and anything related to them for cores" He explained "Apart from the rescues and my personal Pokemon, such as the Tapus, all others are for sale, the rescues are for adoption"
At first she was stunned.
This guy was selling these things!?
Who cares if it is for cores? It might as well be a cheap price for such a creature!
Just seeing the way Tapu Koko dealt with these Demonic Beasts made her shudder, now you say anyone can buy them!?
But when she heard that the Tapus weren't for sale, she was a bit relieved.
How crazy would it be to be able to have a creature like Tapu Koko?
But then she was confused.
And so were her teammates.
"Why don't you charge for the rescues?" The team leader asked.
That made the boy grimace.
"Why do you buy a puppy but adopt an old dog?" He asked back.
The man opened his mouth to speak, but closed soon after.
She nodded at the question, understanding the boys motives.
Many people don't like the idea of getting an old pet, thinking it was just more trouble and unnecessary work, preferring the younger that they could train to be the way they like, diferente from the older ones, as they already have their habits.
It was a sad reality.
"I don't really like the idea of selling them"
She saw a sad expression on the boy's face, a thing that didn't really match his face.
"They are as smart as any people you might see in the streets" He said "But I need these cores to sustain this place, and even though there are many Demonic Beasts around the ranch, it's far from enough, I still have my reserves, but, even though it is a lot, it is not infinite"
She nodded once again.
If this place had really as many Pokemon and arrays she think he had, it would be a surprise if he just handed everything for free.
She was thinking about what more to ask when a familiar screech reached her ears.
"Koko!"
She turned, just to see Tapu Koko hovering over a gigantic beast that could only be a high-grade Demonic Beast.
______________________________________
"That was fun!"
Nate saw as Tapu Koko hovered above a Demonic Beast, he looked at it with satisfaction before approaching them.
"Hey Nature! I've got some meat for the kids!"
Some of the Pokemon on the ranch were more carnivorous, so Tapu sometimes brought a high-grade Demonic Beast for them.
He believed that they grow stronger if they eat the meat of a strong Demonic Beast.
That didn't really happen, but Nate was thankful for the help.
It didn't change the fact that he still received a mission from the System.
[Danger in the woods
The Host territory is infested with Demonic Beasts, which is good for the Ranch's development, but with the growth of customers, it can be dangerous
Mission: Warn everyone of the dangers when walking in the forest.
Reward: A team of pokemon to make sure that no jackass will throw themselves into a forest full of beasts again or invade the territory to steal]
The System seemed to be a bit mad about the fact that someone entered the forest, and he could understand it, as he too, didn't like it.
If Tapu Koko and the others didn't appear to help them, they might have died.
And it left a bad taste in his mouth.
He would have to think about it later, but now he has more things to worry about.
He turned Tapu Lele.
"Could you take it to the others?" He asked politely "Right now a can't take care of it"
"Alright!"
The deity lifted a hend and soon the beast was floating inside the Ranch with Tapu Lele in front of it.
"I'm going back to the Orchard"
Tapu Bulu took the opportunity to go too, so Nate byde farewell and watched them go.
Tapu Koko remained, hovering above the woman, Abigail.
"Convince her in becoming a Trainer!" The deity said "She have potencial! I can feel it!"
Oh, he found someone who got his attention.
Which means more trouble.
"Tapu Koko seems to find you interesting"
"I was told that he want to fight me" She said nervously.
"Well, yes and no, he would love to fight you directly but he's actually wating you to get a Pokemon to fight him"
He might as well advertise a bit.
He saw her confused face and explained.
"Pokemon are creatues who usually fight, but they fight using instincts, so they normally pair with a trainer, a person capable of giving the best comands at the best situation, Tapu Koko specifically was the guardian of an island and liked to chalange trainers and Pokemon he saw potencial"
"So you're saying that Tapu Koko saw potencial in me?"
She didn't seem to believe, but it was in his expectations.
"Yes, and, like I said, he would battle you directly if he could, but battling humans is trickier, as they can be more fragile"
The woman paused, watching as Tapu Koko nodded.
"So he wants me to get a Pokemon?"
"Basically, yes, but you can just ignore him, he could only fight Demonic Beasts in the last two years that we stayed here to ajuste, so his quite agitated now that we're open and people are finally coming"
"They are boring!" Said the deity "Just the high-grade one put on some challenge, the other just attacked without thinking!"
"They attacked without thinking because they are Beasts!" The Raboot brother said back "These things normally don't think, just attack everything that moves!"
"Well" The sister booted in "Technically Beasts are supposed to be tamable and smarter, but also hard to find, Demonic Beasts shouldn't be able to think much"
Nate let them at their discussion, giving the woman his full atencion.
"I'll assume that you are not interested right now in taking a pokemon with you?" He said.
He saw the way they all reacted, they were suspicious, not the same suspicious Goban had, but a more unreasonable one.
Goban looked like someone who would think it was some kind of scam, a trick of some kind.
Abigail looked like someone that would question the safety of owning a Pokemon.
Her group looked like they were questioning how profitable it was.
"Yes" She responded, getting up from her chair "And we should be going back right now, we've been out for too long"
Nate nodded, ignoring Tapu koko's tantrum when he heard that they were leaving without a pokemon and taking the group to the front, the siblings following.
"We'll follow them to the exit" Said the brother "In case another beast appear"
He thanked them as he watched the group leave.
He stayed behind to deal with a sulking deity, like he always did.
Because it was safer inside.
_______________________________________
Abigail looked down at the Raboot sister, who tugged her clothes while showing her little notebook.
[You did well]
"Why do you say so?"
The one who responded was the brother, with his own notebook.
[You could have just purchased anything to please Nature/ Stood your ground/ Said no even with a deity flying above your head]
She paused, stopping on her track for a second, looking at the brother like he had grown a second head.
"What do you mean by a deity?"
The siblings looked at her, then enchanted a look of realization, before both wrote something.
[Tapu Koko is one of the four Guardian Deities of the ranch] Was in the sister's notebook.
[All the Tapus are Guardian Deities/ Surprising/ We know/ Tapu Bulu is the best (safest/ calmer)] Was in the brother's notebook.
She stared at the notes, confused, stuned and uncertain.
But, of all things, only one thing could be certain as she reminded herself of their conversation from earlier.
'Did I just promise to fight a deity?!'