Raff followed the rest of the group, a bit hesitant.
This place was strange, being built in a place surrounded by Demonic energy, but also having such a welcoming atmosphere.
It was like when he had to go to a family reunion from his mother's side, but Sunny was there too.
A place full of bad energy and a single beacon of light.
Even though it was strange, it was also comforting.
He was looking around, seeing many normal looking fornitude and smelling a wonderful smell coming from what he discovered to be a café.
"You must be Raff"
He jumped when the new guy approached him.
"Your brother told me today was your birthday" Said the guy.
"Y-Yes"
The guy smiled, not that people pleasing smile or a fake one that he always saw, no, it was a stupid smile just like Lane's.
"Mister Lane and Miss Yuko called me last night and we prepared something for you"
He guided them to the café part of the place, where he saw two things.
A banquet, full of fragrance and that made his stomach growl.
And a pair of bunny-like creatures setting the table that made his eyes shine.
He had never seen this kind of beast before!
He wanted to approach, see them better, analyze them.
But he held back as the guy waved his hand.
"Hey guys!"
The bunny-things stopped what they were doing and turned to them.
Just to wilde their eyes.
"You still haven't changed!?"
Raff was a bit stunned.
How could he not be?
It's been so long since he last saw a Beast intelligent enough for his skill [Voice of the Jungle] to activate.
Raff was a Beast Tamer and a Druid, not only being the first half-blood elf to have a class, but also the first to have a subclass, as elves were practically unable to have such a thing.
An elf with a class was so hard to come by that they could all be registered in a single jornal.
But, because of his class and subclass, he had such a natural bond with nature that he sometimes had to ask Sunny to seal his skills, as everything could become overwhelming.
But he never sealed [Voice of the Jungle], it wasn't just his favorite skill.
It was his only way to help the Beasts he had met, even though Beasts capable of speech were becoming less and less.
So hearing the bunny-thing talking with a teenager boy voice was a bit surprising.
But what surprised him the most was what happened next.
"I was going to!"
The guy responded!
Does he have [Voice of the Jungle] too?!
"Then go already!" The bunny-thing said "Mune and Solana already left!"
"Alright, alright"
The guy sighted, turning to them with an apologetic smile.
"I'm going to wash myself" He said "But you guys can dig in, it all yours"
Before anyone could say anything, the guy darted away somewhere.
Leaving them with the bunny-things, the one without a ribbon was shaking his head.
"Dear Arceus, give me patience"
Raff's interest was picked again, as he approached.
"Hello?"
The creature turned to him, giving him a little polite nod.
"Not wanting to be rude" Raff started "But what is Arceus"
The creature gave him a strange look, letting out a sigh.
"Now I have to explain God too?" It said "What else it there to-"
It stopped for a second, completely frozen, then it turned to him with wide eyes.
"You can understand me!?"
Raff laughed, as he was already used to it by now.
"Yeah, it's my skill [Voice of the Jungle], it let me understand any creature capable of thinking"
The creature was still stunned, trying to process the situation, so who responded was the other one.
"That sounds so cool!"
The second bunny-thing had a surprisingly young feminine voice, it approached him and extended its paw to him.
"Nice to meet you!" It said "Mind if I get your name?"
"Of course" He said, grabbing its paw to greet it "Call me Raff, do you have a name?"
"Nah" Was his answer "My brother and I will only get a name when we find a Trainer we both like"
He raised a brow to the response.
"A Trainer?"
"A trainer is-"
"What about we talk on the table? The food is getting cold"
The first one, who he assumed to be the brother, seemed to come back to his senses, guiding everyone to the table with a bit of impatience.
Well, he wasn't offended, the food smelled so good and he saw Lana drooling.
So the group sat at the table, starting to eat.
And by the World Tree! It was so good!
He could taste the freshness of the ingredientes, and even not knowing what fruits and vegetables he saw on some dishes, he was loving it.
His favorites were a round blue one and a pear one, Lana loved a red spiky one that he thought was too spicy.
The brother had to give him a glass of milk to everyone that tried the food (well, minus Lana and Lane, who liked the fruit too).
"Tamato can be too strong" He said "Normally is a berry loved by Fire Type Pokemon as it help the warm up easily and they have a natural resistance to heat, maybe she has aptitude to fire magic"
That was good to know so he passed on to Lane.
"He said that Lana might have aptitude to fire magic"
Everyone, apart from Lana and Tamayo, who got to taste the milk and was now drinking a whole glass alone, looked at him.
Great, now he was nervous.
"What do you mean by that?" Sunny asked.
He swallowed a knot that formed in his throat.
"He said that Fire Type Pokemon love this berry because it warms them easily and they have a natural resistance to heat"
Sunny and Yuko pondered the information, while Lane and Lana beamed.
"A fruit that helps identify possible fire magicians?" Said the human "That-s so interesting!"
"Does that mean I can use Fire magic like dad?" The little girl said.
His uncle and sister-in-law seemed to be thinking the same as Lane but in a more serious way.
"Could you ask him if any other fruit can distinguish aptitude?" Sunny asked.
"I can understand loud and clear" The brother snarled, clearly offended.
"He can understand you" Raff clarified before turning to the brother "Not all creatures can understand human language, practically all I've met can't, my skill let me understand and be understood, I usually translate for both sides"
The brother calmed down with the explanation, but still gave Sunny an ugly look.
"But yeah, I don't really know" Said the brother "Berrys normally are used to take negative effects from people, heal wounds a bit, or give a little boost, Tamato is a special case, me and my sister like it a lot, but maybe because we are Fire Type Pokemon"
He translated that to the others, the responsible adults nodded.
"Seeing how Lane is fine and he is a fire mage" Sunny said "We can confirm that it's true, but it's a pity"
Yuko nodded.
"If just by eating a berry you can discovered every aptitude" Yuko said "There would be no reason to pay for the aptitude tests"
Sunny nodded and Raff couldn't help but to do the same.
The emperor had put a fee for those who wanted to use the aptitude tests that help a future hunter to know what they can do and don't waste time trying to discover by yourself.
One thing is to know what your class is, the other is to know what it does, and the other is not to know how to choose a profession.
The profession of the area you want to proceed, for example, Raff is a Beast Tamer and a Druid, he has many skills that can be useful depending on the situation, but his profession is a Healer and a Porter.
But sometimes the class and profession were the same, like in the mages case.
The profession is the hole one has in a party.
It can confusing, but pretty useful sometimes.
"Hey"
Raff awakened from his thought to the sensation of his clothes being tugged, he turned just to see the sister, she had a timid look on her face.
"Not wanting to be rude or anything" She said "But are you all demi-humans?"
Raff paused for a second, staring at the sister.
Her face became bright red as her brother laughed
"There's no demi-humans back where we came from!" She said "Just humans! All I know about demi-humans is what I've read in our library!"
So they can read, good to know, he actually can count with one hand how many Beasts he met had the ability to read.
But the fact that they only know humans is also interesting.
"Lane is human" He said "Sunny is a elf, I'm a half-blood elf, Yuko is a Bakeneko, one of the tribes of the beast folk, and Lana and Tamayo are half-blood Bakenekos"
The sister's curiosity seemed to lessen as she started to think, then turned to her brother.
"Do you think mister Goban is a half-blood dwarf?" She said.
Oh, so they meet another half-blood?
"I think so?" The brother said "He have pointy ears and is too short for his age, but too tall to be a dwarf"
"And he smells like fire and steel" The sister added.
"That too"
"It does sound like a half-blood dwarf" Raff admitted "Dwarves tend to smell like this, and so do their descendants"
"Just like you and the blondie over there smell just like the Orchard" The brother said.
He froze.
It said that elves smell like nature, but the smell of nature is a way people used to compare to the life energy that they feel but can't describe.
Another thing they were compared to was the World Tree, the one who radiates the most pure life energy one could ever think of, even in its infancy, it still produced a good amount of it and in a good quality.
It was said that elves had the exact same smell the Tree had.
And to be compared with an orchard…
"It's ok if we see this orchard?" He asked without thinking.
The two enchanted a look.
"You'll have to ask Nature when he come back" Said the brother "He'll definitely say yes, but is just that everyone outside the Ranch can't pass the door without his permission"
"It's a spell put on for security reasons" Said the sister "He put it after being scolded by Mister Aiden"
Oh, so it was a guarded place.
Interesting.
He was about to ask why a spell was needed when he heard footsteps.
"We're back!"
He saw the guy approaching, he was now wearing a new set of clothes, his hair, now green with the lack of flour, was wrapped in a gigantic braid, by his side, a pair of cat-like creatures were running.
"I'm sorry for the delay!" He said "Mune and Solana were having problems to clean their fur"
"I'll never help you in the kitchen again!" The pair said.
"The bag only tore because you wanted to move it in different directions" The guy said.
"Irrelevante!" Was the response.
"Hey Nature!"
Raff was a bit startled by the brother's call.
"This guy here wants to see the Orchard!"
The guy seemed a bit surprised, but opened a smile.
"We can go there later, but now…"
The guy, Nature (a strange name for a human), gave Lane and Yuko a big smile.
"I think your family have something to say"
Lane nodded as he showed a warm smile while looking at Raff.
"Today we came here for you to chose one a friend to accompany"
Raff was confused.
A friend?
Here?
The siblings were snickering.
"He's saying you'll take a Pokemon like us home" The brother said.
Raff froze for a second, eyes darting from the bunny to Lane.
"Excuse me?"
Lane, Yuko and Nature giggled, the cats giving him an amused and mischievous look.
"The Pokemon Ranch os a place where you can get Pokemon" Nature Said "Pokemon are companions, friends, and, for many, family"
The eyes of the cats glowed and everything in the table started to float, moving around in beautiful dance.
"They can help you in many different ways" Nature said "But you have to be responsible, most Pokemon here are younger than Lana or a bit older than Tamayo, most don't know malice, is up to you teach it to them"
Raff was still confused and stunned.
He turned to Sunny, looking for help.
But his uncle had turned to him with the same expression.
They were both helpless.
Everything floating started to make its way to the kitchen, and so did the, now finished, glass of milk that Tamayo was drinking, the baby was now soundly sleeping once again with a noticeably full belly.
The siblings approached him.
"Too much for you?" Said the brother.
"I think you are going too fast" The sister said to the rest.
He just nodded.
In fact, they were right.
He was a bit overwhelmed.
And Lane seemed to understand, slowing down and smiling sheepishly.
"I should have explained it on the way"
=====================================
It was a bit crazy to believe.
A place that exchanged cores for extraordinary creatures called Pokemon.
He was amazed by them, but also worried.
"Is it really ok?"
Lane was going to exchange the cores he had been saving to get the favor of a Crafter that the guild was trying to recruit.
And now he would spend a good amount just to sustain a Pokemon for Raff.
Lane just smiled before messing up Raff's hair.
"You can stop worrying" He said "I can just dive in a gate and get more later, I might even get double the amount"
Well, that Raff didn't doubt, his half brother had a level of luck that the whole guild tried to measure once.
It was ridiculous.
But no one tried it again.
It was that terrifying.
"So don't worry!" Said Lane "You can choose at ease!"
He really wasn't going to choose at ease, but seeing his half brother's expression, he knew the human wouldn't back down.
So he nodded and turned to Nature.
"What kind of Pokemon do you have?"
Nature's smile never faded as he took two folders from his spatial bag, putting both on the table.
"We have three options here in the ranch" He said "I can bring you to the Kindergarden, where you can see as many Pokemon as possible and make your choice, I can show you the Starters, an already pre-selected group of three specific types for you to chose, or you can meet with the rescues and see if any of them want to go with you"
Raff frozen, heart skipping a beat.
"Rescues?"
Being a rescue means that one has been saved, so to be saved one has to be in a precarious situation.
Does this mean that some of these Pokemon were in a situation where they needed to be saved?
Why?
How?
Nature's smile failed a bit.
"Yes, the rescues, some had bad trainers, they had their trainers taken from them, and some had their homes taken, would you like to take a look?"
He nodded, taking the bigger folder.
The first one he saw was the siblings.
And he couldn't help but to look at them after reading.
"What's a shiny?" He asked.
"Is a Pokemon with a different color that is normally seen in the species" The brother said "It's like albinism, bit without the bad parts"
"Shiny Pokemon are known to be stronger than most Pokemon" The sister said with pride "I'm actually stronger than my brother, and his two years older!"
"In your dreams" The brother said, not offended, just amused.
"My flames are hotter!"
"But I fight better"
"That's not true!"
"Ok that's enough"
Nature approached the two and lifted the sulking sister, separating her from her amused brother.
"Like she said, Shiny Pokemon have a different coloration and are stronger than regular Pokemon, so many people try to capture them"
Raff nodded, he could understand the situation, as he met Beasts that were hunted because of their unique appearance or power.
But it didn't make it less sad.
He looked at more files, the stories way too similar to the ones he heard from the Beasts he met.
But then he stopped in one.
It had the picture of four pokemon, three were similar to dogs and one to a fox.
The group looked like trouble.
[The gang of troublemakers
A small group formed by a female Lillipup, a shiny male Poochyena, a male Houndour and a female Zorua. They love to cause trouble, their leader is the female Lillipup, the older of the group and crafty by nature.
Apart from the Zorua, who was born in the ranch, the rest of the gang was born in an illegal breeding lab that was trying to learn about the limits of breeding.
Like to fight and cause trouble, but if had the chance to laze around, they'll do.
Note: Extremely loyal, if you tame the leader, you'll tame the pack (Can only be taken together, the Zorua need to be paid separately)]
He had heard of cases where Beasts were illegally bred in the hope to make a stronger variant, but he never really saw one in this situation.
It brought a sour taste to his mouth.
But the remarks made him smile.
"Are they really that bad?" He asked as he showed the file to Nature.
Nature and the siblings looked at the file and, just by their face, he could tell that yes, they were.
"These guys are synonyms of trouble" Mature said with a serious expression.
"They only hear Faith" The sister said.
"I saw them irritate Fergus" The brother muttered "I've never seen him mad, I didn't even knew it was possible"
Wow.
A real group of troublemakers.
He was now a bit curious.
What kind of untamable beast was this group?
His Beast Tamer side ignited with determination.
"Can I see them?"
Lest see this beasts!
_______________________________________
"I can't believe it!"
He gave the boy an irritated look.
Nature had gone to fetch the troublemakers
"I thought I'd give them a chance" The boy said in his defense "I know you guys aren't Beasts but maybe my Beast Tamer and Druids skills can help me to tame the leader? They usually help me calm some really aggressive Beasts"
He sighted.
Even after they warned him, this boy decided to lift the Mimikyu's cloth just because of a gigantic 'maybe'?
He admired courage, but seriously!
There's a difference between the brave and the idiot!
And until the boy proves to him that it would work, he would be the idiot!
But he had to admit, the idea was a good one.
Even though they're not Beast, he could tell that the atmosphere around the boy was good and captivating, but not controlled.
Like the sweet smell of a Boundsweet luring a Rowlet without noticing.
But, more importantly, it was calming.
He had to force himself to stay mad at the boy because of this energy around him.
He was surprised by this.
So this is the power of the beings of this world.
Terrifying!
Utterly terrifying!
Imagine a poacher with such ability!
He shook his head, trying not to think of the possibilities.
That would only make him paranoid.
"Just be careful" He warned "They can be unpredictable"
The boy nodded, looking confident.
He only sighed helplessly.
How can such a boy ve so reckless?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of paws on the flour and giggles.
"They're here" He said solemnly.
The boy tensed, face serious.
The door from where Nature had gone to was opened with a bang and the wild pack appeared with Nature on their tails.
"Where is the punk?"
Even though the voice was sweet and feminine, the tone was not at all pleasant.
The Lillipup, her head high and proud, was standing in front of a group of canine Pokemon, all with mischievous smiles and wagging tails.
Then their eyes fell on the boy and the whole pack froze.
He watched as the boy and the pack participated in a staring contest, both sides unmoved.
That's until the little leader smiled.
"I liked you! Want to enter the pack?"
He was stupefied, his sister was stupefied, Nature was stupefied.
What has just happened!?