The next morning, as Naoki was preparing breakfast, a sudden knock on the door interrupted him. He walked over to open it and found Mayor Thomas standing outside, his expression troubled.
"Is there going to be another event in town?" Naoki asked, a bit surprised.
"How can it be that fast!" Mayor Thomas replied. "Many people in town saw lightning at the ranch last night. I was worried something might have happened, so I came to check on you."
'Lightning,' Naoki glanced down at Pawmo, who was standing beside him, and explained, "That was just my Pokémon practicing some thunder moves."
"Oh, I see," Mayor Thomas sighed in relief. "That's good to hear. You can go back to your business! I still have things to take care of in town, so I won't keep you."
With that, Mayor Thomas turned and left, leaving Naoki and Pawmo standing in the doorway.
"Pawmo." Pawmo finally seemed to realize what the conversation was about.
The lightning from last night had been quite loud, after all.
"It's alright, don't worry," Naoki reassured Pawmo before heading back to the kitchen to bring the cooked breakfast to the table.
Today's breakfast was a simple but nutritious meal of sandwiches and milk porridge. While Pokémon like Koraidon, Dragonite, and Pawmo couldn't produce milk, the milk porridge was still beneficial for their physical growth and development.
The Pokémon gathered around the wooden table, eagerly digging into their breakfast. As Naoki glanced at the old-fashioned clock on the wall, he mentally planned his day. In addition to going to town to replenish daily necessities and food, he also needed to deal with the overgrown weeds in the pasture.
Thanks to the availability of grass balls, the Gogoat hardly ever grazed on the wild weeds growing on the ground. The Miltanks, on the other hand, only ate the specially cultivated grass in front of the Pokémon House.
"That's perfect. The cut grass can be used to make grass dumplings for my goat," Naoki thought to himself as he looked at the Pokémon happily eating their breakfast. His eyes met Cyclizar's, and he smiled.
"Eat up! We need to head to town afterward," he said.
Cyclizar, eager to finish quickly, sped up its eating.
Soon, breakfast was over, and the Pokémon on the ranch went about their usual routines—some playing, others working.
Naoki mounted his Cyclizar and headed for town. With so many Pokémon, the ranch consumed a significant amount of steak daily. Since the taste of steak could deteriorate over time, Naoki needed to make regular trips to town to restock.
At the department store, Naoki pushed a cart among the rows of shelves, while Cyclizar followed closely, its eyes wide with curiosity as it glanced at the various items on display.
Naoki was out shopping for ranch supplies when he realized they were running low on essentials like detergent, vinegar, and soap. He quickly added these items to his cart, along with ten kilograms of steak from the meat section.
The steak, was priced at 19,600 Poke Dollars for the ten kilograms. Although it seemed like a hefty sum, Naoki knew it was only enough to last a few days for his meat-loving Pokémon, such as Koraidon, Dragonite, and Cyclizar. The cost of feeding them was a significant expense each month, and he was thankful he hadn't brought back all the Dragonites from Dragonite Island, or he'd be bankrupt by now.
After paying for the groceries, Naoki had Cyclizar help carry some of the items. Instead of heading straight back to the ranch, he made a stop at a children's clothing store in town, where he found what he was looking for—a brightly colored red children's cloak, priced at 1,500 Poke Dollars.
He purchased the cloak without hesitation and rode back to the ranch, eager to find Pawmo, who was busy managing the chickens.
At the chicken coop, Pawmo was floating in the air, excitedly watching the hens below. Naoki called out to it, and Pawmo immediately flew over.
"Come on, give this a try and see if you like it," Naoki said as he tied the cloak around Pawmo's neck.
Pawmo looked at the cloak with curiosity, and when a gust of wind blew, the bright red cloak billowed out behind it, giving it a superhero-like appearance.
"Why not try flying with it?" Naoki suggested.
"Pawmo!" Pawmo nodded eagerly and took off into the sky. The cape fluttered in the wind, making it look even more heroic, like a comic book superhero fighting for justice. Pawmo was already adorable, but the cape made it look even cooler.
Pawmo reveled in the fun of flying with the cape, zooming around the air excitedly. After a while, it landed in front of Naoki, clearly thrilled. "Pawmo!"
Naoki smiled, pleased that Pawmo liked the gift. As he looked at the small Pokémon with its new cape, he thought to himself, "Now all we need is a small hammer. It might be time to find a Tinkaton."
Tinkaton was a special Pokémon, similar to Miltank in that it was only female. Despite its small size, it wielded a massive hammer, which it forged from metal collected from Pokémon like Corviknight.
Tinkaton was known for its intelligence and heroic nature, but it was also feared by many Pokémon. It would often attack Corviknight to harvest its steel-like feathers, which was why Corviknight couldn't serve as a taxi Pokémon in the Paldea region—getting attacked mid-flight by a Tinkaton would be dangerous for any passengers.
Naoki thought about how useful a Tinkaton could be for mining ore in Zapapico Town. The mineral-rich soil that his Nacli enjoyed was also sourced from there. With a Tinkaton and some lucky pudding, they could easily find rare stones like diamonds, gold, and agate, making even Steven Stone envious.
But before he could get too carried away with plans, Naoki had something important to tell Pawmo. He remembered that to evolve into its final form, Pawmot, it didn't need to reach a certain level but had to take a specific number of steps.
In the games, Pawmo needed to walk 1,000 steps to evolve into Pawmot. While Naoki wasn't sure if the same rule applied in the real world, he still explained the condition to Pawmo.
"Pawmo?" Pawmo's eyes lit up with determination.
Evolving into Pawmot? Pawmo was ready to give it all it had!