Not Being a Trainer This Time

Naoki watched the scene with great interest and asked the Koraidon beneath him:

"Oh right, Koraidon, how did you just happen to fly into my ranch back then? If you’d landed here instead, you might’ve met a kind-hearted boy or girl, you know!"

Koraidon’s eyes went distant: "Aa-ga-sii..."

"Forget it, there’s no point talking about that now." Naoki reached out and rubbed Koraidon’s head—he couldn’t bear the thought of letting Koraidon leave him.

Koraidon strongly agreed: "Aa-ga-sii!"

Exactly!

"Alright, alright, I’ve finished watching. Let’s get going."

After checking off Cabo Poco Town, Naoki rode Koraidon away from there, heading for the location of the Grasswither Shrin.

"Cliff... cliff..."

If he remembered correctly, the exact location of the Grasswither Shrin was somewhere at the base of a cliff.

Naoki locked his gaze on that line of cliffs, then had Koraidon descend.

The moment they landed, his Rotom Phone started ringing.

Once he picked up, Raifort’s face appeared on the screen.

Raifort looked at him expectantly: "So? How many of the Treasures of Ruin have you caught now?"

Naoki answered honestly: "Two. Chi-Yu and Ting-Lu have already started a new life in my ranch. Right now I’m on the south coast of the Paldea Region, getting ready to investigate the Grasswither Shrin here."

"I see. Then you’ve got to keep it up!"

Just then, Koraidon, walking ahead, seemed to have discovered something and suddenly let out a warning cry.

"Aa-ga-sii!"

"What is it?"

Naoki hurriedly caught up.

They followed along the edge of a lake, moving forward until they stopped at the cliff at the far end of the lake.

Koraidon lowered its head and looked down: "Aa-ga-sii!"

Naoki followed its gaze downward.

The next second, he saw a glowing shrine at the base of the cliff.

The vegetation all around was growing exuberantly, the grass lush and fertile, with clusters of tiny wildflowers blooming in the grass.

Strangely enough, however, in the vicinity of that shrine, all the grass had withered and turned yellow, leaving the surrounding land barren.

Naoki was slightly stunned.

That was...

The Rotom Phone at this moment also pointed its camera downwards.

On the other end, Raifort naturally saw the scene near the Grasswither Shrin as well.

"Rotom, get a bit closer and take a look." Raifort said.

"Koraidon, let’s go down." Naoki brought Rotom and Koraidon all the way to the bottom.

Rotom floated in close and carefully recorded the situation at the Grasswither Shrin.

With just one glance, Naoki and Raifort noticed something unusual about the Grasswither Shrin.

The four chains that had originally imprisoned the Grasswither Shrin were now down to only two!

That meant four Sealing Stakes had already been pulled out!

Who did it? A passing Trainer, or some wild Pokemon?

Raifort glanced around at the surroundings and pondered aloud:

"With the stakes pulled, the power of the Imprison grows weaker as well. Looks like Wo-Chien’s power has already seeped through the Imprison and is affecting the environment around it."

"According to ancient records, Wo-Chien was originally just an ordinary Wooden Scroll. Later, someone recorded the King’s misdeeds onto it."

"But that person was punished by the King, and his hatred wrapped itself around the Wooden Scroll, turning it into Wo-Chien."

"And if I’m not mistaken, Wo-Chien possesses the Power of Calamity that lets it absorb the energy of vegetation, instantly drying up surrounding forests and causing poor harvests in the fields."

At this point, Raifort suddenly showed a guilty expression: "If you catch it, it might bring trouble to your ranch..."

"Don’t worry, I’ve got a way." Naoki said.

The Immortal has his own clever tricks.

As long as he fed Wo-Chien some Reversing Cuisine, the Reversing Power within would completely flip Wo-Chien’s power.

Absorption would turn into release, turning an instant forest wither into instant seedling growth, turning failing crops into bountiful harvests.

That way, the ranch would gain yet another snail of abundance.

Hearing this, Raifort paused for a moment, then relaxed and said: "You’re right. Maybe your intentions will calm Wo-Chien down. In that case, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be waiting for your good news!"

Naoki: "..."

It has to be said, this world really is an idealistic world.

After hanging up the phone, Naoki began working on pulling out the last four stakes of the Grasswither Shrin.

He rode Koraidon back up to the cliff and then looked around.

The Pokemon living around here were mostly some fairly common Normal-type Pokemon.

Things like Fletchling, Vivillon, Lechonk, Skwovet, Sunkern, and the like.

After a brief moment of thought, Naoki decided to stick with the same method as the last two times.

He would use the Power of Viridian to communicate with these Pokemon, then ask them to help search for the stakes.

First, he took out some lure-type Pokeblocks.

The rich, mellow aroma drifted out with the air, and in no time at all, it attracted a large group of wild Pokemon.

They looked curiously at the human in front of them. Sensing the friendly, approachable aura on him, not a single one of these Pokemon ran away!

"Ahem." Naoki gave a light cough twice, then said, "Everyone, I’m Naoki. There’s something I’d like to ask for your help with!"

Next, Naoki showed them a photo of the stakes and told these Pokemon that as long as they could help him find the glowing stakes, he would give them a pile of delicious Pokeblocks and Poffins.

For these wild Pokemon, this was just about the most suitable kind of request.

All they had to do was walk around helping look for something and they’d get those tasty treats; it was simply too good a deal!

So this group of Pokemon agreed without hesitation.

They scattered and ran off in all directions, each going to look for stakes.

Naoki, on the other hand, glanced around, planning to find a spot with an open view to set up camp and wait for these wild Pokemon to come back.

Very soon, his gaze fixed on a certain cliff. Standing there and looking out, what entered his eyes was the boundless Paldea Sea.

"Koraidon, let’s go over there and wait for them!" Naoki said.

"Aa-ga-sii!"

Koraidon nodded in agreement right away.

However, before they got close, Koraidon seemed to have noticed something and turned its gaze in a certain direction.

"Aa-ga-sii?"

"Hm? Did you spot something?" Naoki was a bit puzzled.

He followed Koraidon’s line of sight, and the next second, he spotted a Pikachu on the broken cliff by the seaside ahead.

When he saw clearly what that Pikachu was doing, Naoki froze on the spot.

Because that Pikachu was actually flying!

It kept swishing its lightning-shaped tail, slowly flying through the air.

Pikachu... can fly?

How was it doing that? Naoki’s face was full of shock.

But just then, that Pikachu suddenly lost its balance and fell from the sky.

It landed on the grass, rolled a few times, then got back up with wounds all over its body.

Just when Naoki thought it would stop and rest, that Pikachu suddenly burst with a surge of yellow electricity!

It Discharged while sprinting quickly along the ground, using the recoil from the energy to launch itself into the air.

The Pikachu that had successfully taken to the sky kept swinging its tail, expertly controlling the airflow, looking just like it was flying!

Watching this with his own eyes, Naoki quickly figured out the principle behind it.

That Pikachu first used the dash-type move Volt Tackle to run in spinning loops, thereby creating a tornado-shaped vortex of energy.

Then it used its strong tail like a spring, bouncing repeatedly within the vortex to raise its height until it flew into the air, and finally used its tail swings to balance the airflow, making flight possible.

However, it wasn’t long before that Pikachu fell again.

It seemed it still hadn’t fully mastered that combo move.

Naoki instinctively glanced around but didn’t see any other human nearby.

That meant this Pikachu wasn’t a Trainer’s Pokemon but a wild Pokemon.

And that combo move of its was something it had invented all on its own!

Realizing this, Naoki was even more shocked inside.

This Pikachu’s comprehension and talent were really something else!

But just then, that wild Pikachu noticed him and Koraidon.

Vigilance immediately showed on its face, and a spark of electricity flickered across its cheeks.

"Pika pi!"

The next second, that Pikachu, covered in wounds, turned and ran.

It was very fast; in the blink of an eye, it vanished into the nearby grass.