Not Being a Trainer This Time

Was that a Happiny just now?

Staring at the now calm Poke Ball, Naoki was utterly bewildered, lost for words.

Did the Happiny just give itself away like that?

Though Naoki had some inkling that the Happiny was attracted to the round Poke Ball, its accidental entry into the ball was quite bizarre, wasn’t it?

Naoki didn’t rush to check on the Happiny’s condition but instead pulled out a new Poke Ball and tossed it towards the Chien-Pao.

This time, there were no unexpected events, and he smoothly captured the Chien-Pao in the Poke Ball.

Perhaps the Chien-Pao was too gravely injured, having lost all its strength and means. The Poke Ball only wobbled slightly before settling down.

"Phew..."

Seeing this, Naoki couldn’t help but let out a breath.

With that, the four Ruinous Pokemon were finally collected!

Naoki stepped forward to pick up the two Poke Balls.

He stored away the Chien-Pao’s Poke Ball, planning to release it for a reversal once back at the ranch.

"Happiny, come on out!"

Accompanied by a flash of white light, the Happiny from earlier appeared on the grass in front of Naoki.

"Buku?"

The Happiny looked around bewilderedly, with a clueless expression.

Naoki amusingly raised the Poke Ball in his hand.

The Happiny’s eyes were immediately drawn to it.

"Buku!"

It jumped up, caught the round Poke Ball, and placed it in the pouch in front of it.

"Buku~" Finally, it was complete!

The Happiny let out a relieved sigh.

"Do you know what that is?" Naoki asked.

Upon hearing this, the Happiny looked down at the "round stone" in its pouch.

"Buku?"

"That’s a Poke Ball. I was just trying to capture another Pokemon when you suddenly dashed over and bumped into it."

Naoki explained the current situation to Happiny: "Which means, I’ve captured you now."

"Buku?" Happiny showed a confused expression. What does capture mean?

"It means that technically, you’re now considered one of my Pokemon, because only Pokemon willing to follow a human trainer voluntarily enter the Poke Ball," Naoki said.

The Happiny blinked, seemingly pondering the meaning of those words.

Naoki smiled and asked, "Would you like to leave here with us and live with us?"

"Buku..." Happiny murmured.

Actually, it had quite a favorable impression of this human and that Pokemon in front of it.

After all, they were the ones who had helped it earlier, rescuing it from that bad Mankey.

Moreover, they were willing to help it find the lost stone... even though they hadn’t found it.

After a good while, Happiny finally asked, "Buku?" (Can I have this round stone?)

Naoki was momentarily stunned, not expecting Happiny’s request to be so simple.

"Of course you can; the moment you caught it, it already belonged to you," Naoki said.

Although Happiny entered the Poke Ball, if it was unwilling to return to the ranch with him, he and Koraidon couldn’t forcefully take Happiny away from here.

Yet, upon hearing these words, Happiny almost immediately gave its response without hesitation.

"Buku!" Happiny answered happily, it was willing!

"Agh... sss..." Koraidon couldn’t help but smirk.

This little guy is still the same, after all!

"Welcome to the team!" Naoki grinned widely.

*

Naoki carefully stored away the two Poke Balls, and as promised, gave the Poffins and Pokeblocks to the Pokemon that helped him find the Sealing Stake and the shrine.

The Pokemon that received the rewards were overjoyed.

The Phanpy couldn’t help but start eating it right away.

But some Pokemon deliberately saved their Pokeblocks.

For instance, Gumshoos.

After receiving the Pokeblock, it merely glanced at the Poffin in the box, then closed the lid and put it behind itself.

Naoki looked at the Pokemon enjoying their feast around him, then at the Gumshoos, and asked:

"Gumshoos, aren’t you going to eat?"

"Meowyo!"

Gumshoos shook its head, indicating it wanted to take it home to its children.

Understanding Gumshoos’ intention, Naoki paused slightly before genuinely praising:

"You’re a great mother."

"Meowyo~" Gumshoos touched its head a bit shyly.

Naoki opened his backpack and found that he had distributed all the Poffins and Pokeblocks, except for two sandwiches.

He took out the sandwiches and handed them to Gumshoos: "Consider these two sandwiches a gift for your kids, take them home and enjoy them with them!"

"Meowyo!" Gumshoos looked astonished, expressing gratitude to the human in front of it.

But it saw the human give a slight smile, turn around, bid them farewell, and ride off on that red Pokemon.

"Meowyo..."

Gumshoos felt deeply touched.

In the sunset, it stood on the grass, waving its paw vigorously in the direction they departed.

Then it turned around, quickly running toward a certain direction with the sandwiches and Poffin.

There, a group of young Gumshoos were waiting for it to come home.

*

At three in the afternoon, Koraidon landed with Naoki in the middle of the ranch.

As soon as he got home, the Ting-Lu and Chi-Yu, who had been specially waiting on the lawn, came around.