Not Being a Trainer This Time

The Grasswither Shrin is located in the southeastern part of the Paldea Region. According to the marker on the map Raifort provided, it seems to be somewhere near a cliff.

Naoki didn’t know the exact spot, so he could only investigate once he got there.

If it really didn’t work out, he’d just rely on his personal charm and rally the wild Pokemon living around that area to help him search.

Naoki had already decided in his heart that he’d rest today.

The next morning, after finishing the work at the ranch, he got ready to ride Koraidon and head for South Province (Area One) of Paldea.

Before leaving, Naoki brought some gifts and sent Kubfu up to the World Tree, to the stretch of ocean where Kyogre was.

"Beh ah?"

Seeing Naoki suddenly stop in his tracks, Kubfu tilted its head up at him in confusion.

In that moment, Naoki suddenly felt like a parent dropping their kid off at kindergarten.

He shook his head, throwing that strange thought out of his mind, then reached out to rub Kubfu’s head and said to it:

"I really want to stay here and keep training with you, but I still have some very important things to do. Just focus on your training here, and I’ll come pick you up tonight to go home."

Kubfu blinked its eyes, then obediently nodded.

"Beh ah!"

"You can do it!" Naoki cheered Kubfu on.

Right at that moment, Primal Kyogre sensed their arrival and surfaced from the sea.

To have Groudon and Kyogre take good care of Kubfu, Naoki walked forward and handed over some Magical Cuisine he’d brought today to Kyogre, completely treating it as Kubfu’s tuition fee.

"I’m leaving Kubfu in your care, Kyogre," Naoki said.

Compared to Groudon, Kyogre was still calm and full of reason.

It lowered its head to look at the human in front of it, its gaze dropping to the bag in his hand.

Right now, a sweet fragrance was constantly drifting out through the gaps of the bag.

Naoki took the Pokeblocks and Poffins out of his pack and tossed them into Kyogre’s mouth like a trainer feeding an orca.

Unexpectedly, Kyogre didn’t refuse; instead, it opened its mouth and accepted his feeding.

Kyogre obediently eating like this looked nothing like the Sea God, the Legendary Pokemon that could summon downpours and tsunamis to drown the world.

Watching this scene, Naoki grew a bit bolder and reached out to gently pat Kyogre’s head.

Kyogre: "?"

"It’s nothing," Naoki said, acting like nothing had happened as he stepped back, then turned to Kubfu and said, "I’m heading out. Remember to train hard. I’ll come pick you up tonight."

"Beh ah!"

Hearing this, a feeling it had never experienced before suddenly welled up inside Kubfu’s heart.

Naoki said he’d come pick it up and take it home tonight—what an amazing feeling!

From now on, it was a Pokemon with a family too!

"Beh ah~"

After dropping Kubfu off, Naoki left the Land of Dragons.

However, he didn’t leave the World Tree, instead making another trip to the volcanic domain where Groudon lived and delivering the Pokeblocks and Poffins to Groudon.

"These are handmade by me. Just treat them as a gift to thank you for being willing to teach Kubfu," Naoki said.

Groudon froze for a moment, a look of astonishment appearing in its eyes.

It could actually receive a gift?!

It might not care about these gifts themselves, but they were from Naoki!

And who was Naoki? The master of this tree, Rayquaza’s representative, the one who single-handedly stopped its battle with Kyogre.

And now, such a powerful human was actually giving it a gift...

This was simply too shocking for the Pokemon!

Groudon wanted to say something more, but Naoki had already turned and left.

Leaving the World Tree, Naoki returned to the ranch, mounted Koraidon, and said goodbye to the Pokemon:

"We’re heading out now. We’ll probably be back in the afternoon. Stay put in the ranch and don’t run off, got it?"

"Boni~"

Led by Ogerpon, the group of Pokemon answered happily.

Naoki nodded, then took out his Rotom Phone to navigate. After confirming the destination, he rode Koraidon and headed straight south.

The fields and towns below whipped by rapidly behind them.

After an hour of flying, Naoki saw the Paldea South Coast up ahead.

Compared to the northern area, the southern part of the Paldea Region was mostly plains. Quiet and peaceful towns like Cabo Poco Town and Los Platos Town, gentle and reserved, were nestled on this stretch of flatland.

Naoki was very interested in the town of Cabo Poco.

Because in the games, that’s the town players depart from for their journey, and it’s also where Nemona’s house is.

And it seemed that Professor Sada and Professor Turo had a Lighthouse Research Institute somewhere nearby as well.

Thinking of this, Naoki had Koraidon make a little detour and flew over to Cabo Poco Town.

The real-life Cabo Poco Town wasn’t like in the games where there were only two houses.

Although it was small, if you added up all the scattered homes, there were still a few dozen households.

With so many residences, Naoki couldn’t tell where Nemona’s house was, but he did find the Lighthouse Research Institute.

Because there was only one lighthouse in this place, it was obvious that had to be Professor Sada and Professor Turo’s research institute.

Besides that, Naoki also saw Bay Cave, the place in the games where the player encounters Koraidon.

Just like in the games, many Houndour and Houndoom lived there, living as a pack in the cave and guarding their territory.