Pokemon: A New Path

The last time he went to town, Naoki had purchased a total of six Poké Balls. After he used one on Cyclizar, there were still five left. This meant he could bring back five new Pokémon to the ranch today.

"One Tropius, two Skiddo, two Nacli that's perfect! Oh wait, we still need a Pokémon that can use Rain Dance and Water Gun," Naoki calculated silently.

Of course, he wouldn't force any Pokémon to join him if they didn't want to. It had to be a mutual agreement. Otherwise, even if he captured a Pokémon by force, it might not cooperate with him on the ranch. The Pokémon's willingness was crucial.

Naoki surveyed the area, observing the types and behaviors of wild Pokémon from the sky. He wasn't in a hurry to capture them immediately. A skilled rancher needed patience – after all, good things came to those who waited.

Suddenly, Naoki heard someone shouting. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man with a backpack and a telescope calling out to him from a watchtower nearby.

"Hey, you up there! Hey! Over here!" the young man yelled.

Naoki was slightly taken aback. Was he being called? He thought for a moment and said to Koraidon.

"Let's go over there and have a look!"

"Roar!"

Koraidon responded, turning and flying towards the watchtower by the lake.

As they got closer, the man could clearly see Koraidon. His attention was immediately captured, and his eyes widened with curiosity.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?"

Koraidon squinted at the man and said, "Gah?"

Naoki introduced Koraidon, and the man, upon hearing the name, quickly grabbed a book from the ground, frantically flipping through the pages. Soon, his eyes grew wide with astonishment.

'A Pokémon not in the Pokémon Encyclopedia! Doesn't that mean it's an undiscovered Pokémon'?

"This is truly astonishing!" The man examined Koraidon with rapt attention. Koraidon, in turn, eyed him with disdain.

Seeing the man's infatuated expression, Naoki interrupted, "Did you call me over for something?"

The man finally snapped out of it, quickly put away his Encyclopedia, and introduced himself: "My name is Yosuke. I came from the distant Galar region and I'm currently traveling in Paldea, studying the Pokémon ecology in various places!"

He looked slightly embarrassed as he continued, "I just saw you riding that Pokémon in the sky, so, I'm very sorry!"

"But I must say, the Pokémon ecosystem in Paldea is truly fascinating! I've been living in this watchtower for half a month, and I've already discovered 48 different types of Pokémon!"

As he spoke, the man squatted down and retrieved a hand-drawn book from his bag: "Look, these are all the Pokémon I've sketched! It meticulously records their ecological habits and habitats!"

Intrigued, Naoki's interest was piqued. Casseroya Lake was vast, and he had no idea when specific Pokémon might appear. Could he glean information about rare or elusive Pokémon from this person?

With that in mind, Naoki reached out and took the sketchbook, opening it to a random page. His eyes fell upon a hand-drawn Pokémon from the Galar region – an Urshifu. It stood tall, a gentle smile on its face. Beside it stood a young boy with short hair, looking a bit inexperienced.

Urshifu. A Legendary Pokémon! Naoki was surprised.

Yosuke, standing nearby, noticed Naoki's expression and came over. He glanced at the drawing and asked with a smile, "Care to guess their relationship?"

Hmm? Naoki raised an eyebrow, and Koraidon beside him also came over to take a peek.

"Trainer and Pokémon?" Naoki ventured a guess.

"Nope!" Yosuke shook his head, eyebrows raised, "They're father and son!"

'What'? Naoki was taken aback.

His first reaction was disbelief. But Yosuke seemed to anticipate his reaction.

"It's surprising, right? But it's true. I encountered them in the Galar region, and they were the ones who showed me that there are other possibilities between humans and Pokémon."

"I was scared at first! Later I learned that the child had been abandoned as an infant, floating down a river to where the Urshifu lived, and was adopted by it."

"Humans and Pokémon, father and son. I never thought such a thing existed!"

Yosuke's excitement was palpable.

Naoki thought to himself that this was nothing compared to what he had heard – even humans marrying Pokémon.

He didn't dwell on the matter, focusing instead on the sketchbook in front of him. Yosuke, meanwhile, approached again and asked pleadingly

"Can I draw your Pokémon? As a reward, I'll make you my best sandwich. Even Pokémon love it! Please!"

Naoki simply waved his hand and sat down cross-legged.

"Go ahead, draw away!"

The man was thrilled. "Thank you!"

He pulled out another half-used sketchbook and a pencil from his backpack, sat down, and focused intently on sketching Koraidon.

Only then did Naoki realize that the sketchbook in his hand was already filled with drawings.

"Gah."

Hearing Koraidon's cry, Naoki looked up to see it standing stiffly, gazing at him with a pitiful expression. Just as Naoki was about to speak, Yosuke said

"Don't be nervous! Just sit in your most relaxed and natural posture!"

Naoki waved to Koraidon, who then lay down beside him, resting its large head on Naoki's legs. Yosuke's eyes lit up at this sight. "Okay, very good, that's it! Perfect posture! This Pokémon trusts you very much!"

Naoki smiled and scratched Koraidon's chin, then flipped through the sketchbook in his hand, examining the Pokémon ecology around Casseroya Lake. There were indeed more Pokémon in this area than he had imagined.

In addition to the ones he had just seen outside, there were also the docile Azurill, the blue Swablu with wings as white and soft as clouds, the slimy Sliggoo dwelling in damp caves, and the pink, hammer-wielding Tinkaton.

The book was narrated from Yosuke's perspective. Alongside the Pokémon he recognized were some shrouded in mist, with only their vague outlines visible. Question marks accompanied these phantoms, suggesting they were rare Pokémon Yosuke had never encountered before.

Naoki couldn't identify some of the phantoms, but as he turned a page, a familiar outline suddenly caught his eye. It appeared to be a cliff, its top enveloped in fog, with the shadow of a Pokémon looming within the mist. The Pokémon's body was large and seemingly quite round.

Beside it was another question mark, followed by a description:

[An unknown Pokémon comes here every night at 7 pm, sits quietly until 5 am the next morning, and then flies back to the sea. Unfortunately, the cliff is too high for me to climb and see its appearance clearly. I can only make out a blurry shadow.]