Pokemon: A New Path

After settling down Dragonite, it was already five o'clock in the evening. Due to the weather, the roads had been affected, causing Zack to arrive a little later than usual.

He drove his truck into the ranch, got out, and greeted Naoki, "Anything for sale today?"

"Goat milk and mushrooms," Naoki replied, directing Koraidon to help move out the bucket of goat milk.

Zack stepped forward to weigh the milk, then handed the payment to Naoki with a smile. "Your goat milk is very popular in town! A lot of people have been asking me where I get it from. They say that after drinking it, they feel energized and their fatigue disappears. It seems to be a bit different from ordinary goat milk."

Naoki raised his eyebrows slightly. He had been drinking the goat's milk for a long time himself and hadn't noticed anything particularly special about it.

'Could it be that the milk produced by my Skiddo has some magical properties I didn't know about?' Naoki wondered.

Relieving fatigue and restoring physical strength—those were effects similar to the Moo Moo Milk produced by Miltank, which was known to help Pokémon recover. But it seemed that the milk from his Skiddo had surpassed even that.

Zack continued, "Because the goat milk is so popular and of such high quality, we've decided to classify it as [Premium Goat Milk] and will be purchasing it at a higher price. Here, this is today's milk price!"

Naoki accepted the money and, after counting it, looked surprised. "So much?"

The price had increased from 600 Poke Dollars per bottle to 800 Poke Dollars—a 200 Poke Dollars increase.

Zack smiled. "Its effects and the nutrients it contains are worth the price."

"All right," Naoki said, pleased with the unexpected windfall. What could be better than earning more money?

As Zack was about to leave, he turned back to Naoki and added, "This goat milk has become a specialty of Naoki Ranch. People in town know that this magical goat milk comes from here. We're planning to transport the excess to other cities for sale. I believe it won't be long before more people come here specifically to buy your goat milk."

"I'm looking forward to it," Naoki said with a smile as he saw Zack off.

Afterward, Naoki returned to the cabin and carefully recorded the day's income in his account book. On the back, he doodled a simple Q-version picture of a bottle of goat milk and wrote a few small words next to it: "Naoki Ranch's New Specialty."

"Ahh!" Naoki exhaled as he leaned back in his chair, counting his current funds.

The increased selling price of goat's milk had brought in some extra income.

"Well, now that I've saved enough money for a Miltank, I can go to town and buy one tomorrow," Naoki thought, making plans for the following day.

He also considered visiting the market to see if they had any of that sweet black tea for sale. The tea, with its sweet taste, strong aroma, and unique flavor, had really appealed to him. He planned to buy a can for himself to enjoy.

With his plans for tomorrow in mind, Naoki started preparing dinner for everyone.

Since the grass outside was still wet from the recent rain, several of the Pokémon didn't like the dampness and had stayed indoors all day.

After dinner, it was time to wind down for the night.

Naoki settled into his newly bought bed, holding Pawmi, and watched TV. The news was covering the activities of the freshmen at Naranja Academy.

At this time, the principal of Naranja Academy wasn't Clavell yet, but the freshman activities seemed unchanged from those in the game. The theme was still treasure hunting, with students traveling throughout the Paldea region to find their own treasures, whether by challenging gyms or encountering new Pokémon.

Watching the students on the screen, dressed in their school uniforms and riding various Pokémon as they left the school, Naoki thought, "It seems treasure hunting is still a tradition at Naranja Academy!"

But these activities didn't concern him directly. With a full day ahead, Naoki yawned, turned off the TV, and lay down to sleep.

...

The night passed peacefully, and the next morning, the sky was bright.

Naoki got up, finished his morning chores on the ranch, then took his money and rode Cyclizar to town.

When he arrived at his destination, Happy Ranch had just opened for the day.

As Naoki arrived at Happy Ranch, he saw Rachel cleaning in front of the door. When she noticed him, she exclaimed in surprise, "Mr. Naoki, you're up so early!"

"It's not that early; it's almost half past eight," Naoki replied with a smile.

Rachel, feeling a bit embarrassed by her reaction, quickly changed the subject. "Mr. Naoki, are you here to buy a Miltank today?"

"How did you know?" Naoki asked, genuinely surprised.

Rachel chuckled and explained, "Grandpa told me. He said that in a few days, you'd be coming by to buy a Miltank. Grandpa is feeding the Pokémon in the backyard right now. You can go find him there."

Naoki nodded, thanked Rachel, and made his way to the back. There, he found the old man feeding a group of Tauros on a grassy field.

However, these Tauros were different from the ones Naoki remembered—they were black, the form of Tauros from the Paldea region. Interestingly, even among these Tauros, there were three distinct forms.

Naoki observed them closely, identifying the differences. "The Fighting type for pure Fighting attributes, the Fire type for Fighting and Fire attributes, and the Water type for Fighting and Water attributes."

At that moment, the old man feeding the Tauros noticed Naoki. He smiled warmly and greeted him, "Good morning!"

"Good morning!" Naoki replied as he walked forward, his gaze still fixed on the group of Tauros.

Noticing Naoki's interest, the old man explained, "These Tauros are new arrivals at the ranch. Since Miltank were too far to transport and the sea route is unsafe, I decided to try hatching the eggs myself."

"So that's why!" Naoki realized. No wonder there were suddenly so many Tauros here.

Without a male Miltank, the only compatible Pokémon for breeding are Tauros, which many breeders use to produce eggs with Miltank. Naoki understood this well.

The old man then asked, "Are you here to buy a Miltank?"

Naoki nodded. "Yes, I am."

The old man paused his work, turned to Naoki, and said, "Then come with me! These Miltank are quite lively. Let's see which one you'd like to take back to your ranch."

Naoki followed the old man to the area where the Miltank were kept.

Meanwhile, in the back mountain, the baby Teddiursa was waking up from its nap in its cave. It opened its eyes groggily, still half-asleep and lost in the dream it had been having.

In the dream, it was surrounded by enormous honey puddings, towering like mountains. Teddiursa had been bouncing from one to another, taking bites and licking the sweet honey.

The taste of the honey pudding lingered even after waking, and Teddiursa swallowed a bit of saliva at the memory.

'I want to eat more'!

Teddiursa sat up, realizing that the rain had stopped. Remembering what the human had told it, it picked up a stone it had found while wandering the previous day and decided to head to the ranch to exchange it for more honey.

'This is what the human told me to do', it thought with determination, setting off toward the ranch.