Breakfast was MooMoo Milk with boiled eggs and a vegetable salad—very balanced nutrition.
Surprisingly, even a simple boiled egg was a D-grade dish.
[Boiled Egg: Quality D, A simple, plain home-cooked dish. Boiled only in water, preserving the egg's original flavor and nutrition.]
[Effect: Satiety - Slight, Stamina Recovery - Minor, EXP Boost - Slight. After consumption, slightly alleviates hunger and slowly recovers a small amount of stamina. Duration: 30 minutes.]
[Evaluation: The most basic supply food. While the effects are limited, it wins on convenience and speed, suitable for emergency hunger relief.]
[Recommended Processing: (Alchemy).]
"That's the stuff, the classic boiled egg. Back when I played that MMO, people were always stuffing 999 boiled eggs into my inventory..."
Recalling memories of his past life, William shook his head. He didn't really want to remember those things. More than the past, he now wanted to focus on running this ranch with his Pokémon.
"Time to get up and eat!"
William walked to the bed and shook the two little ones still lost in dreams.
"Twig?" "Ciino?"
The two little ones woke up just as groggily as William had. Bounsweet in its flowerpot was also roused. After they all ate breakfast, they began the day's work.
Outside, Orthworm, who guarded the fields, also woke up slowly. It found an unused spot near the ranch, burrowed into the ground, and enjoyed a hearty meal.
William and the Pokémon went to the fields to water the crops. Looking out from the ridge, almost all the planted crops had already sprouted. The shoots of the potatoes and turnips were slightly different shapes, making them easy to tell apart. The thick, cone-shaped ones were potato sprouts, while the turnip sprouts were much thinner and more delicate by comparison.
With the irrigation channel now working, William no longer had to struggle with the well's crank to get water. He could just dip a bucket into the channel and fill it effortlessly! Combined with the help of the energetic Pokémon, who were full after their meal, William started to feel that farming wasn't so difficult after all!
Turtwig was still the hardest worker. With a flick of its vines, it could water a whole section of the field directly! Bounsweet hopped joyfully through the fields, its sweat, carrying an enticing fragrance, seeping into the soil and creating ripples of green energy.
William crouched by the ridge, gently parting the soft soil with his fingertips to observe the new sprouts. Morning dew condensed into glistening droplets on the tips of the shoots, refracting rainbow colors in the sunlight. It seemed that after Turtwig and Bounsweet's efforts, the growth speed of the seedlings had accelerated; William could literally see a few shoots tremble and grow taller right before his eyes.
"Not bad! It seems the Mayor and the others were right. Grass-type Pokémon really can speed up crop growth."
Turtwig and Minccino came closer, their moist breath tickling the back of William's neck, carrying the scent of grass.
"Stop it, that tickles." William laughed, shrinking his neck, and casually pulled two Pecha Berries from his pocket. The two Pokémon chirped happily and took the berries to eat.
...
Meanwhile, north of the ranch, in a vast forest surrounded by mountains and featuring a waterfall... This was Breezy Forest, one of the three major nature reserves in the Almia region.
Because of its immense size, residents occasionally got lost, so Rangers from nearby towns patrolled it daily.
The Ranger on patrol today was Kate, who had graduated from Ranger School at the beginning of the year and been assigned to the Breezyville Base. His partner Pokémon was an energetic Pachirisu.
"Nothing unusual again today. Peace is good."
Sunlight filtered through the canopy, dappling the forest path. Kate stretched, while Pachirisu bounced along at his feet, occasionally sniffing at wildflowers by the path. Most Pokémon in the forest lived peacefully: Combee working diligently early in the morning, Cherubi and Roselia stretching and enjoying the sunshine. A few Buneary hopped past in the grass by the path, and Beedrill nests could be seen in the leafy branches of some trees.
Kate completed a circuit of the forest's outer area. Finding nothing amiss, he turned to go deeper, planning to check the waterfall at the forest's heart. Along the way, he crossed several wooden bridges and greeted various Pokémon he knew from the forest. He didn't seem to be working so much as enjoying a stroll through the woods.
Near the waterfall, the sound of rushing water and the cool mist in the air was invigorating. Kate wiped sweat from his brow and was about to find a spot to rest when Pachirisu suddenly pricked up its ears, looking alertly towards the waterfall.
"What is it?" Kate followed its gaze. Below the waterfall, by the pond, several usually docile Lotad were swimming around in a panic, and unnatural ripples were forming at the pond's center.
"Something's wrong..." Kate frowned and quickened his pace.
Before he could get close, the ripples in the pond suddenly intensified! Then, a rift tore open in the air just above the water's surface without any warning! A powerful, chaotic gust of wind blew from the rift, forcing Kate back several steps uncontrollably. Pachirisu was sent flying!
"What's happening?!"
His Ranger training kicked in. Instinctively, Kate used his Capture Styler to temporarily befriend a few Ariados on a nearby branch. Using their String Shot ability, he managed to stabilize himself and also catch Pachirisu.
In his dazed state, the last thing Kate saw was a pink Pokémon flying out of the spatial rift before quickly darting away to an unknown location...
...
"Who am I...?"
"Where am I...?"
"Where should I go...?"
A pink Pokémon flew aimlessly through the forest. It remembered nothing. Except that someone seemed to be chasing it... it had to escape quickly... Beyond that, it couldn't remember anything else.
"I am... I am... What am I?"
It flew randomly through the forest until, plagued by a headache, it landed beside a small stream. Staring at its reflection in the water, suddenly! Its chaotic thoughts seemed to latch onto an important node. The pink Pokémon instantly remembered its name.
"That's right! I am Celebi!"
"I am Celebi,who travels through time!"
"I am someone's partner...I lived with him in a beautiful place for a long time! And there were many other friends..."
But beyond that, it still couldn't remember anything else.
Celebi was troubled; the headache persisted. Its innate instincts as a time-traveling Pokémon led it to guess that it might have encountered a crisis in another time point, forcing it to travel through time. Perhaps it was attacked during the journey, caught in a temporal turbulence, which caused the memory loss...
Staying here wasn't an option. Celebi looked around and chose the direction that felt most comforting. Concealing itself, it flew off!
What awaited it ahead was none other than Macaw Ranch.