Naoki shook his head, thinking about the Pokémon on the ranch, feeling that he might never leave and would spend his life farming.
Keri noticed his thoughts and said with a smile, "There aren't many young people like you these days!"
"Kids nowadays all dream of becoming a formidable Pokémon Master, leaving their hometowns to travel, and the land is all left barren. When people like Mr. Elif age, maybe no one would want to stay and farm."
Naoki listened thoughtfully.
At this moment, he somewhat understood why the Paldea League is so supportive of agriculture and animal husbandry.
But how to put it?
Becoming a powerful Trainer, setting off on journeys, and encountering Pokémon is a dream of everyone living in the Pokémon World.
They are influenced by Pokémon culture from a young age, and under this influence, many people like Ash, Misty, and Brock are born.
Thinking of this, Naoki smiled, "That's not necessarily true. These kids will grow up eventually, and maybe once they retire, they will bring their Pokémon back to their hometowns to inherit the family farm."
Keri was stunned for a moment, then laughed with relief, "You're right!"
At this moment, they arrived at the ranch.
Keri stopped the car and directed Machamp and Conkeldurr to unload the materials.
She first went to survey the small river running through the ranch.
This river flows down from the back mountain, possibly from Casseroya Lake and Glaseado Mountain, passing through the ranch and finally emptying into the sea.
After a while, Keri chose a suitable spot to build the bridge.
Machamp and Conkeldurr immediately started the construction, building piers, pouring concrete, reinforcing with steel bars…
Macho and Conkeldurr were very familiar with the work.
As they were busy, Keri followed Naoki across the river to the land where Psyducks resided.
Looking at this uncultivated land, Keri couldn't help but say, "Clearing such a large wasteland will take a lot of effort!"
"Not all the land will be turned into farmland," Naoki shook his head. "Only a small part will be used to plant crops and fruit trees, while I'll scatter pasture seeds on the rest for Pokémon grazing."
Like Wooloo, Tropius, and Lechonk…
"Are you fencing it all in?" Keri asked.
Naoki nodded, "That way I can see the boundaries of the ranch and feel more at ease."
Although he could make wooden fences himself, the ranch didn't have enough wood. Cutting trees from the back mountain would violate the forest protection laws, and if caught by the Forest Rangers, he would face fines.
Moreover, those trees on the back mountain are homes for Pokémon.
Naoki didn't want and wasn't willing to cut down those trees.
In this situation, the simplest solution was to pay someone to install them.
"Alright!" Keri smiled, roughly calculating in her head and said to Naoki, "Such a large area, the workshop's fences may not be enough, I'll have to reorder some wood and with the bridge, it will take about half a month to complete."
Naoki had no objections, "It's fine, like before?"
"Okay."
With everything settled, all that was left was to wait.
Naoki wasn't in a hurry to immediately buy Wooloo, Tropius, and apple saplings, because after purchasing that land, his savings were depleted.
He needed to rest and recover before he could start anew.
Building a bridge takes a lot of time, and with installing fences, a few days weren't enough.
Therefore, Keri would come to the ranch daily to work, returning home at dusk, constantly repeating the cycle.
Meanwhile, Naoki stayed peacefully at home.
In his free time, he'd watch TV with Calyrex, make berry platters for Farfetch'd, play with the Pokémon, and welcome some newcomer Trainers from Paldea Academy for a challenge.
He would watch these determined Trainers command their Eevee, Sprigatito, Pawmi, and Caterpie to participate in the Grass Trial, Thunder Trial, and Storm Trial.
The results were brutally overwhelming.
These Pokémon were all inevitably defeated in one hit, leaving the rookie Trainers immensely shocked, exclaiming, "What amazing Pokémon!"
During this period, in order to let Calyrex play on a phone sooner, Naoki started to gather information on some big companies in the Paldea Region.
For information on Nemona's family, Naoki even specially ordered the daily newspaper from town.
In these relaxed and leisurely days, time unknowingly moved to the end of March in the League year 199.
On this morning, Allen the mailman came to the ranch to deliver the newspaper.
Naoki took the newspaper from him, smiling, "Thank you, Allen!"
Allen looked at him, hesitating to speak.
Naoki was a bit surprised, "What's up? Something wrong?"
Allen reminded him, "The racing tournament is coming up! You promised me!"
Naoki: "..."
He just remembered this. Allen had previously helped him find a housekeeper Pokémon, and he promised to help Allen win back the money he lost in last year's horse racing tournament.
"Don't worry!" Naoki grinned.
Seeing that he remembered, Allen was relieved and asked, "Which Horse-type Pokemon did you catch? Rapidash or Mudsdale?"