As the New Year approached and the weather turned cold, the entire Paldea population stayed huddled at home, rarely venturing out.
That afternoon, after waking up from a nap, Lono realized that someone in the house was suddenly missing.
"Huh?" She was full of surprise: "Where's Dad?"
The woman sitting on the sofa knitting a scarf with Tarountula's bug silk looked a bit guilty:
"Him? A few of his old friends came to visit today, and they all went to the city for a meal."
"I've never heard that Dad has old friends?" Lono was even more puzzled.
The woman said, "Maybe they're people he met while traveling when he was younger?"
"Alright then."
Lono didn't pay much attention; she began attending to Bellibolt and the others for breakfast.
*
Naoki, like the people of the Paldea Region, stayed home from morning till night, leisurely passing the time with his Pokémon, rarely going out.
However, to his surprise, even in this weather, Trainers still came to the ranch to challenge.
In the afternoon, just as Naoki was at home watching Pokémon battles broadcasted live, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.
This surprised Naoki greatly.
Why would anyone visit in this weather?
Could Mayor Thomas and his people have something urgent they need help with?
Thinking of this, Naoki hurriedly went to open the door.
But when he opened the door, it wasn't Mayor Thomas, nor Mrs. Dantes.
It was a middle-aged man, approximately in his forties, dressed in gray winter clothes, wearing a scarf, and looking quite robust.
Naoki was slightly stunned, then politely asked: "Whom are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for the owner of this place." The man looked at him and asked: "You are Naoki, right?"
"...That's me." Naoki thought of a possibility, appeared enlightened, and then invited him into the living room: "It's so cold outside, come in and have a cup of tea first!"
"Not bad manners," thought the man.
He followed the young man into the house and inconspicuously glanced around the room.
The fireplace in the room was burning strongly, the air was warm, the floor was clean, and Pokémon toys were scattered around.
A Cyclizar, a shiny Pawmot, two Indeevee, an Alcremie, and another Pokémon he had never seen before were lying in front of the fireplace.
As expected, many Pokémon lived here.
Looking at the Pokémon, each had smooth fur and looked very spirited, clearly well-cared for by their owner.
This indicated that the young man was a person who treated Pokémon well and with love.
The man nodded inwardly and then sat down on the sofa.
One of the Indeevee quickly brought him a steaming cup of tea.
Traveling through the snow and wind, with the cold enveloping him, a cup of hot tea downed, and he felt wholly comfortable.
"Are you also here for the Trials?" Naoki asked.
Trials? The man kept a calm demeanor, but internally he was puzzled, what was this about Trials? Isn't this a ranch?
"That's right, I had heard about it before but never got a detailed understanding. Can you explain it to me?" The man said.
This was quite usual; occasionally some Trainers who had heard about the special training Trials at Naoki Ranch would come to challenge them.
Naoki didn't think much of it and began to introduce:
"Currently, the ranch hosts four Trials: the Grass Trial, the Thunder Trial, the Storm Trial, and the Metronome Trial."
"The Grass Trial involves battling my Gogoat, the Thunder Trial involves battling Pawmot, the Storm Trial involves battling Dragonite, and the Metronome Trial is essentially a test of luck, only Pokémon capable of using Metronome can participate."
Upon hearing this, the man suddenly realized that things seemed to be somewhat different from what he expected...
"Except for the Metronome Trial, the other Trials require collecting a certain number of Gym Badges to participate."
"The Grass Trial requires eight, the Thunder Trial and Storm Trial require four, which one would you like to challenge?"
"There are conditions?" The man was a bit surprised.
Naoki nodded helplessly: "Because if there's too much of a strength gap with Pokémon, achieving a good effect is impossible."
The strength gap with Pokémon?
The man was a little unconvinced; back in the day, he was a genius Trainer who had gathered eight Gym Badges to challenge the Champion Level.
Since that's the case, then he would go directly to challenge the Grass Trial!
Naoki nodded: "Alright, but you'll need to show your Gym Badges."
The man was a bit embarrassed: "I wasn't aware of this; the eight badges I previously collected were all left at home and not brought here."
Naoki: "..."
This was the first time he encountered such a situation.
But seeing this man's age, he probably wasn't a new, inexperienced Trainer.
After a brief moment of thought, Naoki chose to trust him.
"Alright then, since that's the case, I'll make an exception this time."
The snowstorm outside had just ceased.
Naoki glanced at the weather and then led the man to the battle area in the ranch.
The man immediately noticed the three Gogoat lazing under a shed, enjoying berries.
Thinking of the goat milk sold in the shop, the man's eyes widened involuntarily.
"Are they the milk goats from your ranch?"
Naoki was slightly stunned, then nodded: "Yes, they also serve in milk production; the goat milk sold in the ranch is all produced by these three."
The man frowned slightly, instinctively thinking that Pokémon engaged in production work weren't this young man's main battling force.