South Paldea, Cabo Poco.
It was early spring, and a soft breeze drifted through the small town by the South Paldean Sea, gentle and reserved in its own quiet way.
At noon, an imposing Corviknight descended from the sky and landed at the entrance to Cabo Poco. Carl, who had flown all the way from Levincia, jumped down from its back.
Only after he had packed all of his protective gear back into his backpack did Carl return Corviknight to its Poké Ball and continue into town with Flutter Mane in his arms.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, aside from the protagonist and Nemona, Cabo Poco only seemed to have a population of nine. Sparse populations were probably just a shared trait of every generation's starting town.
In reality, though, while Cabo Poco was not large, Carl estimated at a glance that its permanent population was somewhere around two thousand.
Not long after entering town, Carl, clearly an outsider, began attracting the attention of quite a few locals thanks to his good looks and the clothing that stood out from everything around him. Over the course of three years on the road, Carl had already gone through this in every new region he visited, so by now he was completely immune to other people's stares.
With directions from a helpful passerby, Carl quickly found the residence of Cabo Poco's mayor. Not long after he knocked, the front door opened, and an elderly man with a full head of white hair appeared before him.
The old man wore a faded henley shirt and work pants dotted with dried mud. From the way his shirt stretched tight across his body and the healthy flush in his complexion, it was obvious that while he looked to be well past middle age, his physical condition was still frighteningly good.
Judging by muscle mass alone, even Carl, who had spent years training outdoors alongside his Pokémon, felt a little humbled.
The old man froze for a moment when he saw Carl, but quickly recovered and spoke in a warm voice.
"Hello there. I'm Poco, the mayor of Cabo Poco. What can I do for you?"
Although Carl had already received the deed to the ranch from his grandfather's letter, he still needed to officially register it with the Paldea League before he could formally inherit the property. That was why he had come to see Mayor Poco.
After explaining why he was there, Carl followed Poco inside with Flutter Mane. Over the course of their conversation, he learned that the mayor had once been helped by Carl's grandfather when he was younger, and that Poco himself had played no small part in helping Carl's grandfather get in touch with Professor Rowan all the way in Sinnoh.
"Ah… hard to believe it's been so many years already." Poco looked Carl up and down, his tone thick with emotion. "Back then, your father didn't want to inherit the family ranch. He wanted to become an explorer instead. He and your grandfather had a huge fight over it, and the two of them parted on bad terms. After that, your father left Paldea without a word.
"Bird, your grandfather, well… truth be told, he didn't absolutely insist that your father inherit the ranch. But…" Poco let out a sigh. "Those two were cut from the same cloth. Neither one was willing to back down, and that's what led to everything that happened later."
"But enough of that. It's all in the past now." Poco shifted gears, his tone turning kind again. "Come to think of it, you came to see me right after landing, so I'm guessing you haven't been back to the ranch yet. I happen to have some free time, so how about I take you there myself?"
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?" Carl hesitated. Cabo Poco might not be large, but as mayor, Poco likely did not have much free time.
"Now don't be like that, Carl." Poco stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and laughed. "I just finished dealing with the backlog yesterday, so today happens to be open."
As he spoke, Poco pulled Carl up from the sofa in one motion, led him outside, and got into a pickup truck that looked as though it had seen plenty of hard years on the road. Then they drove west out of Cabo Poco.
On the way to the ranch, Carl asked many questions about running one, and Poco answered them all one by one.
To be fair, as the mayor of Cabo Poco, Poco was impressively capable. He not only knew exactly what the surrounding ranches specialized in, but also roughly when each season's crops should be planted, what should be planted, and even the practical details of how planting ought to be done.
Carl listened closely to every word Poco said and quietly committed it all to memory.
This was real, practical knowledge.
As a prospective ranch owner, Carl had already started deliberately studying ranch-related topics the moment he decided to accept his grandfather's property. He understood very well that if a ranch wanted to survive in the long term, everything boiled down to two questions: what are you selling, and who are you selling it to?
During his descent at noon, Carl had already spotted four ranches around Cabo Poco. That meant the local market was probably already saturated. So before the ranch's first harvest ever came in, the first challenge he needed to solve was finding a stable sales channel.
Carl brought up that exact issue with Poco next. He did not think there was anything embarrassing about asking. After all, when useful connections already existed, trying to fumble through everything blind on his own would have been the foolish choice.
"Hahaha, Carl, you came to the right person with that one." Poco tapped a finger lightly against the steering wheel, sounding at ease. "Before you got here, there were already three ranches outside Cabo Poco, and this town can only absorb a small part of their output.
"The rest gets bought up by the agricultural association. As long as the products meet the standards they set, the people in charge of procurement will offer a fairly reasonable price."
As he spoke, Poco recited a phone number for Carl to save.
"Once your ranch has something ready to sell, call this number. It belongs to the person responsible for buying agricultural products around Cabo Poco on behalf of the association. When the time comes, just tell them I sent you. Within Cabo Poco, the title of mayor still carries a little weight."
"Thank you, Grandpa Poco," Carl said sincerely.
"Fwu!"
("Thank you too!")
Flutter Mane, nestled in Carl's arms, gave a cry of its own.
Under normal circumstances, giving out the phone number alone would already have been going above and beyond. But Poco was even letting Carl use his name when contacting the association's representative. That was no small favor.
"It's nothing." Poco's tone carried a trace of remembrance. "I made a lot of mistakes when I was younger. If Bird hadn't pulled me back then, there might never have been a Mayor Poco in Cabo Poco. As long as you run the ranch well, I can consider that my way of repaying what he once did for me."
Carl wanted to say more, but just then Poco stepped on the brake, and the pickup came to a stop in front of a three-story house about three hundred square meters in size, built from red brick and timber.
"We're here."
Poco pushed open the door and hopped out, and only then did Carl fully realize that they had arrived at the destination of this trip, the ranch his grandfather had left for him.
Carl got out with Flutter Mane and followed Poco onto the porch. There, Poco reached into a flowerbed piled with dirt beside the front door, pulled out a brass key, handed it to Carl, and said with a smile,
"You should be the one to open this house."
Under Poco's expectant gaze, Carl accepted the key, unlocked the front door, and stepped inside first.