Footprints.
A set of unfamiliar footprints.
They were imprinted on the fence, so faint that they were almost impossible to notice without careful inspection.
They were clover-shaped, with a distinct paw pad in the center.
"A feline Pokémon?"
Only feline Pokémon leave paw prints with a clear central pad. That was easy to recognize.
Hayato Sora recalled a conversation he'd had with another ranch owner a few days ago, and his expression changed.
If he remembered correctly, there were very few cat-like Pokémon active on Route 12.
He had already seen the footprints of Pyroar and Litleo, and these were completely different.
Which meant there was only one possibility.
The Meowth food thief—a group of Meowth responsible for several thefts, currently wanted by Officer Jenny, and recently rumored to be wandering around Route 12.
Judging from the back-and-forth footprints on the fence, the Meowth thieves had already visited the ranch.
But strangely, the ranch's food supplies didn't seem to be missing.
Had they turned over a new leaf?
What Hayato Sora didn't know was that ever since the gray Meowth had accidentally been spotted by Cyclizar that night, they hadn't dared approach the ranch again.
Instead, they targeted other ranch owners.
But as their crimes escalated, ranchers had been alerted in advance.
With preparations made, the Meowth gang failed again and again.
Left with no choice, they eventually returned near the ranch where they had first failed.
Their plan was simple.
Wait until nightfall.
Sneak in.
Grab some food to fill their stomachs.
And leave immediately without causing trouble.
Meanwhile, after discovering the Meowth footprints, Hayato Sora grew cautious.
After observing them for a while, he came to a conclusion.
The Meowth thieves were extremely cautious.
Catching them would be difficult.
And since they had already failed once, there was no guarantee they would even return.
After thinking for a moment, Hayato Sora made a decision.
For the next few days, he would assign an extra Pokémon to stand night watch.
Starting today.
That way, if the Meowth thieves came again, they wouldn't succeed.
He patted Riolu on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Riolu. You spotted this potential danger early."
"Riolu~"
The quiet Riolu nodded and walked over to a tree stump in the corner.
Then it began punching it repeatedly.
Compared to playing hide-and-seek, Riolu preferred training to grow stronger.
It refused to waste time.
It wanted to master the power of Aura as quickly as possible.
Seeing this, Hayato Sora went back to the house and brought out a cup of iced herbal tea, placing it in the shade nearby.
After letting Riolu know it was there, Hayato Sora quietly left so he wouldn't disturb the training.
Elsewhere, Korrina had already started the second round of hide-and-seek with the Pokémon.
After asking Korrina to tell everyone that there was chilled herbal tea in the fridge, Hayato Sora returned to the house and turned on the air conditioner.
He stretched comfortably across the sofa and watched TV.
Life felt incredibly relaxing.
It would be even better if he could hold Cinccino in his arms.
Just as the thought crossed his mind—
Speak of the devil.
Cinccino came rushing into the room, riding on Noibat's back, and hurried to Hayato Sora's side.
Hayato Sora caught the jumping Cinccino.
"What's wrong?"
Cinccino gestured wildly with its hands and feet while Noibat added explanations beside it.
After watching their performance, Hayato Sora roughly understood.
"You're saying a very ugly fish got stranded on the beach, and you carried it back and put it in the lake?"
"Chi!"
Cinccino nodded vigorously.
And the strange fish had brought along a weird egg.
"A very ugly fish…"
Hayato Sora thought for a moment.
"Could it be Feebas?"
If it really was Feebas, that would be a huge gain.
After all, who wouldn't want the incredibly beautiful Milotic?
With Noibat leading the way, Hayato Sora turned off the TV.
He placed Cinccino on his shoulder and followed the two Pokémon to the ranch lake.
Korrina, Serena, Kangaskhan, and the others were already gathered around the shore, watching curiously.
Korrina even tried to jump into the water to catch it, but Kangaskhan grabbed her and lifted her away before she could do anything dangerous.
As Hayato Sora approached, Cyclizar happily ran over and rubbed against him.
While stroking Cyclizar, Hayato Sora looked toward the Pokémon hiding in the center of the lake.
From a distance, its scales looked almost like stone, with strange patterns covering its body.
It looked like a fish carved from rock.
But Hayato Sora immediately recognized it.
A Pokémon once believed to be extinct.
The Longevity Pokémon—Relicanth.
It had remained unchanged for 100 million years.
If he remembered correctly, Relicanth usually lived in the deep sea.
So how had it ended up washed onto the beach?
Just then—
A pink figure swam upstream through the creek that connected the ranch lake to the sea.
Looking closely—
It was Veluza.
An egg?
Veluza locked onto the strange egg that Relicanth was carrying and swam closer.
The two fish Pokémon began communicating.
After a short discussion, they seemed to reach a decision.
Together, they brought the egg closer.
Then—
The strange egg floated gently across the water toward Hayato Sora.
And landed right in his arms.
Hayato Sora stood there completely stunned.
He had somehow obtained a Pokémon Egg without understanding how.
"Ah!"
"So this egg is the gift from the Prince of the Sea?"
Relicanth: "Bloop bloop~"
The somewhat slow-looking Relicanth nodded, splashing water everywhere.
That was probably… maybe… the case.
After all, Relicanth had traveled for a very long time.
Its brain wasn't exactly the sharpest, and it couldn't remember many details.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken over two months to deliver the egg.
Hayato Sora looked at the rather clueless Relicanth and wondered why the Prince of the Sea had chosen it as the messenger.
Then again…
Perhaps there were no other Pokémon left in the deep sea willing to take the job.
What else could they do?
Ask Kyogre?
Holding the Pokémon Egg—very likely containing Manaphy—Hayato Sora asked another important question.
"So how do I deliver the Coconut Milk Soup to the Prince of the Sea?"
Since this was a gift exchange, he needed to return the favor.
He looked around.
Relicanth clearly wasn't capable of delivering it.
Relicanth: "Bloop!"
(I don't know either. The prince only told me to deliver the egg.)
Hearing this, Hayato Sora suddenly had a bold thought.
Could it be that he was supposed to hatch the egg first, and then bring the newborn Pokémon to meet the Prince of the Sea along with the Coconut Milk Soup?
The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
Which meant—
He had basically become a babysitter.
He strongly suspected that Manaphy simply didn't want to raise the child itself, so it used the Coconut Milk Soup as an excuse to find a caretaker.
Thinking about it this way made Hayato Sora feel slightly cheated.
But that feeling quickly disappeared.
He wasn't losing out at all.
Even if the egg hatched into Phione, it was still a Mythical Pokémon.
Getting a Mythical Pokémon for free—what was there to complain about?
After figuring that out, Hayato Sora happily accepted the gift.
Since Relicanth and Veluza had been drawn here by the call of the Prince of the Sea, they naturally stayed at the ranch.
To celebrate the arrival of new companions, Hayato Sora decided to prepare a grand feast.
That evening, he carried dish after dish to the lakeside.
Relicanth wasn't interested in the food.
It only ate plankton and tiny aquatic organisms.
Veluza, being a disciplined ascetic of the ocean, tasted a few dishes and stopped eating.
Meanwhile, the other Pokémon happily feasted.
Not far from the ranch—
In a small forest.
Three Meowth of different colors swallowed their saliva in unison as their stomachs growled loudly.
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789
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