"Old man, I should get going now."Yozora recalled his Aegislash and bid farewell to the ranch elder.
"Wait a moment, young man. There's still something I need to give you." The old rancher hurried back into the house.
When he came back out, he was holding a strange machine with a long tube attached to it.
"…Is that a milking machine?" Yozora asked, puzzled. He hadn't seen the rancher use one these past two days, but he remembered seeing something similar in the original anime.
"That's right, it's a milking machine," the elder said with a smile. "Just attach it to Mei, and the milk will flow straight into a clean container. Very simple, very convenient."
Yozora thanked him again, gave Komai one last glance, and left the ranch to continue his journey.
For Yozora, trainers like Komai were nothing more than stepping stones. They weren't even worthy of being called rivals, so there was no reason to dwell on them.
One early morning, while traveling toward Fuchsia City, Yozora followed his routine of preparing breakfast for his partners.
He still used the high-quality Miltank milk he carried with him.
As for the milk Mei had just started producing—its quality was still poor, with little nutritional value. Yozora didn't waste it, though. Instead, he shared it with wild Pokémon he met on the road.
Even if Mei was only meant as a support member in his team, Yozora would still train her seriously.
After all, once she grew stronger, the entire team would grow stronger with her.
As a skilled Breeder, Yozora understood well the importance of nutrition.
Pokémon: Miltank
Type: Normal
Abilities: Thick Fat + Huge Power
Level: Junior
Potential: Gym Leader-tier
Moves: Defense Curl, Rollout
Description: A young Miltank that has just come of age. It still needs much more training to become strong.
For now, Yozora had assigned her the Huge Power ability, which upgraded her potential from Senior-tier to Gym Leader-tier.
Huge Power doubles physical attack. The higher the base strength, the greater the effect.
But Mei's base potential was simply too low, her initial strength too weak. Even with Huge Power, the results weren't impressive.
Yozora had expected that assigning Huge Power would boost her potential to Elite-tier. In the end, it was only Gym Leader-tier.
Because of Mei's poor starting point, Yozora had to be extremely careful when choosing her abilities. For now, she would keep Huge Power alongside her natural Thick Fat.
Later, Yozora planned to give her rare abilities like Pure Power, to enhance speed and stamina.
Unfortunately, those were rare abilities, and he didn't have any in stock. For now, that plan was shelved.
Still, Gym Leader-tier wasn't bad at all. If she truly reached that level, the milk she produced would become unbelievably nutritious!
After all, the so-called "high-quality" milk Yozora used daily came from a Senior-tier Miltank.
That elite milk cost 1,000 PokéDollars per serving.
He didn't splurge by giving each partner a whole serving every day. Instead, he used two servings to prepare a rich soup along with other high-grade ingredients. Even so, the monthly milk bill alone reached fifty to sixty thousand PokéDollars.
That was already half his entire monthly food budget.
If he were to splurge and give each Pokémon their own daily serving… food expenses would start at three hundred thousand a month.
Yozora had been poor long enough to know better than to waste like that.
He still had a goal to save for: a Beedrillite to Mega Evolve his Beedrill!
But if Mei could be trained up to Senior-tier quickly, then he could afford to indulge. After all, her milk would be free!
Tens of thousands in free food every month… Just imagining it made him grin.
After breakfast and a half-hour's rest, Yozora had Beedrill and the others spar with each other, while he turned his attention to Mei.
"Moo, moo~!"
Though Miltank and Tauros were often compared as counterparts—like Nidoking and Nidoqueen—the two species were quite different.
Unlike Tauros, which moved on all fours, Miltank stood upright on two legs, like a humanoid.
Right now, Mei was sitting on the ground like a person. When she noticed Yozora watching, she mooed happily.
Miltank were gentle Pokémon by nature. As long as they had food and water, they were always cheerful.
But that very gentleness meant most Miltank disliked battling. Without battling, they couldn't grow stronger. Without strength, they couldn't produce higher-quality milk.
Generation after generation, this cycle continued.
That was why strong Miltank were exceedingly rare.
Forget about Champion-level or Elite Four-level—Gym Leader-level Miltank were already rare enough to be practically legendary.
The milk from a Gym Leader-tier Miltank sold for 10,000 PokéDollars a serving, and demand always far outstripped supply.
"Mei, everyone else is training hard. Don't you want to become stronger too?" Yozora asked gently.
Mei just shook her head with a smile and plucked a small red flower from the grass, offering it to him.
"…"
Yozora took the flower with a wry smile, then carefully tucked it behind her ear. "Mei, don't you want to be as majestic as the Queen back at the ranch?"
Hearing that, Mei stopped picking flowers. She tilted her head thoughtfully, and soon her eyes shone with admiration.
The Queen really was cool…
Whenever bad people came to the ranch, it was always the Queen who fought them off and protected everyone.
Through the faint whisper of Aura, Yozora sensed Mei's heart. His eyes lit up. There was hope after all! He pressed further:
"Mei, you have great potential too. If you train hard and battle well, you can become just as strong as the Queen one day!"
"Moo…?" Mei called out uncertainly. But the Queen had others to protect, a reason to be strong. Who should I protect? My trainer and teammates are already so strong… Heehee, maybe they should protect me instead.
The thought made her chuckle softly.
"Uh…"
"Then protect me," Yozora said quickly, lying down on the grass and pretending to be weak. "As a human, my body is fragile."
Mei stared at him for a long while before finally nodding. Alright, if it's to protect my trainer… then I'm willing to get stronger.
"Good! Then wear this, and train with me."
"Moo!"
Yozora fastened a standard training restraint on Mei, then led her through basic workouts: running, endurance drills, and simple physical exercises.
(End of Chapter)