This spring rain continued until the evening before it finally stopped.
Naoki glanced at the old-fashioned wall clock; it was still over twenty minutes until five o'clock.
After some thought, he decided to take Koraidon out for a bit to see if he could catch some more fish to sell to Zack for household expenses.
The air after the rain was filled with moisture, giving an incredibly damp feeling.
Transparent droplets slowly slid down the veins of grass blades, dropping into the moist and soft soil.
Naoki stood under the eaves, put on rain boots, left Caterpie and Cyclizar to guard the house, and took Koraidon to the riverbank.
The reason for this was because Pokemon couldn't wear shoes, and going out would undoubtedly cover their bodies in muddy dirt. If he took them, he would have to bathe them after returning.
Naoki found it troublesome, so he only took Koraidon along.
The left-behind Cyclizar stood under the eaves, looking this way with longing eyes.
Koraidon glanced back, feeling extremely happy that Naoki only took it out.
Even though that Cyclizar was actually itself.
Naoki had no idea what was on Koraidon's mind, and when they reached the river, he smiled at Koraidon, "It's up to you, Koraidon!"
On rainy days, the air pressure is low, and the oxygen levels in the river decrease, causing fish to come to the shallow waters to breathe. It's often the best time for fishing.
Hearing Naoki's words, Koraidon instantly understood. It confidently patted its chest with its claws, saying, "Ghaa!"
Leave it to me!
With that, Koraidon's expression suddenly became serious. Its aura surged as its strong, crimson body leapt up, with the whiskers on its head turning into wing-like structures, morphing as it savagely struck down.
With a loud "boom," the water surface was blasted open.
The river water was jolted upwards, turning into droplets that splattered down.
Naoki: "..."
Was that move just now Koraidon's exclusive move, Collision Course?
Naoki observed Koraidon's actions and, seeing it revert to battle form and return to the shore, confirmed his guess.
Indeed, it was Collision Course.
In the game, Koraidon's exclusive move was a super powerful move with a power of 100 and accuracy of 100, capable of further increasing its power when hitting a weak spot.
Using Collision Course to fish seemed quite extravagant.
Naoki looked up at the river surface, where fish of various sizes were floating.
These poor fish...
However, Koraidon seemed to have deliberately controlled its strength. Although it looked exaggerated, it didn't actually harm the fish, only stunned them with the residual shockwave.
"Ghaa-ow!"
Having completed Naoki's task, Koraidon looked extremely pleased.
It watched the fish shadows upstream, eager to try again: "Ghaa-ow?"
Although he couldn't understand, Naoki miraculously understood its intention and hurriedly stopped it, "These are enough!"
As a competent rancher, one should consider the long-term and not exhaust resources, ensuring sustainable development.
We must give fish the time to reproduce, right?
Releasing ordinary Fish-type Pokemon like Magikarp and only keeping the regular river fish, they spent over ten minutes catching them all.
The metal bucket was filled to the brim, and looking at it, Naoki felt very pleased.
A bountiful harvest!
Carrying the fish bucket back to the wooden house, Cyclizar was still under the eaves, peering outside.
Seeing Naoki return, its eyes lit up, and it eagerly approached.
That scene reminded Naoki of a big dog waiting for its owner to come home.
"Alright, alright, I'll cook you some grilled fish tonight!" Naoki patted Cyclizar's head and picked a few plump, fresh trout from the bucket.
Just as he was busy, he heard the sound of a truck starting.
Looking up, he saw Zack wearing rain boots, pulling open the car door and jumping down.
"Today's weather is just awful! It rained the whole day, and I just went to several ranches, but there wasn't much to buy, just gathered a few baskets of eggs and a few cans of milk." Zack couldn't help but complain.
With this weather, most ranchers wouldn't venture out. They'd rather stay home, watching TV or chatting with their wife and kids.
"Do you have anything to sell?" Zack asked.
Naoki carried out the bucket of fish he had just caught, "It's easier to catch fish on rainy days."
Zack widened his eyes, "So many?"
Naoki exchanged a knowing smile with Koraidon beside him.
"That's quite unexpected!" Zack categorized the fish, weighed them, and then said, "Altogether, it's 5210 League Coins. You really work hard, don't you! Here!"
He said as he handed over the money.
"Thanks for your work!"
Naoki took the money.
Just then, a light drizzle started falling from the sky again.
Zack glanced up, picked up the metal bucket, and said, "I won't linger, I'm off! Before the rain gets heavier again!"
"Alright."
The truck came and went in a hurry, driving towards Porto Marinada Town with fresh produce.
Naoki took a deep breath and then began washing the mud off Koraidon.
Once clean, Koraidon instinctively shook the water droplets off its body, then happily shifted to speed form, pouncing on Naoki and licking his face.
Naoki was covered in slobber and almost knocked over, feeling speechless, "Why the sudden excitement…"
"Ghaa~"
He draped a blanket over Koraidon, helping it dry off before turning back inside to tuck the day's earnings away in a drawer.
Spring, 198, January 7th.
Income: Fish +5210
Expenses: 0
Remaining funds: 37700
"Just about 10,000 more, and I'll have enough to repair the Pokemon House. Once repaired, I can start breeding Wooloo and Miltank on the ranch… but I don't know the prices of Wooloo and Miltank, so this might not be enough."
"Maybe I should consider building a Chicken House first?"
Naoki fell into thought.
Unlike the Pokemon House, building a Chicken House only costs 20,000 League Coins, and hens are much cheaper compared to Miltank and Wooloo.
Hens lay eggs quickly, with one healthy hen laying one egg per day. The laid eggs can be sold, used to hatch chicks, or kept for making dishes like omelets, steamed eggs, or omelets over rice.
This way, he wouldn't need to buy eggs from outside anymore and could be self-sufficient.
Although eggs are far from Chansey's quality, for him right now, raising Chansey is simply not feasible.
In comparison, raising chickens offers much better cost-effectiveness.
With this thought, Naoki made a decision.
Once the weather clears, he'll commission Keri from the carpentry shop to build a Chicken House and formally start farming.