"Rewards, huh..."
To be honest, Natsu hadn’t really thought about rewards.
Now that the topic was suddenly brought up, he wasn’t quite sure what to ask for.
"I have a reference list here, Natsu. You can take a look."
Noticing Natsu’s hesitation, Shouhei stepped forward and spoke in a gentle tone.
From addressing him as "Mr. Natsu" at the start, to "comrade" before their departure, and now back to "sir"—the change in how Shouhei referred to Natsu reflected his evolving attitude.
In this world, no matter how high your status is or how popular you beco, strength is the only real asure of worth.
Powerful Trainers are the true mainstream, the real superstars of this world.
Idols? Pretty boys? They all have to take a step back when facing a strong Trainer.
You can talk about how inspiring and talented your idol is all you want—but when it cos down to it, that’s just words. Why not prove it in a real battle?
That’s precisely why, even though Natsu gave up on being a traditional Trainer, he never did what so novel protagonists would—releasing all his Pokémon or intentionally keeping up a weak persona.
After all, if you lack strength, you can’t even protect your own farm.
A random passing Pokémon could just waltz in and take advantage.
"Is that so? Then I’ll trouble you for it."
Shouhei’s voice brought Natsu back to reality.
Looking at the middle-aged Ranger before him, who carried a hint of exhaustion on his face, Natsu smiled as he responded.
Those one-of-a-kind, dazzling super Trainers were certainly enviable, but people like Shouhei—silent, unrecognized, yet indispensable—were the true backbone of a nation.
"My personal suggestion would be to pick rewards that can be quickly redeed, like supplies or Pokémon that are already available."
Taking out his phone, Shouhei opened an internal Ranger app and briefly explained how Natsu could exchange his reward points.
Essentially, this whole event was being treated as a mission, aning Natsu was awarded a set amount of points, and specific resources would be unlocked for him.
It might not maximize the benefits, but it was an efficient and acceptable solution for all parties involved.
"Since I don’t know what the higher-ups are planning, this is just for reference."
"I hope it helps, Natsu."
Putting away his phone, Shouhei gave Natsu an apologetic look.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t really part of Shouhei’s job.
He was only assigned to communicate with Natsu because they had spoken before the battle—it was a flimsy connection at best.
His actual task was simply to reach out and show goodwill.
Soone else would officially handle things with Natsu later.
As long as he didn’t screw up, Shouhei was fine.
Yet, he still chose to offer personal advice.
Maybe he saw a younger version of himself in Natsu.
Maybe he was grateful that this young man had resolved a huge crisis, potentially saving countless lives and Pokémon.
Or maybe... he just wanted to cozy up to soone powerful.
Shouhei chuckled at himself. With his personality, clinging to a strong figure seed like the best option.
All those noble justifications? Not really his thing.
"You’ve really helped out."
"Thank you, Ranger."
If it weren’t for Shouhei’s suggestions, Natsu would probably still be stuck overthinking his options.
Most young people nowadays suffer from decision fatigue to so extent—Natsu was no exception.
"If I had to choose..."
As his thoughts flowed, Natsu had already made up his mind.
First, he wanted to expand his farm’s territory.
Thanks to Pokémon, land was not easy to acquire in this world.
Whether for farms or city expansion, reckless developnt had historically led to too many Pokémon-related incidents.
Laws and regulations had long been established to prevent such issues.
Second, Natsu wanted Pokémon that were hard to co by.
Pokémon like Indeedee, Audino, and Blissey.
The latter two were the designated assistants for Pokémon Center dical staff, making them almost impossible to find in the wild.
As for Indeedee, there were no known wild populations in Jadeleaf, making it an exceptionally rare Pokémon.
Lastly, he needed so official certifications.
Nowadays, everything required proper docuntation, and so procedures were quite tedious.
Although Natsu already t the conditions, he hadn’t received the official paperwork yet.
Might as well take this chance to get everything sorted at once.
Those were his three requests.
It might seem like a lot, but considering his strength and his role in defeating a Legendary Pokémon, this was far from excessive.
If he were truly greedy, he could demand far more and walk away with an imnse fortune.
But so what?
It would take ti and effort and might leave a bad impression.
This wasn’t so one-ti deal where he’d never have to interact with these people again.
There was no need for that kind of hassle.
Getting the short end of the stick isn’t always a blessing, but being overly calculative is definitely not.
Natsu disliked endless back-and-forth negotiations.
It was tedious and a waste of ti.
If he had to deal with that, he’d rather just pretend Ting-Lu broke out of its Poké Ball and have another round of battle.
Wouldn’t that be much simpler?
"I’ll go back and report this. You can return to your farm and rest for now."
"Soone will officially reach out to you before dinner."
After taking a few notes and exchanging contact information with Natsu, Shouhei inford him of the next steps.
As ntioned before, the mont Natsu battled Ting-Lu, his records had already been pulled up.
Right now, he was sowhat of a rising na.
The high-quality berries and Pokéblocks from his farm—far superior to the ones on the market—had already caught the attention of certain individuals.
Whether sales would increase was uncertain, but at the very least, he might avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble.
The classic "urban protagonist face-slapping" scenario Natsu had envisioned?
Yeah, that probably wasn’t happening to him.
A bit of a sha, really.
"Alright. See you."
"See you, Natsu."
Standing on Pidgeot’s back, Shouhei smiled.
Another day of being a background character in soone else’s story.
So people were born to shine, destined to be the center of attention.
And people like him?
They were the crowd.
The common folk, the stepping stones for the strong, the naless challengers who lost before even making a na for themselves.
But they were also the pillars of their families.
Despite his complicated emotions, Shouhei harbored no resentnt.
Once you have a family, your sharp edges naturally get worn down.
In his younger days, he might have felt dissatisfied.
But now?
"...The reward for this mission should be decent, right?"
Shouhei was already considering getting his son’s first Pokémon.
anwhile, after bidding farewell to Shouhei, Natsu climbed onto Corviknight’s back.
Compared to Pidgeot, Corviknight was much larger and far more comfortable to ride.
After all, it was known as the "airborne taxi" of the Pokémon world.
Of course, when it ca to pure speed, Corviknight couldn’t compete with Pidgeot.
If Corviknight was an airbus, Pidgeot was a high-speed motorcycle.
Comfort aside, speed and thrill were maxed out.
In every sense of the word.
"Caw-caw!"
Are we heading back to the farm now?
Spreading its razor-sharp wings, Corviknight glanced at Natsu.
There was one ti when it had flown in the wrong direction, making Natsu return ho late and miss dinner.
It had nearly gotten beaten up by the hungry Pokémon back at the farm.
Since then, Corviknight always double-checked the destination before taking off.
"Hmm, let’s go ho."
Ruffling Corviknight’s head absentmindedly, Natsu’s tone carried a hint of sothing indescribable.
At this mont, he seed to suddenly understand what "ho" truly ant.
Ho was never just a place to live, nor a specific house.
Ho was wherever one felt at ease, where the things that mattered were.
A place where one could sleep peacefully.
"Caw caw!"
Alright! Crow Airlines, taking off!
With a powerful flap of its wings, Corviknight shot into the vast blue sky.
Just ten minutes ago, this sa sky had been shrouded in sandstorms and blizzards.
But now, it had returned to its usual state.
Clear, and serene.
Natsu tilted his head back, gazing at the endless sky, his thoughts drifting far away.
He thought of Rayquaza, guardian of the Sky Pillar, and of Zygarde, the deity of balance.
When he finally ca back to his senses, he lowered his head, looking down at the battlefield below.
Caught in the midst of the fight, the sheer force of it had felt overwhelming.
Every move in a battle between Pokémon could bring about massive devastation.
But from up here, from this vantage point, it all seed... so insignificant.
The traces of that fierce battle—when viewed from the sky—were nothing more than faint marks on the land.
His fleeting sense of grandeur quickly faded.
No, he still had a long way to go.
He was far from reaching the point where he could do as he pleased, without constraint.
Today’s battle, in more ways than one, had changed Natsu’s perspective.
"Caw caw!"
Natsu, we’re ho.
Lost in thought, Natsu barely noticed when Corviknight carried him back to the farm.
Before they had even landed, he could see a crowd of Pokémon gathered at the farm’s entrance, waiting for him.
"Lopuu!"
The mont Lopunny spotted Natsu on Corviknight’s back, its expression visibly shifted—growing excited and relieved all at once.
Ever since hearing that Natsu was going to fight a Legendary Pokémon, Lopunny’s heart had been in turmoil.
The constant fear of bad news kept it on edge.
It trusted Natsu, of course—but to an ordinary Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon were nothing short of untouchable myths.
They represented absolute power—beings beyond the reach of most Pokémon in their lifeti.
But all that worry lted away the mont it saw him.
"Lopuu!"
As soon as Natsu touched the ground, Lopunny bolted forward and threw itself into his arms.
With both arms wrapped tightly around him, it rubbed against him with the enthusiasm of a cat high on catnip.
"Cinoo!"
"Lili!"
One after another, the Pokémon from the farm rushed forward, swarming him like a hero returning from war.
To the Pokémon living here, Natsu was unquestionably their hero.
He was the one who provided them with food and shelter.
And today, he had gone out to defeat a terrible enemy that had threatened their ho.
They didn’t quite understand what a Legendary Pokémon was.
All they knew was that Natsu had protected them.
"Alright, alright, everyone, let breathe a little."
Surrounded by a sea of fluffy bodies, Natsu struggled to reach out, hoping Corviknight would give him a hand.
Unfortunately, Corviknight either didn’t understand what he ant...
Or perhaps it did understand, but simply couldn't help.
After all, Corviknight was just a bird. It didn’t have hands to pull him out.
Thud!
Several crisp sounds echoed as Persian and the others erged from their Poké Balls.
Natsu’s Poké Balls had long since been modified to remove their locking chanisms.
This ant that his Pokémon could co out on their own, whenever they chose.
In many situations, this allowed them to react quickly and assist their Trainer.
Persian stepped onto the ground, lazily licking its paw, completely ignoring the pleading look in Natsu’s eyes.
Slowking, on the other hand, removed the "crown" from its head and began rummaging through sothing.
For a mont, Natsu had the strange impression that, without the Shellder attached to its head, Slowking’s intelligence had regressed to its pre-evolution state.
Ogerpon wanted to help, but its tiny body wasn’t exactly suited for the task.
In the end, it was Gardevoir who reached out and pulled Natsu free.
As for Gallade?
That guy was still sulking, having spiraled into self-imposed isolation after losing control of his emotions during the battle.
It would probably take him so ti to recover.
"Saved at last."
"Thanks a ton, Gardevoir."
Natsu patted his chest, exhaling in relief. He had almost drowned in an ocean of fluff.
Sure, fluff was cute—but that was not how he wanted to go out.
"You worked hard, Natsu."
Standing off to the side, i finally spoke up.
The atmosphere just now had felt so... intimate. She wasn’t sure if she would’ve been intruding by saying sothing earlier.
So, she had kept silent.
"I wasn’t the one who worked hard. It was mostly Persian and the others."
Straightening out his clothes, Natsu glanced at Persian, who was already sprawled out on the ground, basking in the sun.
He honestly didn’t feel like he had done much.
At the end of the day, his role was simply planning strategies and providing support.
The ones who had truly worked hard were Persian and the others—the ones who had faced the battle head-on.
"As a reward for everyone’s efforts, let’s have a barbecue party tonight."
Natsu really couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate.
A barbecue was one of the few things he knew that could liven up the mood and bring everyone together for a fun ti.
"Lopuu!"
"Yadon~"
"Uma-uma!"
As night began to fall, the person Shouhei had ntioned—the one coming to et with Natsu—finally arrived at the farm.
Reviews
All reviews (0)