Pokemon: Farm Story-Chapter 172 – Challenger: Is This Some Kind of Nightmare?

But it's true.

No one knows where the second Rayquaza came from.

But everyone knows that if you dare lay a hand on any of them—even a juvenile Rayquaza—you'll have an entire swarm descending on you in no time.

That's the power of unity (strike that).

"Pidgeot, don't get too close."

Patting the bird he was riding, the ranger covered his nose and mouth and muttered under his breath.

Even from this distance, he could feel how hard it was to breathe.

There were no visible flames, but the waves of heat rolling out from ahead were suffocating.

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Even covering his face didn't help much.

It felt like he could pass out any second.

One could easily imagine how the wild Pokémon in the forest were faring.

Actually—was there even anything left in this forest?

After a moment of silence, the ranger pulled a hummingbird-shaped drone from the backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Rotom Unit 1333, reporting for duty!"

A silly grinning face popped up on the remote's screen, accompanied by an exaggerated, cartoonish voice.

"Cut the crap. Get in there and check it out."

The ranger gave the controller a quick shake and said flatly.

Sensing that the ranger wasn't in the mood, Rotom wisely dropped the act and focused on piloting the drone.

Times are changing—and so is the equipment of forest rangers.

Lately, all sorts of robots had been integrated into their operations, assisting in everything from reconnaissance to rescue.

And so far? They'd been a huge help.

A serious load off their shoulders.

Bzzzz—

The rather unsustainable-looking drone flapped its wings rapidly and, after a short charge-up, darted into the forest.

Its speed could easily rival that of many Pokémon.

"Just as I thought. Nothing left."

The feed from the drone confirmed what the ranger had already suspected. Still, it made his heart sink.

He felt sorrow—not just for the forest, but for the Pokémon who'd been forced to flee their home... or worse, died on their own land.

Back when he first became a ranger, he didn't really care about stuff like "the environment" or "Pokémon safety."

To him, it was just a job—one that kept food on the table.

Decent pay, good benefits, respectable position, solid access to resources.

He was more than willing to put in the effort to enjoy those perks.

But as time passed...

He realized he might have genuinely come to care about all this.

The coworkers he used to bicker with every day. The forests that all looked the same. Even the weak little roadside Pokémon he would've ignored back when he was a Trainer.

Somehow, they all started to feel... alive.

He couldn't say he loved the job, but at least he liked it.

And seeing someone wreck the forest? That pissed him off now.

Was that progress?

Perhaps.

But now, right before his eyes, was a forest on the brink of death.

Angry?

Maybe.

But the ranger calmly documented everything he saw and submitted his report.

An objective report.

Personal bias could lead to misjudgments from the higher-ups.

So, he had to stay calm.

"All right, come on back for now."

The operator's voice came through his earpiece.

The ranger nodded without hesitation and tapped Pidgeot's neck, signaling it to turn back.

This wasn't the time to make a fuss.

Throwing a tantrum at the operator or charging in on his own would only cause more problems.

With a small sigh, the ranger quietly packed up his gear.

This stuff was government-issued. Not his own.

If he broke anything, the logistics guy would chew him out from the front door to the director's office.

Just the thought of that scene made his scalp tingle.

"Leader Natsume of the Sunnyhill Gym has been briefed and said he'll be arriving soon."

Maybe the operator sensed his mood, so they added a little extra.

"Got it. Understood."

The ranger nodded, relief flooding his heart.

If he remembered right, Natsume was the one who defeated Ting-Lu.

He had the strength to take down that ancient deer—and then went on to capture several other Legendary Pokémon afterward.

If he's coming, then this mess might actually get sorted out.

Glancing back at the scorched forest, the anxiety and tension he'd carried on arrival finally began to fade.

The next time he came here, he'd either be leading the way for Gym Leader Natsume—just a quick "Sir, this way," and his job would be done—

—or part of the cleanup crew sweeping the battlefield after he'd dealt with everything.

It didn't really sound like something a ranger was supposed to do.

But he didn't mind.

He wasn't aiming for promotion, didn't care about merit or prestige.

As long as the problem got solved, that was enough for him.

—

Elsewhere, Natsume was watching the information relayed from the ranger's side.

"Mmm... So it really couldn't be avoided, huh."

He scratched his head, visibly troubled.

He'd only wanted to live a quiet life running a farm—how had things spiraled into this?

First Ting-Lu came charging at his farm.

Then the ancient fish sealed not far from his land was about to break loose.

What's next?

Was he supposed to challenge Arceus or something?

Or maybe travel across dimensions and become some multiverse destroyer?

Ugh. Maybe fate was just this ridiculous.

Sighing, Natsume reached out and vigorously rubbed Mew's head.

Still as soft and nice to touch as ever.

Feeling satisfied, his mood improved.

Mew's mood, however, plummeted.

It stared at the failed screen of its tower-climbing mobile game—thanks to Natsume's manhandling.

YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO REACH THIS LEVEL?!

Now it had to start over from scratch!

Enraged, Mew sprang up and unleashed a barrage of wild punches at Natsume.

'Damn you, Natsume! You'll pay for this!'

'Witness my Mew-style boxing technique!'

After a flurry of self-invented, turtle-fist strikes, Mew inflicted untold damage on Natsume—

—by wrinkling his jacket.

Aside from that, zero damage.

"Okay, okay, I'll make it up to you later."

"Go play for now."

Natsume grabbed Mew and tossed it like a cat.

And like any feline, it landed perfectly fine.

Well, actually—Mew floated midair.

No need to worry about it falling.

Hearing Natsume's promise, Mew happily floated off.

Natsume was generous—when he said "I'll make it up to you," he meant it.

Never stingy.

So whenever he mentioned "compensation," Mew always accepted immediately.

At most, it would haggle a little.

"Chi-Yu, huh..."

Natsume rubbed his temples, trying to recall what he remembered about this disaster beast.

He vaguely remembered paying extra attention to it—mainly because, among the four disaster Pokémon, it was actually kind of cute.

So the impression stuck.

Chi-Yu was a Dark- and Fire-type Legendary Pokémon, one of the Treasures of Ruin.

Legend says it was born from a collection of jealous emotions that gathered within ancient jade magatama—becoming a Pokémon when those emotions fused with fire.

It can control flames at 3000°C. It melts rock and gravel into seas of lava, where it swims around leisurely.

The Pokédex entry is obviously absurd. Best taken with a grain of salt.

Chi-Yu's Ability is Beads of Ruin, which lowers the Special Defense of all other Pokémon on the field.

Its base stats boast high Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.

Especially that Special Attack—135 base stat. Just looking at the numbers, you know this thing hits like a truck.

Its Defense and Attack, though, are only average.

"So for this battle, I need Pokémon that excel in physical offense and special defense."

"And they'll need speed too, or they won't be able to keep up with that thing."

"Persian, and the shiny Furret—I'll bring them along first."

"Who else..."

Natsume fell into thought. Corviknight was fine as a flying mount.

But in this case, it wasn't exactly the best fit for the job.

Strictly speaking, the same could be said for the shiny Furret and Mew.

But their sheer power made up for it.

Not the best match for the job, but overqualified regardless.

Next—Gardevoir and Gallade.

Gardevoir would be there primarily for utility.

It could Teleport and whisk Natsume out of danger in an instant.

And with its arsenal of support moves, it could assist allies in various ways.

Under Mew's tutelage, Gardevoir had mastered most of the moves it could possibly learn.

Things like Helping Hand, Skill Swap, Trick Room—just the kind of toolkit you'd want for messing with your opponent.

As for Gallade?

Same as always.

High physical attack, strong mobility.

Even a single surprise hit would be enough to give Chi-Yu a hard time.

And speaking of Chi-Yu—its old nemesis, Ting-Lu, was a must-have.

"And I'll bring Ogerpon too."

After a long round of deliberation, Natsume ended up assembling a team not too different from the one he used against Ting-Lu before.

The main changes: Corviknight was swapped out for Ting-Lu, and Slowking had been replaced by Ogerpon.

While Slowking had excellent special defense, Natsume wasn't planning to send it out as a tank.

It'd never been trained for that. It had always functioned as a cannon.

No helping it—its Psychic-type potential was just too overwhelming.

Besides, someone needed to stay back and keep the farm under control.

And Natsume knew all too well—once he left, the Pokémon at the farm were anything but well-behaved.

There'd even been Pokémon tattling to him before—reporting that while he was gone, a bunch of Furret and Wooloo had gotten into a full-on brawl.

Why? Apparently, they'd always had it out for each other and just waited for Natsume, the boss, to leave so they could settle things once and for all.

Of course, that was probably an exaggeration.

Thanks to Slowking's suppression, no one actually got seriously hurt.

Just a few bruised and swollen Pokémon getting dragged away by Chansey, who'd grabbed them by the feet.

Didn't end too well for those guys.

But hey, after a proper lecture from Chansey, they all turned into pacifists for a long while.

"Mew?"

You want me to go?

Sprawled lazily across the armrest of the sofa, Mew asked in a drawling voice.

When it came to Chi-Yu, Mew's attitude hadn't changed.

Didn't really care.

Same difference as Ting-Lu—as far as Mew was concerned, it could smack that thing down with one paw.

Refine it in an instant!

Imagining the dramatic scene of itself striking down Chi-Yu in all its glory, Mew giggled softly into its paw.

This cat's still got it, huh?

"No need. Mew, you're on house duty."

And just like that, Natsume's words mercilessly shattered Mew's little fantasy.

Mew's eyes went wide.

Are you joking right now?!

"This time, I'm thinking of bringing Manaphy. It's part of the farm too—it's only fair it helps out once in a while."

As he scratched the top of the pink cat's head, Natsume gently tried to soothe its wounded pride.

Listening to the explanation, Mew got the picture.

That lazy Manaphy might've joined the farm, sure, always stuffing its face and even leaving the kid with Natsume to raise.

But let's be real—it barely did a thing to help out.

Even the Rain Dance was usually Slowking's doing.

That thing was a textbook freeloader.

Getting it to do something for once was probably for the best.

When he put it that way, Mew had no objections at all.

Absolutely right!

Lazy slackers like that should be worked to the bone!

Mew waved its tiny fists with righteous indignation.

"Well, I'll leave the gym to you while I'm gone."

"And this afternoon too—tonight I need to brief Persian and the others."

Lifting Mew up by the armpits like a toddler, Natsume cooed as if comforting a child.

"Mew!"

Thumping its little chest with pride, Mew declared, "Leave it to me!"

Then it tossed Natsume's hand aside and zipped off to find Slowking.

There was something it'd been wanting to try for ages!

Now that Natsume had officially given it permission to fill in as gym leader—it was time to give it a shot.

So when that afternoon's challenger stepped onto the battlefield...

"Uh, ref?"

"...Yes, challenger?"

"Isn't there some kind of mistake here?"

"...Nope."

After a long, awkward silence, the referee finally muttered those words into his palm, covering his face.

Before the challenger's eyes was a scene that defied description.

A Slowpoke was sprawled out on the command platform...

...giving orders to a Slowking in battle.

A Slowpoke commanding a Slowking.

Why am I having a nightmare like this?

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