Night fell, and the room was brightly lit.
Naoki sat at his desk, listening to the harmonious bug buzz coming from outside, and began writing down the recipe and process for [Green Grass Cake] in his cookbook.
Koraidon, Cyclizar, Alcremie, and Dragonite had all gone out to play.
After the onset of summer, if the weather was clear, one could see a large number of fireflies by the river every day.
Complemented by the bright moonlight, the beautiful starry sky, and the expansive meadows, it was like a natural pastoral scene akin to a painting.
And a group of Pokémon also became part of this painting, playing and living freely and carefree within it.
Naoki, however, did not go out to play with them.
Because there was still something at home waiting for him to handle.
Looking at the roughly drawn map of the ranch from the day, Naoki fell into contemplation.
"The facilities in the ranch are still incomplete. There’s a Chicken House, Pokemon House, and Salt House, but some ranch facilities are yet to be built."
"A grain barn for storing grain, a watermill to grind wheat into flour, a greenhouse for year-round planting, and a stable could also be prepared in advance."
Looking at this map, Naoki marked the facilities that had already been built and, according to his ideas, made a simple plan for those that hadn’t been constructed yet.
"The watermill can be built in front of the Chicken House. There’s a river there, just perfect for using the water’s force to turn the mill’s wheel."
"The barn... can be built next to the Pokemon House, and the stable could be beside the sheep pen."
As for the greenhouse, Naoki plans to build it next to the farmland.
He quickly sketched the approximate locations of these facilities on the map.
This way, there would still be a large open area in the ranch left unused.
Naoki’s gaze turned to the west side of the ranch, where there was a vast meadow.
He drew a circle on it with his pen and thought, "This area can be set aside to plant fruit trees and turned into an orchard."
Just like the many cherry trees in the Elif Cherry Garden, if they can’t finish all the fruits, they could share them with the wild Pokémon, like Teddiursa, living in the back mountains.
Besides that, the farming area needs to expand its planting scale again.
But first, he needs to capture one or more Pokémon who can use the "Dig" move.
With that Pokémon digging, he sowing and fertilizing, Dragonite watering, Gogoat assisting the crop growth, and then harvesting together.
This would make things much easier; otherwise, he really couldn’t manage it alone.
So, the matter of paving the red brick paths isn’t so urgent.
It’s better to wait until all facilities are completed before planning specifically.
Next, Naoki leaned against the back of his chair, thinking about the recent happenings in the ranch.
After Nacli evolved into Naclstack, their size and weight massively increased.
Right now, having only one is okay, but if the other four all evolve, the current Salt House would seem a bit cramped.
About this, Naoki has two solutions in mind.
First, expand the Salt House.
Second, let them use Dig to improve the depth of the Salt House, creating a cave for Naclstack and Garganacl to live in.
However, Naclstack doesn’t know how to Dig yet, so this plan has to be put off for now.
Next is the matter of Glaceon.
Cream Smoothie can help it grow stronger, but there hasn’t been much effect yet because Glaceon doesn’t eat Cream Smoothie very frequently, unlike Gogoat, who treats them as meals.
Apart from these, there is also his earlier conception regarding the Grass Trial.
In the first stage of the Grass Trial, one must battle a Gogoat.
The second stage, battle against two Gogoats simultaneously.
And the third stage requires facing the joint attack of three Gogoats.
Thinking of this, Naoki turned his gaze back to the ranch map, looking at the unused vacant land under the Gogoat pen, and drew a simple battle area with his pen.
"Here, a battle arena can be specially constructed for fighting."
So the next morning, Naoki got busy.
He used a mower to cut all the grass on that piece of land, leaving a rectangular blank space.
To test the size of the battle arena, Naoki had Koraidon and Cyclizar stand at each end.
Naoki observed for a moment and mused, "A bit too small."
Worried that Pokémon couldn’t fully utilize their skills, he expanded the battle area by another round.
Once satisfied, he nodded in contentment, then had Koraidon use Flamethrower to dry the soil and finally grabbed a bucket of white paint from the storeroom to mark the lines and edges on the ground.
Soon, a battle arena much like those in anime was completed.
Naoki dusted off his hands, carried the paint bucket back to the storeroom.
Next, it’s about waiting for the challengers to come.
However, there was still one problem.
Simple practice might not be very appealing to some Trainers.
Naoki fell into contemplation again.
What if prizes are set up for it?
As for the types of prizes, Naoki hadn’t thought it through yet.
After all, there are three stages in the Grass Trial. It’s impossible for anyone to pass all stages in a short time. When someone manages to pass, they can deal with it then; no need to rush now.