On March 24, 199 of the Alliance dar, the day before the horse rag petition, stru on the ranch was finally pleted.

  The ranch's boundaries had beely expanded, enclosed by freshly built wooden fehat gleamed uhe sunlight. This new addition was now officially part of the ranch, marking a signifit milestone for Naoki.

  A river ran through the raneatly dividing it into two distinct areas. A solid stone bridge now spahe river, eg the two sides and serving as a funal and sic addition to the ndscape.

  The Psyducks, who normally resided on the far side of the river, were fasated by the new bridge. They waddled across it with their usual dazed expressions, clutg their heads with their stubby wings.

  One particurly curious Psyduck trotted across the bridge on its webbed feet. It paused at the other side, seemingly amazed that it had crossed the river without getti.

  "Quack!" it cried in delight, then scurried back across the bridge to test its newfound discovery.

  The Psyduck repeated the a, running across the bridge, then jumping into the river to wade back to the other side. Its antics quickly caught the attention of the other Psyducks, who eagerly joined in, treating the bridge as their test toy.

  Naoki, iing the new nd with Alder, paused and rubbed his temples when he saw the Psyducks' antics.

  "Hahaha!" Alder ughed heartily. "These Psyducks are hirious!"

  Naoki could only sigh, though a faint smile tugged at his lips.

  The two tiheir patrol, eventually reag a grassy slope. Alder looked around, admiring the picturesque view. Overhead, a vast expanse of blue sky stretched endlessly, while the grassnd below swayed rhythmically in the breeze, like a rolling green o.

  Naoki studied the slope thoughtfully. He decided it would be perfect for raising Wooloo, a Pokémon known for its love of rolling around. The gentle ine would let them roll to their hearts' tent.

  The town's ranch did sell Wooloo, so he made a mental o purchase some ter. However, raising a Pokémon like Tropius would be more challenging. Tropius weren't avaible for sale in town because they weren't sidered profitable for ranchers. Their bananas only ripewice a year, making them a slow-yield iment.

  If Naoki wanted a Tropius, he would o find one in the wild and tame it himself. That task, however, would have to wait until after the horse rag petition and his uping trip to the Union.

  Iernoon, Naoki began special riding training to prepare for the horse rag petition. Upon hearing about the pn, Calyrex graciously offered its beloved steeds for Naoki's use.

  Both Gstrier and Spectrier stepped forward, standing proudly before Naoki. They showed no signs of resistarusting Naoki implicitly. After all, Calyrex itself respected him, and Koraidon—a symbol of strength—was always lounging around the ranch. Their acceptance of him was natural.

  Naoki gently patted both Pokémon on their heads. "Who wants to e with me to the petition? To race against other horse Pokémon and prove themselves as the stro horse Pokémon in the world?"

  Spectrier remained calm, its expression unreadable, while Gstrier's icy gaze sharpened. It snorted forcefully, clearly offe the implication that it o prove its strength.

  "The stro horse Pokémon?" Gstrier huffed internally. "I already am the stro. Who even doubts that?"

  Memories of galloping across the Tundra's snowfields fshed through its mind. Those who dared to challe back then hadn't even been bor.

  "G—hiss!" Gstrier neighed, its breath chilling the air.

  Naoki chuckled. "I know you're powerful, but others don't know that yet. If you join the rad win, everyone will witness your strength. They'll see you as the most powerful horse Pokémon in the world."

  Gstrier's imagination took flight. It pictured itself standing on a podium as a crowd of humans cheered its name. People would look at it with awe, ting, "The stro King Steed! You're amazing!" They would even build a shrine in its honor.

  The mental image was too much fstrier to resist.

  "Neighh!" it neighed, stamping its hooves excitedly.

  Naoki grinned. "Then it's decided. Gstrier, we'll win this race together."

  Gstrier nodded vigorously, clearly pleased with its decision.

  However, at that moment, Spectrier grew visibly displeased.

  It turo gre at the Gstrier, its aura fring up in protest:

  "Neighhhh!"

  The Gstrier turned sharply, returning the gre. 'What's the problem now?'

  Spectrier, glowing faintly with ahereal light, stomped a hoof a out another challenging cry. It clearly believed this opportunity should belong to it instead.

  Not oo back down, Gstrier retaliated, its icy power surging in response. A chill spread across the stable, and frost formed on the walls and floor at an arming rate.

  Alder, watg from nearby, grew visibly ed. He leaoward Naoki and whispered, "Your two horses look like they're about to go at it!"

  Naoki sighed deeply, feeling a headache creeping in.

  The esg tensioweewo Pokémon alpable, and Naoki quickly intervened. "Stop it, both of you!"

  But the two Pokémooo locked in their standoff to heed his words.

  Naoki crossed his arms and raised his voice. "If you keep this up, there'll be no carrots for either of you week!"

  That got their attention. Both Pokémon immediately broke eye tact, their fiery and frosty gres dissipating. However, they now turheir intense gazes toward Naoki, their expressions clearly asking one question: 'Who are you going to choose?'

  Naoki sighed again. The horse rag tour allowed only one partit per trainer. He mulled over a solution before finally speaking. "How about this? We'll draw lots to decide. Whoever doesn't go this year go year. Fair enough?"

  The two Pokémoated, but eventually nodded iant agreement.

  Seeing their acceptanaoki went inside arieved two identical white bowls. Into one, he pced a pink Pecha Berry. Into the other, an Oran Berry. Then he carefully turned both bowls upside down and brought them out to the stables.

  "Here's how it works," Naoki expined. "The Pokemon that picks the bowl with the Pecha Berry will get to pete this year. The oh the Oran Berry will go year. No pints, alright?"

  Both Pokémon stared ily at the identical bowls, their rge eyes filled with suspi aatioher wao make the first move, fearful of choosing incorrectly.

  After what felt like ay, Spectrier finally stepped forward. It hesitated briefly befently tapping its hoof on the bowl to the right.

  Gstrier immediately snorted in protest, stomping forward to nudge Spectrier aside. It wahat same bowl!

  Naoki frowned, shaking his head firmly. "No stealing. First e, first served. Spectrier chose first, so the bowl on the right is off-limits."

  Gstrier grumbled but begrudgingly backed off, its frosty demeanor cooling slightly.

  Naoki crouched down and carefully lifted the right-hand bowl. Beh it sat the pink Pecha Berry, glinting softly in the sunlight.

  "Well, there you have it," Naoki decred.

  To firm the result, he lifted the left-hand bowl as well. The blue Oran Berry sat within, signaling Gstrier's turn would have to wait until year.

  Gstrier huffed in frustration but didn't protest further. Spectrier, meanwhile, stood a little taller, a faint, satisfied glow surrounding it.

  "gratutions, Spectrier! Don't be disced, Gstrier, it'll be your turn to shi year," Naoki said warmly.

  "Neighhhh~!" Spectrier couldn't tain the excitement in its eyes.

  Gstrier, however, was furious. It snorted loudly, turned his head and pointed his butt at Naoki, and flicked its tail in defiance, refusing to aowledge him anymore.

  Naoki sighed. "..."

  Alder, the se, tried hard to stifle his ughter. "Your Pokémon sure have some big personalities!" he chuckled.

  For a moment, Naoki was at a loss for words. He picked up the bowls aurhem to the kit.

  As he walked past the living room, Calyrex, who was fortably watg television, gnced over and casually asked, "So, who did you choose?"

  "Spectrier," Naoki replied simply.

  Calyrex nodded approvingly. "The speed of Spectrier surpasses that of Gstrier. It's a good choice for a race. You trust its ability."

  Naoki paused mid-step, a flicker of curiosity crossing his mind. He turned bad asked, "By the way, when you and your steeds roamed the nds of Gar, did the other one ever get upset when you chose to ride just one of them?"

  Calyrex appeared slightly surprised by the question. He pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I never entered such behavior. When I rode ohe other would simply stay at my dwelling and patiently await my return."

  Naoki houghtfully. "Well, Spectrier wo and got the ce to race, and now Gstrier's throwing a tantrum."

  Calyrex chuckled heartily. "It seems my beloved Gstrier has grown quite attached to you. Such behavior is unusual—it truly shows how much it cares for you."

  Naoki rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, unsure how to respond.

  Calyrexs gaze softened, and his voice grew nostalgic. "Eay horses has a distinct temperament. Spectrier is quiet, solitary, and aloof, rarely iing with strier, oher hand, is dired forceful—it will seize anything it desires without hesitation. For it to merely sulk instead of ag out aggressively? That surprises even me."

  Naoki silently specuted whether Koraidon's calming presenearby might have influenced Gstrier's behavior. Still, the sight of Gstrier's sulky defiance left him feeling a twinge of guilt.

  Determio make amends, he headed to G's ice celr and filled a basket with chilled ice carrots. He poured them into Gstrier's feeding trough as a peace .

  Gstrier was still angry. It was fi first, but when it saw him ing, it immediately turned around and turs butt towards him.

  Naoki sighed deeply. "...Never mind."

  Deg it was best to leave Gstrier be for now, Naoki led Spectrier to the open meadow on the far side of the river. Mounting the sleek, ghostly steed, he held the reins steady, allowing himself to adjust to the new experience.

  Riding a horse felt noticeably different from riding Koraidon or Cyclizar. Spectrier's tall, graceful frame moved with a fluidity that required band focus. If it were to sprint at full speed, even a small misstep could send an experienced rider tumbling.

  While humans in the Pokémon world had remarkably resilient physiques—able to endure falls and other physical impacts far better than in Naoki's previous life—minor injuries like scrapes and bruises were still a .

  Naoki couldn't help but refle his inexperience. Before this, he had never ridden a horse. In his previous life as a corporate sve, his days were spent navigating the gray urban jungle of crete and steel. He'd never had the ce to experiehe vast, open prairies or the exhiration of horseback riding.

  Naoki had learned all his riding skills from the Calyrex. The teiques had been passed ohe two legendary steeds first arrived at the ranch.

  Now, with his legs firmly gripping Spectrier's sides and the reins steady in his hands, the spectral horse moved gracefully, breaking into a gallop across the open grassnds.

  The horse rag petitions in the Pokémon world were unique. Uraditional races, partits were allowed—and often enced—to use their Pokémon's moves during the event. As Naoki rode, he expihe rules to Spectrier.

  "There will be a lot of horse Pokémon peting in the race," Naoki said, gently stroking Spectrier's mahe partits are allowed to use their moves during the race. It won't just be about speed—you'll o be strategic."

  Spectrier neighed in aowledgment, its luminous blue mane flowing like a stream of light as it ran.

  He began running through the list of moves Spectrier had mastered: Double Kick, Hex, Stomp, fuse Ray, Haze, Shadow Ball, Agility, Tackle, Freeze Dry, Dark Pulse.

  "Double Kick fend off Pokém to get too close. fuse Ray disorient the others, and Stomp will slow down anyone in your way," Naoki mused aloud. "Haze will be useful to nullify stat boosts from other Pokémon."

  As he strategized, fidence began to grow in his heart. With Spectrier's speed and its arsenal of moves, their ces of winning were high.

  The afternoon passed quickly as Naoki and Spectrier practiced tirelessly. They worked on mao avoid ining attacks and binations of moves that would maintain their momentum while disrupting their oppos.

  Wheraining session finally ended, Naoki led Spectrier back to the stable. As he approached, he noticed that the basket of ice carrots he had left fstrier earlier had been pletely devoured.

  Gstrier, however, was still irritable. It snorted loudly and stamped its hooves as if demanding more.

  Shaking his head, Naoki fetched another basket of frozen carrots from the ice celr. The frosty treat immediately pacified Gstrier, whose demeanor softened as it munched happily on the new snack.

  "This one…" Naoki sighed. "I swear you eat more than all the other Pokémon bined."

  With Gstrier tent, Naoki returo the living room. After dinner, he prepared a fruit ptter for Farfetch'd, who had been diligently practig its leek swordsmanship.

  As Naoki settled on the sofa with Alder, they flipped oelevision to rex for the evening. Farfetch'd sat nearby, bang its leek with an intense focus as it pecked at its fruit ptter.

  Naoki couldn't help but smile ruefully as he observed the determined Pokémon. It had been a rough journey for Farfetch'd. Despite all its training and attempts to learn new moves, it often ended up fetting them just as quickly as it mastered them.

  The worst was when Farfetch'd had cycled through so many moves that it actally erased everything it knew, leaving it with nothing. For a brief, ughable moment, it had bee a pletely bnk ste—a Farfetch'd armed with nothing but sheer determination and its trusty leek.

  But the setbacks only seemed to fuel its resolve. Farfetch'd refused to give up, treating every failure as an opportunity to improve.

  Every day after finishing its fruit ptter, Farfetch'd would grab its leek and dash to the wooden dummy, practig relentlessly. The rhythmigs of its strikes echoed across the ranch as it worked tirelessly to perfect its moves.

  Today was no different. Farfetch'd eagerly ran to the training dummy, its determination unwavering. Naoki watched from a distance, w how long this journey of releraining would tinue for his feisty Pokémon.

  As he pondered, Ogerpon approached, its mask shimmering softly in the evening light. Its bright eyes sparkled with anticipation as it called out, "Pon?"

  Naoki smiled, immediately uanding Ogerpon's thoughts. "Of course, you e with us," he said warmly.

  "Pon!" Ogerpon cried joyfully, g its hands together iement.

  Naoki added, "I'll be riding Spectrier during the event tomorrow. You'll stay with Koraidon."

  "Mr. Alder, I'll be ting on you to look after them while I'm participating."

  Alder thumped his chest in reassurance. "Leave it to me! By the way, Ogerpon—is it a Pokémon from the Paldea region?"

  Naoki shook his head. "No, I met Ogerpon in Kitakami. It wasn't happy there, so I brought it back to the ranch."

  Alder's eyes widened in amazement. "The diversity of Pokémon in this world never ceases to amaze me."

  After their versation, Alder decided to take his Vola and a few other Pokémon to the Pokémon Tavern, joining the Indeedee siblings for some drinks.

  Naoki returo his room aled at his desk. With a determined expression, he opened his notebook and begag ideas for a revolutionary device: a smartphone. Drawing from his experience w at a gaming pany in his previous life, Naoki outlined his vision for the Rotom Phone.

  On a piece of paper, he carefully illustrated the phone's design, marking the locations for essential features like the smart touchs, camera, and other pos. He also detailed the potential funs of the phone, emphasizing its utility for trainers.

  "The old-fashioned Pokémon encyclopedia is destio be repced," Naoki murmured as he sketched. "The Rotom Phone will be indispensable for trainers."

  He envisioned a device that went far beyond the capabilities of the traditional Pokémon encyclopedias. bining funs like Pokémon data ste, photography, online forums, navigation, and seamless unication, the Rotom Phone would transform the way trairaveled and ied with the world.