Looking at the glowing Grassy Terrain before him, Grusha slowly reached for a Poké Ball at his waist. Pressing the button, the red-and-white sphere, initially the size of a marble, expao its full size.

  With a sharp flick, he tossed it into the air. A beam of white light burst forth, revealing a massive, muscur Pokémon with a robust body. Its presence was imposing, and its icy aura filled the battlefield.

  It was Cetitan, aype Pokémon that thrived in snowy mountains.

  The battle began with Naoki and Grusha log eyes, their Pokémon ready to csh.

  “Cetitan, use Ice Spinner!” Grusha anded, his voice calm yet assertive.

  Cetitan’s massive body began spinning rapidly, a thin yer of frost coating its skin as it charged forward. The spinning motioed a vortex of iergy, which began to tear through the vibrant Grassy Terrain, leaving frozen patches in its wake.

  Naoki observed Grusha’s strategy and smirked. “Trying to destroy the terrain? Not so fast.”

  He raised his voice, issuing his and. “Gogoat, use Vine Whip!”

  With a cry of determination, Gogoat uwo thick, serpentine vines from its body. The vines shed out with incredible force, interceptian mid-spin. The impact was so powerful that Cetitan stumbled, spinning untrolbly in pce like a top.

  Grusha’s eyes widened in disbelief. “That’s… Vine Whip? No! How it be s? And that thiess—those vines are enormous!”

  But his shock deepened as he noticed aartling phenomenon. The Grassy Terrain, which had been partially destroyed by Ice Spinner, began tee. The frozen patches melted away, and lush green grass sprouted anew, c the battlefield once more.

  “What’s happening?!” Grusha excimed, his usually stoic demeanor faltering. “How is the terrai itself so quickly?”

  Meanwhile, Cetitan, still reeling from the Vine Whip, began to slow its erratic spinning. Its eyes swirled, mimig a hypnotized state, before it colpsed onto the ground with a loud thud.

  “Hang in there!” Grusha called out, his brows furrowed with . But something else caught his attentioan hadn’t been healed by the Grassy Terrain, which should have restored some of its energy.

  Befrusha could voice his fusion, Naoki issued another and. “Gogoat, use ynature move!”

  Gogoat braced itself, a fierce glint in its eyes. It leaned freen energy swirling and coalesg into a massive, glowing bde of grass that extended from its mouth like a sword. The energy crackled with raw power as Gogoat prepared to strike.

  Grusha’s pupils dited as he processed the se before him.

  In a swift and elegant motion, Gogoat charged forward, its glowing bde sshing through the air. The attack struck Cetitan with pinpoint accuracy, hitting a vital spot. The Ice-type Pokémo out a pained cry before falling silent, its rge frame colpsing onto the battlefield.

  Gogoat skidded to a stop a few feet away, its stance fident and poised. Its expression radiated strength and posure, as though it knew victory had been secured.

  Cetitan y unscious, uo tihe fight.

  Grusha stood frozen in pce, disbelief etched across his face. He had uimated his oppo—and Gogoat’s extraordinary abilities.

  From the sidelines, Iono gasped, her hands c her mouth. “Wow! That was incredible!” she excimed, her voice filled with awe.

  Naoki stepped forward, his tone calm but firm. “Unfortunately, you failed the Green Grass Trial.”

  Grusha remained silent, his mind rag with unanswered questions. What kind of move had Gogoat just used? Why hadn’t the Grassy Terrain healed Cetitan? And how had the terrain regeed so quickly?

  Elder Indeedee arrived with a bottle of goat milk, gently tending to Cetitan and helping it regain its strength. Slowly, Grusha began to recover from his daze, but the questions lingered.

  Uo suppress his curiosity any longer, he turo Naoki. “What just happehat move, the terrain… I don’t uand.”

  Naoki smiled knowingly, folding his arms. “That attack was Leaf Bde, but a special version I developed. Its inspiration es from a legendary Pokémon called Za.”

  “As for your st question,” Naoki tinued, “it’s because Gogoat’s mastery rass-type energy has reached a level far beyond what ordinary Pokémon achieve.”

  “It precisely trol the Grass energy around it, making it beneficial only for itself. Simirly, Gogoat release a steady stream of Grass energy to repair any damage to the Grassy Terrain caused by moves like Ice Spinner.”

  After all, Naoki thought to himself, these Gogoat were raised by the leaves of the World Tree. It wasn’t surprising that they possessed such extraordinary abilities.

  Grusha stared at the three Gogoat in a tra that moment, he finally uood why the Chief had sent gym leaders like him to this ranch for special training.

  These three Gogoat were undoubtedly Champion-level Pokémon. Battling against Pokémon of this caliber could provide immense growth opportunities fym leaders.

  “Amazing!” Iono excimed, her eyes sparkling with admiration. “Naoki, how do you even train Pokémon to be this strong?”

  “Train them?” Naoki repeated, looking at her with a smile. “I don’t train them specifically. Life itself is their training.”

  “Life itself is training…” Grusha murmured, repeating the phrase as though it were a mantra.

  Naoki nodded and eborated, “I ie their special training into everyday tasks. For instance, I have Dragonite use Rain Dance daily to water the pnts. It may not seem like much at first, but after doing it thousands or even tens of thousands of times, its proficy with Rain Dance reaches extraordinary levels. It summon rain in an instant, turning battles in its favor.”

  He tinued, “It’s the same with my Gogoat. I let them el Grass energy to cultivate crops in the fields. Not only does this help the crops grow, but it also hoheir trol rass energy.”

  Hearing this, Grusha closed his eyes and imagihe cept. He remained lost in thought, digesting the idea for a long time.

  Just then, Koraidon ran over with Cyclizar and a group onairs following behind. One of the Dragonair seemed injured, limping slightly. Naoki quickly approached to assess the situation.

  One of the Dragonair, it seemed, had been injured during a sparring match when another hadn’t trolled its strength properly. Uanding the urgenaoki pulled out a bottle of goat milk aly fed it to the injured Pokémon. Within moments, the Dragonair's injuries healed, and it slowly opes eyes.

  As soon as it saw Naoki, the Dragonair let out a soft purr and nuzzled against him affeately.

  Naoki gnervously at Dragonite, who was thankfully preoccupied oher side of the ranch. He gently patted the Dragonair's head and whispered, “Alright, go take a break at Snorx Park.”

  “Rooo~” the Dragonair chirped happily, flying off with its panions toward the park.

  Iono, watg the iion with wide-eyed wonder, was about to ent when she felt an intense gaze directed at her. Turning her head, she saw Koraidon squatting on the grass, staring at her with unmistakable affe.

  She blinked, startled, before breaking into a cheerful greeting. “Long time no see, Koraidon! How’ve you been?”

  “Raao!” Koraidon responded enthusiastically, nodding its head repeatedly.

  Naoki, notig the exge, looked between Koraidon and Iono with curiosity. A thought crossed his mind—Koraidon seemed unusually fond of Iono.

  Meanwhile, Iono turned her attention to Cyclizar, studying its streamlined body and meical resembnce. “Hey, Naoki,” she said, her tone inquisitive, “don’t Koraidon and Cyclizar look kind of… simir?”

  Naoki chuckled and nodded. “Yes, there’s actually specution that Koraidon represents Cyclizar’s a form. Whether it’s true or not, no one knows for certain.”

  “There aren’t any Pokémon like Koraidon naturally living in the Paldea region,” Naoki expined. “It’s a Pokémon discovered by Professor Sada in Area Zero. Despite its fierce appeara’s actually very gentle!”

  Hearing Naoki’s praise, Koraido out aed cry.

  “Raao!”

  Naoki smiled and reached out to pat its head affeately.

  Nearby, Cyclizar watched the iion with a twinge of envy in its eyes. It wao be close to Naoki, too, just like Koraidon was.

  Naoki, however, didn’t notice Cyclizar’s expression, but Iono did. She narrowed her eyes, feeling like she’d uncovered something signifit.

  Naoki had so many Pokémo Cyclizar seemed to have bee out of the spotlight.

  Cyclizar, sensing a gaze on it, turs head and saw Iono looking right at it.

  “Gao?” Cyclizar tilted its head curiously.

  Iono waved cheerfully. “Hi, Cyclizar!”

  The Pokémon blihen responded with a small, endearing chirp. “Gaa…”

  At that moment, Grusha snapped out of his thoughts. His expression turned serious as he stepped forward to thank Naoki.

  “Thank you, Mr. Naoki,” Grusha said formally, bowing slightly. “I uand now why the Chief sent us here to train under you.”

  His use of honorifics took Naoki by surprise, and he waved his hands modestly. “There’s o be so formal. Just call me Naoki, like Iono does.”

  But Grusha was insistent, his respewavering. Naoki couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed.

  As noon approached, Naoki invited both Grusha and Iono to stay for lunch. The aroma of freshly preparing food wafted from the kit, and soon the Pokémon pying outside began trig bato the house.

  Seeing the variety of Pokémon gathered inside left Grusha and Iono speechless. Rare Pokémon of all kinds filled the ranch, including Calyrex apanied by Polteageist and Sinistea.

  Grusha found himself seated near Calyrex, an experiehat left him feeling utterly bewildered. Sitting beside a legendary Pokémon was surreal enough, but watg Calyrex calmly watch television like a human was almost too much to process.

  What uled him further was how Calyrex g him with a kind and knowing look, almost as though it were smiling. Grusha was pletely stunned. His respect for Naoki grew tenfold, vinced more thahat Naoki was a Champion-level trainer with years of experiender his belt.

  While Grusha was lost in his thoughts, Iono noticed something else entirely.

  She observed how the Pokémon ied with Naoki. Pokémon like Koraidon, Pawmot, Alcremie, and Dragonite eagerly approached Naoki, rubbing against him and basking in his attention. They all expressed their affe for him in clear, direct ways.

  But one Pokémon stood apart from the rest: Cyclizar. It lingered he edges of the group, watg the joyful iions with a look of quiet longing.

  “The poor Cyclizar’s bee out,” Iono muttered softly to herself.

  She khis wasn’t unon for trainers with rge teams. It was iable that some Pokémon wouldn’t receive as much attention as others, especially when a trainer had so many panions. It was for this reason that most leagues enced traio limit themselves to carrying six Pokémon during their travels.

  Feeling a pang of sympathy for Cyclizar, Iono decided to speak up. “Hey, Cyclizar!”

  Cyclizar turoward her, blinking in surprise.

  “You should go to Naoki too!” she enced. “Just like Koraidon does! If you go to him, he’ll definitely notice you.”

  “Gao?” Cyclizar hesitated, looking uain. Could it really approaaoki the way Koraidon did?

  Iono gave a determined nod. “Of course you ! Believe in yourself!”

  Cyclizar shuffled awkwardly on its feet, clearly shy. But after a moment of deliberation, it seemed to gather its ce. With a small but determined cry, it turned and headed toward the kit.

  Naoki, who was stirring a pot of soup, looked up in surprise when Cyclizar walked into the kit. “What’s up?”

  Cyclizar hesitated for a moment before mimig Koraidon’s as, pressing itself close to Naoki.

  Naoki blinked in mild surprise but then broke into a warm smile. Cyclizar was seeking his affe.

  Naoki chuckled, reag out to rub Cyclizar’s head gently. “Good boy!”

  “Gaa!” Cyclizar chirped happily, its eyes lighting up with delight. Emboldened by Naoki’s warmth, it stuck out its tongue and gave Naoki’s palm a pyful lick.

  Naoki froze, his hand no with saliva.

  “…You and Koraidon must have been born on the same day,” Naoki muttered, half in exasperation and half in amusement. “Why do you two always lick people like that?”

  Cyclizar, sensing that Naoki wasn’t actually upset, wagged its tail happily, its joy bubbling over.

  “Alright, alright,” Naoki said with a sigh, patting Cyclizar’s head. “Go py in the living room. I o finish cooking.”

  Cyclizar chirped again in agreement and trotted back to the living room. Ohere, it locked eyes with Iono, who grinned and gave it an encing nod.

  “See? I told you he’d notice you!” Iono whispered with a wink.

  Cyclizar’s fidence soared, and it gnced around the room with newfound happiness.

  Grusha sat quietly, the exge. Though he said nothing, his thoughtful gaze lingered on Cyclizar and Iono.

  “Naoki is so kind to his Pokémon,” Iono ented, her tone filled with admiration.

  Grusha nodded subtly. In the short time he had spent at the ranch, he could already feel the warmth and care Naoki radiated.

  His eyes drifted around the living room, taking in the lively se of Pokémon chasing each other, pying, aing tentedly. Eaon seemed genuinely happy and at pea Naoki’s care.

  Grusha couldn’t help but pare the se to his own life at the Gseado Mountain Gym. Once upon a time, his personality had been as vibrant ahusiastic as Iono’s. But after the act that ended his snowb career, he had bee reserved, his demeanrowing as cold and distant as the Ice-types he trained.

  His Pokémon—Frosmoth, Beartic, Cetitan, Weavile, and Altaria—had always been his closest panions. They used to ugh with him, rag and skiing together through the snow-covered mountains. But since his retirement, those joyful moments had faded, repced by quiet panionship.

  Grusha’s thoughts darkened as he g his right leg. The injury that had nearly shattered it still haunted him. Though he had recovered physically, he could no longer ski the way he once did. His leg, and his spirit, hadn’t fully healed.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  Naoki’s voice cut through Grusha’s thoughts. He had ehe living room, carrying dishes of steaming food.

  Grusha looked up, startled out of his reverie. “It’s nothing.”

  “e on over for dinner!” Naoki said with a warm smile. Though he could guess the reason behind Grusha’s quiet demeanor, he decided not to pry further. Instead, he turo sister Indeedee, and asked her to escort the guests to wash their hands and prepare for the meal.

  Grusha nodded silently and followed Indeedee out of the room.

  That left Iono, who remained seated, gng at Naoki with an expression of hesitation. She looked as if she wao say something but couldn’t quite bring herself to speak.

  Naoki raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

  Iono sighed before responding. “Grusha wasn’t always like this. He used to be a phenomenal snowboarder—one of the best. But after that injury forced him to retire, his personality pletely ged… No one’s been able to help him.”

  She paused for a moment, her voice tinged with sadness. “I tried encing him before, telling him to move on and look toward the future, but nothing seemed to work. He just… shut himself away.”

  Naoki houghtfully, processing Iono’s words. “A leg injury…” he murmured.

  His gaze drifted to the kit ter as an idea began to form. Life Milk, the nourishing drink produced by his Gogoat, had incredible healing properties. But could it work on injuries as severe as Grusha’s?

  Naoki furrowed his brow. From the way Iono described the act, it sounded like Grusha’s bones had been seriously damaged. He wasn’t sure if it could mend such extensive injuries.

  Still, it was worth a try.

  “I’ll see what I do after dinner,” Naoki said, his tone resolute.

  If the Life Milk doesn’t work on its own, I’ll enlist the help of some Pokémon.

  He g Indeedee, who had just returned, and his mind began tize. Between Indeedee’s Lunar Dance, Calyrex’s Life Dew and Heal Pulse, and the restorative properties of Life Milk, paired with some specially prepared dishes, there might be a way to help Grusha recover—both physically aionally.