Pokemon: A New Path

Chapter 55: Butterfree



Words: 2263

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Pokémon of different types had different taste preferences. Except for Cinderace, the others didn't eat much of the boiled pork slices.

Cinderace, however, focused solely on the dish. It would take a bite, breathe out fire, and its face would turn red from the spiciness. It was a mix of pain and pleasure.

Yosuke, watching from the side, was nearly terrified. He had never encountered anything like this in his years of traveling.

"Is it really okay for it to keep eating like that? I mean, it's spicy, but not spicy enough to make someone breathe fire!"

Naoki was also a little confused. He was about to ask about Cinderace's condition when Cinderace's eyes suddenly widened in realization.

Its cheeks puffed out to an almost comical degree as powerful Fire energy surged from its body. Cinderace dropped its utensils and turned around abruptly. A ball of flame erupted from its mouth toward the sky, transforming into a brilliant red star.

"Boom!"

Amidst the explosion, the flames burst like magnificent fireworks.

Yosuke was utterly stunned.

That move was.

"Blast Burn," Naoki said softly, retracting his earlier statement about Cinderace being unlucky.

After the move, Cinderace collapsed onto the grass, exhausted, gasping for air. This was a side effect of Blast Burn; after using it, the Pokémon would enter a state of exhaustion for a short time, unable to move quickly.

Yosuke was amazed. "Cinderace, that's a new move you learned, right?"

Was this for real? A Pokémon learned a new move just from eating something spicy!

Cinderace looked confused.

It carefully recalled the feeling of using Blast Burn and was surprised to find that it could clearly remember the process. If it had enough energy, it might even be able to use the move again!

"Congratulations," Naoki said, unsurprised.

At that moment, Dragonite with its keen hearing overheard the conversation.

"Roar?!" 'It had learned a new move'?

During its few days on the ranch, it had learned from Koraidon, Cyclizar, and the Skiddo that the food Naoki made had magical powers. It had also tried the Fruit Salad itself, so it was very sensitive to anything related to food and new moves.

Now, having witnessed Cinderace learning a new move after eating, Dragonite's eyes lit up.

It pointed at the remaining boiled pork slices with its large paw and exclaimed to Naoki, "Roar~"

Naoki raised an eyebrow. "You want to eat some too?"

Dragonite nodded eagerly. "Roar!"

"Okay, I'll get you a piece to try." Naoki picked up a slice of meat with chopsticks.

Dragonite immediately opened its mouth wide, waiting to be fed.

Naoki carefully fed the slice of meat to Dragonite. After chewing it twice, Dragonite's eyes widened, and its cheeks turned red from the spice, as if it might breathe fire at any moment.

Dragonite tried its best to hold back, waiting for a long time, but didn't feel like it had learned any new moves.

Dragonite was on the verge of tears. It looked at Naoki with watery eyes, feeling wronged and sad. "Roar?"

Naoki realized what had happened. Dragonite hadn't just wanted to taste the boiled pork slices; it wanted to learn new moves like Cinderace had. However, it wasn't a Fire-type Pokémon, so the dish had no effect on it.

Poor thing.

Naoki took out the juice he had prepared and handed it to Dragonite. Dragonite eagerly grabbed it and gulped it down. It took a while for it to recover, and it lost interest in the boiled pork slices.

"I'll try making other dishes for you later," Naoki said.

Dragonite nodded obediently.

After a pleasant lunch, Naoki got busy again in the afternoon. The first batch of crops had been harvested. Except for the tomatoes and cucumbers, which could be continuously harvested, all other crops needed to be replanted for the second round.

With the help of several Pokémon, Naoki spent an hour preparing the land and then planted a new round of seeds. Afterward, he took out the fertilizer he had prepared and fertilized the crops and fruit tree seedlings. He worked until sunset before finishing everything.

Naoki stood at the edge of the farmland, a watering can in hand, wiping sweat from his forehead. He thought to himself, "I need to catch a Pokémon that can use the move Bulldoze in the future."

Bulldoze was a Ground-type move that plowed the soil, making it easier for plants and crops to grow. It also increased the Attack and Special Attack of Grass-type Pokémon. If he had a Pokémon like that, his work would be much easier.

A Pokémon that could use Bulldoze.

The names of several Pokémon came to Naoki's mind: Diglett, Dugtrio, Bunnelby, Diggersby, Drilbur, Excadrill, Mudbray, Mudsdale, Sandshrew, Sandslash, Rhyhorn, Rhydon.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Tapu Bulu?

"Let's forget about that last one," Naoki thought. That would be too outrageous. Not only would the island guardian not leave Ula'ula, but the people of Ula'ula Island probably wouldn't allow their guardian deity to be taken away.

But Tapu Bulu's abilities were indeed perfect for farming. It had the power to manipulate plants and promote their growth. It was powerful and could protect the farmland.

"It's a shame there are no wild Tapu Bulu around. Otherwise, I would d

back and make it the guardian of my farm."

bring one

Naoki felt a pang of regret, but he wasn't in a hurry to catch any of these Pokémon immediately. The land was planted, and there was still over a month until the next harvest. During this time, he would also attend the Cherry Blossom Festival to experience the customs and practices of the Pokémon world.

Besides all that, the farm currently needed a Pokémon that could use Rain Dance.

Naoki looked at Dragonite, who was resting on the grass nearby. He had originally wanted to

catch this Dragonite and have it help with watering.

It turned out this Dragonite didn't know Rain Dance.

Moreover, the food that could help Dragonite learn new moves wasn't ready yet, and the previous incident with forgetting Dragon Tail made Dragonite hesitant to try the Fruit Salad

again.

At that moment, an idea struck Naoki.

Dragonite's comprehension wasn't actually bad, as evidenced by its learning Dragon Tail. The reason it only knew four moves was likely because it hadn't mastered the correct learning methods and techniques.

Furthermore, it was hard working and wouldn't slack off in its pursuit of becoming stronger.

After some thought, Naoki called Dragonite over and asked, "Dragonite, do you know the

move Rain Dance?"

"Roar." Dragonite looked downcast.

It knew that many powerful Dragonites on Dragonite Island knew this move. They could control the airflow and water energy in the atmosphere, changing the weather and making it

rain.

But this "dumb" Dragonite simply couldn't do it.

At that moment, Dragonite felt a hand on its shoulder.

It looked up and saw Naoki offering encouragement. "Don't be discouraged. Do you

remember how you learned Dragon Tail?"

"Roar." Dragonite nodded.

"So, as long as we find the right method and practice diligently, one day you'll learn Rain Dance," Naoki said. "And then you can use it to help water the fields."

Dragonite's eyes lit up, and its fighting spirit returned. "Roar!"

To figure out how to use Rain Dance, Naoki immediately went to find Yosuke, who was resting

nearby, and discussed the move with him.

"Rain Dance?"

Naoki nodded. He had never seen a Pokémon use Rain Dance in real life. From the anime, it

seemed like Pokémon could make it rain simply by praying to the sky. But there had to be

more to it, and Naoki felt it couldn't be that simple.

Sure enough, Yosuke's next words confirmed his suspicions.

"That move seems to be related to a Pokémon's control over energy. There aren't any Pokémon Professors or researchers in the Galar region who study this aspect, but Professor Kukui in the Alola region has published a paper on the subject."

"He's a remarkable Professor! He's particularly interested in studying Pokémon moves and has even experienced them himself!" Yosuke's face was filled with admiration.

Naoki: "..." They were both quite the Pokémon nerds, weren't they?

Yosuke returned to the topic. "As we all know, a Pokémon's ability to use moves skillfully is

related to its control over energy, commonly known as comprehension. The higher a Pokémon's comprehension, the greater the chance of it learning a move."

"Although I'm not sure how to practice Rain Dance, I believe we should start by looking at the

sky. After all, when this move is used, rain falls from the sky."

Sky?

Naoki was slightly taken aback, then nodded thoughtfully. That's right, if you want to teach a Pokémon new moves, you should first let them familiarize themselves with the concept, then understand it, and finally successfully execute it.

It might not be easy to appreciate the environment on a sunny day, so they would wait until it rained. Naoki made a mental note: when it rained again, he would take Dragonite to the sky to experience the formation and falling of rain.

For now, it was time to prepare dinner. But before that, he had to sell the crops harvested

today.

These goods were sold by weight, and the price varied for each type. The total sales amounted

to over 20,000 Pokédollars. Compared to raising Pokémon, this price was indeed a bit low. But it might also be due to the limited amount of developed farmland on the ranch.

In addition to what he sold, Naoki also kept a portion of each crop for food. Yosuke was leaving Mesagoza the next day to continue his journey, so this was his last night

here. There wasn't enough space in the cabin, and there was only one bed, so Yosuke simply set up a tent on the lawn outside and camped.

The weather was clear that day. After nightfall, the stars and the moon were clearly visible in

the sky, illuminating the night and creating a sense of tranquility, peace, and beauty.

After dinner, Naoki didn't go to bed immediately. Instead, he lay on the grass with the Pokémon, gazing at the stars. The starry sky easily evoked philosophical thoughts. Yosuke looked up and, after a long silence, asked, "Are there Pokémon living in the universe,

just like on this planet?"

Naoki rested his head on his arms, with Koraidon and Cyclizar lying on either side of him.

Dragonite was yawning nearby, Alcremie was running around on the grass with the five Nacli, and Smoliv was watching them quietly, its small body swaying gently in the breeze. "Maybe!" Naoki took a deep breath. There were few opportunities to see such a beautiful

starry sky in big cities. Of course, perhaps in his previous life, he had been too busy struggling to make a living to notice such sights.

"Isn't there a rumor that Clefairy came to this planet on a spaceship from the moon?" Naoki

said. Besides Clefairy, there were also Minior, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Deoxys.

Hearing this, Yosuke's eyes filled with longing. "I really want to go to space and see for

myself!"

Naoki whispered, "You will, sooner or later."

Yosuke was confused. "Huh? Why do you say that?" Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Humans have never stopped exploring, have they?"

"There are still Pokémon in this world that haven't been discovered by humans," Naoki continued, "and the achievements humans have today are the result of pioneers, from ancient times to the present, taking one step at a time."

Yosuke was momentarily silent, then smiled and said, "You're right!"

Just then, Cyclizar, who had been facing the wooden house, seemed to have noticed

something and called out in that direction, "Cyclizar!"

Naoki's attention was drawn to it. He turned around and saw a dazzling light bursting from

the Metapod that was hanging under the eaves.

"It's evolving?!" Yosuke exclaimed.

He had never witnessed a Metapod evolving into Butterfree before, and it piqued his interest.

The two quickly got up and went to investigate. Under the intense light, a crack slowly appeared on the back of the Metapod's hard, dark green shell.

Then, a slightly immature Butterfree with a blue-purple body and a pair of large white wings

emerged from the shell. It flew out and danced in the starlight and moonlight, the scales on its wings shimmering, leaving a trail like the Milky Way in its flight path. Yosuke was mesmerized by the beautiful scene. "It's so beautiful!" he murmured.

Naoki couldn't help but marvel at the sight as well. A single Butterfree was so beautiful; if a

group of them evolved together, what a spectacular scene it would be!

Butterfree spread its wings in mid-air, and after adjusting to its new body, it gently landed in

front of Naoki.

"Butterfree~"

Naoki smiled and said, "Congratulations, Butterfree."

"Butterfree~" Butterfree responded softly.

Naoki went back inside the house to fetch some berries, then offered them with a smile. "Are

you hungry? Have something to eat first!" Butterfree happily accepted them, holding the berries and nibbling on them.

Naoki sat on the grass, watching Butterfree eat. Yosuke took out his pen and sketchbook and,

while the memory was still fresh, quickly drew the scene of Butterfree evolving under the moonlit night.

Naoki leaned against Cyclizar, the evening breeze ruffling his hair. He looked at Butterfree and the tranquil night, feeling an unprecedented sense of peace and relaxation. However, when Koraidon saw Naoki leaning on Cyclizar instead of it, it became incredibly

jealous.

"Gaah!"

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