In League Year 200, April 1st, as the temperature rose, the Paldea Region officially welcomed the sweltering summer.
The temperature outside was already a bit hot during the day, so while it was still cool in the early morning, Naoki finished milking the Gogoat and then fed the other Pokemon on the ranch.
Once everything was done, Naoki planned to go down to the wine cellar and check on the progress of those fruit wines.
But before he could enter the house, he received a call.
Naoki took out his Rotom Phone and saw that it was actually Lono calling.
He raised an eyebrow, stopped in his tracks, and pressed accept.
"Hello?"
"Haro-haro, Naoki, what are you doing right now?" Lono's energetic voice came from the other end of the line.
"I just finished the work on the ranch and was about to rest for a bit." Naoki answered as he loosened his grip on the Rotom Phone, planning to head to the faucet in front of the house to wash his hands.
The Rotom Phone automatically switched into flight mode and Levitate beside Naoki's ear.
"What about you? Don't you have work today?" Naoki asked. At this time of year Gym Leaders usually weren't on vacation yet; under normal circumstances they would stay in their Gyms to receive challenges from Trainers.
If it was Lono… she should be over in Levincia City livestreaming her Gym battles right now, right?
There was a silly little chuckle from the other end, followed by, "Guess!"
At the ranch entrance, Lono put a finger to her lips in a shushing gesture toward Koraidon and Cyclizar, who had spotted her from not far away.
Koraidon, who'd been about to let out a growl, immediately shut its mouth.
"Hm?" Naoki was a bit surprised. "Are you livestreaming outside right now?"
"Wrong!"
Naoki: "…"
After washing his hands, Naoki stood up. Thinking about Lono's personality, a sudden idea struck him, and he asked:
"Don't tell me you're already on your way to the ranch?"
"Hehe, bingo!" Lono giggled. "Turn around and look!"
Naoki turned around and saw Lono standing on the patch of grass not far away, waving vigorously in his direction.
And Koraidon and Cyclizar were standing a short distance behind her, watching this way together with her.
Seeing this scene, Naoki could only give a helpless smile.
This kind of stunt really did fit Lono's personality.
He hung up the call. The weather outside was getting hotter by the minute, so after thinking for a moment, Naoki invited Lono to sit in the living room.
"Then I'll intrude~!" Lono followed along with a bright grin.
"Are you here to challenge the Trial again today?" Naoki asked.
Lono nodded repeatedly. "Yup! After last time's challenge, I've already figured out a way to deal with Pawmot's Hammer!"
In reality, she just couldn't think of any other excuse to come over to the ranch.
"I see…" Naoki's interest was piqued at once, though something still felt a bit off in his heart.
Because as far as he knew, Lono was not the type to grit her teeth and work hard to improve her strength.
Back in the games, she focused more on show effect than on winning Gym battles.
Whatever, overthinking it wouldn't help. Maybe Lono had just suddenly decided to put in some effort?
If that was the case, then he had to give her a proper hand.
The two of them walked into the house, while in the ranch not far away, Koraidon and Cyclizar were squatting on the grass, watching the backs of the two leaving.
Seeing Koraidon's expression, Cyclizar glanced at it, then at Lono, and asked in confusion, "Gya-ow?" (Do you know that human?)
It kept feeling like Koraidon seemed really familiar with that human.
Though it itself also had a pretty good impression of that human; last time when it was feeling down, she'd gone out of her way to encourage it.
Hearing Cyclizar's question, Koraidon nodded. "A-ga-ss." (You'll know her too.)
It thought to itself that their little master would one day hatch from Lono's egg.
In the future their little master would ride on their backs and play together with them!
Cyclizar didn't understand; it was thoroughly confused by Koraidon's words.
"Gya-ow…"
In the living room, the younger Indeedee brought Lono a glass of refreshing iced tea.
"Thank you! You worked hard!" Lono thanked the younger Indeedee, then took a sip. Her eyes immediately lit up. "Mmm, so tasty!"
Hearing the guest praise the tea she'd brewed, the younger Indeedee was delighted.
Hugging the tray, she showed a small smile. "Ai~ii!"
The younger Indeedee turned and left, and before long, she brought over a few small snacks she'd made herself to treat the guest.
"Ah! Thanks for the trouble!" Lono hurriedly thanked the younger Indeedee.
"Ai~ii~" The younger Indeedee indicated that it was no trouble at all.
Naoki watched this scene with a smile on his face. After the younger Indeedee turned and left, he finally asked:
"Has the streaming been going smoothly lately?"
Lono nodded again and again. "Yeah! I tweaked my streaming style a bit, and the popularity of Levincia Gym has been climbing higher and higher!"
Naoki actually followed Lono's personal page on Pichu TV, so he had a pretty good grasp of her situation.
Although she hadn't reached the level she had in the games yet, she was already very popular.
Hearing Lono say this, he nodded and smiled. "That aside, it doesn't seem to be vacation time at Levincia Gym yet, right? Is it okay for you to come all the way out here?"
As far as Naoki knew, the Paldea League also had performance requirements for Gym Leaders and would even send people to inspect the Gyms and evaluate their strength.
Lono nodded. "Don't worry! Before I came here, I already requested three days off from the Paldea League, and the chairwoman herself approved it!"
"I see!" Looked like the Paldea League and Geeta were actually pretty humane.