Love Ball, Friend Ball, Moon Ball, Heavy Ball, Fast Ball...
Naoki was momentarily stunned.
Because these Apricorn Balls were a very precious gift!
Unlike regular Poke Balls, Apricorn Balls are handcrafted from apricots that grow on apricorn trees.
In the past, craftsmen who made Poke Balls would hollow out the apricots and insert special nets for capturing Pokemon to make the Poke Balls.
Most of these Poke Balls made from apricots have unique characteristics.
For example, the Love Ball is more likely to catch wild Pokemon of the opposite gender to your own Pokemon.
The Friend Ball has an incredibly comfortable interior, making Pokemon caught with it easier to become close with their Trainer, just as the name suggests, becoming friends.
The Moon Ball, on the other hand, makes it easy to catch Pokemon that can evolve using a Moon Stone.
Before the advent of modern Poke Balls, apricot-made Poke Balls were very common, and this technique is said to date back 400 to 700 years.
However, with technological development, these Poke Balls gradually got replaced by modern mass-produced Poke Balls due to their long production time and lower efficiency.
But craftsmen who continue to inherit this craft still make Poke Balls for outstanding Trainers, spending an entire day meticulously carving apricots into precious handcrafted Poke Balls.
For this reason, Apricorn Balls are far more valuable than the regular red and white Poke Balls and have more commemorative significance.
Trainers personally picking apricots and giving them to craftsmen to make special Poke Balls for their beloved Pokemon partners sounds romantic.
Naoki never expected that just by offering that person a glass of water, he would receive such a precious thank-you gift.
This made him not know what to say for a moment.
*
After leaving the ranch, the woman went straight back to Levincia City.
She pushed open the door and saw her husband waiting for her there.
Upon hearing the commotion, the man looked up: "How was it?"
Having been together for many years, the couple had developed a tacit understanding; with just these three words, the woman understood what her husband meant.
He was asking what she thought of the boy.
"Him? He's a very sensible child!" the woman reminisced about the events at the ranch and said softly.
"Hmph." However, recalling his previous experience of being beaten one to six, the man's face turned sour.
Seeing this, the woman sighed: "Don't be like that, the kid has it tough too, his parents passed away early, leaving only him at home."
Hearing this, the man was momentarily stunned and turned to look at his wife.
"He single-handedly manages that ranch expertly and can care for so many Pokemon."
"Not only that, when I went there he was very polite in hosting me and offered his help. That child is a really good person!"
A mother-in-law looking at a son-in-law, the more she looks, the more she likes him.
The woman added: "If the two of them can progress smoothly, we can be at ease."
"Hmph." The man snorted again, but his tone was much softer than before: "Levincia City and Porto Marinada Town are so far apart, it won't be easy for Lono to return then."
"Oh come on, I think there's really nothing to worry about!" The woman chuckled and shook her head: "I saw a Dragonite there, and with Dragonite's speed, it takes less than thirty minutes to travel between the two places."
"Hmph."
Woman: "Cheapskate! I think you just can't bring yourself to admit it! Who was it who swore to show them your strength before?"
Man: "..."
*
That set of Apricorn Balls was eventually placed by Naoki in a display cabinet for collection.
The time had come to February in the year 201 of the League calendar.
The land on the ranch had already been planted, and with the cultivation of Gogoat, those recently planted crops bloomed and bore fruit within a few breaths, reaching the harvest stage.
However, Naoki did not immediately harvest them; he placed these fresh vegetables on the shelf of his ranch store.
If a customer made a purchase, he would pick them fresh and ship them via Dragonite Delivery, ensuring customers would eat the freshest vegetables possible.
After completing this task, Naoki started preparing a plan to capture the four Ruinous Pokemon.
Raifort had already sent him the specific locations of those four Pokemon, and he only needed to go to those places to lift the seals, then capture them.
Naoki looked at the map of the Paldea Region.
Currently, the nearest location to them is the Groundblight Shrine, where Ting-Lu is sealed, located north of Casseroya Lake, in a place called Bamber Forest.
[King Wing: I'm setting off.]
Before departing, Naoki sent Raifort a message.
Raifort quickly replied.
[Raifort: Keep it up! It's up to you now!]
Naoki gave an OK gesture and glanced at the time. It was now 8:30 in the morning, and the sun had just risen.
Setting off at this time, he might be able to return to the ranch by the afternoon.
"Today, I'm going out for a bit. I should be back by the afternoon, so I'll leave the Pokemon on the ranch to you during lunchtime." Naoki said to the Indeedee Sibling.
"Indee~"
"Indee."
The siblings nodded in unison, indicating they would take good care of everything on the ranch.
Naoki smiled slightly, then walked out the door.
In the ranch, a group of Pokemon was playing and running around on the grass.
It was springtime, and the air was pleasantly warm. The grass in the ranch was growing vigorously, and the blooming flowers in the flower fields attracted many butterflies.
Koraidon was lazily lying on the grass, feeling the breeze.
Meanwhile, Cyclizar was once again attracted by the butterflies, diving into a tall patch of grass to chase them.
Watching the scene, an image popped into Naoki's mind:
A traveling Trainer walking through the grass, when suddenly Cyclizar jumps out, triggering a battle.
Alright, now he understood why in games, players always encounter Pokemon jumping out in the grass.
In the grass, Cyclizar focused entirely on the fluttering butterflies.
It stealthily raised its head, its eyes tightly following the butterfly's flight path.
At that moment, the butterfly flew out of the tall grass, preparing to land on a rock.
Now!
Seizing the opportunity, Cyclizar made a sudden lunge, pinning the butterfly underneath its claws.
However, in the next second, Cyclizar felt something struggling beneath its grasp.
The force and intensity of the struggle were not something a butterfly could manage!
"Gah-oh?"
Cyclizar confusedly moved its paw aside.
Immediately, on the rock, it saw a mysterious Pokemon: green, with one eye, and a blue diamond-shaped core on its belly.
Meanwhile, the butterfly had long flown away.
"Gah-oh?!"
Cyclizar was startled.
Likewise, the Pokemon appeared frightened, radiating a burst of green light.
Meanwhile, in Naoki's room, the Zygarde Cell he had placed on the desk sunbathing suddenly emitted a green glow.
In the next second, that light flew outside.
The same phenomenon occurred across the ranch, with green lights flying out even from the back mountains. Who knows how many cells Zygarde had sent to observe.
While patting the head of Greavard, Naoki noticed this scene.
He looked up in surprise, witnessing beams of green light flying across the sky, then converging onto Cyclizar.
Naoki: "?"
He immediately stepped forward to check.
But when he saw the scene clearly, he was stunned.
Because amidst the green lights, a Pokemon resembling a Doberman gradually appeared!
This Pokemon had pale eyes, its entire body was a mix of green and black, and its neck had structures resembling a collar and leash.
Below, there was a blue diamond pattern!
Is that... Zygarde's 10% form?!
Was Squishy also sent to the ranch by Zygarde for observation?
No... staring at the blue core, Naoki realized it wasn't Squishy, as Squishy's core was red.
This Pokemon with a blue core clearly represented the rational Z2!
And unlike Squishy with Bonnie, Z2 believed humans to be disruptors of order.
In the anime, it even advised Squishy to stay away from humans.
Naoki looked at Z2; it was obvious that it hadn't just arrived but had been attracted here by the World Tree for some time.
So it had been hiding in the shadows, observing all along?