As a Water-type Mythical Pokémon, even though Phione had only been born a few days ago, it had already mastered quite a number of Water-type moves.
Naturally, the weather-altering move Rain Dance was among them.
Silas took Phione from Kangaskhan's arms, and the little one immediately cried out "Phion, Phion," rubbing affectionately against his chest.
It took quite a bit of soothing before the little fellow finally calmed down.
Silas gently tapped it and said, "Can you help me with something, okay?"
"Phion!"
Phione happily agreed, clearly eager to help Silas.
"Alright then. Use Rain Dance over this orchard."
Hearing that, Phione jumped down onto the ground and let out a childish cry toward the sky.
In the next instant, dark clouds gathered above the orchard, and a fine drizzle began to fall, covering the entire fruit grove.
The rain lasted for about five minutes before stopping abruptly.
Phione was left panting for breath.
It was still very young—while it could use moves, it couldn't sustain them for long. Still, this was more than enough to force the Burmy out of the orchard.
"Good job, you worked hard!"
Silas picked Phione up, gave it a gentle squeeze, and handed it back to Kangaskhan to look after.
He himself then joined Noibat to search for Burmy.
Burmy had a fatal weakness as a Pokémon—it was afraid of the cold.
A single rainfall was enough to destroy the cloaks they painstakingly made. Whether it was a Plant Cloak, Sandy Cloak, or Trash Cloak, none were spared.
After the rain, they had to immediately gather materials to remake their cloaks. Once they moved, they naturally couldn't escape Noibat's search.
Sure enough, two Noibat flew into the orchard, and before long, seven or eight Burmy that had lost their cloaks, now completely bare—fled out of the berry grove and ran toward the back mountain.
Silas also dragged out a few Burmy hiding along the orchard's perimeter. Without their cloaks, Burmy's bodies appeared dark brown, looking just like caterpillars.
Once all the Bug-type Pokémon were driven away, Silas carefully checked the condition of each berry tree.
Fortunately, only some leaves had been chewed on, and the damage to the trees themselves was negligible.
After spreading some growth-enhancing fertilizer, they would recover completely in a few days.
Leaving the orchard, Silas headed straight for the ranch lake.
Many Pokémon were playing around there.
Compared to before he left, the lake area had changed a lot. The lotus leaves he had planted earlier were now poking up one after another.
The round leaves spread open, casting patches of shade over the water.
Among the leaves, a few scattered flower buds could be seen—before long, the ranch would have lotus seeds to harvest.
When they saw him approaching, a group of Pokémon led by Minccino gathered around him.
Silas stopped by the lake. Relicanth was just as always—so still that even Pyroar probably didn't know there was a Pokémon at the bottom of the lake.
Relicanth could remain completely motionless for days at a time, disguising itself as a rock.
"Bebe~"
Five Flabébé all landed together on Silas's head, tugging at his short hair.
"Mm-hm!" Silas listened carefully, nodding as he replied, "I know, I know. I'll set up the greenhouse as soon as possible."
He reached out and gently patted each of them.
The tulips planted in spring had already been cleared away, and the ranch now only had a few scattered wildflowers—nowhere near enough to meet the Flabébé's needs.
They also wanted to help Silas collect nectar to sell for a bit of extra income, which would be a stable source of revenue for the ranch.
After receiving his affirmative answer, the Flabébé held hands and spun in circles, laughing like ringing silver bells.
Silas realized that now that he was back, there was a mountain of things to do. The coming week was going to be extremely busy.
After reminding Minccino and the others not to wander too far, Silas headed toward the Mareep enclosure.
Five little Mareep were lazily sprawled on the grass. When he appeared, four of them ran toward him—except for Lazy Mareep, the ultimate slacker, whose thunderous snoring echoed across the field.
Silas checked each Mareep's condition. They were all very healthy, and their wool had grown much thicker than when he first met them.
Lazy Mareep in particular—perhaps because it ate the most and exercised the least—had grown wool so long it was ready to be sheared.
Since the thought had crossed his mind, he immediately put it into action, calling Sturdy Mareep over to help fetch the shears from the granary.
Before officially shearing, the Mareep had to be cleaned first—especially Lazy Mareep, this filthy little guy, whose chest wool was covered in grime.
This was despite Silas having prepared a drool bib for it ahead of time; otherwise, it would've been even worse.
With a gentle pull, all kinds of food scraps could be found tangled in its wool, which he carefully removed one by one.
He then used a comb to loosen up the clumped wool. Throughout the entire process, Lazy Mareep didn't move at all, letting him do whatever he wanted.
Instead, its snoring only grew louder, leaving Silas speechless.
Still, this was good—no struggling meant a quick and clean job.
When Silas picked up the shears, the other four Mareep gathered around, standing in a neat row and craning their necks to watch curiously.
Because Mareep's wool carried static electricity, it was best to wear insulated gloves.
Friction during shearing was unavoidable, and the resulting static shock could be painfully intense.
As for why Silas wasn't wearing any?
You get used to it after being shocked enough times.
Thanks to Morpeko helping him train his resistance to electricity, he could now take a Thunderbolt head-on without necessarily getting hurt.
Anyway—back to the point.
When shearing, one should start from the belly. Since the wool there was thinner, extra care was needed to avoid cutting the skin.
After finishing the belly, he moved on to the back and sides, following a bottom-to-top, front-to-back order, trimming along the body's contours to ensure a complete fleece.
Only then did he trim the tail and leg wool—and he didn't forget the poop-shaped tuft on Lazy Mareep's head either.
After Silas was done, Lazy Mareep had been completely stripped bare.
Thankfully, it was summer. Shearing actually helped the Mareep stay cool.
"Maa!"
Pretty Mareep let out a shriek, her cheeks flushed red as she ran off.
Sturdy Mareep glanced at Lazy Mareep, who was sleeping like a dead pig, then chased after Pretty Mareep.
Silas blinked in confusion, then looked again at the completely bald Lazy Mareep.
It seemed… he might have cut a bit too much.
At the very least, he should've left some wool to cover it up, damn it!
Silas: -~^_^||| (awkward dry laugh.jpg)
He turned his gaze to the two Mareep who hadn't left. "Do you want to try too? I promise I'll leave some this time."
Warm Mareep: "(o?o)シ886"
Happy Mareep: "(.?_?)/~~~"
"Maa!"
(We're going to go drag Sturdy back!)
The two Mareep bolted off in a flash—they absolutely did not want to be stripped bald.
With everyone gone, Silas shook his head, packed up his tools, and sneakily carried the fleece away.
When he reached the silo area, Morpeko came rolling toward him, rolling all the way to his feet.
"Mor-pe~"
(My tooth that fell out.)
Morpeko pulled out its tooth—the fallen front tooth hadn't been thrown away yet.
Understanding what it meant, Silas picked it up, and the man and Pokémon walked back to the house together.
He explained patiently, "Upper teeth go under the bed. Lower teeth go on the roof."
"Mor—sliurp~ (whistling from the gap)—"
Without needing further instruction, Morpeko toddled inside on its short legs and tossed the tooth under the bed.
When Silas found it again, Morpeko had its mouth wide open, staring at its gums to see whether the new tooth had grown in yet.
Seeing that only a tiny tip had emerged, Morpeko collapsed in despair. "Morpe!?"
(When will I be able to eat like crazy again?!)
It wanted to eat berry seeds, wanted to gnaw on bones—but for now, Morpeko couldn't eat any of that. It would have to wait until its tooth fully grew back.
(End of Chapter)