Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 121 Lillie's Progress

Gladgio stayed in the room and sat with Su Yu for a while.

During this time, they chatted for a while. Not long after, Gladio, worried about Lillie, said he wanted to go out and check on her.

Upon hearing this, Su Yu followed Gladion outside. At this moment, Lillie was in an open space not far from the cabin, surrounded by a circle of Pokémon from the ranch, such as Alcremie, Pachirisu, and Diglett.

These Pokémon kept a safe distance from Lillie, not daring to approach rashly, and kept in mind Su Yu's instructions.

And they seemed to get along very well.

"It seems you don't need to worry so much."

Seeing this, Su Yu smiled and said.

Upon hearing this, Gladio nodded, "Let's hope so."

Then, Su Yu said that he had things to do at the ranch and left.

Gladion stayed there with Zubat, training and protecting Lillie until evening.

As evening approached, Lusamine drove to the ranch to pick up her child. Upon exiting the car, she saw Lillie peacefully interacting with Pokémon in the distance.

Su Yu then arrived beside Lusamine, and Lusamine looked at Lillie and said:

"It seems they're having a good time here. I wonder if I could bring them back to your ranch for the next few days?"

Su Yu naturally had no objection to this. After all, Lusamine had given him 50,000 Alliance Coins as a reward, so this small matter was naturally not a problem.

"Of course," Su Yu replied.

Upon hearing this, Lusamine nodded and then said:

"If possible, I'd like to let Lilliedo meet some new Pokémon at the ranch. I'd appreciate it if you could help me with that."

Just then, seeing that Lusamine had arrived, Gladion also came over with Lillie. They got into the car, turned around, and drove away.

Su Yu watched the car gradually disappear into the distance and breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the relationship between Lusamine and Lillie in this world wasn't as strained as it seemed.

After all, the Lillie in the special episode was just like a doll that Rosamund could manipulate at will. Su Yu was really afraid that the Lillie he encountered would be like that.

……

Over the next few days, Gladion would bring Lillie to the ranch every day, and Lusamine would pick her up in the evening.

After spending a few days together, Lillie became quite familiar with the Pokémon on the ranch. Under these circumstances, Su Yu obtained Lusamine's permission and began to let Lillie touch the Pokémon with her hands.

"Huh? Do I have to touch the Pokémon with my hands?"

Upon hearing this news, Lillie was visibly panicked. Even after several days together, her fear of interacting with Pokémon hadn't subsided.

Su Yu then led her into the small house and to the fish tank next to the balcony.

Su Yu pointed at the Magikarp in the fish tank and said to Lillie:

"Here, these are the Pokémon you're ready to interact with."

This is... Magikarp?

Upon hearing Su Yu's words, Lillie slowly removed her hand from her eyes and looked at the fish tank.

Lillie paused for a moment after seeing the Pokémon inside.

She knew Magikarp, the most recognized weakest Pokémon, which was said to only know one weak move, Splash, before adulthood.

Is this the Pokémon she's supposed to touch with her hands?

In response, Su Yu said:

"So, if it were a Magikarp, you'd dare touch it, right?"

Su Yu's idea was simple. Since you're afraid of Pokémon because of childhood trauma, what if I found a completely harmless Pokémon that also looked weak?

You can't possibly say that you're even afraid of Magikarp, can you?

That's a Magikarp! It's a Pokémon that an ordinary person could easily kick a few times. How can you be afraid of that?

Hearing Su Yu's words, Lillie hesitated before nodding. She looked at the Magikarp in the tank and reached out her hand with trembling hands.

As usual, the Magikarp continued to blow bubbles in the tank. Su Yu had previously told it that this matter concerned its dinner that night, so it had to cooperate.

Although Magikarp was a little annoyed that it wasn't considered a Pokémon, upon reflection, it realized it was just a salted fish, so it didn't really care.

Su Yu watched from the sidelines, and even Gladio next to him was more nervous than him, his palms almost sweating.

Lillie's outstretched hands gradually approached the fish tank. After hesitatingly glancing at Gladion, Lillie gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and put her hands underwater.

But with your eyes closed, it becomes a bit difficult to touch Magikarp. Fortunately, Magikarp is quite cooperative and comes closer on its own.

Feeling the strange sensation in her palm, Lillie opened her eyes. At that moment, she had already touched Magikarp.

Feeling this strange sensation, Lillie was somewhat surprised. Is this... the feeling of touching a Pokémon?

Although... it's the weakest Pokémon, Magikarp.

Seeing this, Su Yu smiled and said:

"So, it's not actually that difficult to do this, is it?"

"Pokémon are sentient beings, and under normal circumstances, they won't do anything rash as long as you treat them well. Magikarp is like that, and so are other Pokémon."

Hearing this, Lillie smiled and nodded, but she probably wouldn't be able to muster the courage to approach other Pokémon anytime soon.

Even after Gladion tentatively released Zubat, Lillie still unconsciously took a half step back, even though it was her brother's Pokémon.

"It seems that there's still a long way to go before we can interact with Pokémon completely normally."

Looking at this stress response that had become a habit, Su Yu thought to himself.

However, the safe distance that Lillie maintains with the Pokémon is now much shorter than before.

This shows that contact with Magikarp does have some effect.

That evening, after learning the good news, Lusamine left Su Yu a reward of 20,000 Alliance Coins. Although Su Yu was somewhat reluctant to accept the money.

As Lusamine and the others were leaving, Su Yu said:

"Now that Lillie can interact with Magikarp normally, perhaps it would be a good idea to let her start interacting with Pokémon from a Pokémon egg."

"Perhaps watching the elves hatch and grow step by step will bring about some changes for Lillie."

In the anime, Lillie also undergoes her transformation starting from an egg. Therefore, Su Yu offered his advice at this moment.

Upon hearing this, Lusamine nodded to Su Yu and replied:

"I see."

"Tomorrow is my day off, so I'll take them to see the best breeding facility in the next city."

"If all goes well, I probably won't be sending them to the ranch anymore for the next few days."

(End of this chapter)