Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 23: Back in the Mountains, the Caterpillar

They saw off the ranchers who had come to visit.

For the next few days, Su Yu stayed at the ranch.

When I get up in the morning, I first go to town to deliver fish to the restaurants there, and then I water the crops in the fields when I come back.

Then, he rode his tropical dragon and began to treat the Pokémon on other ranches.

In the afternoon, he accompanied his Growlithe and Tropius to train by the lake.

At this point, the day is basically over.

This regular lifestyle only lasted for less than five days before his phone was bombarded with calls from ranchers in the surrounding area.

The cause was naturally the claws of the hairy cliff crab, and what made these ranchers so angry was the ranchers who had eaten the claws.

In the past few days, after learning that others were trying to buy crab claws from Su Yu, the ranchers who had eaten crab claws launched a sonic attack on the other ranchers, taking advantage of their experience.

Every day, he would talk about crab claws, speaking with the air of a lost fisherman who had just caught a big fish.

Su Yu declined to comment on this, and even somewhat supported it. After all, it could make his crab claws popular and gain him some recognition in the pastoral area.

After receiving a number of urging calls, Su Yu had no choice but to move up the date for his trip into the mountains.

"Let's go, Tropius and Growlithe."

They still only brought these two Pokémon, but this time, there were more Pokémon left on the ranch to guard it.

Riding the tropical dragon, Su Yu flew along the same path he had taken to enter the mountain on foot. To avoid getting lost and not being able to find the original location of the cliff, Su Yu did not choose any other routes.

After the forest became so dense that it was almost impossible to tell which way to go, Su Yu had the tropical dragon slowly descend to the ground and choose to walk.

Upon landing, Su Yu discovered a fragrant mushroom worth six thousand Alliance Coins, and immediately picked it.

"Looks like we're in luck today; we actually managed to find mushrooms we missed last time."

Su Yu said this.

However, the forest was too dense with trees, making it difficult for the large Tropius to pass through. Left with no other option, Su Yu recalled the Tropius into its Poké Ball and left Growlithe with him.

They continued along the same path they had taken before, and then Su Yu noticed a strange phenomenon.

He asked in confusion:

"Growlithe, were there this many bird-like Pokémon lying on the ground last time we came here?"

As he spoke, Su Yu pointed to the bird-like Pokémon lying on their backs by the roadside. Upon closer inspection, he found that these bird-like Pokémon were all still alive, but they seemed to have been electrocuted and knocked unconscious.

Seeing this, Growlithe shook its head. It seemed these bird-type Pokémon had only recently fainted; perhaps a powerful Electric-type Pokémon had passed by nearby?

"this……"

Could the powerful Electric-type Pokémon be Zapdos?

That shouldn't be the case. They're both bird Pokémon, so why would Zapdos electrocute these ordinary Pokémon?

Puzzled, Su Yu decided to continue forward. Further ahead, he saw more stunned bird-like Pokémon by the roadside, and quickened his pace.

—No matter what Pokémon stunned these birds, he should hurry up and leave. He didn't want to get struck for no reason.

And after Su Yu quickly left...

A green caterpillar appeared on a large tree behind Su Yu, watching him leave.

Looking at Su Yu and the Growlithe beside him, it sensed that the Growlithe had become much stronger than before, and couldn't help but nod, acknowledging the Growlithe's efforts.

If Su Yu were here now, he would probably be able to recognize that this green caterpillar is the same one they encountered when they went into the mountains last time.

Compared to the last time we met, this green caterpillar was much stronger. The golden circular patterns on its body were also much deeper than before, and if you looked closely, you could almost see tiny sparks of electricity shimmering within them.

The bird Pokémon that Su Yu saw, stunned and falling to the ground, were also the work of this Caterpie. Compared to a few days ago, Caterpie's electric net move was now highly refined, defeating many bird Pokémon.

However, Caterpie is now being hunted down by bird-type Pokémon.

Ever since they accidentally defeated ten bird Pokémon at once, the bird Pokémon of the entire Chimney Mt. Forest have formed an "Anti-Caterpie Alliance".

The leader of this alliance is a bird Pokémon "big brother" whom the bird Pokémon invited from the neighboring mountain, who is specifically responsible for hunting down this Caterpie.

With its current strength, Caterpie is naturally no match for the "big brother" of the bird Pokémon. So, for the past few days, Caterpie has been hiding everywhere, trying to avoid being hunted down by the bird Pokémon.

But this morning, Caterpie, which was carefully hiding in the bushes, was suddenly discovered by a group of patrolling bird Pokémon.

A fierce battle ensued. Caterpie used its electric net to stun most of the bird Pokémon, resulting in the scene of bird Pokémon scattered all over the ground that Su Yu witnessed.

Even after stunning most of the Pokémon, Caterpie still managed to get some to escape. After all, these bird-like Pokémon can fly, and Caterpie definitely couldn't catch them if they really wanted to run away.

As a result, its whereabouts were exposed, and the bird Pokémon that escaped would definitely inform it.

Now, the older brother of that bird Pokémon is definitely on his way here. Caterpie thought about it and figured it would have to pack its bags and run away.

After glancing in the direction Su Yu had left, the caterpillar did not follow, but instead chose another direction without hesitation.

At least this way, that human and his Pokémon puppy won't get involved, right?

……

Meanwhile, on the other side...

"What's going on? The sky sounds like it's rumbling. Is it going to rain?"

I looked up at the weather. Although it was a bit cloudy, there didn't seem to be any thunder. So what was that rumbling sound?

At this moment, after figuring out the general direction, Su Yu had arrived at the cliff where the hairy crabs were located and was constantly trying to persuade them.

He addressed the hairy cliff crabs:

"I have built a cliff face on my ranch that is even larger than this one, which is more than enough for your entire tribe to live in. The environment there is also much better than here."

"Besides, I have a lot of these energy cubes. If you follow me, you'll never have to worry about food or drink again. How about that? Isn't that a good enough deal?"

At this moment, Su Yu was just like the HR person who tricked young people into joining the company in his previous life, bringing out all sorts of tricks such as "salary" and "benefits".

However, upon hearing this, the hairy crabs remained unmoved, as if having plenty of food and drink held no appeal for them whatsoever. They all stared at Su Yu with their "wise" eyes, their faces expressionless.

Su Yu was helpless. These hairy crabs were too laid-back... Were my energy cubes not tasty enough, or was their new home not big enough or good enough?

Seeing this, Su Yu was at a loss. He didn't know how to get these hairy crabs to move to his ranch.

I can't fool them, I simply can't fool them...

So he said helplessly:

"Well, it seems you're not interested in any of this. To be honest, I came back because of some of your companions who came with me before. After they arrived at my ranch, they said they missed you and wanted you to move there."

"Besides, I don't look like a bad person, do I? A really bad person wouldn't waste their breath like this. If I were a bad person and really wanted you to go to my ranch, I would have just grabbed you already, wouldn't I?"

"How about this, you come with me to my ranch and stay for three days. If you're not satisfied, I promise I'll send you back immediately. How about that?"

Upon hearing this, the hairy crabs looked at each other, wondering if the conditions were not bad and whether they should go.

After some thought, several of the hairy cliff crabs ultimately chose to trust Su Yu.

As the first few hairy cliff crabs made their choice, the remaining hairy cliff crabs followed suit, choosing to trust Su Yu and willing to go to the ranch with him.

Seeing this, Su Yu breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that they could come. If they were willing to come, the environment in the ranch would definitely satisfy these hairy crabs.

What Su Yu feared most was that they wouldn't come. If that happened, the surrounding ranchers would be frantically demanding supplies, and he couldn't meet them, then he'd be in big trouble.

……

(End of this chapter)