Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 26 The Woolstice Sheep's New "Little Brother"

It was carried by the tropical dragon for a long time.

This feeling of flying is quite unusual for a caterpillar.

The air currents constantly brushed against my face, and from this vantage point, I could see the beautiful scenery of the pastoral area – it was a wonderful feeling.

At this moment, Su Yu asked the green caterpillar:

"Caterpie, are you experiencing any strange sensations right now, like feeling full of energy or something?"

Upon hearing this, the caterpillar examined its own body but did not sense any significant changes.

It just felt as if a shackle that had bound it for a long time had been loosened, and many moves that it could never have learned before seemed to appear in its mind.

For example, Thunderbolt, Dragon Tail, Godspeed, and so on?

This should count as a change, right? So the caterpillar told Su Yu about this feeling.

Upon hearing this, Su Yu felt that this was a change brought about by loading the Divine Beast Panel. However, this change seemed a bit strange?

You can learn many new moves that you couldn't learn before? What kind of move cheat is this? Did you just turn on a cheat code...?

He imagined in his mind what it would be like if Su Yu went out to battle with Caterpie. His opponents were all ordinary Pokémon, and they initially thought they had struck gold by encountering an opponent with Caterpie.

After all, Caterpie is notoriously weak, especially Su Yu's Caterpie, which hasn't even evolved yet. It would be a joke to send it out to battle.

To their surprise, the caterpillar immediately unleashed a barrage of attacks, including hurricanes, earthquakes, and finishing touches, raining down on them...

Seeing this, the person on the other end couldn't even utter a curse; all they wanted to do was loudly question—

"You little elf, is it even legal?!"

...The scene is so beautiful, it's almost unbelievable.

"Hmm?" What's wrong? Is there a problem?

At this moment, a question from the caterpillar brought Su Yu back to reality.

Upon hearing this, Su Yu shook his head and said:

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about your future training plan, since you're my Pokémon now."

Caterpie listened and nodded very seriously. It seemed that this trainer was really good to it, starting to plan for the future as soon as it was captured.

Then it needs to find a way to repay this trainer as soon as possible. But the first step is to get along well with the other Pokémon under the trainer's command!

—That's what the caterpillar thought.

This was its first time in a human-inhabited place. In such an unfamiliar environment, and being just a green caterpillar, its first thought was to protect itself.

This place is nothing like the jungle; it's inhabited by many humans with complex relationships. It's extremely dangerous for weak Pokémon, as they could easily be captured.

In the jungle, the only way for a caterpillar to protect itself is to play the victim.

If you think of me as just an ordinary caterpillar, then you won't care about me, or you'll look down on me.

After all, in the forest, the caterpillar is a very lowly creature, with few tricks to learn and almost no ability to fight back.

Caterpie has used this camouflage to outwit many bird Pokémon that try to capture it, a tactic that has proven effective time and again.

"Well... to protect my first layer of disguise, I'll just pretend to be an ordinary caterpillar," the caterpillar thought to itself.

Fortunately, Su Yu was unaware of what the caterpillar was thinking. If he had known, he would definitely have made a sarcastic remark.

Because he didn't expect that this green caterpillar was not only strong, but also cunning, and that it was so skilled at using the trick of pretending to be weak to catch a tiger.

I told you this caterpillar was playing the role of a fantasy protagonist, didn't I?

……

……

As the tropical dragon landed, the Woolbraided sheep and the Alcremie that were guarding the pasture also gathered around.

They looked curiously at the new Pokémon Su Yu brought back, and it seemed they were very interested in Caterpie.

Seeing this, Su Yu left the caterpillar behind, told them to get along well, and then headed to the cliff in the backyard.

After Su Yu left, Wooloo, the most shrewd Pokémon, spoke first. It greeted Caterpie first, and then asked curiously:

"Huh~?" New Pokémon, do you have any special skills, or rather, what makes you so special?

"Hiss, hiss." No, I'm just an ordinary green caterpillar.

"That's how the caterpillar answered."

If we really have to talk about it, does being able to spin silk count?

"What?" So, are you good at fighting?

Upon hearing this, the caterpillar pondered for a moment and then shook its head again.

I guess... that's not that impressive?

But the caterpillar's hesitation was seen by Woolpithecus as a sign of inferiority.

That makes sense. What kind of fighting power does a regular Caterpie have? This kind of Pokémon is at the bottom of the jungle in terms of fighting power, with only Magikarp being comparable to it.

Judging from the looks of it, this green caterpillar must have been bullied quite a bit in the jungle.

Thinking this, Woolpig went up and rubbed against Caterpillar, comforting him:

"Meow~" It's okay, it doesn't matter if you're not good at fighting.

Now that you've arrived at this ranch, I'll take care of you from now on.

"...Hiss~!" After hesitating for a moment, the caterpillar nodded frantically, as if it were deeply moved.

The Pokémon at the Trainer's Ranch are so kind. It's only a newcomer, yet they're already willing to protect a weak Pokémon.

And with someone protecting me, it should be easier for me, Caterpie, to hide my true strength in the future, right?

Woolstice was very happy to have gained a new little brother. It looked the caterpillar up and down, and finally nodded in satisfaction.

"Meow~!" Come with me, you've just arrived, let me show you around this ranch.

"Ma, Ma~" Seeing this, Alcremie wanted to follow, but Tropical Dragon picked it up with its mouth and put it on its back.

"Hey..."

Tropius strongly advises against Alcremie's actions. After all, Caterpie is already putting on a show, why would you go up to it? Isn't that just being a fool and letting yourself be tricked?

You're too small to get involved in things related to caterpillars; the waters here are too deep for you to handle.

With that, Tropical Dragon slowly walked in the opposite direction from Caterpie and the others, preparing to take Alcremie to play somewhere else.

When Alcremie arrived at the ranch, the first Pokémon she met was Tropius. After that, Alcremie often went to play with Tropius.

Therefore, Alcremie and Tropius are the best-friended Pokémon pair on the ranch, often playing together. Alcremie doesn't object to Tropius's behavior at this moment.

……

(End of this chapter)