Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 40 The Duel Between the Braided Sheep and its Rider (Please read on Tuesday)

The battle between the tropical dragon and the budding deer ended with a narrow victory for the budding deer.

Compared to the Sprout Deer, the Tropical Dragon was stronger in terms of physical attributes and overall strength, but it was far inferior to the Sprout Deer in combat skills, and therefore ultimately lost.

But the Sprout Deer only won by a narrow margin; it wasn't an easy victory.

And this was all before Tropical Dragon had mastered four leaf blades.

"Uncle Yang said before that he was a sure thing to make it to the top eight, does that mean if I participated now, I could also be about at the top eight level?"

Su Yu asked in surprise.

But then I thought about it, and it made sense. Tropical Dragon was already quite strong when he first captured it. And after that, it trained in swordsmanship with Farfetch'd. It would be strange if it didn't make it into the top eight.

Not all ranchers enjoy fighting; most of them are just ordinary herders in the pastoral area.

"It seems that Tropical Dragon isn't entirely without hope of taking first place..."

If I really master the four-blade sword technique, I might actually be able to win first place.

After the battle between the tropical dragon and the budding deer ended, Su Yu took some medicine and went over to treat their wounds.

After bringing the budding deer back to the cabin, Su Yu placed a grass cake in front of it and said:

"You'll probably like this too. I don't know your taste, but tropical dragons usually like to eat it."

Upon hearing this, the budding deer smelled the grass cake and tried taking a bite.

Then it nodded, indicating that the taste was not bad.

"That's good. If you like it, you can eat more."

"I need to go see Uncle Yang. You stay around this house and don't wander off, or I might not be able to find you. When Tropical Dragon isn't sparring with you, you can spend as much time as you want here."

With these instructions, Su Yu took his Growlithe and went to Uncle Yang's ranch.

Upon arriving at their destination, Uncle Yang led Su Yu to a sheepfold and said:

"Here, these three little goats are ready for you. They all have pretty good potential, and one of them has even inherited the Grassy Terrain move and has already learned how to use it."

A grassy field? You've already learned that?

That little sheep mount has pretty good talent.

Su Yu is in dire need of this move right now, as the herbs in his herb field are growing too slowly and he urgently needs a grassy area to increase the concentration of grass-based energy in the surrounding area.

Uncle Yang then addressed the lambs:

"This is the new rancher I told you about before. You'll be working for him from now on. I don't think anyone would object, right?"

"Meow~!"

The little lambs on their mounts all shook their heads.

Su Yu then smiled and said:

"I still have a few woolly sheep over there. Once you get there, they'll have new companions."

"Don't worry, you'll be well-fed and treated to good food and drinks at my place. I won't let you down."

With that, Su Yu put his little sheep mounts into his Poké Ball.

At this moment, Uncle Yang gave Su Yu some tips on raising the lambs he was riding, and casually mentioned:

"By the way, it's best for the riding lambs to eat specially cultivated, nutrient-rich pasture on a regular basis, because they need more nutrition if they want to produce milk."

"I have some seeds of this pasture grass here, so I'll give them to you."

"Remember to plant this grass when you get back. It's much better than the grass that grows naturally in the pasture, but you'll need someone to take care of it."

"Besides that, those little lambs I've been raising with have been here for a while now. After you take them over and raise them for a bit longer, they should be able to produce milk."

"Remember to squeeze that thing every now and then, otherwise the little lambs will be uncomfortable."

Upon hearing this, Su Yu nodded.

"Okay, I've got it all."

After Uncle Yang finished giving his instructions, Su Yu took the Growlithe and returned to the ranch.

Back at the pasture, the woofers were already waiting. They had heard from Su Yu that new lambs were coming, and now they were all gathered at the entrance of the sheepfold, waiting.

Seeing Su Yu return, they kept bleating and urging him on. Seeing this, Su Yu smiled and said:

"Alright, alright, stop rushing me."

"Little lamb, come and meet your new companion."

With that, Su Yu released the little sheep he was riding from their Poké Balls.

After being released, the little lambs looked around at their new surroundings with curiosity, while the woolly sheep eagerly gathered around them.

Woolstice sheep: "Baa!"

The little sheep mount: "Baa?"

Woolstice Sheep: "Baa baa~!"

Seeing such a chaotic scene, Su Yu felt that his ears were about to burst, filled with the bleating of sheep.

He quickly patted the lamb that Uncle Yang had mentioned, which had already learned to ride on the grassy field, and led it away from the flock.

Su Yu brought the little sheep mount to the herb field and had it try using the Grassy Terrain move on the field.

After all, his purpose in bringing the lambs back was not only to obtain their milk, but more importantly, to increase the grass-based energy in the soil.

Upon hearing this, the little lamb on its steed did as instructed.

As the little sheep mount used the Grassy Terrain feature, a grass-based energy spread out around its feet. Although it was winter, it gave the impression that the earth was about to revive and everything was lush and green.

Under the influence of the green grass, the medicinal herbs in the field swayed and seemed to accelerate their growth.

While his goat rode through the grassy area, Su Yu observed the medicinal herbs. After observing for a while, Su Yu stopped his goat and said:

"That's enough. Using the grass field for this short time each day is sufficient. Any more than that would be counterproductive."

"I might need to trouble you to come here every day to use the grassy area from now on. I'll make you some extra grass cakes, thank you."

"Meow~!" You're welcome.

Upon hearing this, the little sheep mount shook its body happily, as if releasing grass-type energy in this way was a good feeling for it.

Su Yu returned to the hut with his little lamb mount. Passing the sheepfold, Su Yu paused, startled. He saw that the lambs inside seemed to be fighting?

The atmosphere between the riding lambs and the braided sheep was relatively harmonious, and their duel seemed more like playful fighting.

But Su Yu heard from Frost Fairy, who was watching from the sidelines, that this seemed to be the way the lambs were deciding on the leader of their herd.

This piqued Su Yu's interest. The duel was between the Woolstaff and the mount sheep. The Woolstaff sent out their strongest member, as recognized within their small group. The mount sheep did the same.

After going back inside and getting a few cotton candies, Su Yu went outside and went to the sheepfold to watch the spectacle.

He took a cotton candy from the Alcremie nearby and said happily:

"Why is it that you're always involved in gossip? Do you really love gossip that much?"

Are you one of those legendary bystanders?

"Then after a while, I'll plant some watermelons on the farm, and when summer comes, we can eat watermelons and watch a show together like this."

"Mama?"

Upon hearing this, Frost Milk Fairy didn't understand what "eating melons" meant, but she certainly enjoyed watching the excitement.

After distributing the cotton candy in his hand to the other Pokémon, Su Yu continued to watch the show.

Inside the sheepfold, the mounted lambs used vine whips and charge attacks. The Woolblade sheep, however, employed a rounding and cotton defense technique to buff themselves and increase their defensive capabilities.

These two moves made the Woolbraided sheep's wool fluff up and curl into a huge ball, greatly increasing its defensive capabilities.

Faced with this situation, the little lamb mount attacked repeatedly, but all its attacks failed to penetrate the woolly sheep's defenses, which were as soft as cotton. It was quite a difficult situation.

Even in its spherical form, Wooloo hasn't completely lost its offensive capabilities. In this form, it can still use Tackle and Headbutt, with Tackle being a recently learned and quite powerful move.

However, it did not use the ramming attack, seemingly thinking that it was just for fun and there was no need to use such powerful moves.

After repeated unsuccessful attacks, the little sheep mount also tried using Parasitic Seed, hoping to absorb the opponent's stamina to replenish itself and prolong the battle.

But after persisting for a while, the little sheep gave up. Not only were the Woolblade sheep more defensive, but they were also much stronger, thanks to Su Yu's consistent feeding of grass cakes to the Woolblade sheep.

While the abundant Grass-type energy in Grass Cake isn't particularly useful for Wooloo, it does have other benefits for herbivorous Pokémon, offering numerous advantages with long-term consumption.

Therefore, the little lamb ultimately had to give up. It realized that even in a contest of stamina, it couldn't outlast the woofy sheep. Its proficiency with the parasitic seed was far from sufficient to sustain the battle indefinitely.

Ultimately, it recognized this woofer sheep as the leader of their flock.

……

……

(End of this chapter)