Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 49 Rancher Competition

However, to rescue the tropical dragon's companions, they first need to find the poachers.

The tropical dragon grew increasingly anxious at the thought. After all, it had been at the ranch for a month, but Officer Jenny hadn't sent any new information.

Thinking of this, the tropical dragon felt very disappointed, fearing that by the time Miss Officer Jenny found the poaching gang, its companions would have already been sold off by them.

Seeing this, Su Yu also offered words of comfort:

"It should be soon. A few days ago, I received some information from Miss Officer Jenny. They seem to have found a place that is suspected to be a poaching gang's hideout, and they are conducting reconnaissance these days."

"Maybe your companions are imprisoned inside?"

As for whether the tropical dragon's companions will be sold... those poaching gangs probably wouldn't be so blatant, would they?

Since they were discovered by the League, the League has been monitoring all Pokémon trading activities on the market. With so many Pokémon, if they were really sold, it would be impossible not to find any trace of them.

What's hard to find is just the hideout of that poaching gang. They seem to possess some kind of advanced technology found in some secret realm, which allows them to evade the Alliance's search and hide in the mountains.

Upon hearing Su Yu's words, Tropical Dragon nodded, finally there was some news.

I just hope its companions are still safe and sound. It must hold on until it rescues them...

……

Time passed by unnoticed, and the next day arrived.

Upon waking up early in the morning and opening the door, Su Yu felt a chill and quickly put on an extra layer of clothing.

And this day was also the day of the rancher competition.

As soon as Su Yu got up in the morning, she cooked a mushroom and crab claw dumpling soup, a recipe she had learned from a restaurant. A warm sip of the soup made her feel all warmed up.

"There's a rancher competition today, and I'm taking my tropical dragon to town. Anyone want to come with me?"

As he sipped his soup, Su Yu asked this question.

Upon hearing this, Frost Milk Fairy was the first to raise her hand and sign up; she was always eager to join in the fun.

"Hmm... count you in, anyone else?" Su Yu looked at the other Pokémon.

Although the caterpillar wanted to go, it lost interest because there were so many humans there.

Humans are very dangerous creatures to it, and strangers should keep a safe distance.

As for Farfetch'd... by now, Su Yu has long since evolved it into an old farmer. It's planning to go to the field later to check on how the scallions are growing. What competition? What does it have to do with me?

Although it was a battle between its "apprentice," the tropical dragon, it wasn't interested. Watching the spectacle was something it, being a Zen-like creature, disliked.

Growlithe, on the other hand, is more easygoing; it's fine with going out to play as long as it can.

"So, only Alcremie and Growlithe are coming with me?"

"Alright then, let's go. Remember to stay here and watch the house, and don't wander off."

Before leaving, Su Yu gave these instructions.

"Hiss~"

Upon hearing this, the caterpillar responded.

……

I rode a tropical dragon into town.

At this time, quite a few people had gathered here.

The rancher competition was scheduled for the end of the year, and it was another grand event that many ranchers would participate in, naturally making it a very important event in the town.

At this moment, crowds are coming and going, and many vendors have set up stalls on both sides of the road. There are plenty of snacks such as candied hawthorn and cotton candy, as well as many small toys such as balloons.

"Here, here!"

Upon seeing Su Yu arrive, Yang Hao immediately called out.

Upon hearing this, Su Yu stepped forward. She saw that Yang Hao already had quite a few snacks in his hands.

"Why are you here too?" Su Yu asked, puzzled.

"I came to watch my dad compete, do you even need to ask?" Yang Hao said, taking a bite of the candied hawthorn in his hand.

Seeing this, Frost Milk Fairy seemed to be getting a little hungry too. Su Yu glanced at her and asked:

"Want some too?"

"This thing is just coated with sugar on the outside; the fruit inside is sour. Do you still want to eat it?"

Upon hearing the word "sour," Alcremie immediately lost interest. It preferred sweet foods and had an extreme aversion to sour things.

Just then, Uncle Yang returned. Seeing Su Yu there, he smiled and asked:

"Su Yu's here! How's training going these past few days? Are you confident you'll get good results?"

A few days ago, Uncle Yang took back the Deerling that he had left behind to train with Tropius. It seems that Deerling is also one of his main Pokémon.

Su Yu thought about it and realized that if Uncle Yang could get into the top eight with the help of Mengya Deer, then he should have no problem getting into the top four.

The Tropical Dragon, with its dual-bladed swords, easily overwhelmed the Sprout Deer back then. Not to mention, its swordsmanship has improved even further over this period.

So Su Yu said:

"Let's aim for the quarterfinals, maybe we can even fight for the semifinals."

If a trainer like Uncle Yang can reach the quarterfinals in a major tournament, and Tropius is so strong now, it's not impossible to play conservatively and treat the major tournament like a baby cup.

Upon hearing this, Uncle Yang was quite surprised. Was Su Yu really that confident?

His tropical dragon is indeed quite strong, but it was a wild Pokémon that he had only recently caught, right?

While Pokémon that are very strong in the wild may be physically powerful, they are at a disadvantage in terms of tactics and the number of moves they can learn.

However, it's also possible that Su Yu has already nurtured him; that's not impossible.

At this moment, Su Yu also asked:

"By the way, Uncle Yang, are there any rewards for this competition? I heard Yang Hao mention before that there might be some martial arts manuals?"

"Hmm... the skill manual is the main thing, besides that, there's a month's worth of energy cubes, and some other rewards."

"It's based on your ranking. The higher your ranking, the higher the reward amount you can choose. The amount of items you can exchange for also varies depending on your ranking. Of course, if you don't want those rewards, you can exchange them all for Alliance Coins."

"At most, I think I could get 50,000 League Coins. But that would be a bit of a loss. In previous years, I would exchange them for Energy Cubes, which would be enough for my Pokémon at home to eat for a long time," Uncle Yang replied.

Just then, it seemed the competition was about to begin. Upon hearing this news, those who had been strolling on the street suddenly all headed in the same direction.

Seeing this, Uncle Yang also said:

"Let's go, the preliminary rounds seem to be starting soon. There seem to be quite a few more ranchers participating in the competition this year than last year. It looks like the preliminary rounds are going to take a long time."

As he spoke, Uncle Yang walked toward the direction of the surging crowd.

……

(End of this chapter)