Chapter 207:Digging the Pond Together! The Reporter’s Everstone Tactics Challenge

The farm used to have a pond.

However, it had dried up a long time ago. 

After entertaining Yuyama, Natsume began preparations to construct a new pond with the farm’s Pokémon.

The previous pond was located behind the farm cabin.

But that area had long been converted into a vegetable garden by Natsume.

Natsume planned to build the pond in the cleared land below the mountain where the Hearty Grains were planted.

Some of the cleared land in that area still hadn’t had any crops planted, making it perfect for digging a pond.

Once the location was confirmed, Natsume gathered the Pokémon to begin the excavation.

Sandshrew, Drilbur, and the Eevees were all involved.

Natsume commanded, "Everyone, use Dig."

"Eevee~"

The Pokémon immediately started digging into the dirt beneath them.

The excavated dirt was piled together, waiting to be used for building the dam.

The first pond would not be very large, about one acre in size.

After the pond was built, Natsume planned to plant a ring of fruit trees around it.

Once completed, it should look quite nice.

The Pokémon seemed a bit unclear about the distinctions between working and playing.

After digging for a while, the Pokémon had turned into muddy dolls.

They were happily working.

Marshtomp was the most excited.

It covered itself in sticky mud and ran around in the soon-to-be pond, chasing the Eevees.

Of course, there were some Pokémon that were focused on working.

For example, a Drilbur.

"Drilbur~"

Drilbur wiped its forehead and looked at the area it had dug with satisfaction.

Pop~

Suddenly, a clump of mud flew through the air and hit Drilbur in the face.

"Marshtomp."

Marshtomp, playing with the Eevees, immediately looked embarrassed.

"Drilbur!"

Drilbur angrily picked up a handful of mud and hurled it at Marshtomp.

"Marshtomp~"

Marshtomp twisted its body and successfully dodged.

This made Drilbur even angrier.

Drilbur spun its arms like windmills, launching a barrage of mud at Marshtomp.

Marshtomp dodged left and right, evading all of it.

But the Eevees were not so lucky.

Their faces were all covered in mud.

"Eevee."

The Eevees wiped the mud off their faces and angrily chased after Drilbur.

Natsume sat on the dam, chuckling as he watched the Pokémon below chase and play with each other.

Seeing the adorable little creatures filled with endless energy always brought a sense of healing.

On the mountain, Silvally observed Natsume, who was watching the Eevees.

As an artificially created Pokémon, Silvally was initially treated as a machine.

Its existence was seen as merely a tool and weapon by those around it.

Thus, Silvally didn't hold any deep feelings for humans.

It lived like a machine, obeying commands mechanically.

"Cyclizar?"

Cyclizar approached Silvally's side.

Following Silvally's gaze, Cyclizar looked down and communicated in Pokémon language, "So you're watching Lord Natsume!"

"He’s playing with the Eevees again."

Silvally turned to Cyclizar and asked, "You’ve lived here the whole time?"

"Cyclizar."

Cyclizar shook its head.

Cyclizar explained to Silvally that it remained at the farm simply because it didn’t know where else to go.

The farm had taken it in when it had nowhere else to turn.

Cyclizar began to tell Silvally about its past.

It recounted how it encountered poachers and how it ended up at the farm.

After listening, Silvally asked, "Do you miss your past, or do you want to stay here?"

Cyclizar showed a somewhat troubled expression.

Not knowing how to answer, it looked at Silvally and asked, "What about you?"

Silvally shifted its gaze back to Natsume and the others.

Pop~

"Ouch."

A loud sound rang out.

Mud thrown by Drilbur had splattered onto a man's face.

"Be careful, you guys."

Natsume called out to Marshtomp and the others and then turned to the man who had been hit with mud, asking, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

He wiped the mud off his face and said warmly, "Natsume gym leader, I'm sorry to disturb you out of the blue."

"You can call me Ayuu. My profession is a reporter."

"A reporter?"

Given the farm's growth, many reporters had shown interest in coming here for interviews.

However, Natsume had turned them all down.

Natsume looked at him and said, "You should know I have no intention of accepting interviews, right?"

Ayuu quickly replied, "I understand."

"But many people are very interested in your story, so we really would like to do a feature interview with you."

"Of course, if Natsume gym leader truly doesn't want to, could you please tell me if there's a special reason?"

Listening to Ayuu, Natsume casually responded, "There's no special reason; I just don't see the need."

Upon hearing this, Ayuu became excited, "If that’s the case, it sounds like Natsume gym leader isn't completely against accepting an interview!"

Natsume shrugged, "Maybe."

"I see."

"Then how about we have a battle!"

Ayuu suddenly became enthusiastic, "If I win, I hope you’ll agree to our interview."

Natsume’s face showed a look of surprise at this statement.

"You want to challenge me?"

Nearby tourists, who were taking photos and watching, turned to Ayuu with curious expressions.

Someone laughed, "Are you serious? You're challenging Natsume, the gym leader?"

"Come on, if you’re using a battle as a wager, there's really no point in starting!"

"Hahaha, do you really think you have a chance to win?"

"Give it up! There's no way you can win."

Hearing the mockery around him, Ayuu's face turned slightly red, and he shouted, "Just because he’s not an opponent, I should give up?"

"Besides, how will I know unless I give it a try?"

The people around exchanged glances at Ayuu's words and erupted into even louder laughter.

"Seriously, does it even need to be tried?"

"If you could beat Natsume, you wouldn’t just be a reporter!"

Natsume brushed off the dirt on his clothes.

He felt that this reporter named Ayuu must have some confidence.

Although Natsume wasn't quite sure where that confidence was coming from.

"The rules of the farm gym state that if you want to challenge me, you generally need to earn a gym badge from our farm gym first."

Currently, the farm gym had both City-level and Regional-level badges.

If you're challenging the City-level gym, most of the Pokémon that appear in battles are of average strength.

For example, those that have already evolved like Combusken, Houndoom, or Pidgeotto.

If you want to challenge the Regional-level gym, it used to be that Sirfetch'd would take on challengers.

However, the strength of Sirfetch'd and the others is now far beyond that of typical challengers.

So they rarely participate in gym battles anymore.

Now, the primary Pokémon handling Regional-level challengers are Hakamo-o and Breloom.

Listening to Natsume, Ayuu felt a bit nervous.

"Isn't there a way to challenge you directly?"

Natsume smiled and said, "That depends on my mood."

"And right now, I’m feeling pretty good, so you can."

Ayuu immediately sighed in relief.

He took out a Poké Ball and released his Pokémon.

"Come on out, Rowlet!"

"Rowlet~"

This Rowlet looked lively and waved its wings enthusiastically at the other people around.

The crowd laughed again at the sight of Rowlet.

"Seriously? Are you joking?"

"I thought you were going to bring out something impressive, and it’s just a Rowlet?"

Natsume looked at the data for this Rowlet.

Name: Rowlet  
Type: Grass / Flying  
Level: 1v34  
Ability: Long Reach  
Moves: Tackle, Growl, Leafage, Razor Leaf, Pluck, Shadow Sneak, Synthesis, Fury Attack, Sucker Punch, Feather Dance  
Potential: Gym  
Carrying Treasure: Everstone  

After checking Rowlet’s data, Natsume showed a hint of realization.

He thought to himself, "I see, he’s hoping to use Rowlet, which means I might end up sending out a low-level Pokémon to face it."

Ayuu had completely overlooked the mocking laughter around him.

He looked at Natsume and said, "Natsume gym leader, a one-on-one match is okay, right?"

Natsume smiled at Ayuu and replied, "Sure, let’s go."

"Let’s head to the battle arena."

After saying that, Natsume looked at a Pidgeotto standing on the unfinished dam of the pond. "Pidgeotto, go and bring Frogadier over."

"Pidgeot~"

Pidgeotto acknowledged and flew off toward the training area.

Frogadier's level was about the same as Rowlet's.

Rowlet would make for a good opponent against Frogadier.

Soon, Natsume and his group arrived at the farm’s battle arena.

When some spectators saw Natsume was entering the arena, they got excited. "Natsume gym leader is battling personally?"

"Who’s the opponent?"

Those following along scoffed, "Just an ordinary reporter."

He briefly explained what had just happened to the surrounding audience.

This elicited a chorus of bored boos from the crowd.

Serperior raised its tail slightly, observing the noisy onlookers.

At this sight, the surrounding tourists quickly fell silent.

Serperior was like the instructor of the farm; anyone who came here became quite obedient under its gaze.

If Serperior got angry, its Vine Whip would definitely have some serious consequences.

"Frogadier!"

Frogadier ran up to Natsume's side.

Natsume asked, "How's your stamina? Are you ready for a battle?"

"Frogadier."

Frogadier nodded.

Frogadier had just finished a round of training and had already rested.

The training plan had been written by Natsume for Frogadier.

In the morning, Frogadier engaged in physical training.

The training mainly involved weaving through the forest while carrying weights.

In the morning, it completed move accuracy training with moving targets.

After the move accuracy training, it then worked on reaction time.

Once all that training was completed, there was practical battle training.

Frogadier glanced at its opponent.

It was a Rowlet.

Perfect, today’s practical battle opponent was a disadvantageous Flying-type Pokémon!

Frogadier loved the training methods Natsume provided.

It felt a sense of growth and fulfillment from the training.

After seeing that Frogadier was ready, Natsume turned to Rotom and said, "Let's get started."

"Alright, Rotom~"

Rotom floated to the center of the venue and stated, "The rules are one-on-one. The match ends when one Pokémon loses its battle capability."

"Now, let the battle begin!"

Ayuu immediately commanded, "Razor Leaf!"

"Frogadier, dodge!"

Bam~ Bam~

Frogadier quickly jumped back as the rapidly spinning Razor Leaf shot toward where Frogadier had just been standing, leaving behind a series of deep gouges.

"Pretty powerful," Natsume praised, watching Rowlet's Razor Leaf.

The audience around them showed looks of surprise.

"This Rowlet seems to have some strength."

Some people were not surprised at all.

"Miyu, do you think Ayuu can win?"

At that moment, a girl in the crowd nervously looked at a tall, graceful woman beside her.

Miyu shook her head slightly.

She said softly, "It's hard to say."

"Since Natsume gym leader allowed Frogadier to battle, I imagine he must have already sensed that Ayuu's Rowlet is no ordinary Pokémon."

"Sensed it? No way! That would be too impressive."

Miyu said quietly while looking at Natsume in the arena, "Natsume gym leader is the youngest trainer in the Japan league and has Champion-level prowess."

"His insight is certainly beyond what ordinary people can compare to."

In the battle arena, Ayuu declared, "Don’t underestimate me."

He said loudly, "I once worked hard with the goal of becoming a trainer too!"

"Rowlet, use Shadow Sneak!"

A dark shadow spread rapidly beneath Rowlet.

Frogadier looked down at the dark shadow, and a water ball immediately formed in its hands and was thrown forward.

Bam~

In the splash of water, the shadow dissipated.

"Not over yet! Pluck!"

"Rowlet~"

Rowlet accelerated, its beak glowing white as the light enveloped its body.

Rowlet dashed toward Frogadier.

"Frogadier, smoke!"

"Frogadier~"

Bam~

White smoke filled the air, obscuring Frogadier’s body.

Ayuu quickly commanded, "Rowlet, use Feather Dance on the smoke!"

"Rowlet~"

Rowlet flew above the smoke.

As Rowlet prepared to turn around, it suddenly saw Frogadier jumping out of the smoke.

Not just one!

Frogadier used its shadow clone ability in the smoke and jumped simultaneously.

These Frogadier instantly surrounded Rowlet.

Rowlet looked around in a panic.

Natsume calmly commanded, "Fling!"

Whoosh~

A barrage of rocks flew toward Rowlet.

Fling, a Rock-type move, was double effective against Rowlet.

Bam~

With a muffled thud, Rowlet was sent crashing to the ground.

"Rowlet, fly back up!" Ayuu shouted, sounding anxious.

"Frogadier, Quick Attack."

As Rowlet flapped its wings, trying to take off after hitting the ground, a grounded Frogadier pushed off the ground and charged quickly at Rowlet.

Bam~

Rowlet was knocked back.

Seeing Rowlet fly away, Frogadier showed no mercy and immediately charged in to deliver a heavy Pound!

"Rowlet!"

Rowlet looked at Frogadier, its eyes rolled back, and it fainted.

Rotom flew to Rowlet's side and announced the result of the match.

"Match ends."

"Rowlet has lost its battle capability, so the winner is Frogadier."

"Frogadier~"

Frogadier eagerly looked at Rotom.

Frogadier insisted that the match had just begun to warm up, so it wanted him to quickly arrange another one.

"Rotom, I think you should rest for a bit."

Natsume said to Frogadier, "In battle training, taking breaks is also very important."

"Using this time to watch other companions' battles is part of training too."

Frogadier immediately ran toward another battle arena.

Frogadier's battle awareness had noticeably increased since their first meeting.

The atmosphere of battle at the farm gym was very intense, with battles happening every day.

In such an environment, even domesticated Pokémon would gain a better understanding of battling.