After a round of expnations, Mino finally uood what had happened.

  And it was shocked.

  Su ii had occurred st night, and none of you bothered to call me?!

  So that's how little I mean to you all?!

  led in Buneary's arms, the Mino sobbed pathetically.

  “Bun~”

  Buneary wao expin that it had tried calling it, but the Mino had been in such a deep sleep that no amount of shaking could wake it.

  But seeing its pitiful state now, Buneary swallowed its words and iurned a pleading gaze to Natsume.

  Feeling Buneary's cry for help, Natsume crouched down in front of Mino and pulled a few pink, sweet-fvored Pokéblocks from his pocket, waving them near its face.

  Drawn by the sugary st, Mino instinctively looked up, only to shake its head vigorously the sed and bury itself deeper into Buneary's fur.

  “e on, don’t be mad, okay?” Natsume coaxed gently.

  “It’s my fault, alright?”

  “We didn’t call you st night because ing up was exhausting.”

  “We just wao let you sleep peacefully.”

  “Don’t be angry with me, okay?”

  First, apologize and soothe. Then, expin and justify. Finally, apologize again while l one’s stance.

  The sequence flowed seamlessly—like a textbook example of a sdrel’s pybook.

  (Crossed out: Truly, the gold standard for maniputive charmers.)

  Ahem. In Natsume’s defense, he had once been a hot-blooded boy with dreams of being a Pokémon Trainer.

  And for Trainers, the ability to emotionally sway others—sometimes referred to as PUA (Pick-Up Artist) tactics—was a necessary skill.

  Building bonds with Pokémon required not only personal charisma but also the judicious application of psychological influence.

  To put it simply, this world had plenty of charming maniputors.

  This, among other reasons, was why Natsume wasn’t sidering romanarriage for the time being.

  (That, and he didn’t feel financially secure enough yet. After ating for the farm’s expenses, his remaining funds were far from abundant.)

  “Mi~”

  “Since you put it that way, fine.”

  Relenting, Mino turned with a touch of pride, taking the Pokéblocks from Natsume’s hand with a relut air.

  But after refleg on its attitude, it peeked at Natsume. Seizing a moment when he wasn’t looking, it lightly licked his fiips twice before scurrying off to a er to savor its treats.

  “Alright, that’s settled...”

  Natsume turhinking the matter resolved, only to catch Buneary staring after Mino with a stunned expression.

  I’ve known you this long, and I never realized you were such a shameless flirt?

  Though Buneary didn’t say a word, Natsume could practically see that thought written on its face.

  More work to do.

  After a round of chaotic appeasement, Natsume finally calmed down the emotions of his Pokémon panions.

  “I’ll be relying on you all to watch the house, okay?”

  Waving goodbye, Natsume left with Persian and Butterfree, heading toward the town to meet the stru pany he’d tacted earlier.

  “Caw!”

  Blue Corvisquire, eyes glued to the television, absentmindedly squawked in aowledgment.

  From the TV, strange lines of dialogue drifted out:

  “Even if burdened by the heavens, I must single-handedly support the Primal Imperial City...”

  “Beware the madman sharpening his bde at night, the emperor star wavers as Mars rises...”

  Though inprehensible, it sounded quite impressive.

  Corvisquire’s serious demeangested it was about to grab a notebook to start jotting down notes.

  Buneary and Mino promised to diligently guard the house.

  Though Buneary wao follow Natsume, a few of his sweet-talking phrases had left it dazed and agreeable to staying behind.

  As for Sandshrew?

  That one had been out digging fields since m.

  Fround-type Pokémon fond of burrowing, being assigned aire plot of nd to excavate was a dream e true.

  When Natsume poie, unused area and said, “This is all yours to dig,” Sandshrew’s emotions could only be described as: If you do not mind, I would gdly call you my sworn father.

  (Quick skip to: “A true man born under heaven ah ot remaih others forever!”—crossed out.)

  “~?”

  Humming a self-posed tune about farming, Sandshrew arrived at the field as usual.

  Ah, these nds. My kingdom!

  As Sandshrew admired yesterday’s handiwork, it suddenly noticed something unusual.

  Tilting its head, it stared curiously at a slender hole in the ground.

  “Sand?”

  Did I dig this hole?

  After some thought, Sandshrew was certain it hadn’t.

  For one, Natsume had always insisted it refill any holes it dug.

  Sedly...

  Measuring the hole against its cws and body, Sandshrew cluded it was far too small for it to fit through.

  As it puzzled over the mystery, a pink head suddenly poked out of the hole.

  “Chirr?”

  “Sand?!”

  Both were equally startled.

  Meanwhile, Natsume, strolling down a tryside path, was scrolling through his tact list. Persian zily padded beside him, while Butterfree danced gracefully in the open air.

  For Butterfree, the wide outdoors offered a refreshing enviro.

  Though life with Natsume—even in the old dorm—had been pleasant, nothing pared to roaming freely in nature.

  “Aha, found it!”

  Finally log a tact beled Miss Machamp, Natsume called the number.

  This person ran a small stru workshop he town, which he had found during his search for a building pany.

  Though referred to as a “stru pany,” it was more like a personal workshop—a Trainer raising a Machamp and keldurr team.

  As for the niame “Miss Machamp”?

  Wheroduced herself over the phone, she had been so enthusiastic that her words came out muddled. Plus, her social media avatar featured a Machamp carrying bricks. Hehe uck.

  Her at name, by the way, was “Machamp stru & Renovation Team.”

  Truly a sophisticated moniker.

  “Hello, ma’am.”

  “This is Natsume, the one who tacted you earlier.”

  “Great, thank you so much. I’ll head to town now and stop by your p a bit.”

  Elsewhere, a young woman lounging in bed suddenly bolted upright with the energy of a fish flopping out of water.

  Throwing open the courtyard door, she yelled loudly:

  “We’ve got wet ready, quick! A t’s ing!”

  In the yard, several Machamps and keldurr paused mid-exercise to look at her in fusion.

  “ts? What ts?”

  The realization dawned on them.

  ht! stru work.

  It had been so long siheir st job that they’d almost fotten they were a stru crew.

  The girl’s fists ched in frustration. These guys...

  Gcell