Eevee wasn't startled awake; instead, it comfortably shifted its body, paws up, revealing its fluffy and soft belly.
This meant that the Eevee was completely relaxed at the moment, and it trusted its surroundings immensely.
How cute! Naoki thought to himself.
He smiled, returned to his bed, lay down, and looked at Koraidon by the bedside and Pawmot at the foot of the bed. Feeling completely relaxed, he closed his eyes.
It was such a happy day.
Time to sleep!
*
The following morning, Naoki got up early to start a new day's work.
It was summer, and the weather was extremely hot, which significantly increased people's demand for watermelons.
Naoki received a large number of watermelon orders every day.
Thanks to Dragonite's speedy delivery, it usually only took half an hour for deliveries to reach customers' doorsteps.
Customers ordering from Naoki Ranch never had to worry about watermelons going bad during transit.
Early in the morning, the working Dragonites lined up to receive watermelons from Naoki, flying them to various locations across Paldea.
"Phew!"
After sending off the Dragonites and checking for any missed orders, Naoki finally let out a deep breath.
By nine in the morning, the sunlight grew scorching, with the wind carrying waves of heat.
Naoki stood under the eaves, squinting as he glanced at the distant hillside.
The weather was so hot that not even the cicadas in the hills were chirping. Looking afar, he could see the Abundant Shrine surrounded by lush foliage.
In contrast to the real world, the temperature in the Reversed World was just as always, quite cool.
So, Eevees, Ogerpon, Gholdengo, Alcremie, and other Pokemon all went there to escape the heat.
Gogoat also went to the World Tree to teach that Skiddo.
Now, only Naoki, Koraidon, and the others remained on the ranch.
Just as Naoki was about to return to his room for a rest, Koraidon, who was relaxing under the eaves, seemed to suddenly notice something, suddenly opening its eyes and looking in a certain direction.
"Aga-sii?! "
Next to it, Cyclizar also lifted its head.
"Huh?" Naoki turned to look at Koraidon and asked, "What's wrong?"
Koraidon changed from a squatting position to its four-legged big golden retriever form.
It let out a "Aga-sii" before dashing forward, diving into a thicket, and fetched a green, caterpillar-like unknown creature in its mouth.
Koraidon carried the creature back to Naoki, released it from its mouth, and placed it on the wooden floor.
When Naoki took a clear look at the thing, he was instantly frozen in place.
This is... a Zygarde cell?!
What's going on?! How could a Zygarde cell appear in the Paldea Region?
Naoki reached out to pick up the "cell" that was trembling slightly.
The lump of cells seemed terrified, instinctively burrowing into Naoki's palm when picked up.
"Ga-oo?"
Cyclizar tilted its head, looking at the unknown creature, full of confusion, wondering what that thing was?
Naoki, seeing Cyclizar's curious expression, explained to it:
"It could be considered a Pokemon, I suppose?"
Zygarde, the third deity of the Kalos Region, the famous Z God, and the guardian of ecosystems, has always silently monitored the ecosystem's actions.
In the anime, because Kalos was filled with tree-shaped negative energy cores, the Z God even left Ash's Greninja behind to help "chop trees."
Among all the Legendary Pokemon, Zygarde is a very special existence.
Because it can divide itself into "core" and "cell" forms, distributing them across nature.
If danger arises, these cells start to gather, transforming into Zygarde to display their abilities.
In the anime, the little blob that Bonnie found was Zygarde's core.
The one appearing in his ranch now, however, was a cell.
Staring at the cell in his hand, a bold guess emerged in Naoki's mind.
Could it be that this cell was sent by Zygarde to act as a monitor?
It's well-known that cells lack personal will, only acting on core instructions.
With no Zygarde in the Paldea Region, cells appearing here could very likely mean Zygarde sent them.
But Naoki was a bit unsure.
Because as a guardian of ecosystems, it's not unusual for Zygarde to appear anywhere. It oversees the whole world's ecosystems, not just Kalos.
"Koraidon, have you seen this little guy near the ranch before?" Naoki asked.
"Aga-sii..."
Koraidon shook its big head.
"I see." Naoki seemed pensive.
So, was this cell attracted by the World Tree's aura?
After all, if the World Tree is born, it would greatly benefit the entire ecosystem.
No matter the possibility, Zygarde holds no malice towards them.
So, after a brief moment of thought, Naoki brought the cell back home.
This little thing is capable of forming into a Gundam-like being!
I'll collect it for now; perhaps in the future, the World Tree will attract more Zygarde cells and cores.
When that time comes, I'll bring them all home and see if I can build a Gundam.
As Calyrex was playing on his phone in the air-conditioning, he suddenly sensed an unfamiliar aura.