Ange had just dismounted from Altaria when he saw two people walking out of a ranch. The two were talking as they walked, and once they reached the ranch entrance, one of them departed.
Furthermore, the other person noticed Ange and asked doubtfully, "Excuse me, who are you?"
"Are you the owner of this ranch?" Ange asked as he quickly stepped forward.
"I am," the man replied with a nod.
It really was him, Ange thought to himself. Furthermore, he spoke again, "My name is Ange. I heard you intended to sell the Pokémon in the ranch, so I came to take a look."
"So that is how it is. Please, follow me," the ranch owner replied with a look of realization and a smile.
Following that, he led Ange into the ranch, while Altaria and the others followed closely behind Ange.
"My name is Hanzawa. I inherited this ranch from my grandfather and have been managing it ever since he passed away," the ranch owner introduced himself.
"However, I am truly not good at this. The ranch has been in the red for the past few years, and the Pokémon have suffered quite a bit following me. Consequently, I thought about simply quitting, which is why I want to find suitable owners for the Pokémon."
"I understand," Ange nodded.
"By the way, which Pokémon are you looking for?" Hanzawa asked. Furthermore, he pointed toward a large flock of Mareep and said, "As you can see, this ranch mainly deals in Mareep wool. However, the number of Mareep I have is too large for most people to take in all at once. Therefore, I divided them into several batches and plan to sell them off in stages."
The person who had just left the ranch was there to purchase Mareep.
Ange looked in the direction Mr. Hanzawa pointed and saw that the ranch was indeed mostly filled with Mareep, interspersed with a small number of Flaaffy and Ampharos.
"I heard that Mr. Hanzawa still has a batch of Miltank. Those are the ones I want."
Ange's words gave Hanzawa a start. Following that, he said with a smile, "Your information is quite well-informed. I haven't even released the news about having Miltank yet."
Before he decided to close the ranch, he had specifically gone to the Johto region to bring in the Miltank. His intention was to change the ranch's product structure to see if it could save the business.
Unfortunately, he failed.
He was not good at raising Mareep and could not produce high-quality wool. Similarly, he was not good at raising Miltank and could not produce high-quality Moomoo Milk.
This was the reason his ranch could not continue operating.
He originally planned to sell the Miltank after all the Mareep were sold, but he didn't expect someone to come knocking on his door now.
Regardless, selling them sooner or later was the same, as long as the Miltank were well-cared for.
"I will take you to see the Miltank," Mr. Hanzawa said.
"Thank you," Ange nodded.
Under Mr. Hanzawa's guidance, Ange arrived at the pasture where the Miltank resided. On the lush green grass, the Miltank were lying down, crouching, or strolling about, looking very leisurely.
It was clear that Mr. Hanzawa took very meticulous care of the Miltank, which could be seen from their relaxed expressions.
However, taking good care of Miltank and being able to make them produce high-quality milk were two different things. The quality of the Moomoo Milk produced by Miltank was closely related to the way they were raised.
For instance, the Gogoat on the Nebel Plateau produced higher quality milk than before precisely because of Ange's meticulous care.
"I have 50 Miltank here. Do you want all of them?" Mr. Hanzawa asked, pointing at the Miltank.
Because it was just an experiment, Hanzawa did not introduce too many Miltank to the ranch at the beginning. Fortunately, he hadn't brought in too many; otherwise, the ranch had already gone bankrupt.
50 was not a lot. "Yes, I want them all," Ange nodded.
Hanzawa did not immediately agree to sell them to Ange. Instead, he said, "If you want to buy my Miltank, you must agree to one request. Otherwise, please leave."
"What request? Please, go ahead," Ange asked curiously.
"After you buy the Miltank, you must send me a video of them every month for the next year. I want to see their living conditions. If you cannot treat them well, then this transaction will be considered invalid. At that time, you will return the Miltank to me, and I will refund your money in full," Mr. Hanzawa stated.
Ange was surprised. He didn't expect Mr. Hanzawa to be such a serious person.
Seeing that Ange remained silent for a while, Mr. Hanzawa continued, "I am not targeting you. I have made the same request to others who came to buy Mareep. Since we raise Pokémon, we must shoulder the responsibility of taking good care of them. We cannot be careless."
"I was just a bit surprised by your sense of responsibility, Mr. Hanzawa. I admire your concern for Pokémon," Ange said quickly.
Mr. Hanzawa shook his head with a bitter smile on his face. "There is no other way. It is all because of my lack of ability; otherwise, they wouldn't have to leave this place. It is I who let them suffer."
"I agree to your request, Mr. Hanzawa. I will send you the videos of the Miltank on time every month," Ange said.
Hanzawa revealed a smile upon hearing this. "Thank you for your understanding. Let us exchange contact information then."
"Okay!" Ange nodded as he took out his phone.
After the two exchanged contact information, Mr. Hanzawa clapped his hands. Hearing the applause, the Miltank turned their heads to look over.
"Everyone, come here for a moment," Mr. Hanzawa called out to the Miltank.
The Miltank walked over obediently.
Hanzawa pointed at Ange and introduced him to them, "Everyone, this is Mr. Ange. You will follow him from now on. He will take good care of you, so there is no need to worry about your future life."
The Miltank nodded one after another.
They had already heard from Hanzawa about leaving the ranch. They knew this was unavoidable and thus understood Mr. Hanzawa's position.
"Don't worry, everyone. My home has a very large grassland. You will definitely like it there. I guarantee your standard of living will not be worse than it is now," Ange added.
Hearing Ange's sincere tone, the Miltank sighed in relief. It was good as long as they met a good owner.
"Let's go sign the contract then!" Mr. Hanzawa said after the Miltank got to know Ange.
For a Pokémon transaction involving such a large number, both parties needed to sign a contract and then send it to the relevant League institutions for certification. Otherwise, if a problem arose, both parties would be in great trouble.
"Okay!" Ange nodded.
Following behind Mr. Hanzawa, Ange arrived at his house. Just as the two sat down, a Wigglytuff wearing an apron brought two cups of hot tea and placed them before them.
Before signing the contract, Mr. Hanzawa chatted with Ange for a while. He gained a simple understanding of where Ange lived, what his family did, and the purpose of buying the Miltank.
He could not sell the Miltank to a stranger without knowing anything.
Mr. Hanzawa was very surprised when he learned of Ange's status as a member of the Azoth Royalty, and he simultaneously felt relieved.
Since he was from the Royal Family, the Miltank would certainly receive excellent care. The reputation of the Azoth Royal Family had always been very good within the Azoth Kingdom.
"Let's sign the contract," Mr. Hanzawa said, having understood Ange's background.
Ange was about to agree when his phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw that Diancie was calling.
Could something have happened at home?
"Forgive me, Mr. Hanzawa. I need to step out to take a call," Ange said with a sense of doubt.
"Please go ahead, Your Highness," Mr. Hanzawa nodded.
Ange nodded and walked to the door before answering the phone.
"Hello, Diancie, is something the matter?"
"Ange, are there Mareep in the ranch you went to?" Diancie's expectant voice came from the other end of the phone.
"That is correct," Ange nodded. "This ranch originally focused on the Mareep wool business."
"That's great!" Diancie's surprised voice came through the phone. "Can our family raise a Mareep? I want to use Mareep wool for handicrafts."
"Of course, no problem. I will ask the ranch owner in a moment," Ange agreed readily.
"Then I'll leave it to you! Once we have a Mareep, I will definitely knit a sweater for you," Diancie said playfully.
"I remember you said before that you would use Spinarak silk to knit one for me. Why hasn't it been finished yet?" Ange teased.
"Wait until I practice more," Diancie said embarrassedly.
After hanging up the phone with a smile, Ange returned to the room and said to Mr. Hanzawa, "Mr. Hanzawa, may I buy one more Mareep?"
Hearing this, Mr. Hanzawa seemed to suddenly think of something. He said to Ange, "I have a Mareep here with some issues. If Your Highness is willing to take it in, I can give it to you for free."
"A Mareep with issues?" Ange was confused. "What kind of issues?"
"Your Highness, please follow me," Mr. Hanzawa stood up.
Ange nodded and followed Mr. Hanzawa to his garden. Amidst the colorful flowers, a Mareep stood there. It was stretching its head to gently sniff a flower, completely ignoring their arrival.
"Mareep?" Mr. Hanzawa called out softly, but it remained unmoved. Consequently, Mr. Hanzawa raised his volume, "Mareep! Mareep!"
Despite calling out several times, the Mareep continued to sniff the fragrance of the flowers on its own, ignoring Mr. Hanzawa completely.
"You see, it is always immersed in its own world and has no reaction to anything in the outside world," Mr. Hanzawa looked at Ange helplessly.
"Is this... autism?" Ange asked uncertainly.
"That is what Nurse Joy said," Mr. Hanzawa nodded.
"Is there a special reason why Mareep became like this?" Ange asked.
To his knowledge, autism could be innate or caused by postnatal factors.
Mr. Hanzawa shook his head. "It has been like this since birth. Its parents were even unwilling to raise it because of this. Therefore, it has been all alone until now, usually staying in this garden and going nowhere."
At this point, there was a hint of heartache in Mr. Hanzawa's tone.
Ange originally thought that if Mareep's autism was caused by postnatal factors, he could try to start from its experiences to see if he could find a key point for treatment.
However, he hadn't expected it to be innate, which left him somewhat at a loss.
But Diancie only wanted to raise a Mareep for its wool, and autism shouldn't affect the wool, right? Therefore, it wasn't impossible to raise this Mareep; at least it looked very, very well-behaved.
After thinking for a while, Ange said to Mr. Hanzawa, "Alright, I will take this Mareep."
Given Mareep's condition, few people would probably be willing to take it in; otherwise, Mr. Hanzawa wouldn't have used giving it away for free as a condition.
"That is wonderful, Your Highness. Then I shall thank you on behalf of Mareep," Mr. Hanzawa said with a look of surprise.
"I am raising a Mareep solely because I want the wool. Its condition does not affect anything," Ange waved his hand.
"That's right, it doesn't affect anything! Furthermore, it is exceptionally well-behaved. Especially during shearing, other Mareep might throw a tantrum, but it won't at all," Mr. Hanzawa nodded repeatedly.
"That's good then," Ange smiled.
Hanzawa walked happily to Mareep's side and gently stroked its fluffy back. "Mareep, this is great. Mr. Ange is willing to take you in. He will definitely take good care of you, so I can rest easy."
If Ange hadn't suddenly asked for a Mareep today, Mr. Hanzawa planned to keep this Mareep himself.
However, he also had his difficulties. Once the ranch matters were settled, he was going to Lumiose City to start a business. He would definitely be very busy then and wouldn't have the time to continue accompanying and caring for Mareep like he did now.
Who would take care of the autistic Mareep then? He had two other Pokémon, Luxray and Wigglytuff, but those two could barely look after themselves, let alone help care for Mareep.
Besides, the environment of Lumiose City was not suitable for a Mareep.
"This is great, Mareep."
Mareep remained unmoved by Mr. Hanzawa's concern. It moved its head from one flower to another, continuing to sniff around with its nose.
Hanzawa wasn't angry either and patted Mareep's head with a smile.
After confirming the ownership of the Mareep, the two returned to the room to sign the contract.
"Once I take the contract for notarization, I will send the Miltank to Your Highness," Mr. Hanzawa said after the contract was signed.
"Alright," Ange nodded.
The price for one Miltank was 80,000p. Buying 50 cost Ange a total of 4,000,000p. Fortunately, he had earned a lot of money from his shop; otherwise, he really couldn't have sustained it.
Production-type Pokémon had always been expensive.
With the deal concluded, Ange prepared to head home. At that moment, Mr. Hanzawa took out a Poké Ball and handed it to Ange.
"Your Highness, the Mareep is inside. Take it home first to get familiar with the environment."
"Alright, I shall take my leave then," Ange nodded and reached out to take the Poké Ball.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Hanzawa, Ange left the ranch with Mareep and Altaria.
Ria ria~
Altaria flapped its wings and flew into the sky, with Metagross and Swablu following close behind. Pawmi sat in Ange's arms, clapping its paws happily.
Paw paw~
Its laughter echoed in the air along with the spring breeze.