Not Being a Trainer This Time

The next morning, Naoki rode his Cyclizar, wore a straw hat, and put on a short-sleeve shirt, dressing up as a forest Insect-Catching Youth, heading off to Sunnytown to watch the bug-catching competition in a very low-key manner.

When he arrived at the Natural Park on the south side of Sunnytown, a large crowd of Trainers had already gathered there.

Among them were some boys and girls dressed just like him.

Looking at those youths holding insect nets, Naoki exclaimed to himself: There they are! The Insect-Catching Youths and Shorts Kids!

Naoki blended in effortlessly, standing in front of the entrance sign to the Natural Park and reading the detailed introduction written on it.

Natural Park, a paradise for Bug Type Pokemon and Grass Type Pokemon, covers a vast area and is home to countless wild Pokemon.

This place is somewhat similar to the nature reserves in other regions.

However, to protect the Pokemon’s ecosystem in the Natural Park, it is not usually open to the public, nor are Trainers allowed to catch wild Pokemon inside.

But to prevent the overpopulation of Bug Type Pokemon, Sunnytown holds two bug-catching competitions every year, allowing passing Trainers to catch these Bug Type Pokemon.

Further down, there are descriptions of the types of Pokemon living in this Natural Park.

Basic ones like Caterpie, Venonat, Spinarak, Ariados, Volbeat, Illumise, Scatterbug, Cutiefly, Tarountula, Nymble, Rellor.

And some rather rare Bug Type Pokemon.

Such as Vibrava, Heracross, Scizor, Scyther, and Pinsir.

”Too bad there’s no Shuckle.” Naoki felt a bit regretful; otherwise, he could have captured some Shuckle to take back to his farm to help ferment the juice.

Shuckle, the fermentation Pokemon, can break down berries with its shell to ferment them into sticky, delicious juice, very convenient.

But if Naoki recalls correctly, there doesn’t seem to be Shuckle in the Paldea Region.

The crowd buzzed around him, with determined expressions on the faces of those holding insect nets.

Some even placed bets, competing with companions on who could catch the rarer and more unusual Bug Type Pokemon.

Some mischievous kids intentionally used Bug Type Pokemon to scare the girls who accompanied their partners to the bug-catching competition, making the girls scream in fright.

Naoki looked at the scene, speechless.

These childish kids...

”Hey, the bug-catching competition is about to start. Participants, please come to the entrance, we’ll open for the Natural Park shortly.”

A notification sounded over the event’s broadcast.

”Additionally, please prepare before entering the Natural Park, make sure you have enough Safari Balls and snacks to attract Pokemon.”

The crowd started moving toward the entrance of the Natural Park.

As the entrance opened, those enthusiastic Insect-Catching Youths immediately rushed in, scattering to various places in search of rare Bug Type Pokemon.

Naoki, however, calmly walked to the counter by the entrance, intending to buy a few packs of Pokemon snacks from there.

The staff selling the snacks was the girl who ordered berries from his farm yesterday.

The girl recognized him, looking pleasantly surprised: ”You’re here?”

Naoki smiled and nodded, looked down at the empty counter before him, and asked, ”Are there any snacks and Safari Balls left?”

”There are some left! Please wait a moment, I’ll get them for you now!”

With that said, the girl turned and went into the tent behind her.

Naoki patiently waited outside, reaching out to pat the head of his Cyclizar beside him.

Koraidon didn’t come along on this trip.

He didn’t know what had happened; since last night, it had been looking listless, and it didn’t say anything when he asked what was wrong.

This morning, Naoki wanted to bring it here to play, but didn’t expect to be refused by Koraidon.

Naoki pondered if it was because he mentioned Cyclizar during its bath time yesterday, which made Koraidon angry?

No, Koraidon isn’t the type to get angry over trivial matters.

It didn’t look angry, but it seemed to be contemplating something.

Naoki had never seen Koraidon like this before; influenced by Koraidon, he too wasn’t in a very enthusiastic mood today.

Remembering Koraidon’s occasional dazed looks at Cyclizar last night, Naoki felt thoroughly puzzled.

What could it be contemplating?

Suddenly, an exclamation came from inside the tent.

”Ah!”

Cyclizar instantly became alert: ”Gaw?”

Naoki snapped back to attention, thinking something terrible had happened, and quickly followed into the tent.

Inside the spacious tent lay a large-bodied Snorlax, sleeping soundly on the ground, its dreaming paws contentedly rubbing its plump belly.

Beside this Snorlax were several destroyed empty boxes.

Naoki was slightly stunned: ”This is...”

The girl was furious: ”It’s Snorlax! The Snorlax that stole all our berries the day before yesterday. Damn! Now all the Pokemon snacks we prepared have been eaten by it!”

Snorlax: zzzZ

The girl was somewhat frantic: ”Ah! You glutton!”

She angrily slapped Snorlax’s soft, round belly.

Snorlax: zzzZ

Naoki: ”...”

Faced with such a Pokemon, there was nothing the girl could do. She took a deep breath in resignation and turned to Naoki, saying: