Chapter 4: Eggciting Adventures at the Pokémon Ranch

It was mid afternoon when I began to hear the sounds of the Pokémon ranch close by. Wooloo, Dubwool and Mareep bleated and grazed in a field. A Boltund was snoring loudly. A herd of Ponyta and Rapidash rushed by, sending a wave of hot air toward me. I could hear a Miltank mooing, and workers shouting out orders as they loaded goods onto the backs of a group of Mudbray.

I had never been to the ranch before, but I had always heard about how popular it was. It was owned by the Polton family. They were mostly known for their prized Miltank, which had won at some county fairs and festivals around Laria. They also bred Ponyta to eventually be used for Rapidash racing and delivered goods, such as Wooloo wool and Miltank milk, to cities and towns across the region.

It was at this point that I realized how long I had been walking. It had been a couple hours since I had met and battled Frankie and I had been traveling pretty much nonstop since then. I probably didn't look or smell very pleasant and I could tell my Pokemon were starting to become tired. Cinder had even decided to rest inside his Poké ball instead of his usual spot on my head. I followed the voices of the workers until I figured I was close enough for them to see me. "Excuse me?" I asked. "I 'm a trainer passing through here, and I was wondering if I could get a room for the night."

"of course," the worker replied. "All registered trainers get a discounted room in our guest house. You can pay off the money by helping us out with some things. We can always use a little extra hand. Here, why don't I show you the way to the guest house? Someone in there will help you to a room."

The worker guided me through the grassy field to the guesthouse, which was at the back of the ranch. I thanked him for his help and stepped inside as he went back to his work. As I entered the main hallway, I was greeted by an excited voice. "Howdy there! You must be new round here. Never seen ya before." The voice sounded like it belonged to a girl much younger than me.

"Yeah, I am," I reply. "I'm a new Pokémon trainer. My name is Sky."

"Nice to meet ya, Sky," the girl said cheerfully. "my name's June Polton. Daddy owns this place, but he lets me help out all the new trainers cause I like talkin' to 'em. He says I talk too much. Anyway, here. Take this." She hands me a key. "Just walk forward, hit up the stairs, and you'll have the first room on the right side. I'll be here if you need anything."

"Thanks," I said.

I followed June's directions, and found my room easily. I walked around to figure out where everything was. There was a regular bed along with a Pokemon recharging station, similar to the ones used in many Pokémon centers, some drawers to put clothes and belongings in, and a bathroom, with a toilet, shower and sink. Other items like towels and shampoo were also provided. I let Flora and Cinder take a rest at the recharging station while I took a nice warm shower. It felt good to finally do this after being on the road for so long.

After my shower, and a few minutes of relaxing, I decided to explore the ranch and see what I could see while I was here. Flora and Cinder decided to come along. I left my room and headed back down the stairs where June was still working. "Hey Sky," she greeted. "Need somethin'?"

"I was wondering if there's anything interesting here for me to check out."

"Sure there is. We've got all kinds of stuff. There's the dairy area where you can meet my daddy's prized Miltank and the others. You can also try some of their milk and other stuff there. There's the stables where they train the Ponyta and Rapidash. If you ask nicely, they might even let you ride one. Now that's fun. I always wanted one of my own, but daddy says I'm not ready yet. Maybe when I'm a little bit older. If you want to find daddy, he's out in the pasture with the Wooloo and Dubwool. Not sure what he's doing out there though. Said it had something to do with the Mareep he just got from the Johto region. Anyway, there's also the daycare that Mama runs. Been pretty busy over there lately."

"a daycare?" I asked, a little surprised. I had heard of most of the other things June mentioned, but I never knew there was a daycare at the ranch. "I think I'll check that out."

"All right," June said. "I can take you there if you like."

June and I left the guest house and walked around toward another building on the property. We stepped inside. The first room was quiet, but I could hear lots of noise coming from another room farther away.

"This is the room where they keep all the eggs until they're ready to hatch," June explained. "Once they hatch, Mama takes them to the nursery just up ahead. Some of the workers also drop off their Pokémon there to play while they're out, well, workin'. I better head back. Mama or one of the other helpers should be here soon if you need anything. See ya later, Sky."

I said goodbye to June and decided to head into the nursery. If I had eyesight, I would have liked to look at the different eggs being kept in this room, but since I was blind, that wasn't really an option. I followed the noises I could hear to a room with a closed door. As soon as I opened it and stepped into the nursery, I heard many small footsteps before I was quickly attacked by many small Pokémon. There was a Riolu, a Growlithe, a Litten, and a litter of three Yamper. They all tried to jump on top of me, and I fell over with a laugh. Flora meowed at the Pokémon, probably telling them to take it easy.

Just then the door opened, and someone else walked in. The group of young Pokémon jumped up in excitement and rushed toward the new person. The next thing I knew, I heard a small commotion before the other person ended up falling over. "Are you OK?" I asked in surprise.

"Yes," the person, a woman, said, slowly getting up. "Thanks for asking. I'm Trish. I'm an assistant here. I was about to take these little guys for their afternoon walk. As you can see, they are pretty rowdy."

I chuckled. "I definitely see that. If you want, Flora and I can go on the walk with you. We are both rested up, so it could be fun. Plus, she can make sure they don't get too wild."

"That would be great," Trish said, with a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much."

We all took a walk around the whole property. It went well without any problems and it was pretty fun. Cinder even decided to get some exercise and fly beside me instead of sitting on my head for once. As we headed back inside the daycare, another woman greeted us. Trish introduced her as Wendy Polton, one of the owners of the ranch and the owner of the daycare. "It's nice to meet you, Sky. My daughter June told me that you would be staying the night here. I hope the Pokemon didn't give you or Trish any trouble."

"None at all," I said.

"That's good to hear. I would have been here earlier to help you out, but I have been dealing with a bit of a problem."

"What kind of problem?" I asked curiously.

"I received a couple of eggs a while back. Apparently they were abandoned. I have been taking care of them. One of them hatched into this Litten, but the other one still hasn't hatched yet and I'm a bit worried about it."

"do you think something might be wrong with it?" I asked, starting to sound worried myself.

"I don't know," Wendy continued. "it could be that, or it could just be taking its time. Some eggs take longer to hatch than others. Anyway, I just got a call about a new group of eggs that need to be dropped off here soon. I need to make room for them, but I don't know if I'll have enough if this egg doesn't hatch anytime soon."

I thought about this for a minute. It definitely sounded like a hard situation. "if it's OK with you, I could take care of the egg for you," I said.

"Are you sure?" Wendy asked. "I wouldn't want to ask too much of you."

"It's no problem," I assured her.

"oh, thank you so much! I'll have the egg delivered to your room tomorrow. It should be there by the time you are done helping the farmhands."

At that moment, Trish had to leave because her husband was there with his Machop. A couple of other workers stopped by to pick up the Growlithe an Riolu and head home for the day.

"Since you're staying here for the night, you should join us for dinner," Wendy said. "my husband and his Miltank should be finished. Cooking it very soon."

"That's very nice of you," I said, thanking her. Then I realized what she had just said. "Wait a minute. Did you just say the Miltank is cooking dinner?"

"oh, yes. It's quite the story. My husband Walter used to live in Brightwater City. He had an apartment there, which he shared with his first, Pokémon, a Miltank. She liked watching him cook food, and eventually started learning how to do it herself. Soon, Walter realized that the big city life just wasn't for him. He took his Pokémon and moved here to start the ranch, and the rest is history."

"Wow. That's pretty interesting."

"Yep. Well, we better head to dinner. You're going to love it."

Dinner was held in a house at the front of the property, where the Polton family lived. Since I had already met June, Wendy introduced me to the other people at the table, her husband, Walter, and their two youngest children, Sarah and Michael. Their oldest son, John, was a musician, currently traveling on tour, so he wouldn't be home for a while. As we began to eat the fresh, delicious food, Walter explained about what he was doing in the pasture that day. He had been trying to figure out if there was anything you could use Mareep wool for without removing the electricity from it. He unfortunately didn't figure out anything. Next, he explained that I would be helping make a couple deliveries tomorrow morning in order to pay for my room. They wouldn't take too long since I wouldn't be traveling very far.

"Where are ya goin' anyway?" June asked. "I mean, I know you're a Pokémon trainer, but what are ya gonna do?"

"I'm going to take the gym challenge," I said. "I'm hoping to make it all the way to the league and maybe meet the champion."

"Cool. That means I'll get to see you on TV then."

I laughed. "Yep."

In Laria, during the time of the league, gym battles and the league itself would be shown on the sports channel. There were cameras in each gym that would record all of the action and broadcast it to the television. I would sometimes watch them with my father when I was much younger, so now, realizing that I was going to be the one on television made me feel a little strange, but also very excited.

The rest of the dinner went well. The food had all been taken and made on the ranch. Wendy even made a Leppa berry pie for dessert. After that wonderful dinner, I headed back to my room and very quickly fell asleep. I was woken up the next morning by one of the farmhands. He explained that it was time for me to help with the delivery.

I got up, got dressed and headed out with my Pokémon. The worker explained that I could either travel on foot or ride on a Mudsdale they had prepared. I decided to choose the second option, since I had never ridden on a Pokémon before. The worker helped me climb on, and the next thing I knew, we were off and ready to make the deliveries. Just as the worker had said, the trip didn't take very long. I helped deliver food and wool to people living in small, less fortunate villages close to the ranch.

When I made it back to my room, the egg was sitting on my bed, just as Wendy had promised. It was in a small, portable incubator. I gently opened it and felt the egg inside. It was smooth and warm, and I could definitely tell that whatever was inside was alive. I wondered what Pokémon it would possibly hatch into. There was no way for me to tell since I couldn't see it. People could usually tell what kind of Pokémon it might be based on the pattern on the outside of the egg. Regardless, I would take good care of whatever it was. I gently placed the incubator in an empty compartment in the front of my bag, so it wouldn't get crushed by anything. Then my Pokémon and I left the room, said our goodbyes to the Poltons, and made our way toward Amica Town.