Pokemon: Farm Story

Its personality was just as childish, and its IQ weren't exactly through the roof either.

As a result, Mew usually ended up only being able to trick little Pokemons.

Because anyone a bit older and a bit smarter generally wouldn't fall for it.

Those who actually got fooled by Mew—

Either they were just-hatched Togepi, or that Hisuian Zorua that had been tagging along behind Mew since forever.

Oh, and Corviknight too.

Those were pretty much Mew's usual hunting grounds.

"Mew..."

Scratching its little paw behind its back, Mew somehow pulled out a smartphone from who-knows-where.

It unlocked the screen with practiced ease and opened a hidden album in the gallery.

The album was marked with a note in Mew's handwriting: "Treat Jar Funds."

Inside were hundreds of photos.

They dated back to shortly after Natsume and Mei first met.

Judging by the angles, most were clearly candid shots.

Some, however, were "openly sneaky"—as in, Mew transformed into Latias, went invisible, floated right up to Natsume's face, and took pictures point-blank.

As for the content—

If Natsume and Mei ever decided to make a photo album of how they met or some kind of anniversary montage of their relationship...

Most of the key moments up to now could be found in that gallery.

Up until tonight, it had been the perfect "love log."

But tonight, that perfection got a little smudge.

Staring at the camera in its paw, Mew seriously considered transforming into some dumb oversized dragon.

Maybe do a little time travel to go back and capture that important moment.

Or maybe turning into that green onion-headed time traveler would work too.

Damn it, I got careless.

I should've gone out with Natsume tonight!

Curse you, Manaphy, this is all your fault!

"Mew!!"

On the rooftop in the dead of night, Mew let out a tragic wail.

Not far off, Corviknight, who was watching a horror movie alone in the dark, stiffened all over.

It instinctively gulped and scanned its surroundings.

Everything was pitch black, and it felt like something might jump out and do a surprise face-to-face jump scare at any moment.

Glancing behind itself, then at the rooftop, it hesitated a few seconds, then pulled out a big blanket from the corner and wrapped itself up.

Alright, now I'm totally safe.

Snug inside its blanket cocoon, Corviknight happily resumed watching its show.

But what Corviknight didn't notice...

Was that Mismagius was watching it from a shadowy corner with great curiosity.

As if struck with inspiration, Mismagius flashed a wicked grin, faded into the darkness, and began slowly creeping toward Corviknight.

Bit by bit, inch by inch...

Once it got close, Mismagius extended a ghostly tentacle-like "cloak" and slipped it through a gap in the blanket.

Then—

Its ghost-type chilly tendril grabbed Corviknight's talon in a death grip.

"Kraa—KRAAA—!!"

A blood-curdling scream followed a second later.

Echoing eerily with Mew's own anguished cry up on the rooftop.

In a twisted way, the two seemed to be kindred spirits tonight.

Though Corviknight was clearly worse off.

Because—

Click!

The light in Natsume's room snapped on, followed by the sound of clothes rustling, then the door creaking open.

Looks like Corviknight's night was about to be cut short.

Good luck to it, I guess.

As for Mew?

That little thing had already transformed into a tiny bat and slipped away unnoticed.

Stupid bird, if you don't run now, when will you?

Mew, now a Crobat fleeing the scene at high speed, was silently judging Corviknight from a safe distance.

Tonight was going to be a long one for Corviknight.

Because while Natsume looked calm, on the inside he was anything but. For a guy who's only an expert in theory, romance was a pretty intense subject.

And so, for the rest of the night, Corviknight got roped into listening to Natsume ramble about love and life.

I'm just not into romance, okay? cried Corviknight silently, maintaining a serious listening face.

Downstairs, Persian lay sprawled out, eyes closed, quietly listening to the noise from upstairs. It let out a long, lazy yawn.

Stupid bird.

Serves you right.

If you asked who hated Corviknight most on the farm, it'd undoubtedly be Persian.

According to Persian, that guy was basically a honey badger in bird feathers.

Stubborn, vengeful, and completely unaware of its own limits.

Even when it was still just a little fledgling, it constantly challenged Persian to fights.

It's never won a single time, but it always looked like it was having the time of its life. Persian had long suspected the bird had... certain peculiar interests.

So seeing Corviknight suffering now?

Persian was absolutely thrilled.

Stupid bird. Now you know what it feels like to be kept up all night.

Stretching out lazily, Persian leapt lightly out the window.

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Every night, it would patrol the farm's territory, checking for any unwelcome guests.

As a result, sometimes Natsume would find "trophies" Persian left for him in the morning.

Some of those trophies became new residents of the farm. Others... got a second beatdown and were thrown back out.

Possibly because of this, Persian's reputation—both on the farm and in the surrounding area—had become rather... delicate.

Local Pokémon would sometimes chat and realize:

"Huh? You got beat up by that cat too?"

"We're basically war buddies now."

The next morning, Natsume—who'd barely slept a wink—dragged himself out of bed.

Leaving the warm comfort of his blanket was a test of sheer willpower every single day.

"So tired..."

Rubbing his eyes, he just felt overwhelmingly sleepy.

Strangely though, he didn't have the usual grogginess that came from pulling an all-nighter.

More like the mental fatigue of poor rest.

Ah, youth. Gotta love how resilient the body still is. Heheh.

"Lopunny."

Lopunny handed Natsume a towel as he washed up.

Seeing the faint shadows under his eyes, it looked deeply concerned.

This was the first time it had ever seen Natsume with dark circles.

"Thanks, Lopunny."

Taking the towel, Natsume gave a small, helpless smile.

He'd actually told Lopunny before—not to fuss over these little details so much.

If this kept up, he was seriously going to turn into one of those hopeless freeloaders who couldn't lift a finger for themselves.

Sure, maybe his Pokémon didn't mind.

But he minded!

Just imagining that lifestyle gave Natsume the creeps.

Unfortunately, Lopunny had flatly refused his request.

Ever since more and more "shameless hussies" had moved into the farm, all Lopunny's former responsibilities were getting stolen away.

It could do less and less.

So this morning routine?

Was non-negotiable.

After washing up, Natsume changed into a clean outfit and stepped outside.

Ah... another beautiful day.

Basking in the morning sunlight, he took a deep breath.

And immediately got a mouthful of kicked-up dust.

Cough cough.

He watched as a whole squad of Pokémon stampeded past the front door on their morning run—led by a shiny Furret.

Natsume let out a quiet sigh.

Sometimes, having too much energy wasn't a good thing either.

But all in all, it was a good morning.

Until he saw Persian returning... with a green bird in its mouth.

"Persian... what is that..."

He stared at the green-feathered bird dangling from its jaws.

If he remembered correctly, that was a Natu.

And Natu evolved into Xatu.

They were said to be able to see both the past and the future.

Because what they saw often didn't match what they wanted, they tended to sit motionless all day.

In some regions, Xatu were even revered as totems.

Online, Natu and Xatu's future-seeing ability was often ranked among the best in all of Pokémon.

As the pre-evolved form of Xatu, it was only natural that Natu possessed a portion of the same talents and abilities.

To be honest, Natsume had a hard time understanding just how Persian had managed to catch such a rare Pokémon—one renowned for its top-tier danger sense and knack for avoiding misfortune.

Suddenly, Natsume remembered something the Pokédex had mentioned. Natu might have the ability to foresee the future—but not the power to change it.

So maybe... it saw a future where it got captured and simply chose to give up?

Under Natsume's suspicious gaze, the Natu dangling from Persian's mouth opened one eye and glanced at him.

Then, it silently shut its eye again and tilted its head back.

Go ahead. I'm already lying down. Do your worst.

It was the very picture of "take me, I'm yours."

Case closed—this little guy was clearly the embodiment of giving up on life.

When you thought about it like that, it wasn't so hard to understand.

Before Natsume could ask anything, Persian casually spit Natu onto the ground.

Then, it started to explain.

Basically, early this morning, Persian had been doing its usual rounds of what it considered its "ultimate litter box."

Yep—in Persian's eyes, the huge patch of land behind the house was all its personal toilet.

And that's when it spotted this unfamiliar Pokémon silently watching the house.

To be precise, staring at Natsume's room.

Persian had gone on high alert immediately.

What the hell was this guy up to?

Even though Natsume himself wasn't aware, Persian certainly was.

Among the wild Pokémon in the area, Natsume's name was legendary.

In their eyes, Natsume was the local lord—an overwhelming force of absolute dominance.

His underlings were many, and every single one of them could throw down.

Everyone on the streets called him "Boss Natsume."

Most of the Pokémon who went to challenge Boss Natsume had ended up getting utterly brutalized and tossed out like trash.

And you could bet some of them harbored deep grudges afterward.

Sure, it would be nice to say that all Pokémon in this world were gentle and kind-hearted.

But that's just not the case—many Pokémon simply aren't wired that way.

It's in their species' nature.

You wouldn't expect a Weavile or a Grimmsnarl—Pokémon literally called "vicious assassins" and "menacing tricksters"—to be sweet and innocent, would you?

Even imagining it feels ridiculous.

Sure, there are plenty of kind-hearted Pokémon.

But there are just as many who don't give a damn about being pure or good.

And because it wasn't clear what this Natu's intentions were, Persian had decided to test it out first.

And then—

Got completely ignored.

When Persian blocked its path, Natu had barely spared it a glance before looking away like it didn't exist.

Its hollow eyes seemed to gaze right through Persian and into the void.

Who knows what it was even looking at.

In the end, after what couldn't even be called a proper exchange, Persian decided to just take down this dumb-looking bird that kinda resembled Corviknight.

Which led to the current situation.

As it finished explaining, Persian gave Natu a disdainful side-eye.

Was the farm really about to welcome a second dumb bird?

What a nightmare.

Quite possibly the worst news Persian had heard in a long time.

Meanwhile, the Natu in question lay peacefully on the ground, looking utterly serene.

Its face showed no displeasure, no emotion at all.

Persian's disdain and Natsume's curiosity seemed to mean absolutely nothing to it.

The bird didn't react at all.

Its entire vibe was: life's fine, but if death comes, that's fine too.

"Hey there, Natu. Wanna talk?" Natsume crouched down and gently poked its head—or maybe its body—with a twig he'd picked up from the ground.

Honestly, it was hard to say where one ended and the other began.

Natu was basically just a sphere with some attachments.

When Natsume poked it, the whole bird wobbled.

Feeling the nudge, Natu opened its eyes and looked at him.

But those eyes were still and lifeless, not a ripple of emotion within them.

It stared at Natsume for a moment, then quietly closed its eyes again.

Didn't seem interested in chatting.

"This one... has quite the personality, huh?"

For the first time, Natsume used "has personality" to describe a bird that did literally nothing.

And in a way, he wasn't wrong.

As Natsume pondered how to deal with this featherball who used silence as a weapon, the Natu finally opened its eyes.

It stood up and shook off the drool Persian had left on its wings.

Then it gave Natsume a once-over.

And suddenly launched itself straight at Natsume's waist.

More precisely—at the Poké Balls hanging from his belt.

However, perhaps because all its stats had been dumped into the wrong attributes, Natu's speed couldn't exactly be described as lightning-fast.

At best, it was... slow and steady.

Smack!

After watching Natu's "dash" for a few seconds, Persian casually raised a paw and slapped it down onto the bird.

The whole move radiated nonchalance.

If I couldn't pin down something moving that slow, Persian thought, I might as well go find Corviknight and let that dumb bird run me over.

"You look kind of anxious," Natsume said gently. "Wanna talk about it?"

He let go of the twig and softly placed his hand on Natu's head.

Where did that come from?

Persian looked down at the Natu that hadn't reacted even a little after getting pinned and silently raised a question in its heart.

But it was smart enough not to say a word.

No expression betrayed its thoughts.

Years of living with Natsume had taught Persian one thing: when it came to Pokémon, never argue with Natsume.

Lose the argument, and it's embarrassing.

Win it, and you get beat up.

Ah, the wisdom carved from blood and tears.

You say Natsume has changed and grown up?

Yeah, right. Persian scoffed.

In its eyes, Natsume hadn't changed a bit.

What people call changes in habits or style were just surface-level.

At his core, Natsume had always been the same.

Even as a child, he was unlike any kid Persian had ever seen.

He had a fully-formed worldview of his own, one that couldn't be shaken by a few careless remarks.

He didn't care about petty gossip or mean rumors.

Persian had realized early on that Natsume was no ordinary child.

But so what?

As long as the food kept coming, Persian didn't care.

Natsume fed it, and in return, Persian beat people up for him—just point and smash.

Lifting its paw ever so slightly, Persian let Natu breathe freely.

It stared idly at this little bird that had come from who-knows-where, waiting for Natsume to pass judgment.

"...Natu."

Physically letting out a sigh of relief, Natu stared silently at Natsume.

After a long pause, it finally made its first sound—and began to explain.

In short, as a future seer-in-training, Natu occasionally had fits of foresight.

These visions were random, uncontrollable, without any discernible triggers.

Yesterday, one such vision had hit it suddenly.

In it, a raging inferno devoured the forest.

Trapped Pokémon waited in despair for death to come.

Thick black smoke, roaring flames.

It looked like the end of the world.

And in the final moments of the vision, just before it faded—

Natu saw a human.

That human arrived with their Pokémon, and in an instant, swept away the out-of-control blaze and fought a shadowy, unidentifiable Pokémon.

After the vision ended, Natu thought long and hard, then followed the scenery it had glimpsed until it arrived here.

Its goal: to find Natsume.

"So you're hoping I can save those Pokémon... the ones who might otherwise be consumed by fire?"

After hearing Natu out, Natsume spoke thoughtfully.

When you really thought about it, putting aside how Chi-Yu's strength measured up to Ting-lu's....

But when it comes to sheer destructive potential, the fire-spreading Chi-Yu definitely has the edge.

Most likely, the moment it breaks free from its seal, the flames laced with resentment will erupt all at once.

"Natu."

Nope, I just want to run for my life.

Now freed from under the cat's paw, Natu responded with a blank expression.

...Huh?

Saving those poor Pokémon about to be swallowed by flames?

What's that got to do with me?

I'm just looking for someone strong enough to cover my back, that's all.

That was Natu's honest take.

"I see."

Looking at Natu's deadpan face, Natsume didn't call him out on it.

He simply pulled an empty Poké Ball from his belt and held it out.

Before Natsume could say a word, Natu headbutted it on his own.

Ding~

With a flash of light, Natu had willingly joined Natsume's team.

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