Gentle moonlight bhe earth, soft and serehe small town gradually quieted, and most of the Pokémon on the farm had drifted into peaceful dreams.

  Well, except for a few outliers.

  For instahe night owl Corvisquire, the vigint Mightyena patrolling the grounds, Persian taking a post-diroll, and a Lopunny clutg her pillow, unsure of what to do.

  “Lop~pu...”

  In Natsume's bedroom, Lopunny stood in front of the now-too-small beanbag chair, looking utterly lost.

  Just st night, she could bury most of herself in the beanbag, snuggling cozily with her favorite pillow. She would wake up in the m, zily gazing at Natsume’s face.

  But within 24 hours, things had ged.

  The average height for a Lopunny was about 1.2 meters, but the Lopunny in Natsume’s care was thriving beyond the norm, standing nearly 1.4 meters tall.

  “Lop~pu...”

  Her earlier excitement over evolution was repced by a sense ret. Maybe evolving wasn’t the best idea. Now, even her sleeping arras had to ge.

  She decided to move to the room door.

  “No need for that,” Natsume’s voiterrupted as he ehe room, dragging in an oversized, pumpkin-shaped beanbag chair.

  The chair was se that Natsume had to tilt it vertically to squeeze it through the doorframe.

  “This beanbag arrived earlier this m,” he expined. “I left it in the downstairs storeroom and almost fot about it.”

  Patting the giant pumpkin beanbag, Natsume gri Lopunny.

  “This should be just the right size for you.”

  The beanbag had been intended for another part of the house, but repurposing it for Lopunny seemed fitting. The smaller chair would be moved elsewhere ter.

  “Lop~pu!”

  Overwhelmed with gratitude, Lopunny turned and hugged Natsume tightly, rubbing her face against his chest.

  “Alright, alright, time for bed,” Natsume said, chug.

  “lop~pu,” she nodded, settling onto the new beanbag with her beloved pillow from her Buneary days. She even draped a small b over her belly.

  After all, no creature—Pokémon or otherwise—could sleep soundly with their belly exposed.

  ---

  On Natsume’s bed, the shiny Furret was already led in, with part of its pink body poking out from uhe covers. Its glowing eyes reflected in the dim light.

  “Pa-pa-pa,” Furret patted the bed with its tiny paws, urging Natsume to join.

  Get on the bed already.

  Hugging the fluffy, pink Furret, Natsume soon fell into a deep sleep.

  This life was exactly what he’d longed for—a quiet existence free frid schedules and deadlines.

  Here, he could pursue what he loved, surrounded by creatures who weren’t human but could uand him. There were no exhausting social dynamio soul-crushing work stress, and no absurd pressures from idiots demanding the impossible. No bottled-up grievances, no fear of emotional breakdowns.

  What more could he ask for?

  As Natsume dreamed, the ers of his mouth curled into a soft smile.

  Sometimes, pleasant dreams attracted special visitors.

  A feather glowing with moonlit radiance drifted down from the sky, ndily on the windowsill. Its luminous glow brushed against Natsume’s cheek.

  The smile on his face deepened ever so slightly.

  Throughout the farm, the pnts and Pokémon seemed to bask in their own serene dreams, adding to the harmonious atmosphere.

  ---

  The m, the farm’s youroublemaker, Togepi, woke from its plush, two-square-meter bed.

  Rubbing its sleepy eyes, it took a moment to shake off the grogginess before hopping up with gusto.

  Dragging its little bogepi hummed a tu had learned from Lopunny—well, Lopunny was Lopunny now, no lohe petite Buneary.

  Creeping to the door of Natsume’s room, Togepi peeked io see him still fast asleep. Without disturbing him, Togepi turned and headed downstairs.

  Uhe m sun, the little Pokémon stretched its stubby arms and began its m workout.

  “Suwo~”

  A slightly unfamiliar voice came from nearby. Togepi turo see two bd-white foxes—Zorua and Hisuian Zorua.

  These two had joihe farm just a few days ago.

  So, if one’s called Hisuian Zorua because of its color, does that mean Furret should be called Hisuian Furret too?

  As a baby Pokémon, Togepi couldn’t quite its head around the cept ional forms. It was like asking a three-year-old to uand time zones—not impossible, but unlikely.

  “Toki!”

  Togepi waved cheerfully at the Zorua pair before heading to the small ke for its daily training.

  The pond, which had beely expanded into a small ke, glistened uhe sunlight. Natsume had hired a stru team te it to aodate the growing number of Pokémon on the farm.

  “Toki~ Tokii!”

  Togepi greeted the Slowpoke basking by the shore and the Mudkip practig its own m drills.

  Natsume seemed to have high hopes for these two. Mudkip, in particur, often visited the main house, likely destio bee one of Natsume’s battle-ready Pokémon.

  At least, that’s what Furret had said. Togepi didirely uand but enjoyed parroting the se.

  Standing by the sparkling water, Togepi took a deep breath and wiggled its fingers. A faint light glimmered at its fiips.

  “Tokii!”

  Metronome!

  This move stimuted the brain to randomly execute any skill. Theoretically, it could even summon moves like Precipice Bdes, Spacial Rend, or Roar of Time—though their power wouldn’t match the inals.

  As Togepi trained, a barrage of seemingly mismatched moves erupted: Whirlpool, Earthquake, Fmethrower, and Hyper Beam.

  “Tokki,” it huffed, satisfied after its exertion.

  Good job, me!

  But the little Pokémon’s impromptu fireworks had an unintended effect.

  Deep beh the ke, where it ected to an underground river, the bombardment caused a subtle shift ier’s flow.

  A Pokémon egg, dislodged by the current, floated to the surfad gently came to rest on the kebed.

  Gcell