Pokémon: Farm Story

A chain radiating a purple glow shot out from the forest like a serpent, aiming straight for Corviknight and the Shiny Furret.

Seeing the chain’s source, Fezandipiti's expression instantly lit up with excitement.

If you had come any later, I’d be done for!

Faced with the sudden attack, both Corviknight and the Shiny Furret instinctively chose to dodge.

It was best not to take a direct hit from an unfamiliar attack like this.

Those who thought themselves invincible usually ended up with tragic fates.

At some point, "invincible" had become more of a debuff than a perk.

Anyone who claimed to be invincible usually didn't last long.

Clank!

The chain, missing its targets, wavered in confusion for a moment before dissipating into pure energy, vanishing into the air.

A small figure quietly emerged from the shadows.

Pecharunt—a Mythical Pokémon of the Poison/Ghost type.

The true culprit behind the attempt to steal Ogerpon’s mask.

Its appearance resembled a split-open peach.

The sides of its body were exposed peach flesh, while the core served as its torso—except this was a peach laced with deadly poison.

It secreted a toxic paste from its shell, shaping it into "chain mochi" for humans and Pokémon to consume.

Once they ate it, the chains would allow Pecharunt to control them.

On top of that, it often used fake crying and other deceptive tactics to gain sympathy, making itself seem like a weak, helpless baby.

It fit the classic image of a villain perfectly.

Cunning, manipulative, and insatiably greedy.

“.....”

Pecharunt emerged from the darkness, its expression grim.

The usual pitiful look on its face had completely vanished.

Fezandipiti, Okidogi, and Munkidori all had traces of its chain mochi on them.

Because of that, Pecharunt could sense their condition to some extent.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have arrived so quickly.

From what it could tell, Okidogi's energy was critically low.

Like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to go out at any moment.

Fezandipiti might still be jumping around, but it wasn’t much better off.

It was purely its will to survive that kept it fighting.

Munkidori was in slightly better shape.

At least it still had some strength left to battle.

Well, that was sort of good news.

At least there was still someone on its side who could fight.

Pecharunt's eyes darkened as it looked at Corviknight and the Shiny Furret blocking its path.

From its perspective, these two had barged into its territory for no reason, beaten up its companions, and were now coming after it.

Were outsiders always this rude?!

Opening its mouth, Pecharunt was about to question Corviknight—

But Corviknight didn’t give it the chance.

"Caw! Caw! Caw!"

This damn thing is about to ambush me!

With a powerful flap of its wings, countless Air Slash blades erupted from its steel feathers, forming a visible storm of razor-sharp wind that tore toward Pecharunt.

At the same time, Shiny Furret’s fists ignited with blazing flames.

In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance and unleashed a rapid one-two punch without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the attack was only moderately effective.

Pecharunt's response was simple.

It closed its peach-like shell around its core, protecting itself like a shelled Pokémon.

Pecharunt's defenses were incredibly high. If it focused purely on defense, most Pokémon wouldn’t be able to do much against it.

As its shell snapped shut, it quickly secreted a layer of poison over its surface.

Although this hastily produced toxin wasn’t strong enough to manipulate Pokémon, that wasn’t necessary.

All it needed was for the opponent to be poisoned.

However, the moment the poison appeared, the fire on Shiny Furret’s fists evaporated it, turning it into wisps of blue smoke that dispersed into the air.

Holding its breath, Shiny Furret unleashed another rapid barrage of over ten punches before quickly retreating from the poisonous Pokémon.

Looking at the scorched impact marks left on Pecharunt's shell, Shiny Furret frowned.

Most of its attacks weren’t particularly effective against this opponent.

Either they were weakened due to type disadvantages or they played right into Pecharunt's strongest defensive traits.

A bit frustrating.

When I get back, I’m definitely going to train harder and develop more moves.

Shiny Furret silently made up its mind.

Strictly speaking, among Natsume’s main team, Shiny Furret was relatively unremarkable.

Aside from being a Shiny Pokémon, its biggest achievement was becoming the leader of the farm’s Sentret and Furret, showing a faint potential for growing into a Totem Pokémon.

In the wild, it would probably be considered a rare and gifted Pokémon.

But compared to the rest of Natsume’s team…

Persian, whose power had clearly surpassed the norm.

Slowking, whose Psychic abilities had reached Legendary levels.

Corviknight, whose massive body and sheer durability had yet to be properly challenged, despite not being a Totem Pokémon.

Ogerpon, who had lost its mask and was no longer at full strength but was still a Mythical Pokémon.

Ting-Lu, a Legendary Pokémon in its own right.

And finally, the Gallade siblings, who were at least on par with Shiny Furret.

From this perspective, the Shiny Furret didn’t seem particularly outstanding.

But that didn’t matter!

It was determined to work even harder to catch up with everyone.

Effort didn’t always guarantee success, and it wasn’t sure if its talent alone would allow it to reach the others through sheer hard work.

But effort was the one thing it was absolutely sure it could control.

If it gave up on that, it didn’t know what else it had left.

“Boom—”

Scorching flames roared to life once again.

Even without a type advantage, Fire Punch still unleashed impressive power in the hands of the Shiny Furret.

It was one of its best moves.

Compared to other techniques, the tangible impact of each strike gave it a sense of reassurance.

A white light gradually enveloped its body, glowing ever brighter before shattering into fragments of stardust that merged into its form.

The next second, the Shiny Furret’s speed skyrocketed.

It moved so fast it was almost impossible to track with the naked eye.

When it first arrived at the farm, it could only chase after Persian’s shadow.

Even when it pushed itself to the limit, all it managed was getting slightly closer.

But now, when it went all out, its speed surpassed Persian’s.

Of course, Persian still held an overwhelming advantage in short-distance sprints or instantaneous bursts of speed.

However, if the race stretched over a longer distance, the Shiny Furret was confident it could overtake Persian before the finish line.

“Ugh…”

Curled up inside its shell, Pecharunt cautiously cracked open a tiny gap to peek outside.

What it saw was a blazing fist coming straight at its face.

Startled, Pecharunt immediately snapped its shell shut.

After the earlier exchange, it was now certain—these two opponents were at least as strong as itself.

And it wasn’t the type suited for direct combat.

Fighting them head-on would be nothing but trouble.

Forget it. Might as well drag this out.

Sooner or later, these two would tire themselves out.

With that in mind, Pecharunt committed to its stall tactic.

Or more accurately, the turtle-up strategy.

It stayed completely hidden within its tough shell while continuously secreting and spreading toxic fluids.

Occasionally, it would peek out in between Corviknight and the Shiny Furret’s attacks—

Tossing out a Shadow Ball or a cloud of Toxic Gas before immediately withdrawing again.

At this rate, the battlefield would soon be drowned in a sea of poison.

Unfortunately, the unexpected had a way of showing up just when one least expected it.

Just as Pecharunt was about to poke its head out for another sneak attack, a new voice rang out—

“Gardevoir, use Psychic.”

“Garde.”

The next moment, Pecharunt felt as if it had been plunged into the depths of a dark, suffocating ocean.

An immense pressure surrounded it from all sides.

It was as if two invisible hands had reached into its shell and were now prying it open with force.

“Mo…mo…”

Struggling to twist its head, Pecharunt caught sight of a new figure stepping into the battlefield.

The very spot it had emerged from was now occupied by a human and a Pokémon.

A humanoid Pokémon slowly walked out from the darkness.

It was a Gardevoir—

But something was different.

The most striking change was its lower body, which now resembled the flowing fabric of a gown.

Like an elegant evening dress befitting a princess.

Its red chest structure had also opened, resembling a tangible, beating heart.

This was the true Psychic Empress—Mega Gardevoir.

Upon Mega Evolution, Gardevoir’s base stats soared from 518 to 618.

Its Special Attack saw a dramatic boost.

“Well done, Gardevoir.”

Stepping forward from the shadows behind Gardevoir, Natsume smiled as he praised it.

His rolled-up sleeve revealed a bracelet, inlaid with a gleaming Key Stone that shimmered under the sunlight.

When Fu Gakuji had brought him supplies earlier, two Mega Stones and a Key Stone had been among the items.

It hadn’t taken Natsume long to master Mega Evolution after obtaining them.

Given his natural ability to understand Pokémon speech, forming a deep bond with his Pokémon wasn’t a challenge at all.

Not to mention, one of the Mega Stones had been Gardevoir’s.

Between his ability to understand Pokémon and Gardevoir’s telepathy, the two had achieved Mega Evolution on the very day the Key Stone arrived.

Two days later, their Mega Evolution had already stabilized, making it reliable for actual combat.

Many trainers spent a long time just learning to trigger Mega Evolution.

Even if they succeeded, their control often remained unstable.

The slightest misstep could disrupt the transformation, forcing them back to their normal form.

In the heat of battle, such instability wasn’t just useless—it was a liability.

It led trainers to gamble on miracles.

To think, maybe I’ll get lucky this time. Maybe it’ll work.

But what was a struggle for most trainers was no issue for Natsume.

Even the other Mega Stone, the one for Absol, had been mastered in no time.

Unfortunately, Absol’s overall strength was still a bit lacking.

Even with Natsume’s Mega Evolution support, it barely scraped the bottom of the top ranks.

Basically, it could just about manage to jump up and bite the Shiny Furret’s tail—

Before immediately getting beaten down.

Power borrowed from external forces could never compare to strength earned through steady training.

Even Gardevoir had undergone rigorous practice before reaching this point.

Though it usually kept a low profile, its effort was second only to the Shiny Furret’s.

The Gallade, who once easily outclassed its little sister, had been forced to step up its game as well.

No way. It’d be embarrassing if my little sister surpassed me.

Gallade had slacked off, sure, but that was only because it was confident in being stronger than Gardevoir.

If Gardevoir actually pulled ahead—

Then that wasn’t just slacking off anymore. That was truly falling behind.

There was a difference between choosing not to work and not being capable of working.

Laziness was fine. Incompetence wasn’t.

“Garde.”

Lifting its hand, Gardevoir’s crimson eyes remained calm and unshaken.

With a wave of its arm, Pecharunt's body was hoisted into the air.

A pink flame ignited out of nowhere, rapidly consuming its form.

Then, an overwhelming psychic force gathered in front of Gardevoir, solidifying into a pale-blue spear of energy.

With a sharp whoosh, it shot straight into Pecharunt's forehead.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then came an ear-piercing scream.

A shrill, agonizing wail that sent chills down the spine.

Yet, Gardevoir’s expression remained unchanged.

If anything, it simply noted, Huh, that worked pretty well.

By concentrating its psychic energy into a single point, it hadn’t necessarily increased the attack’s power—

But it had definitely amplified the pain.

Perhaps this was worth refining further in the future.

Between the flames and the relentless psychic torment, Pecharunt's will was rapidly crumbling.

At its core, it was nothing more than an overgrown child who had never faced true hardship.

As long as things went smoothly, it looked powerful—like it was invincible.

But the moment it hit an insurmountable obstacle, its spirit shattered instantly.

“Gardevoir, extinguish the flames.”

“Garde.”

At Natsume’s command, Gardevoir withdrew its mystical fire.

In just that short span of time, Pecharunt had been reduced to a soot-covered lump, still faintly smoking.

“I won’t waste time asking unnecessary questions.”

“You have Ogerpon’s mask, don’t you?”

Standing before Pecharunt, Natsume got straight to the point.

According to Okidogi, Munkidori, and Fezandipiti, after they stole Ogerpon’s mask, they had handed it over to Pecharunt.

Okidogi hadn’t cared for the mask at all.

Fezandipiti found it ugly and unworthy of its aesthetic, so it simply tossed it to Pecharunt.

Only Munkidori had held onto one out of curiosity.

“…Mo…”

Barely able to open its eyes, Pecharunt's head spun with dizziness.

Natsume’s words reached its ears in fragmented pieces, but it grasped the main point.

So this human had come to settle the score?

Pecharunt's mood plummeted.