Pokémon: Farm Story

At first, Natsume had no intention of establishing a gym.

Just thinking about it felt like a hassle.

In the games, Gym Leaders spent most of the year holed up in their gyms, waiting to accept challengers.

If they stepped out even occasionally, they’d get criticized.

Well… he wasn’t sure if others complained, but back when he watched the anime, he definitely did.

He’d be sitting there grumbling, You’re a Gym Leader—why are you always wandering around instead of staying put?

But looking at it now, from his current perspective…

Well, Gym Leaders have their own lives too.

Going out every now and then was perfectly reasonable.

After taking a deeper look into how things worked in the real world, Natsume realized that gyms weren’t quite what he had imagined.

In reality, gyms weren’t like the ones in the games, where challengers could walk in at any time and demand a battle.

Appointments had to be made in advance.

Challengers had to show up on a designated date, and higher-ranked gyms even had entry requirements.

As for gym battles themselves…

Most Gym Leaders didn’t personally take on challengers.

It was usually their apprentices or disciples who handled the fights.

If a challenger could defeat them or at least prove their strength, they’d earn the gym badge.

After all, while Gym Leaders weren’t necessarily the strongest trainers in the country, they were at least among the elites.

Throwing a fresh rookie straight into battle against a Gym Leader?

That was a bit much.

Not only would the fight be meaningless, but it also wouldn’t serve the purpose of honing and guiding the challengers.

If they got taken down in one move, what could they possibly learn from that?

Besides managing their gyms, most Gym Leaders had side jobs.

There were quite a few like Natsume, who ran farms.

Some owned breeding centers, some sold Pokéblocks, some ran gyms in the fitness sense, others taught classes online, became influencers…

If you could think of it, a Gym Leader somewhere was probably doing it.

In fact, for many, the gym was the side job.

For Natsume, running a gym as a side gig wasn’t out of the question.

And honestly, he already met most of the requirements to become a Gym Leader.

First, strength.

If Natsume wasn’t considered strong, then there was no such thing as a strong trainer in this world.

Even without his Pokémon, he could take on most of them with his fists alone.

Next, space.

He had that too.

A huge chunk of his farm was still unused—so much so that he barely even wandered into those areas.

Might as well use that space to build a gym.

Then, money.

Aside from government funding, a Gym Leader needed their own financial resources to cover gym expenses.

Lastly, the gym needed a theme.

The simplest approach was to focus on a specific Pokémon type.

A more advanced one was to have a unique battle style—like Double Battles or aquatic battles.

The key was to make sure trainers had a clear impression of the gym.

And if all else failed, he could just design it with an anime aesthetic.

But for Natsume, as for what his gym’s theme would be…

Come! Choose your challenge team!

Shiny Squad: Shiny Pidgeot, Shiny Furret, Shiny Vikavolt.

Powerhouse Squad: A massive Corviknight, a muscular Shiny Furret, and a Persian that could smack Ting-Lu unconscious with a single swipe.

Psychic Squad: Gardevoir, Gallade, and Slowking.

Trash-Talker Squad: Corviknight, Kirlia, and an apprentice Cresselia who had mastered the art of smack talk.

Newborn Squad: Okidogi, Fezandipiti, and Munkidori.

Weak? Maybe. But strong enough for beginners.

Legendary Squad: Pecharunt, Ting-Lu, and Fezandipiti.

"Come forth, young trainer just beginning your journey! Choose your opponent!" (laughs~)

And that was just the start—Natsume had even more lineups in mind.

The Pink Devil Squad, the Cute Squad, the Dirty Tactics Squad, the Bark Bark Squad…

Plenty of variety. That was a theme in itself, right?

After all, a lot of the Pokémon on his farm wanted to battle.

Fighting the same opponents over and over got stale.

A gym would be a great way to help them burn off some energy.

Even if it was just a post-meal workout.

Whether they wanted to battle or just watch the fights, Natsume wasn’t going to stop them.

He’d just have Ting-Lu keep things in order.

Why let Ting-Lu take Pecharunt and the others with him?

Partly to keep an eye on them.

And partly because he wanted Ting-Lu to train them up properly.

They were legendaries after all—surely they had some potential.

Once they got stronger, they’d be useful in the gym too.

“At that point, you’ll be the gym’s ultimate boss fight.”

Natsume scooped up Mew, who had transformed into an Alcremie, and poked the swirl of cream on its head.

Ordinarily, an Alcremie’s cream was edible—delicious, nutritious, and supposedly didn’t even cause weight gain.

Most competitive bakeries and dessert shops had to have an Alcremie on staff.

But the cream from a Mew-turned-Alcremie?

Natsume wasn’t so sure about that.

After thinking it over, he decided to abandon the idea of tasting it.

“Mew?”

Mew tilted its head, staring at him like he was an idiot.

‘At that point?’

I’m already the strongest fighter here, okay?

Like you could actually beat me.

And where exactly is this gym you’re talking about? In your dreams?

Still, the idea of a gym sounded fun.

Mew could play the role of a temporary Gym Leader.

Not as itself, of course—it wasn’t about to reveal its true form or turn into a human.

But maybe as a Slowking or a Gardevoir?

After all, Psychic-type gyms sometimes let their Pokémon act as stand-ins.

“Mew!”

Include me in the gym’s design!

Excited, Mew instantly shifted back to its original form, its tail swaying.

Clearly, it saw this as a new game to play.

As for whether the gym application would actually get approved?

Neither Natsume nor Mew gave it much thought.

At the end of the day, this world was all about strength.

The strong always got special treatment.

Given Natsume’s track record—and the fact that Phione and Cresselia had been seen on his farm—

If he wanted to apply for a gym, a lot of the usual red tape would just disappear.

Someone would handle the paperwork for him.

All he’d need to do was sign a few things.

"Alright, alright. We also need a gym badge design."

"Everyone, be sure to give me some ideas!"

Natsume had absolute confidence in his artistic skills.

By which he meant he was absolutely confident that he had no artistic talent.

Other people had artistic talent.

What he had was artistic bacteria.

He’d been practicing sketching ever since he arrived at the farm.

But the results… weren’t great.

At best, his drawings weren’t offensive to the eyes.

He was still sticking with it, but he didn’t expect to improve much.

It was just a casual hobby at this point.

“Whew~”

Back home, Natsume flopped into a beanbag chair with Mew in his arms.

Ah, that post-work relaxation.

Like surfacing after a dive and sipping on some oolong tea.

Even Mew, nestled in his arms, seemed to have shifted into chibi mode—

Its already cute appearance somehow becoming even more adorable.

Natsume, Natsume! You forgot something, Roto!

But peace never lasted long for a working man.

Just as Natsume settled in, before he could even let out a full breath—

His Rotom Phone flew out of his pocket.

Pecharunt’s situation still isn’t resolved, Roto!

The phone’s notepad opened automatically, displaying the reminder he had left:

[Help clear Pecharunt’s name.]

He had meant to start working on it as soon as he got back.

But… he just couldn’t resist taking a break first.

“…Alright, let me think.”

Sitting up, Natsume rubbed his temples.

This seemed easy at first.

But putting it into practice was another matter entirely.

After all, the internet was filled with all sorts of oddballs and trolls.

Some people had no real hobbies or interests—just a sheer love for arguing and stirring up trouble.

No other reason, really. They just enjoyed the chaos.

If anything, what Natsume should be doing now was writing a groundbreaking academic paper, publishing it, and making a name for himself as a prodigious scholar.

Unfortunately, after all these years, his experience with academic writing was still limited to the time in college when he cobbled together a "thesis" for graduation by scavenging paragraphs off research databases.

In the end, he barely scraped together a paper that had no real significance whatsoever.

He still remembered his thesis defense—one of the professors had looked over the English section of his introduction and meticulously pointed out grammar mistakes and incorrect word choices.

Halfway through, though, the professor suddenly seemed to realize something. He looked up at Natsume, gave a knowing nod, and stopped correcting his grammar altogether.

After all, the syntax of that translation engine had always been questionable.

But back to the main point—whether it was writing papers or anything else, Natsume was completely clueless.

Writing a well-researched, thoroughly supported, and rigorously examined academic paper was about as far out of reach as a scholarly Slowking.

And his own Slowking, while undoubtedly intelligent, clearly hadn’t invested its talents in academia.

Ever since he discovered that Slowking had been going around online, arguing with people under the username "Corviknight Is the Strongest", Natsume realized his Pokémon might be heading down a rather... abstract path in life.

Well, as long as it was happy.

For now, he set aside the whole paper-writing idea.

Since that was the case…

"Hey, Mayor Gakuji?"

Natsume decisively dialed the phone.

This kind of troublesome issue was best left to the professionals.

No matter how much gossip was spreading online, nothing was as convincing as an official update in the Pokédex.

"Mr. Natsume? What’s the matter?"

Fu Gakuji, who had been organizing reports for his superiors, sounded pleasantly surprised.

Could it be that Natsume was finally planning to open a Gym?!

That would be huge!

For both the town and for him personally.

This town was originally nothing special—just another dot on the map.

His role as mayor wasn’t particularly significant, either.

But with Natsume in the picture, things had become... delicate.

At the very least, they couldn’t afford to let someone with Legendary-tier strength develop a grudge against the League.

At the same time, whoever managed this town had to be competent—this wasn’t a position just anyone could fill.

Taking all that into account, Fu Gakuji, who had originally planned to climb further up the ranks, had instead been sent here.

To say he had no complaints wouldn’t be entirely honest.

But he also understood that if he handled things well here, the benefits could far exceed his original career trajectory.

So, he was more than happy to help Natsume deal with problems.

Besides, given Natsume’s status, Fu Gakuji had a certain level of influence in various matters.

"I see..."

After Natsume briefly explained his situation with Pecharunt, he quietly waited for a response.

Rather than running around blindly, it was better to ask someone who knew the proper procedures and key points to watch out for.

"I see," Gakuji murmured.

"Mr. Natsume, give me a moment."

He was genuinely surprised.

Though Natsume had skimmed over the details, Fu Gakuji had keenly picked up on some key information.

Pecharunt—a Legendary Pokémon.

And the four that stole its mask? Also Legendaries.

They might not be well-known, but they were still Legendary Pokémon. In his mind, that meant Okidogi and the others shouldn’t be much weaker than Pecharunt.

If that was the case, then factoring in Ting-Lu, Pecharunt, and the other three Legendaries he had already seen…

Natsume was this close to having two full teams of Legendary Pokémon!

For most people, even catching a glimpse of a Legendary was a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Yet for Natsume, they seemed almost... commonplace?

Before he knew it, Mr. Natsume had become a true "Legendary Collector."

Shaking his head in amazement, Fu Gakuji continued,

"I haven’t personally handled this type of case before, so I’m not entirely sure of the procedure."

"I’ll check with the relevant department and get back to you."

Fu Gakuji had never been particularly talented as a Trainer.

At best, he was average. The three Pokémon he had were all fairly ordinary, strength-wise.

But he didn’t mind—he treated them as family rather than partners for battle, and he had no ambitions to advance in that area.

After joining the League, he hadn’t interacted much with departments that dealt with Legendary Pokémon.

He had spent some time working in one such office before, but only in administrative roles.

So while he had a general idea, he didn’t want to risk providing incorrect information.

Better to ask and be sure.

"Oh, got it!"

"Thanks, Mayor Gakuji."

"No problem at all."

On the other end, Fu Gakuji chuckled and waved it off.

This was part of his job, after all.

Even setting aside politics and career considerations…

This was genuinely interesting.

"Oh, right. One more thing—about the Gym."

"I wanted to ask you about that, too."

"Mr. Natsume, are you planning to officially open a Gym?"

"Yeah, I think I might give it a shot."

Natsume smiled as he looked down at Lopunny, who was sprawled on the floor, sketching badge designs on a sheet of paper.

Since the kids on the farm were so excited about it, he couldn’t let them down, could he?