Listening to Pokémon chat is a very interesting thing.
You can gather all kinds of information and intelligence from their chatter.
Such as where a fire broke out in town, what kind of Pokémon appeared where, or what Pokémon got lost, or if a Pokémon dueled with another for love.
When listening to their chatter, Naoki doesn't interrupt, he just quietly sits behind the bar and reads.
However, his Pokémon occasionally join in, asking Machamp and Quaquaval other questions.
With the departure of Quaquaval and Machamp, it was already completely dark outside.
Naoki glanced at the time, it was already 9:15 PM.
He looked outside the window and figured that there probably wouldn't be any more guests visiting tonight.
Thinking so, Naoki planned to close up and rest, but just then, barking and the roar of a motorcycle engine came from outside.
Naoki was a bit surprised.
So late and still a visitor?
He went outside to check and saw Miss Jenny in a police uniform chasing a Growlithe on a three-wheeled motorcycle.
Growlithe was running excitedly in front, barking as it ran.
"Growlithe, where are you going?"
Miss Jenny, chasing behind, was full of concern.
Just after their patrol ended and they were about to clock off, their police station buddy Growlithe suddenly dashed off like it was on something.
The other officers at the station were all dumbfounded.
Only Miss Jenny reacted quickly, hastily riding the motorcycle to chase after it.
Along the way, Growlithe would stop and start, seemingly waiting for her on purpose.
Seeing this, Miss Jenny was even more puzzled.
What on earth could be attracting Growlithe?
After a brief thought, Miss Jenny decided to join Growlithe and see what was going on.
They traveled through country roads shrouded in night, eventually reaching a brightly lit ranch.
Miss Jenny blinked and her gaze landed on a man standing in front of a wooden house.
Growlithe stopped in front of the man and barked twice.
Miss Jenny turned off the engine, got off the motorcycle, and looked at the scene puzzled.
She frowned, her face adopting a serious expression.
Could this person deliberately use some means to lure others' Pokémon over and then steal them?
Out of professional instinct, Miss Jenny subconsciously put her hand on the handcuffs at her waist, ready to subdue him if anything happened.
"Who are you?" Miss Jenny asked seriously.
Naoki: "..."
Naoki keenly noticed Miss Jenny's action, he smirked and said without words:
"No need to worry, Miss Jenny, I'm Naoki of Naoki Ranch. Your Growlithe probably heard from other Pokémon about the tavern being open, so it came here."
Miss Jenny was slightly taken aback. She looked at the young man through the night and then retracted her hand from the handcuffs.
"Naoki Ranch... I've heard of this name in town."
Naoki smiled and bent down to ask, "Growlithe, did you come to visit the tavern?"
Growlithe wagged its tail excitedly, nodding continuously: "Woof woof!"
"Then come on in!"
Naoki found this Growlithe quite friendly, and couldn't help but ruffle its head before welcoming both into the tavern.
Inside the tavern, Dragonair, Dratini, and Pawmo were still chatting under the warm lights.
As soon as it entered, Growlithe's attention was caught by them.
It seemed even more excited.
"Woof woof!" There really is a tavern specially serving Pokémon!
Growlithe couldn't bother to order and happily ran to greet Pawmo and the others.
Miss Jenny walked into the tavern, looking at the scene, feeling rather helpless: "This kid is just too playful."
Naoki grinned.
Miss Jenny never expected to find a small tavern open here.
But since she was already here, she might as well take a good rest and have a drink to relieve today's fatigue.
Just as she was about to order, she couldn't find the drinks menu.
Seeing Miss Jenny's puzzled expression, Naoki turned around, grabbing a white milk jug and two clear glasses from the shelf.
He poured the watermelon juice from the milk jug into the glasses, added a few ice cubes, and then pushed the glass of iced watermelon juice in front of Miss Jenny.
"This tavern is primarily for serving Pokémon, but since it's just opened, this drink is on the house," Naoki said.
Hearing this, Miss Jenny was full of surprise: "Exclusively... for Pokémon?"
"As you can see."
Miss Jenny turned her gaze towards the area and finally realized what was off!
This tavern was filled with Pokémon; there wasn't a single human!
"But... but..." Miss Jenny was incredibly astonished.
"You could say this is my side job!" Naoki smiled, placing the milk jug back on the shelf, "I really like Pokémon, so I opened this tavern. This way, I get to see more Pokémon and watching them here relaxes me."
"This is just unbelievable!" Miss Jenny murmured.
She looked at the iced watermelon juice in front of her and politely thanked him.