The spring rain didn't stop until late evening.
Leo glanced at the old pendulum clock on the wall—it was about twenty minutes to five.
After a moment's thought, he decided to take Koraidon out again to see if they could catch some fish to sell to Zac and supplement the household income.
The air after the rain was thick with moisture, making everything feel incredibly damp.
Transparent droplets slid slowly down the veins of grass blades, dripping into the soft, wet soil.
Standing under the eaves, Leo put on his rain boots. He left Caterpie and Cyclizar to guard the house and took only Koraidon to the river.
He did this because Pokémon couldn't wear boots. If he took them all out, they would inevitably get covered in mud, and he'd have to wash them all when they got back.
Finding that troublesome, Leo decided to bring only Koraidon.
Left behind, Cyclizar stood under the eaves, watching them leave with longing eyes.
Koraidon glanced back, feeling incredibly smug about Leo's decision to take only it.
Even if that Cyclizar was technically itself.
Unaware of Koraidon's internal monologue, Leo arrived at the riverbank and smiled at the Legendary Pokémon. "Koraidon, I'm counting on you!"
Low air pressure on rainy days lowered the oxygen levels in the water, causing fish to swim to the shallows to breathe. This was often the best time to fish.
Hearing Leo's words, Koraidon understood instantly. It patted its chest confidently with a claw. "Agias!"
Leave it to me!
Koraidon's expression turned serious. Its aura exploded outward as its scarlet body leaped into the air. The dragon whiskers on its head unfurled into wing-like shapes, and it shifted forms mid-air, crashing ferociously into the water.
BOOM!
With a deafening blast, a huge crater was blown into the water surface.
River water was blasted high into the air, raining down like a torrential downpour.
Leo: "..."
That move just now... that was definitely Koraidon's signature move, Collision Course, right?
Watching Koraidon revert to its battle form and return to shore, Leo confirmed his guess.
It really was Collision Course.
A super move exclusive to Koraidon in the game, with 100 Power and 100 Accuracy. If it hits a weakness, its power increases even further.
Using Collision Course to catch fish... wasn't that a bit excessive?
Leo looked at the river surface. Sure enough, fish of all sizes were floating there, bellies up.
These fish really suffered for no reason...
However, Koraidon seemed to have intentionally held back. Although it looked dramatic, the fish weren't truly harmed—just stunned by the shockwave.
"Agias Agias!"
Having completed the task Leo assigned, Koraidon looked very pleased with itself.
It looked at the fish shadows upstream, eager to go again. "Agias?"
Although he couldn't understand the language, Leo magically grasped its meaning. He quickly stopped it. "That's enough!"
As a qualified rancher, he had to think long-term. Overfishing was a no-go; sustainable development was key.
He had to leave the fish some time to reproduce, right?
After releasing the Magikarp and other water Pokémon, Leo kept only the ordinary river fish. It took ten minutes to scoop them all up.
The iron bucket was filled to the brim. Seeing this, Leo was delighted.
A big harvest!
Carrying the bucket back to the cabin, Leo saw Cyclizar still standing under the eaves, looking out.
Seeing Leo return, its eyes lit up immediately, and it bounded over.
It really did look like a big dog waiting for its owner to come home.
"Okay, okay, I'll make you grilled fish tonight!" Leo rubbed Cyclizar's head and picked out a few fresh, meaty Rainbow Trout from the bucket.
Just as he finished, he heard the sound of a truck engine.
Looking up, he saw Zac in rain boots jumping down from his truck.
"The weather today is terrible! It rained all day. I went to several ranches, and they didn't have anything to sell—just a few baskets of eggs and some milk," Zac complained.
In this weather, most ranchers didn't go out. They chose to stay home, watch TV, or chat with their families.
"Do you have anything to sell?" Zac asked.
Leo carried the bucket of freshly caught fish out. "It's easier to catch fish in the rain."
Zac's eyes went round. "This many?"
Leo and Koraidon exchanged a smile.
"That's unexpected!" Zac sorted and weighed the fish. "Total is 5,210 League Dollars. You're really hardworking! Here!"
Zac handed over the money.
"Thanks for your hard work!"
Leo took the cash.
Just then, a light drizzle began to fall again.
Zac looked up, grabbed the bucket, and said, "I won't chat long. I'm off! The rain's getting heavier!"
"Okay."
The truck left as hurriedly as it had arrived, carrying the fresh catch toward Porto Marinada.
Leo took a deep breath and began to wash the mud off Koraidon.
Once clean, Koraidon instinctively shook the water off its body, then shifted into its Sprint Build and happily pounced on Leo, licking his face.
Leo, face covered in slobber and nearly knocked over, was speechless. "Why are you suddenly going crazy..."
"Agias~"
He draped a towel over Koraidon to dry it off, then went inside to put the day's earnings in the drawer.
Spring, Year 198, Jan 7th.
Income: Fish (+5,210)Expenses: 0Balance: 37,700
"I'm about 10,000 short of repairing the Pokémon Barn. Once it's fixed, I can start raising Wooloo and Miltank... but I don't know the price of those Pokémon. This money might not be enough."
"Should I consider building a Coop first?"
Leo fell into deep thought.
Unlike the Barn, a Coop only cost 20,000 League Dollars. And compared to Miltank and Wooloo, ordinary hens were much cheaper.
Hens laid eggs quickly—a healthy hen could lay one egg a day. The eggs could be sold, hatched into chicks, or used to make fried eggs, steamed eggs, omurice, and so on.
This way, he wouldn't have to buy eggs from outside; he could be self-sufficient.
Although chicken eggs were inferior to Chansey eggs, raising Chansey was currently impossible for him.
Comparatively, raising chickens was much more cost-effective right now.
Thinking this, Leo made his decision.
Once the weather cleared and the ground dried, he would go to the carpenter's shop and commission Robin to build a Coop, officially starting his livestock business.