Vast stretches of grassland rose and fell in rolling waves. Outside the ranch stood rows of milking factories, along with dairy processing factories.
'Wasn't this the ranch of the Akane family in Goldenrod City?'
Tetsuya was all too familiar with this ranch. The rolling terrain had been specifically designed to train Miltank in the move Rollout, while the complete set of dairy processing factories was the Howard's Akane Family business.
In other words, this Miltank had been raised by the Akane Family. But how had such a desired Pokémon ended up in a place like this?
It turned out that this Miltank had been assigned to a boy in the Akane family who had just turned ten years old. Later, after Whitney's older brother, Stuart, took this Miltank traveling with him, no matter how he trained it, the Miltank could not even learn the most basic move Rollout and essentially knew no offensive moves.
The moves it used most often in battle were Bide and Endure. When Stuart pushed it too hard, it would occasionally use Helping Hand.
However, this Miltank's characteristics were very distinct. After being beaten and battered for so long, there was no doubt that its Defense was formidable. Most importantly, it produced milk in such abundance that it would often overflow, becoming a fine tonic for roadside Pokémon to fully recover their condition.
This Miltank knew almost no offensive moves at all and was completely passive… but what Tetsuya needed was precisely its milk production!
The chances of Miltank winning a battle were very small. Nearly all of its victories came through Bide.
Stuart gradually lost confidence in Miltank, but all of his other Pokémon became physically stronger because of its milk. This only served to further highlight Miltank's weakness. However, Stuart did not believe his Pokémon's strength came from this Miltank's milk. After all, he was a member of the Akane family, and the one thing he never lacked was milk.
Naturally, Stuart always carried plenty with him. Yet gradually, his Pokémon stopped drinking the milk Stuart carried and would only drink this Miltank's milk. This was precisely what made this Miltank special.
But Stuart did not believe this was Miltank's doing!
Instead, he blamed Miltank even more for drinking the milk he carried around, calling it lazy and useless since it always lost battles.
Finally, after a defeat at the Olivine Gym, the young and impulsive Stuart placed all the blame directly on Miltank.
Stuart released Miltank in the great desert outside Olivine City…
"From now on, you're not my Pokémon!"
After leaving behind those words, Stuart departed. Miltank stood there rooted to the spot, not even knowing how to ask him to stay, and could only watch his retreating silhouette.
Miltank wandered through the desert, using its milk to save several Pokémon, until the day it met Tetsuya and finally collapsed completely…
---◓---
Tetsuya comforted Miltank, and it finally calmed down.
Now he completely understood this Miltank's background. It was a "peacemaker" accidentally raised by the Akane family, a passive Pokémon incapable of attacking, yet having extraordinary milk production and exceptionally rich nutrition with remarkable effects on improving physique.
Moreover, this Miltank's saintly heart overflowed. Whenever it saw an injured and helpless Pokémon, it would go out of its way to rescue it and offer its milk.
Now Tetsuya could already guess that the "The Holy Mother" Miltank of the oasis in the Olivine Desert years later would be this very Miltank. If it did not possess some special ability, why else would so many Pokémon be willing to follow the command of a single Miltank?
Moreover, the fact that this Miltank had saved so many Pokémon all by itself was enough to prove how extraordinary it was!
Tetsuya recalled this Miltank into its Poké Ball, where it would be absolutely warm.
It seemed he had truly found a treasure. His cheat had activated! 'Oh, wait! No…'
Not only had this saved him the trouble of searching for the desert oasis and catching that Miltank, but judging from the large number of Pokémon corpses they had seen along the way over the past two days that had died from the heat, that oasis simply did not exist yet.
If the Miltank in his possession was truly the "The Holy Mother Miltank" of years later, then that oasis would never come into existence.
---◓---
The next day, Tetsuya sent out Miltank and had breakfast together with the other Pokémon.
"Miltank, you've already been caught by me. That means you're my Pokémon now, understand?" Tetsuya said forcefully.
'…'
Miltank stared blankly at Tetsuya, then lowered its head, looking very lacking in confidence.
"Ho~oh… I know you don't like battling, and you're not good at battling either, so I won't make you battle."
'!!!??'
After Tetsuya said this, Miltank immediately raised its head and looked at him with eyes full of confusion. After all, didn't Trainers raise Pokémon for the sake of battling? Why would he say something like that? He knows…? But if it didn't battle, what use did it have? Surely it couldn't just freeload… right!?
Miltank let out another sigh and lowered its head once again.
At this moment, Tetsuya walked over to Miltank's side and said, "There are many different kinds of Pokémon. Not every one of them is good at battling. Take you, for example.
Don't look at me like you're wondering how I know!
Your milk production allows your companions to drink fresh milk. Not only can it restore your companions' condition, but it can also strengthen their physique. You can use Heal Bell, which not only calms Pokémon's emotions but can also heal your companions' status conditions.
That's an excellent move as well!
You can also use Helping Hand to lend strength to your companions in battle and make them stronger. These are things that ordinary Pokémon simply can't do, so your place is irreplaceable!
Also..."
---◓---
After Tetsuya explained Miltank's value, Miltank finally became more confident. It immediately used Heal Bell, and all the Pokémon were bathed in a peaceful chime. They had only just woken up and were still somewhat groggy, but now they were completely refreshed~.
Afterward, Miltank pointed at its udders. Tetsuya did not quite understand at first. Then he watched as Miltank directly opened his backpack and took out the only two cups he had. Miltank began producing milk and handed the first cup to Tetsuya.
Tetsuya smiled faintly and thought to himself that he had no desire to become a Japanese sumo wrestler, cough… then he said, "I don't drink milk. Give it to the Pokémon instead."
Tetsuya gave the first cup of milk to Ditto. Ditto drank it in one gulp, still wanting more and savoring the lingering taste~.
"So, Ditto. How does it taste?"
Ditto nodded repeatedly, and Tetsuya was already able to conclude that this milk was of exceptionally high quality. After all, Ditto was an "expert" when it came to drinking milk. If even it approved, then the quality was absolutely guaranteed!
Next, Miltank gave a cup of milk to every Pokémon. Eleven cups of milk in total, and Miltank showed no signs of discomfort whatsoever.
'As expected… it really produced a lot of milk, huh.' With this Miltank, he could completely save on Ditto's food expenses. Aside from Pokéfood, there would be no need to purchase any additional Pokémon nutritional supplements. The nutritional value of Miltank's milk was fully comparable to any supplement.