Pokemon Ranch in a magic world

"Are we there?"

Naomi wasn't quite sure where her bodyguard and cousin were taking her, but she knew for a fact that they were planning something.

They had suddenly taken her out to visit the Golden Empire premises, which was strange as they don't approach the Golden Empire often, only in political meetings between said empire and her merchant family of the Sea folk.

And even that didn't happen often, as the sea folk lived closer to the Cooper Empire.

Now they were in this place that seemed to be in the middle of a forest with her limited vision provided by her magic cane.

"We are!" Her cousin, Ester cheered.

She heard voices around, along with strange cries and the smell of something delicious (and burned) while people came and went past the dome created by her cane.

"Dee!"

"It's good, girl, I swear!"

She heard a familiar voice that stunned her, and not only, but also her bodyguard, Marina.

"Aiden?"

She couldn't see him, but she heard the distinct sound of his boots coming their way, and he soon entered her field of vision, with something on his arms.

"Girls! What a surprise to see you here! How have you've been?"

Aiden was a friend of her father, a warrior who had the habit of breaking his weapons, that is, until Aiden made his current trident, which was still firm and strong.

He was also the one who made her magic cane that created a small dome of mana that allows her to see, even if just a bit.

And, right now, she was looking at the creature in Aiden's arms.

"What is that?" She blurted out.

That only brought a smile to the man's face, a face made of lines of mana.

"This girl here is Fiama" He said.

"Char!"

The little Beast raised a hand up, like she did to mark presence in class.

"She's my new assistant in the forge" Said the man with a chuckle.

She was quite surprised at that, after all, Aiden was picky with who he let enter his forge, not even his own grandfather was allowed there.

Yet this little thing was allowed?

She found it strange, but said nothing as her cousin started to speak.

"We came here to find some pets!"

Oh?

She didn't expect that.

Naomi, like many other sea folk, liked to have a pet to keep company and, like in her case, help with daily life.

Her family had a few dolphins, they pulled the carriages of her family's caravan and some took her from place to place on a daily basis, but, unfortunately, they couldn't be brought to the Academy.

She was used to it now since she was in her third year, but it was still lonely even though it was for the better.

Dolphins can be like gangsters sometimes.

"I saw a post about this place" Marina said "When I saw the types of beasts they sell here, I just had to bring Naomi and Ester to take a look, I even consulted the price with the owner and he recommended some for Naomi especificaly"

"Which is why I'm gonna give you three personally!"

She was startled by the knew voice, and so were the others as a new person entered the dome.

And… she didn't know what to say?

This person was human, at least looked like it, but the way the mana acted around him made him look more like a demon in disguise.

Similar, yet different.

But who was she to judge? She too, wasn't human despite looking mostly like one.

She watched as Marina extended a hand to the new person.

"Nate right? I'm Marina, we talked over the phone last night"

"Yes! I've been waiting for you guys and already have some good Pokemon waiting!"

They said goodbye to Aiden and followed the man, who let her make question.

"What kind of beasts do you have here?"

"A bit of everything" Was the answer "Some spit fire, others can lift things with the power of their minds, but, since it's our focus for today, I'm gonna show you guys my Water Type Pokemon and service Pokemon"

That caught her attention.

"Service pokemon?"

"They are trained to help people with their disabilities" He explained "Like fainting disorders and anxiety, I even have specific species trained to be nurse assistants, like Audino- oh, speaking of Audino"

A new figure appeared on her camp of vision after the sound of steps, the creature was rather tall and with big ears.

"This is Faith" He introduced "She's part of the medical team of the Ranch, if you ever feel sick, just go to the medical wing and our medical team will definitely help"

The beast saluted them, then waved before leaving. Behind her, a big golem-like creature brushed by the dome of mana as a salty smell came to her nose.

"She's going out right now to make sure the hunters outside the Ranch will have medical attention" The man explained "Garganacl is tagging along to help since the salt that falls from his body have healing properties"

They continued to walk until they were in front of a door.

"I took the liberty to separate a specific group for the occasion" He said.

He opened the door and the first thing she heard was water splashing and a few cries that soon became quiet.

As they entered, he felt eyes on her, but she ignored the sensation and got ready to meet these beasts.

***

Marina had never thought she would see Naomi be at a loss for words.

She had been this girl's bodyguard for years, always ready to help when she came out of the Academy, but she knew that the girl herself hated this type of help that her parents thought was necessary.

She had saved money to buy a taming scroll and a beast that could help her both in land and in water, but it was in her search for a species that could do the job that she found this place.

A ranch that exchanged cores for Beasts.

She had to check if it was true, so she called the owner without thinking twice.

It was with him that she learned about the service pokemon, who were specialized in taking care of people and helping with their daily lives.

She not only asked the man to reserve one specific pokemon that she met in the call for her, she asked if he could show her some guiding Pokemon to her and her charge, to which he agreed.

At some point Ester ended up hearing their conversation and begged to come along after she finished the call, excited to find a pet that she could keep at the Academy.

The girl was only in her first year, so she didn't get the chance to get used to a lack of pets yet.

And here they were now, checking out first the guiding pokemon for Naomi.

Most of her Pokemon were small, she could carry them in her arms and they would look like plushies to anyone looking, but the owner promises that they would grow up to a bigger size that could assist better.

One of the tallest Pokemon in the room was the one she reserved for herself, a Buizel.

He wasn't a guiding Pokemon, he was actually a Rescue therapeutic Pokemon specialized in helping people with anxiety and depression.

Why did she choose him? Simple, when she wasn't working as a bodyguard on the weekends, she was working in a heavily secured prison for dangerous individuals.

She was a healer and therapist there, and she knew that, although there were many people there locked up for serious crimes, not all of them actually deserved to be there.

The most dangerous prisoner there was literally the prison warden himself, was a man with a tragic backstory who locked himself in the prison, saying he was too dangerous to be out.

There was no person in that prison that didn't respect him.

It was because of people like him that she chose to take this Buizel with her.

While Naomi was meeting the pokemon that might become her guiding Pokemon, she went to the side to sit with Buizel.

"Hey bud! How are you?"

"Zel~"

Buizel showed her a goofy grin as he turned to her.

"Ready to leave the ranch?" She asked.

"Bui!"

The Pokemon nodded vigorously, a determination shining in his eyes.

She chuckled and patted his head.

That was the other reason she chose this guy, he was just a ball of sunshine and vigor that stole her heart.

He'll be a good addition to the team.

They watched as Naomi interacted with the Pokemon, getting in the pool to see how their guiding worked underwater and also practicing being guided on land, which consisted in the Pokemon wearing a special vest with a support that she had to hold too and let herself be guided, she even set aside her cane for a bit to see how it worked without the magic item.

Marina already knew without a doubt which she would choose.

"You can count on me!"

|I hope we can get along|

The pair was the one Marina had an eye on since the call on the previous day.

A Piplup that could speak human language and a Riolu with telepathy.

The Riolu was well mannered and even though she couldn't hear it speak through the call, she could tell he was very attentious.

The Piplup was quite cheerful, but she was very serious when it came to her work, so, as long as she was working, Marina knew Naomi wouldn't be in trouble when she was on water.

It was good to see that Naomi seemed to have noticed that too and chose them.

With that, they left, ready to look for a pokemon for Ester, who was excitedly pacing around.

"I think I have the perfect choice for you" Nate said, amused.

So he left them in the entrance, where Marina payed for a meal for them all, and went to get a Pokemon for Ester and a Rotom for the three of them.

After they heard what a Rotom phone could do, there was no way they wouldn't get one, especially Naomi, who had been struggling with technology for a long time.

"What do you think he'll bring?" Ester asked curiously.

"I have an idea" Piplup said.

|Me two| Riolu added.

Both refused to elaborate, but Marina also had an idea after talking to Nate and learning about a few species with him.

Certainly, Nate, accompanied by three Rotom came back with exactly what she thought he would bring.

A Totodile that nearly made him go face first on the ground as it ran around his feet.

A small crocodile to a young saltwater crocodile sea folk, what else could she get?

The moment they noticed each other, they paused whatever they were doing to go into a stare content.

They stayed like this for a moment, both tilting their heads to the same direction.

Then chaos breaks out.

They jumped at each other, and surely, like she had seen it happen a few times among this specific tribe of sea folk, they greeted each other with a bite, making many people around them pale, even the pokemon didn't seem to expect that, but she and Naomi smiled.

"Is she biting?" Asked the girl before sipping her tea.

"Just the usual friendly nibbling" She answered.

She could see Naomi's smile under the mask that hides her sharp teeth.

Naomi was part of the white shark tribe, while Ester was part of the saltwater crocodile tribe, their fathers were brothers, but Ester's father married a saltwater crocodile instead of a white shark.

Both tribes had the habit of biting to show affection.

Looking at the happy pair that seemed very satisfied with each other, she already knew the outcome.

Taking a sip of her Miltank Mix au Lait, she was happy to be finally able to deal with the long lived problem of the sea folk on land.

And she would definitely ask Nate to deliver some of this milk in her workplace, the chefs would love such a fine ingredient.

***

"I hate mondays!"

May watched with amusement as her granddaughter pouted on her way to the Academy.

After the day of adventurer she had in the ranch, she didn't seem to want to leave, not like May could blame her, as he, too, had fun.

She spent most of the day with the Raboot siblings, who were very eager to share their cooking techniques at the cost of her helping them teach the Indeedee how to cook.

There was still a lot of burned food in the kitchen, but she could see progress.

Funnily enough, she ended up getting a Nacli, a Smoliv and two Rescues for herself too.

It wasn't the siblings, don't take her wrong, she liked them, but she didn't feel that much inclined to them.

She actually got a Snorlax and a Skwovet.

She saw them by chance in the med wing when she went there to make sure that Maverick (having come back from his chance with a few bruises) was ok, the Snorlax and Skwovet were there seemingly ok, but, after asking the pokemon that were examining them, she discovered they were there both behind on their usual weigh.

Digging a little deeper, she found out that these two had trainers that didn't feed them as much as their species required, even proprosifuly giving them less by thinking giving that much was unnecessary, causing them to develop eating disorders.

She just couldn't help but take these two.

No one goes hungry on her sight!

Of course, she also got a pair of Pokemon that just screamed chef assistance for her and a cute little pair for Bria.

A wonderful pair of Electric types that she could hug without fear of shocking them.

All the Pokemon were in their pokeballs just in case someone had a problem while she accompanied Bria to the Academy.

Oh, right, she also bought a Rotom for each of them.

Rotom phone was way more practical than she had imagined, especially for Bria since it helped recording videos without a person holding the phone and had some immunity to electricity in their phone form, which means that she didn't need to buy a new phone because she ended up shocking her's.

They said goodbye and May watched as Bria ran through the gates to tackle from behind an unaware Raff to the ground.

She also met with Lane, who just gave her a quick wave before running off with a smile.

May then left, ready for a busy day on the guild, to make sure her Pokemon were well fed and to pull the ears of some lazy people.

She might actually drag her son for a walk before he turns into a mushroom.

But first, she had a call to make.

***

Nate was sitting in his bed while staring at the System notification and the Premier ball in his hand.

[Quest completed! - Find a home!

Objective: Sell ten Pokemon (10/10) and adopt ten Pokemon (10/10)

Reward: A mythical Pokemon]

On the start of his fourth day of business, Nate had finished a quest he didn't actually pay attention to after he successfully found a person willing to adopt one of the rescues during the morning.

He was so surprised that he had to excuse himself for a moment.

/So there's a mythical Pokemon in there?/

Sylvester was sitting on his lap and Umbra was hy his side, curled around the egg she had laid last night, but still curiously looking at the Premier ball.

"Yeah" He said "But I have no idea of which Pokemon it'll be"

He was anxious, so anxious that his hair was puffy.

It was like the time with Tapu Koko all over again.

/Hey/

He felt a paw on his leg, looking at the side, Umbra was giving a gentle smile.

/Don't worry/ She said /You said the System won't do anything to hurt you, right?/

"It was what it said" He confirmed.

/Then don't hesitate!/ She said /Whoever come out of this pokeball will definitely be of help!/

Right, there's no way the System would give him a pokemon that would be dangerous for him, Tapu Koko was just one instance.

After taking a deep breath, he dismissed the window and got up after Sylvester left his lap.

He confidently pressed the button and a light came out of the Premier ball, a light that brought a familiar figure to him.

"Hoopa!?"

It was Hoopa in his Confined form, small and cute, but definitely mischievous.

He was a far from weak, and definitely could help in the ranch, but Nate was far happy.

He found himself with another troublemaker, the biggest troublemaker he could ever get!

The myth himself seemed to know what he was thinking and only giggled in response, leaving Nate to his crisis.