Summer, League Calendar year 112, June 12.
Tong Hua's body clock was as punctual as ever. He got up at five in the morning and soon discovered something very serious.
Riolu and Grovyle had vanished at some point, and Pink Celebi had disappeared along with them.
"What's going on?" Tong Hua scratched his head in confusion. Only after asking Green Celebi did he learn that the three of them had returned to their own world to take care of something.
"La-wa-" The freshly awakened Celebi spoke somewhat indistinctly. "They went back to prepare presents, la-bi-"
"Presents? What presents?"
Tong Hua was even more confused. Just then, Celebi realized it seemed to have let something slip and instantly snapped awake.
"Ah! Not presents! It's-special training! They went back for special training, la-wa!
"They said something about challenging a difficult mystery dungeon and searching for hidden treasure. They'll probably be gone for a while, la-bi-"
"So that's it." Tong Hua nodded, accepting the explanation. Still, the three Pokémon leaving without saying goodbye left him feeling a little disappointed.
He glanced again at Cinccino and Purrloin, who were still tangled up together even in their sleep, and smiled helplessly. That faint sense of disappointment was instantly swept away by the heartwarming yet comical scene before him.
No matter what, daily life on the Ranch had to go on.
"Grot!"
As it happened, today was the first harvest since the Ranch had switched to summer crops. Grotle's cry rose from downstairs, urging him on.
Hops, starfruit, and blueberries-these were all brewing ingredients Grotle had specially planted for Tong Hua. Once this batch was harvested, the freed-up land would be used to plant the seeds from the Alola Region that Tong Hua had brought back yesterday.
"Coming, coming!" Tong Hua answered. After one last look