"Arceus's new book! Dear readers, please give it your support~(￣▽￣~)~"
"One more thing!"
"This book isn't purely a farming novel. There may be quite a lot of battles, so readers who prefer relaxed slice-of-life stories or Story of Seasons-style content should proceed with caution."
"A friendly reminder from Dawn: leave your brains here~"
Sinnoh Region, Solaceon Town.
"Dad! I don't want to be a Trainer anymore!"
When Yushu said those words, even he froze for a moment.
The other end of the video call went quiet for about two seconds. Then the image shook, and a middle-aged man's face appeared.
"Huh! This is pretty sudden, isn't it?"
Qingmu really was surprised.
His son had spent years challenging Gyms, losing again and again, but he had never once said he wanted to give up.
Now that he had suddenly sprung this on him, Qingmu honestly had no idea how to respond.
If he said he didn't support it, well, watching his son struggle in competitions these past few years had been getting painful for him, too.
If he said he supported it, he worried that his son was acting on impulse and would regret it tomorrow.
So all he could do was throw out that question first to test the waters.
The picture shook again. Clearly, someone had snatched the phone away.
(In Pokémon, this should actually be called a communicator. You get the idea.)
Soon, a gentle-featured woman's face crowded into the frame, looking like an older sister.
"A-Yu, have your Gym challenges not been going well? It's all right. There's no rush with this sort of thing. Take your time."
Anna's voice was very gentle. She knew her Yushu all too well. The boy had been stubborn since childhood.
When he lost, he refused to accept it. When he won, he wanted to win again. He was always pushing himself.
She saw it all, and it pained her.
But she never dared to talk him out of it, because she feared that if she did, Yushu would think even his own mother didn't believe in him.
Now Yushu had said it himself, but she didn't dare look too happy, afraid her son would think she was taking pleasure in his misfortune.
Qingmu clearly lacked his wife's sensitivity. His mouth got ahead of his brain, and he blurted out:
"Actually, there is a bit of a rush. Our A-Yu's been at it for three years and only made it to the League Conference once, then got knocked out in the first-"
Before he could finish, a vicious elbow struck his waist.
"What kind of thing is that to say?!"
Anna glared at him, then quickly turned back toward the camera, her smile returning.
"That was all an accident! An accident! Our A-Yu just had bad luck and drew an opponent with a type advantage. Otherwise, he definitely would've gone further!"
Qingmu rubbed the spot where she'd elbowed him and muttered, "I was only telling the truth..."
But Anna ignored him completely.
"Actually, it's fine if you don't want to be a Trainer. Come home and get some rest. Mom will find you a teacher, and you can study properly under them for a couple of years. Wouldn't it be nice if you could become a Breeder or something in the future?"
"What do you mean, a Breeder? Do you think that exam is easy to pass? That's even harder than being a Trainer."
Qingmu poked his head in from the side again.
"If you ask me, you should come home and work in transport. Your dad already knows this business inside out. I'll teach you myself, and this manager's position will be yours someday."
Qingmu was a practical man.
As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter if his son stopped challenging Gyms, as long as he had something respectable to do.
Transport was hard work, but the income was good. Wasn't that much better than being some Trainer?
He would have someone to carry on after him, too.
"Money, money, money! That's A-Yu's dream! All you ever think about is money!"
Anna rolled her eyes at him.
Of course she knew her husband meant well, but she couldn't stand that tone of his, as though everything could be turned into money.
Qingmu lifted his chin. "Dreams? How much do those go for per pound? Can you eat them?"
"Are you asking for it?!"
Listening to the bickering on the other end of the call, Yushu still felt a little dazed.
His name was Yushu, and he was eighteen years old.
(In this book, people set out on their journeys at fifteen. Ten is still way too much.)
The memories of his previous life that had suddenly appeared in his head were still buzzing.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands. They were a young man's hands, with well-defined knuckles and a few thin calluses on the palms, marks left by years of holding Poké Balls.
He tried to recall his childhood.
"Yushu, what do you want to do when you grow up?"
"I want to be a Trainer! I want to compete in the League Conference!"
Back then, his eyes had been full of stars.
And afterward?
Afterward, he had started challenging Gyms, losing one match after another.
But clearly, not everyone was cut out for this line of work.
He had started losing sleep, growing anxious, and wondering whether this path simply wasn't right for him.
Repeated losses, another challenge, more repeated losses, and finally, he had collapsed headfirst on the training grounds.
Until that day, when he collapsed on the training grounds.
After waking up, he had gained memories of his previous life.
The version of himself in those memories had lived a different kind of life.
Working nine to five, cramming onto the subway, working overtime until the early hours, getting yelled at by his boss and chased by clients, occasionally drinking and venting with friends, occasionally curling up alone in his rented room and staring into space.
While walking down the street, he had been sent here by a speeding dump truck.
Judging by the logo, it was probably a Dayun.
How should he put it? That version of him had lived a pretty exhausting life, too.
With the two sets of memories combined, he had figured it out.
If one road was blocked, take another.
It wasn't admitting defeat. There was simply no need to keep fighting himself.
If you couldn't beat them, join them. If you couldn't join them, switch tracks. That was an adult's wisdom for survival.
"A-Yu, what are you planning to do next, then? You're not really going to work in transport with your dad, are you?"
Anna's voice came through the phone.
As his mother, she still wanted to support her dear son's dream.
Although that dream had just been declared bankrupt, the old had to go before the new could come.
Qingmu's dissatisfied voice came from the other end again.
"What's wrong with working in transport? Is working in transport something shameful?"
"I didn't say it was shameful. I'm just worried our son will end up like you... with a bad back!"
"My back is perfectly fine!"
"Fine, my ass! I..."
Listening to his parents' everyday bickering, Yushu's lips curled up without him realizing it.
That familiar racket put him at ease.
Yushu thought for a moment, then offered his idea.
"Mom, I remember our family still has a ranch in town, right? Dad hasn't sold it, has he?"
In his memories, he was from Solaceon Town, and his grandfather's generation had run a ranch there.
But after his grandfather passed away, his father, Qingmu, hadn't taken over the ranch. Instead, he had gone to Hearthome City alone to make his way, eventually becoming a regional manager at a freight company.
His mother, Anna, also lived in Hearthome City, where she ran a flower shop. Their family could be considered comfortably off.
Meanwhile, the ranch had sat abandoned all these years.
"Are you kidding? Your dad may have struck out on his own, but that ranch is our ancestral property! When I get old, I'm still planning to go home with your mom, farm a little, raise some chickens, that sort of thing..."
Deep down, Qingmu felt he had let his father down.
The old man had always wanted him to inherit the ranch, but he had run off to the city instead. If he sold the ranch as well, he really wouldn't have the face to meet his father after he died.
"Oh, in that case, Dad, work a few more years. I'm in town right now, so your son will try out this farming business for you first."
Yushu said it as though it were only natural.
He had spent his entire previous life caught in the rat race. Now that he'd finally ended up in another world, of course he wanted to take it easy.
Become a landowner, raise Pokémon, work at sunrise and rest at sunset.
That was his ideal life.
But Qingmu clearly didn't agree.
The expression on his face could be summed up perfectly as "old man on the subway looking at his phone.jpg."
"Huh? You? You can even far-"
He was halfway through his sentence when Anna gave him a death glare.
You old rascal, if you don't watch that mouth of yours, you're sleeping outside tonight.
Qingmu slammed on the brakes. His Adam's apple bobbed, and he switched to a more tactful approach.
"Yushu, it's not that we won't let you farm. It's just... you've never done it before."
This kid had nearly killed a Magikarp trying to raise it when he was little. If they got him a flock of Mareep or something, and that whole bunch of Pokémon really starved to death, that would be a crime.
A silver-bracelet warning from Officer Jenny!
"Move aside!"
Anna shoved her husband out of the way and reclaimed center stage on the screen.
"A ranch sounds great! We can have your dad send you some Pokémon, feed, and things like that later. As for any other supplies, just buy whatever you think you need."
"If you're short on money, tell Mom. I'll transfer some to you!"
Anna's thinking was simple. Her son had finally managed to let go, so he should do whatever he wanted.
If it worked out, it worked out. If not, they could just sell it afterward.
Never mind raising sheep and farming. Even if he wanted to mine on Iron Island, she would support him.
Anything was better than stubbornly sticking to being a Trainer.