The Ranch and the Attack Incident

After visiting the Mr. Mime couple in the Ecopark, Yuga went to meet with Mayor Ishida.

Recently, the Sunflora Generator, a joint research project between Clemont and Mr. Ramos, was finally completed and is now ready for mass production. Yuga's visit to Mayor Ishida today was to discuss the plans for building a Sunflora breeding ranch and a power plant in Verdanturf Town.

Once the ranch and power plant are completed, Verdanturf Town will not only achieve energy self-sufficiency but also create more job opportunities for the town's residents.

Yuga and Mayor Ishida had already reported the plans to the League some time ago, and the League quickly gave their support. In fact, the entire construction of the ranch and power plant would be funded by the League.

The League had always provided policy support for the development of Verdanturf Town, and this time was no exception. The ranch and power plant projects were fast-tracked through approvals, and the necessary funds were already in place.

After several days of discussions, Yuga and Mayor Ishida had finally selected the construction site for the ranch and power plant. Today, they planned to visit the site to inspect the location in person.

When Yuga entered the Verdanturf Town government office building, Mayor Ishida was already waiting for him in the lobby with his secretary. It was clear they were all set to depart.

As soon as he saw Yuga, Mayor Ishida greeted him with a broad smile, saying, "There you are! I've been waiting for a while!"

Yuga glanced at the clock on the wall of the lobby and responded helplessly, "But I'm not late, am I? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Mayor Ishida rubbed his hands together and said, "I'm just excited! I don't have much to do today, so I thought we could get a head start and go check out the site."

Mayor Ishida was very enthusiastic about the construction of the Sunflora ranch and power plant. He was so eager that he wished the project could be completed immediately. His impatience was understandable.

"Alright then, let's head out!" Yuga said, seeing how eager Mayor Ishida was.

At the entrance, Yuga noticed the car that Mayor Ishida had prepared in advance and then glanced at the nearby Pokémon riding station, which wasn't far from the government office building. Suddenly, he turned around to Mayor Ishida and said, "How about we ride Tauros instead?"

Since Verdanturf Town had implemented Pokémon riding as a public transportation option, Tauros had become an essential mode of transport for both residents and tourists. As the one who had proposed this policy, Yuga hadn't actually ridden any of those Tauros yet, which is why he suggested using them today.

Upon hearing this, Mayor Ishida jokingly replied, "You really don't consider these old bones of mine, do you? What if I fall off?"

The secretary standing behind Mayor Ishida rolled their eyes with noticeable flair: You ride Tauros just fine all the time, but now you're making excuses!

Mayor Ishida was, of course, joking with Yuga. The Pokémon used as public transportation are equipped with very safe riding gear, so there are no safety issues whatsoever.

In fact, ever since the introduction of Pokémon riding as public transportation, Mayor Ishida had always led by example, riding Tauros for his daily commutes to encourage the townspeople to adapt to the new mode of transport. If it weren't for Yuga being present today, he wouldn't have bothered to prepare a car.

After giving a few instructions to the driver about returning the car, the three of them set off riding Tauros.

Mayor Ishida and Yuga had selected the construction site for the ranch and power plant at the southernmost edge of Verdanturf Town, an area that is the flattest and most open throughout the entire town.

The ranch needs to raise a large number of Sunflora, making sunlight a crucial factor. The flat and open terrain will ensure that the Sunflora can bask in plenty of sunlight.

Moreover, access to a water source is also an important consideration. Since the Mother River of Verdanturf Town, the Emerald River, flows right through the area they were visiting today, Yuga and Mayor Ishida ultimately chose this location from several candidates.

Upon arriving at the site, Mayor Ishida began to explain the specific plans for the area to Yuga.

This location didn't have many tall trees; aside from a few low bushes and scattered wild fruit trees, it was mostly covered with large expanses of grassland, which was perfect for the Sunflora to sunbathe.

However, once the ranch was built, those unevenly spaced low trees would have to be cleared away. These chaotic plants not only detract from the aesthetics of the ranch but also affect the growth of the Sunflora in the future.

"I plan to build the power generation facility over there!" Mayor Ishida pointed to the flattest area in the region and said to Yuga. "And then we'll build some houses across from it for the Sunflora to live in!"

Mayor Ishida certainly couldn't leave the Sunflora working at the power plant without any housing. Although they enjoy basking in the sun, they do not like getting rained on, and Hoenn is a region known for its abundant rainfall.

It was clear that Mayor Ishida had already made plans for this piece of land. Yuga nodded along as he listened, while the secretary behind them took notes with paper and pen.

The reason Yuga came today was to assess the specific area of this region and determine how many Sunflora would be optimal to raise based on that information.

He and Mayor Ishida had clear divisions of labor: Mayor Ishida was responsible for the planning and construction of the ranch and power plant, while Yuga was tasked with contacting and introducing the Sunflora and training them.

Sunflora cannot just be introduced and immediately put to work; they also require some training first.

The energy source for the Sunflora generator comes from the Sunflora's Solar Beam, but not all Sunflora are born with this skill, so they require a certain amount of training.

Solar Beam is a powerful Grass-type move that isn't something any Pokémon can learn immediately. Particularly for lower potential Pokémon, it takes a significant amount of time to master.

The reason Mr. Ramos chose Sunflora as the Pokémon to power the generator was not because other Grass-type Pokémon's Solar Beams wouldn't work, but because Sunflora are the easiest Pokémon to learn Solar Beam.

As their name suggests, Sunflora are highly sensitive to sunlight. Their large flower heads can easily collect enough solar energy, which they then release as Solar Beams.

For the generator to operate, it requires multiple Pokémon using Solar Beam simultaneously; a single Pokémon's Solar Beam alone is insufficient. Other Pokémon cannot learn Solar Beam in large numbers, but even lower potential Sunflora can easily master it.

In addition, Yuga also needed to ensure that the Sunflora learned Synthesis move. Having this skill would significantly enhance their work efficiency.

"Over there is the area for the Sunflora's daily activities," Mayor Ishida said, pointing to a small hill in the distance.

Yuga looked toward where Mayor Ishida was pointing. That spot was indeed the highest point in the area, making it suitable for the Sunflora to gather sunlight.

After surveying the entire area, Yuga estimated the number of Sunflora needed for the ranch. Once he returned, he would begin contacting sources to introduce the Sunflora.

Time flew by, and autumn was nearing its end. Due to his focus on the ranch and power plant, Yuga had missed Ash's league tournament. Fortunately, after much effort, he successfully secured a sufficient number of Sunflora—1,000 in total—from various breeding centers affiliated with the League.

There aren't many breeding facilities that produce Sunflora in bulk because they are not particularly strong Pokémon, and evolving from Sunkern requires expensive Sun Stones, making mass breeding impractical.

Most of the 1,000 Sunflora Yuga acquired were gathered piece by piece from various regional research centers, with some also contributed by Mr. Ramos.

Thanks to the funding provided by the League and the maximum assistance offered by the breeding facilities, Yuga was able to gather enough Sunflora in such a short time.

Among these Sunflora, there were no high-potential pokemon; most were of orange potential, some were yellow, and the red-potential ones were the fewest. Even for Sunflora, it's still somewhat challenging for red-potential Pokémon to learn Solar Beam.

Once the Sunflora arrived, Yuga would begin preparing for their training.

However, this was not a difficult task for Yuga. Many Grass-type Pokémon in his Ecopark already knew Solar Beam, and they would take turns and work in batches to teach the Sunflora. He believed that they would achieve results before the ranch and power plant were put into operation.

With 1,000 Sunflora, the sheer number was too large. Under Mayor Ishida's arrangements, they temporarily stayed in a training facility located outside the town.

This training facility was privately owned, relatively new, and had opened as part of Verdanturf Town's investment promotion efforts. It served as a place for trainers to train, battle, and for Pokémon battle enthusiasts to watch competitions.

The Verdanturf Town government provided funding to the training facility, temporarily reserving a portion of the space specifically for Yuga's training needs.

On this day, Yuga arrived on time with his Pokémon to train the Sunflora at the facility. However, less than an hour into the training, he saw the mayor's secretary rush in with a flustered expression.

"Mr. Suimizu, there's a big problem! Something has happened at the ranch!"

Seeing the secretary so flustered, Yuga asked, "What's going on? Didn't I hear that things were progressing smoothly over there?"

The secretary quickly explained, "It's because of the construction team. In order to meet the schedule, they violently drove away the wild Pokémon that originally lived in that area. Now some of the staff there have been attacked by the wild Pokémon."

"The mayor has already gone over to handle it, but he's worried about potential accidents and sent me to find you to come take a look!"

Upon hearing this, Yuga immediately said, "Okay, let's go right now." He quickly instructed the training facility staff a few things and hurriedly left with the mayor's secretary.

When Yuga arrived at the ranch, it was already in chaos. Several members of the construction team were injured, especially the person in charge, who was covered in blood on his leg and shoulder, being carried away on a stretcher.

Under normal circumstances, if the town is developing this land, it should relocate the wild Pokémon that originally lived there. They should either be allowed to stay or be provided with a new habitat. Violent eviction is absolutely unacceptable.

Conflicts between humans expanding their living areas and Pokémon have always been common, especially during the early days of the League's establishment. Because of this, Pokémon disasters occurred frequently in the past.

However, as the League gradually stabilized, to prevent Pokémon disasters from happening again, the League began to properly relocate the wild Pokémon in development zones. Eventually, this was written into the League's laws.

The development and construction of the ranch had always been under the responsibility of Mayor Ishida. Yuga had been too busy with introducing and training Sunflora to pay attention to the situation there, so he never anticipated such a major oversight.

In fact, this issue couldn't be entirely blamed on Mayor Ishida.

The person responsible for developing the ranch was a longtime friend of Mayor Ishida, and they had known each other for many years. The mayor trusted him completely, which is why he entrusted the entire development of the ranch to him.

Moreover, the person was also part of the League, and this was not their first collaboration; they had always worked well together and had never encountered any problems before.

However, this friend of Mayor Ishida had a son whom he was keen to train to inherit his career, so he handed over the main responsibilities of this project to his son while he himself just took a nominal role, effectively not managing the project at all.

Unfortunately, his son was too impatient for quick results. In order to make an impression on Mayor Ishida, he did not follow regulations to relocate the wild Pokémon living in the ranch area and instead violently drove them away.

Violently driving away wild Pokémon not only saved construction costs but also accelerated the progress of the project, which were both achievements in the eyes of the person in charge's son.

However, this behavior set the stage for future problems.

The food in this area of the ranch was not very abundant, but because it was close to the Emerald River, many small or weaker Pokémon gathered here to live.

It was precisely because there were no powerful Pokémon that the person in charge's son easily managed to drive them away.

But these wild Pokémon had quite stubborn personalities and were unwilling to be bullied. After being forced out of their homes, they kept a close eye on the situation at the ranch.

Although Mayor Ishida often came to supervise the ranch's development progress, the person in charge's son was determined to hide the truth, and with the surface work done well, the violent eviction of the wild Pokémon remained concealed.

It could also be said that Mayor Ishida was too trusting of his old friend. If he had checked for records of the wild Pokémon relocation, this situation wouldn't have continued to escalate.

Among the evicted wild Pokémon was a Murkrow. Although this Murkrow was not particularly strong, it was quite clever.

After being driven away, the Murkrow realized that it could not reclaim its home by its own strength, so it began to contact other wild Pokémon in the surrounding area of the ranch.

It informed them that humans had taken its home and that if they did not resist together, there would come a day when their homes would be taken as well.

These wild Pokémon were quite naive, and under the persuasion of the Murkrow, they gathered together to plan a rebellion against human oppression.

Thus, the scene of the construction team being attacked unfolded today.

The person in charge had handed over the main responsibilities to his son and had not managed the project closely, so today was a rare occasion for him to visit the site. Little did he know that he would coincidentally run into this incident.

Now, having been tricked by his son, he was suffering serious injuries.