Pokémon: Starting as a Farmer Instead of a Trainer

Chapter 402 I think Rosamund still retains her charm (Seeking monthly votes)

After leaving the claw machine arcade, I had so many Ponpo plushies that they couldn't all fit in my backpack, so I gave a lot of them to the children on the street. Talebagos was lying on its head and they were having a lot of fun.

Latias, clutching a pink Gengar plush toy, followed along listlessly. Lillie had helped her win the plush toy, and Lillie had even mocked Mingyou for being bad at the game. Now, she'd be sitting at the same table as that idiot Mingyou when it came to claw machines.

"Hey? Are you here to participate in the World Championships? Why didn't you say so beforehand?"

Mizuki, who was asking them why they came to Alola, looked surprised. Although she knew that Naruyu was participating in the competition, since everyone on the internet knew about it, she did not know that his first match was in Alola.

"And who is your opponent?"

"His name is Gladio. We'll battle him tomorrow afternoon at Etherland."

"Huh? My brother?"

Lillie suddenly interrupted the conversation, her little hand resting on her little hat, her adorable face full of surprise. This unusual behavior made Mingyou realize that something seemed a little off.

"What's wrong?"

"No……"

Lillie shook her head gently, but after hesitating for a moment, she bit her lip and said, "My brother ran away from home two years ago and has been missing ever since. My mother has been searching for him for a long time but hasn't found him."

"???"

Mingyou typed a few question marks. Who was the contestant who accepted her challenge? Surely they couldn't have chosen the wrong competition venue, Ether Paradise, right?

So he took out his Rotom phone, showed Lillie the list of opponents he was facing, and guessed, "Could it be that he's already back?"

"have no idea……"

Lillie shook her head gently, but looking at Gladio's avatar on the screen, she placed her small hands on her chest, unable to suppress her joy. This was the first time in two years that she had heard news about her brother.

The World Championships are all held under a real-name system. Grazio was only at the Super Ball level last season, so there were no open tournaments scheduled for him. It's normal that he wasn't discovered.

Thinking of all this, a smile appeared on her face. She took out her phone, Rotom: "If it really is my brother coming back, Mother will definitely be very happy. We must tell her!"

Seeing her agitated state, Mingyou didn't disturb her, but instead wanted to learn some information about Gladion from Meiyue.

"I'm not quite sure about that either..."

Mizuki shook her head. Neither she nor Lillie were actually native to Alola. They had moved from other regions when they were very young. They only officially met at Pokémon School, so they only knew that the other had an older brother, but had never met him.

Upon hearing this, Mingyou nodded gently.

If she ran away from home two years ago, which is around the time of last season's World Championship, she would have gone to participate in the competition shortly after leaving. But was it necessary to hide this from her family?

Just as Mingyou was wondering about this, Lillie had finished her call and then turned to him, saying, "My mother is very grateful that you told us this. If possible, she would like to invite you to stay at Etherland tonight."

"Shall we go to Etherland?"

Mingyou pondered for a moment. He did want to take Ponpo and the others around Hao'ao Le City tonight, but the Ether Foundation had provided a lot of help to the manor in the early stages, so it wouldn't be good to refuse the chairman's invitation.

"Hmm... okay then."

He nodded in agreement anyway, since they were going to meet anyway, and he could always wait until after the match tomorrow to play, as long as he didn't cause Lila any trouble.

"Waaah~"

Latias was overjoyed. He had always heard Lillie say that her house was very big, and now he could finally go and take a look. He didn't believe it could be bigger than his own house. As for Ponpo and the others, they didn't care. It didn't matter where they went.

Seeing that they were all coming to Aether Paradise, Lillie became even happier. She then looked at Mizuki and suggested, "Why don't we invite Mizuki and the others over to play? Let's treat it as a small party to welcome Naruto's first visit to Alola!"

"Is it alright? Won't it cause some trouble for Auntie? After all, we weren't invited."

"It's alright, my mother loves lively atmospheres, I'll just tell her."

"In that case... alright, I'll contact Shui Lian and the others to come over right now!"

Mingyou stood aside, listening to their conversation, but her mind was entirely on how to greet the chairman of the Ether Foundation when she met him later.

I'm inexplicably a little nervous. We've been working together for so long, but we've never met even once... And speaking of which, Lillie has been in charge of almost all the work, so there's actually been no communication between us.

At this moment, Meiyue put down her phone, smiled and said, "It's all settled. They said they'll be over before dinner. It's been a long time since I've attended a banquet with everyone."

"Then let's set off!"

Lillie couldn't wait any longer; she wanted to take Latias on a tour of the Etherland.

Soon, the group arrived at the port area, where yachts could take them directly to Ether Paradise. And from the edge of the port area, a colossal floating structure could be seen rising from the distant sea.

This is similar to Blueberry Academy in the Unova region, but Aether Paradise was built much earlier than Blueberry Academy, and some areas are open to the public as tourist attractions.

The group boarded the yacht, the engine roared, and the yacht sped towards Ether Paradise. Lillie took off her hat and placed it on her lap. The sea breeze gently blew her long, loose hair, and her face was full of expectant smiles, hoping to see her brother again.

Latias sat down next to her, surprised that she and her brother were so close, even though he also had a brother... it was practically the same as not having one.

Naruyu was asking Mizuki about Z-Crystals. Although she had a Z-Bracelet, she still only had three types of Z-Crystals: Water, Fire, and Grass, which was clearly not enough.

"You can buy this at the gem shop in Konik City, but collecting Z-Crystals of all attributes still requires a certain amount of luck."

Mizuki also said she was powerless to help, for example, Dragon Z Crystals are very rare and difficult to obtain, but if you have the money, you can still buy them if you want.

After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "By the way, are you free after the competition?"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to play against you. I actually participated in this year's World Championship, but it's my first time, and I don't have a ranking yet."

"No problem."

Mingyou readily agreed, since it was just a sparring partner. However, given the strength the opponent displayed in the Youth Cup, it would be easy for them to break into the Super Ball level. Meiyue just lacked resources, but her talent was not bad.

The group chatted about various things and soon arrived at the dock of Ether Paradise. It wasn't until they got close that Mingyou truly felt the awe-inspiring power of Ether Paradise, which was no less than the feeling she had when she saw the Galaxy Spaceship.

This huge artificial island just floats on the sea. Although Blueberry Academy is equally outrageous, it has energy drawn from the seabed and is supported by the Unova region. Alola, on the other hand, has nothing and relies entirely on the Aether Foundation.

"No wonder the young lady can invest money everywhere; her financial resources are truly impressive."

"Waaah..."

Latias was also stunned. Lillie's home was an island? This... is incomparable!

Seriously, why doesn't that idiot Mingyou renovate that decades-old villa in the manor? In a few more years, it'll probably become a haunted house.

"Let's think about it again in a few days..."

Mingyou does indeed have plans to renovate the villa and expand its area, but not now.

The yacht slowly came to a stop at the dock, but before they could disembark, a group of employees in white uniforms stood in two neat rows on the dockside.

Noticing this, Mingyou asked curiously, "Is this a way of welcoming us?"

"That's right!"

A mature and charming female voice came from the crowd. Looking in the direction of the voice, a tall woman in a sleeveless short dress walked gracefully through the crowd with a smile on her face.

Upon closer inspection, her appearance was remarkably similar to Lillie's. She had long, shimmering golden hair cascading over her shoulders, her forehead partially obscured by bangs, and her bright, emerald-green eyes peering through her hair.

"Mother!"

Upon seeing the newcomer, Lillie put on her hat and greeted him. The identity of this person was obvious: it was none other than Lillie and Gladio's mother, the chairperson of the Ether Foundation—Rosamune!

The other person's sudden appearance made Mingyou take a closer look at her. She heard that she was over 40 years old, but if she had the same hairstyle and stood next to Lillie, people would probably believe that they were sisters. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she still had a charming appearance.

But if anyone tries to take advantage of her or underestimates her, this strong woman who single-handedly developed the Ether Foundation to its current size will also show her iron-fisted methods!

Lusamine stopped and greeted her daughter, then said hello to Mizuki, before finally turning her gaze to Naruyu.

She maintained an enigmatic smile throughout, as if she had been secretly observing Mingyou ever since she began to scrutinize her…

"Alola~ This must be Mr. Naruto, right? Nice to meet you, I am Lusamine, the chairperson of the Ether Foundation."

Finally, it was Rosamund who spoke first. She had heard some things about Mingyou, although she mostly learned about him from her daughter. But with his current achievements and fame, it would be hard not to pay attention to him even if she wanted to.

The other party greeted her first, and Mingyou naturally stood up politely in response. Then, she smiled and said, "No need for formalities. Lillie and I are friends. We've received a lot of help from the Ether Foundation in the past, and I came here specifically to say thank you."

Upon hearing this, Lusamine's lips curled up slightly, as if she had discovered something amusing: "In that case, you can just call me Auntie or Madam, just like them. Of course, if you don't mind, you can also call me Sister~"

"???"

……

(End of this chapter)