Because this stretch of road was downhill, Chu Mo found a large, thick tree leaf to save his strength.
Chu Mo planned to use it to make a "skateboard" to quickly move down the slope.
“Are you ready, Little Drill?"
“Drill~”
“Good! We're off!”
Chu Mo held Little Drill, applied a backward force to the leaf beneath him, and began to move downwards.
And, the speed of movement increased!
Soon, the downhill stretch ended, but because he still had some momentum, Chu Mo, to save effort, didn't choose to stop but continued to rush forward using inertia.
“Drill~ drill drill~”
Suddenly, Little Drill cried out.
Chu Mo looked closely and saw someone lying in the grass ahead!
Chu Mo quickly started to foot-brake.
Fortunately, it was flat ground and he was going much slower, otherwise Chu Mo's shoes would have been ruined!
As soon as they stopped, Little Drill and Chu Mo immediately ran over to check on the person.
Chu Mo helped the person up, then kept calling out.
“Sir… sir… are you okay? Sir?”
Derek opened his eyes, dazed and confused, and saw a young man calling to him.
Seeing the person wake up, Chu Mo hurriedly asked, “Sir! Are you okay?”
Derek shook his head and said, “I'm fine! I just tripped and fell, then suddenly passed out.”
Derek slowly stood up, gratefully said to Chu Mo, “Thank you for waking me up! If I had been unconscious until evening, I might have been accidentally stepped on by some large Pokémon! This is a life-saving favor!”
“This is my ranch. My name is Derek. You're welcome to come to my house as a guest!”
“Derek, my name is Chu Mo, and this is Little Drill! We have nowhere else to go, so we'll take you up on your offer!”
Hearing Derek's words, Chu Mo didn't have anywhere else to go anyway, so he agreed to Derek's invitation.
After passing through a large area of cultivated pasture, they finally saw Derek's house.
Derek's home was a two-story villa.
The villa's exterior used some natural materials like stone, wood, or brick, harmonizing with the surrounding ranch environment. The roof was a sloping design, adapted for potential rain and snow, and the roofline was simple and flowing.
Chu Mo liked it at first glance.
“How is it? My self-designed and built villa, pretty, right?" Derek said proudly.
“Yes! It's beautiful! Derek, right, Little Drill?"
“Drill~ drill~”
“Come on! Let's go inside and have a look!” Derek enthusiastically pulled Chu Mo inside.
As soon as Chu Mo entered, he saw a spacious open-plan living room, dining room, and kitchen area, connected to the external landscape by large floor-to-ceiling windows, providing ample natural light and a wide view. Additionally, the first floor included a guest room and office, as well as a spacious terrace and porch connected to the indoor space.
“Wow…!”
Chu Mo felt that only "wow" could express his inner liking!
“Have a seat!”
Derek brought out many fruits and pastries and placed them on the table.
Chu Mo, who felt hungry, somewhat awkwardly picked up a fruit to eat.
Because he was truly hungry.
Little Drill was the same, but it preferred cakes, so it carefully picked up a plate of small cakes and started eating.
“I'm really sorry, Derek. I just came out of the mountains and don't have anything to eat, I'm almost starved.”
Derek smiled, "Then eat up! This is a ranch after all, we don't lack anything here!"
Chu Mo smiled and grabbed another fruit. After all, fruit just had a lot of juice, it filled you up, but didn't really have a feeling of fullness.
Seeing Little Drill happily eating cake beside him, Chu Mo suddenly thought it was great to be in this world.
Suddenly, Chu Mo froze, then twisted his head and looked around.
“What's wrong? Chu Mo.” Derek was bewildered by Chu Mo's actions.
“Derek, there aren't any Pokémon on your ranch, are there?”
This is what Chu Mo realized after seeing his Little Drill.
Since passing through the ranch and going into the house, he hadn't seen a single Pokémon.
But this was a world with Pokémon! How could there be no Pokémon on a Pokémon ranch?!
Hearing Chu Mo's words, Derek suddenly became a little dejected.
The atmosphere also suddenly became awkward.
Seeing Derek becoming dejected, Chu Mo immediately realized that he had brought up something he shouldn't have.
“Sorry, Derek, I didn't know…”
Derek waved his hand, generously saying, “It's fine! There wasn't anything anyway! I just sold them all a while ago! I'm going to sell this ranch in a couple of days too!”
“Huh? Why?" Chu Mo curiously asked.
“Because my son said I'm getting old and he's not at ease with me doing these things, he wants me to go back to the city to live out my old age! Ah… you see, I've been doing this for a lifetime, how can I just put it down like that!”
Derek said sadly, "Actually, the main reason I fainted in the ranch was because, seeing all the Pokémon I used to take care of gone, I couldn't accept it for a moment, then suddenly my eyes went black and I passed out.”
“It's just that you came along! Otherwise… ah…” Even though he had survived, Derek's heart was still uneasy.
Chu Mo understood this feeling. It was like him, he couldn't accept suddenly coming to this world.
Hearing Derek's story, Chu Mo's worries surged to the surface.
“Me too! Derek! I'm all alone now, if it wasn't for Little Drill, I wouldn't know what to do!”
Chu Mo hugged Little Drill tightly, and Little Drill, seemingly sensing Chu Mo's fluctuating emotions, hugged him back, patted Chu Mo, as if comforting him.
Looking at Little Drill's cute actions, Chu Mo smiled, “Luckily, I met Little Drill!”
“Yes! Pokémon are indeed very lovable beings!” Derek also sighed.
“By the way, Chu Mo, you said you were alone? How did that happen?”
Seeing Derek's concerned expression, Chu Mo made up a story of an orphan who lost his memory and got lost in the forest.
“So, I'm very worried now. I don't know what to do next, because I don't know anything about this world now!”
Derek smiled, “Don't worry! Stay at Derek's house for one night tonight! My son, Rio, is coming to pick me up tomorrow, and we'll go to the city together and register at the police station.”
New book launch! Asking for flowers! Asking for monthly tickets! Thanks!!