Pokémon: No Way! The Golden Finger Only Comes When I'm About To Die!?

As soon as Angie got off Altaria, he saw two people walking out of the ranch. They were chatting as they approached the entrance, and when they reached it, one of them parted ways and left.

The other person noticed Angie and asked curiously, "May I ask who you are?"

Angie quickly stepped forward and asked, "Are you the owner of this ranch?"

The person nodded upon hearing this and replied, "Yes, I am."

Angie thought to himself, Just as I expected. He then said, "My name is Angie. I heard you're planning to sell the Pokémon from this ranch, so I came to have a look."

The ranch owner seemed to understand and smiled, saying, "Oh, I see. Please, come with me."

With that, he led Angie into the ranch, while Altaria and the others followed closely behind him.

The ranch owner introduced himself, "My name is Jasper. This ranch was passed down to me from my grandfather. After he passed away, I've been the one managing it.

But honestly, I'm not good at running this place. Over the years, the ranch has been operating at a loss, and the Pokémon here have suffered along with me. So, I've decided to shut it down and find suitable owners for the Pokémon."

Angie nodded in understanding. "I see."

"What kind of Pokémon are you looking for?" Jasper asked. He gestured toward a large group of Mareep and said, "As you can see, this ranch mainly focuses on Mareep wool. However, the number of Mareep here is too large, and most buyers can't purchase them all at once. So, I've divided them into several groups to sell in batches."

The person who had just left the ranch had come to buy some Mareep.

Following Jasper's gesture, Angie looked over and saw that the ranch was indeed populated primarily by Mareep, with a few Flaaffy and Ampharos scattered among them.

"I heard you have a batch of Miltank, Mr. Jasper. That's what I'm interested in," Angie said.

Jasper was startled by Angie's words but soon smiled. "Your information travels fast. I haven't even announced that I have Miltank yet."

The Miltank had been introduced from the Johto region before Jasper decided to shut down the ranch. His original plan was to diversify the ranch's products to see if he could turn its fortunes around.

Unfortunately, that didn't work.

Jasper wasn't skilled at raising Mareep to produce high-quality wool, and he was equally inept at raising Miltank to produce premium-quality Moomoo Milk.

This was the root cause of the ranch's failure.

He had planned to sell the Mareep first and then the Miltank, but he hadn't expected someone to come looking for Miltank so soon.

Well, it doesn't matter whether I sell them sooner or later. As long as the Miltank are well cared for, that's all that matters, Jasper thought.

"I'll take you to see the Miltank," Jasper said.

"Thank you," Angie replied with a nod.

Jasper led Angie to the pasture where the Miltank resided. On the lush green grass, the Miltank were lying down, resting, or leisurely strolling around, looking very relaxed.

It was clear that Jasper had been taking good care of the Miltank. Their content expressions were a testament to this.

However, taking good care of Miltank and ensuring they produce high-quality milk were two different things. The quality of the Moomoo Milk depended greatly on how the Miltank were raised.

For example, the Skiddo and Gogoat on the Nebel Plateau had only started producing higher-quality milk under Angie's meticulous care.

Mr. Jasper pointed to the Miltanks and said, "I have 50 Miltanks here. Do you want them all?"

Since it was just an experiment, Jasper hadn't brought in too many Miltanks at the start. Luckily, he hadn't gone overboard—after all, the ranch was already going out of business.

"Fifty isn't too many," Angie replied with a nod. "Yes, I'll take them all."

However, Jasper didn't immediately agree to sell the Miltanks to Angie. Instead, he said, "If you want to buy my Miltanks, you'll need to agree to one condition. Otherwise, I'm afraid I can't sell them to you."

"What condition?" Angie asked, puzzled. "Please tell me."

Jasper explained, "After you take the Miltanks home, you'll need to send me a video of their living conditions every month for the next year. I want to make sure they're being well cared for. If you fail to treat them properly, this transaction will be nullified. You'll have to return the Miltanks to me, and I'll refund you the full amount."

Angie was surprised. He hadn't expected Jasper to be so serious.

Seeing Angie hesitate for a moment, Jasper continued, "I'm not singling you out. I've made the same requirement for others buying the Mareep. As Pokémon breeders, we have a responsibility to ensure these Pokémon are well cared for. It's not something to take lightly."

Angie quickly responded, "I'm just surprised by your sense of responsibility, Mr. Jasper. Your care for Pokémon is truly admirable."

Jasper shook his head with a bitter smile. "It's not about being admirable—it's because of my incompetence. If I were better at this, they wouldn't have to leave here. It's my failure that has made them suffer."

"I'll agree to your condition," Angie said. "From now on, I'll send you videos of the Miltanks on time every month."

Hearing this, Jasper smiled. "Thank you for understanding. Let's exchange contact information."

"Of course!" Angie nodded and took out his phone.

After they exchanged contact details, Jasper clapped his hands. At the sound, the Miltanks all turned to look.

"Everyone, come over here," Jasper called to the Miltanks.

The Miltanks obediently walked over.

Jasper introduced Angie to the Miltanks. "Everyone, this is Mr. Angie. You'll be going with him from now on. He'll take good care of you, so there's no need to worry about your future."

The Miltanks nodded in understanding.

They had already heard from Jasper about leaving the ranch. Knowing it was inevitable, they accepted the situation.

Angie added, "Don't worry, everyone. My home has a large pasture that you'll surely love. Once you're with me, I promise your living conditions won't be any worse than they are now."

Hearing Angie's sincere tone, the Miltanks seemed to relax. Finding a good caretaker was all they wanted.

Once the Miltanks were introduced to Angie, Jasper said, "Now, let's go sign the contract!"

For transactions involving a large number of Pokémon, both parties needed to sign a contract and submit it to the League's relevant institutions for certification. Otherwise, any issues could cause major trouble for both sides.

"Alright!" Angie agreed with a nod.

Following Jasper, Angie entered his home. They had just sat down when a Wigglytuff wearing an apron brought over two cups of hot tea and placed them in front of them.

Before signing the contract, Mr. Jasper chatted with Angie for a while, asking questions about where he lived, what his family did, and his purpose for buying the Miltanks.

Jasper couldn't sell the Miltanks to a stranger without knowing anything about them.

When he learned of Angie's status as a member of the Azoth royal family, Jasper was both surprised and relieved.

Since Angie was royalty, the Miltanks were sure to be well taken care of. The Azoth royal family had a sterling reputation in the kingdom.

"Let's sign the contract," Mr. Jasper said, having now learned more about Angie.

Angie was about to agree when his phone suddenly rang. He pulled it out and saw it was Diancie calling.

Could something have happened at home?

With a sense of unease, he said, "Excuse me, Mr. Jasper, I'll step outside to take this call."

Jasper nodded. "Of course, Your Highness, go ahead."

Angie nodded back, walked to the door, and answered the phone.

"Hello, Diancie? Is something wrong?"

"Angie, does the ranch you're at have Mareep?" Diancie's voice sounded excited on the other end of the line.

"Yes, it does," Angie replied. "This ranch primarily used to operate in the Mareep wool business."

"That's great!" Diancie exclaimed in delight. "Can we keep a Mareep at home? I want to use its wool for crafting."

Angie readily agreed. "Of course, no problem. I'll ask the ranch owner in a bit."

"Thanks so much! Once we have a Mareep, I promise I'll knit you a sweater," Diancie said playfully over the phone.

Angie teased, "Didn't you say before that you were going to knit me something using Spinarak silk? What happened to that?"

Embarrassed, Diancie replied, "I'm still practicing. Just wait a bit longer!"

Laughing, Angie ended the call and went back inside. He turned to Mr. Jasper and asked, "Mr. Jasper, may I purchase an additional Mareep?"

Hearing this, Mr. Jasper seemed to think of something and said, "I have a Mareep here with some issues. If Your Highness is willing to take it in, I'd be happy to gift it to you."

"A Mareep with issues?" Angie asked curiously. "What kind of issues?"

"Please, follow me, Your Highness," Jasper said as he stood up.

Angie nodded and followed Jasper into the garden. Among the vibrant flowers, a Mareep was nestled, gently sniffing at a blossom, seemingly unaware of their arrival.

"Mareep?" Jasper called softly, but it didn't respond. Raising his voice, he called again, "Mareep! Mareep!"

He called several times in a row, but the Mareep continued to enjoy the flowers, paying no attention to him.

Helpless, Mr. Jasper looked at Angie and said, "See? It's always in its own world and doesn't respond to anything around it."

Angie asked uncertainly, "Is this... autism?"

Mr. Jasper nodded, "That's what Miss Joy said."

Angie inquired, "Is there a specific reason Mareep became like this?"

As far as he knew, autism could be either congenital or caused by external factors.

Mr. Jasper shook his head, "It's been like this since birth. Its parents even refused to raise it because of this, so it has been alone ever since, always staying here in the garden."

His tone carried a trace of pity.

Angie had been considering that if Mareep's autism was caused by external factors, he could perhaps delve into its experiences to find a breakthrough for treatment.

But finding out it was congenital left him at a loss.

However, since Diancie wanted a Mareep just for its wool, autism wouldn't affect that, right? Raising this Mareep wasn't out of the question, especially since it seemed so well-behaved.

After some thought, Angie said to Mr. Jasper, "Alright, I'll take this Mareep."

A Mareep like this probably wouldn't find many people willing to take it in. Otherwise, Mr. Jasper wouldn't offer it as a gift.

Hearing Angie's decision, Mr. Jasper was delighted. "That's wonderful, Your Highness. Thank you so much on Mareep's behalf."

Angie waved his hand, "I'm only taking Mareep for its wool. Its condition doesn't affect that."

Mr. Jasper nodded repeatedly. "Of course, it doesn't! And it's very well-behaved. Especially during shearing, while other Mareep may fuss, this one never does."

Angie smiled, "That's good to hear."

Mr. Jasper happily approached Mareep, gently stroking its fluffy back. "Mareep, this is great news! Mr. Angie is willing to take you in, and he'll surely take good care of you. Now I can rest easy."

If Angie hadn't mentioned wanting a Mareep today, Mr. Jasper had planned to keep it himself.

But he had his struggles too. Once the ranch was settled, he was moving to Lumiose City to start a business. He'd be too busy to care for Mareep as he did now.

Who would look after this autistic Mareep then? His Luxray and Wigglytuff could barely care for themselves, let alone Mareep.

Besides, Lumiose City wasn't the right environment for Mareep.

"This is great, Mareep."

Despite Mr. Jasper's affection, Mareep remained unresponsive. It moved its nose from one flower to another, continuing to sniff.

Mr. Jasper wasn't offended, just smiled and patted Mareep on the head.

After deciding on Mareep's new home, the two returned inside to finalize the contract.

When the contract was signed, Mr. Jasper said, "Once I've had the contract notarized, I'll send the Miltanks to you."

Angie nodded, "Alright."

Each Miltank cost 80,000. Angie bought 50, spending 4 million in total. Thankfully, he had earned quite a bit from his shop; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to afford it.

Production Pokémon like these were always expensive.

With the deal finalized, Angie was ready to leave. At this point, Mr. Jasper handed him a Poké Ball.

"Your Highness, this Poké Ball contains Mareep. Please take it home and let it adjust to the environment."

Angie nodded, taking the Poké Ball. "Alright, I'll be off then."

After bidding farewell to Mr. Jasper, Angie left the ranch with Mareep and his other Pokémon.

"Altaria~~"

Altaria flapped its wings and soared into the sky, followed by Metagross and Swablu. Pawmi, sitting in Angie's arms, clapped happily.

"Pawmi~ Pawmi~"

Its laughter echoed with the spring breeze.