June 25, Mesagoza, Naranja Academy.
Though summer break was days away, most students had already left, many being from other regions.
With fewer students, parts of campus began changing colors and decor—from orange to grape.
The fall/winter uniforms next term would focus on purple. Lucas liked it.
In an empty classroom, hearing the chatter, Lucas paused while packing teaching aids and joined in.
"Penny's heading back to Galar too?"
"It's not like I want to! My dumb dad heard that Nemona and the others were traveling Galar and suggested they visit the Crown Tundra for the scenery, blah blah… and I got swept along. Now I'm going too."
Under Lucas's surprised look, Penny pouted hard, venting as someone swept along against her will.
Nemona, as always, threw an arm around Penny. "All of us traveling another region together—like a school trip! So exciting!"
"Still can't read the room as ever. Is her Ability 'Own Tempo'?" Arven shook his head, used to it.
Eri put away her book and asked, "Mr. Lucas, is the Orange Islands thing true? Lots of students are talking about it, saying you turned the tide singlehandedly and even outshone Kanto's Ice Elite, Lorelei."
"…"
Overall, that was right, but somehow being praised like that made him embarrassed.
Even though he fell silent, Nemona and the others got more excited, chattering. It had been late at night then; they'd slept soundly, and follow-up reports were scarce, so they pieced things together via student gossip.
"Heh."
Penny pushed up her glasses with a mysterious chuckle.
"I have the broadcast recording. I hacked Kanto League systems to pull a high-definition copy. Very rare."
No sooner had she finished than Nemona and Eri flanked her arms. "Let's go! To your dorm!"
"Wait—"
Penny's face went pale. She immediately regretted bragging to bait them.
We can't go…
There are amiibo figures I bought for games in my room…
Nemona was just extra weight, but Penny had no chance of breaking Eri's grip. Resigned, she was dragged away.
Arven: "…"
Used to it.
Before leaving, Arven mentioned his parents, Professors Sada and Turo, seemed to have made progress and might be unreachable for a while; they were informing him in advance.
He left with Mabosstiff. Their flight to Galar was tomorrow; he had to pack and lock up.
Watching him go, Lucas stroked his chin, thoughtful.
"Progress in research?"
Interesting. Lucas probably knew more than they did.
One project: AI Sada and AI Turo. The other: an epochal device—the time machine said to capture paradox Pokémon from past/future timelines and transport them to the present!
In the games' first run, the time machine even sent the AI professor to past/future.
Either result would profoundly impact Paldea.
And once the time machine succeeded, that destined accident would be near.
After class, Lucas didn't linger. Pre-break courses were over: time for a glorious month of paid vacation.
The Dragon Clan schedule was the 30th. Before then, he wanted to roam Johto, see what Pokémon to bring back to the farm.
As he'd told Geeta.
He mounted Dragonite and flew back. After landing, he checked the time. "Over a minute faster than usual…"
"Drago~?" Dragonite tilted its head.
"You've improved your control of Flying energy and the slipstream again, right?"
Dragonite bit a chubby claw and thought. Indeed, while combat hadn't changed much, over time it sensed a change—a slow "great enlightenment": its sensitivity and control over Flying energy, necessary airflow for storms, and currents were growing naturally. Even things lost upon evolving from Dragonair were returning.
Hard to say why, but it had a hunch: soon it might learn a very remarkable move!
Seeing its derpy cuteness, Lucas's mood brightened. He couldn't resist rubbing that wonderfully squishy belly.
While de-stressing via belly rubs, he pondered his first-team mains.
Dragonite and Swampert had both gotten big boosts. With Extreme Speed training, Dragonite might exceed expectations.
Mimikyu had its exclusive Z-Move. Serperior could use Grassium Z when needed—Combined with Leaf Storm and Contrary, dumping a Grassium Z after ramping up would be terrifying.
Then Luxray and Ceruledge.
Luxray was limited—no exclusive or universal Z, no Mega. Swampert could flip a match via Mega; Luxray's growth was slow grind. Terastal helped, but not as dramatically as Mega Swampert.
At this level, improvement is hard. Strengthening Luxray would take long-term planning.
Ceruledge practiced swordsmanship; sharpening its techniques would steadily raise power.
Perhaps learning from other sword-savvy Pokémon—even legendaries.
But meeting legendaries wasn't easy. Still, Lucas lacked everything except time.
He believed these problems would solve themselves in the farm's future. No need to rush—enjoy the present.
After a while, he sent Dragonite back to Thunder Lake to rest, then grabbed milk pails and a milker to tend to Miltank and Skiddo.
On the way, he met three Nacli hopping in a row toward the salt house.
As they went, they left a faint trail of rock salt on the path. Oranguru would later collect it psychically, clean it, then use or sell it.
Don't be fooled by their size; their salt sold well. When they evolved into Naclstack and Garganacl, production would surge!
As he once said, fully evolved Nacli-lines are walking money printers.
"Nacl~!"
Passing Lucas, the trio paused to salute, then continued to the salt house.
They were grateful for the delicious soil, and for the shelter Lucas built.
Warmth filled Lucas's heart, and he thought of a Johto landmark—Mt. Silver!
Mt. Silver lies east of Johto, west of Victory Road and Indigo Plateau. Locals often call it the Mt. Silver Range due to its vastness.
In the games, only the top trainers could enter.
Because of complex terrain and wild, survival-of-the-fittest Pokémon, ordinary trainers might not return.
Thus it's under Kanto and Johto League jurisdiction—no entry to the average trainer.
Many Tyranitar lines live there.
Larvitar's growth to Tyranitar takes time and copious nutrition—stored through Pupitar to break free as Tyranitar.
If Tyranitar chose Mt. Silver, surely the soil is rich.
He glanced at the leaving Nacli, thoughtful.
Maybe he could snag some Mt. Silver soil?
Buy a space backpack, bring two Sandslash, dig half a day, fill it with dozens or hundreds of kilos of premium soil for the Nacli to feast on—speeding evolution.
Maybe he could raise salt tyrants to rival the desert tyrant?
He already pictured bringing three rock-solid salt kings to teach Nemona and the others the malice of adulthood.
Oh—and check whether a taciturn trainer sat atop the peak.
…
Next morning.
Lucas was jolted awake by hoarse cries overhead.
Eyes bloodshot, he shoved Serperior's tail aside, peeled Mimikyu off his face, tucked a thin blanket over Victini and Vulpix, skipped changing, and yanked the window open to the sky.
He'd thought: Corviknight and the others hadn't caused trouble in a while; what got into them this morning?
But then he saw the Corvisquire flock, under Corviknight's command, bombarding a spot near the farm's edge—something was off.
"Wild Pokémon intruders?"
He squinted his sore eyes, resisting the urge to rub them.
Since Three Scar's flock was recruited as temp hires to guard the farm, occasional incidents happened.
They were on the outskirts, near the wilds, with tempting crops, berries, and Herba Mystica.
Paldea's wilds had plenty of hungry Pokémon—Gumshoos, Houndour/Houndoom raids were common.
Before, Luxray alone deterred them; now, unless the Corvisquires couldn't hold, Luxray, Arcanine, and Dachsbun mobilized.
It wasn't about using the birds as fodder.
If there was a battle, the reward was richer; they gained combat experience and toughened the chicks.
With Comfey on hand, injuries weren't a big worry—unlike the wild, where they'd always weigh retreat and risk. Three Scar's team was happy to do it.
As before, Three Scar chose high-altitude harassment and movement-restricting tactics.
But results seemed poor.
"Caa—caa—caa!"
The Corvisquire flapped and cawed, trying to draw the intruder's attention.
But the "Pokémon" below ignored them, plodding toward the fence.
Seeing the warning unheeded, Three Scar signaled, and the flock unleashed Air Cutter, sharp wind blades cascading down. Yet the strange Pokémon didn't even look up, letting the blades spark off its body.
"Such strong defense—"
Three Scar's red eyes locked on the "Pokémon."
It looked like a fusion of Gardevoir and Gallade. Unlike Corviknight, whose feathers and armor contained metal, this Pokémon was entirely made of unknown metal—like a robot.
In its left hand it held a twin-edged pink-violet blade with a slight curve, gleaming with a strange light.
It hadn't revealed its edge once. Seeing its kin's attacks fail to scratch it, Corviknight halted them and descended slightly to face it personally.
"Caa—!"
The stalwart Corviknight issued a final warning: insist on invading and you'll face the sky's unrivaled Corviknight!
This time, the mysterious Pokémon finally looked up.
In eyes similar in color to Corviknight's, data streams flickered. In its HUD, the threatening Corviknight at close range was marked as a hostile entity.
Hostiles are to be removed, destroyed, eliminated.
The Pokémon gripped its pink-violet blade and—struck!
In an instant—
The blade flared; a near-solid crescent of psychic edge howled forth at Corviknight.
Too sudden—Corviknight couldn't even raise a guard, staring dumbly as a blade that could split its armor—and mind—raced in.
Then, because he'd been nearby following the commotion and per protocol hadn't acted yet—Luxray moved.
With Luxray's roar, a bolt crashed from the heavens onto the psychic blade. Electric and psychic forces tore and bit each other before detonating with a deafening crack. The shockwave flung Corviknight back, and Luxray, cloaked in thunder, leapt to block the intruder.
Seeing big bro Luxray's flashy save, Arcanine and Dachsbun burned with eagerness to join him.
"Raaow—"
As they were about to dart past the fence, Luxray's black mane bristled and its star-tipped tail flicked. A low growl warned them to stay back—
This foe was no match for them!
It was on the level of, or beyond, Raging Bolt.
Luxray could suppress it, but if it rampaged, it might damage the farm—that was his headache.
Fortunately, the farm lay behind him, and allies were racing over. Until then, Luxray just needed to keep the intruder from taking a single step closer.
With a deep growl, his golden eyes blazed like flowing metal, as if seeing through all before him.
The mysterious Pokémon sensed a threat far beyond Corviknight's. For the first time it took a stance, lifting its gleaming pink-violet blade.
The battle was about to erupt.