In Lucien City, a grand spectacle suddenly unfolded on the streets.
Citizens and Pokémon alike gathered in droves, expressions ranging from amazement to reverence, even outright fanaticism, all fixed on a single sight.
A long procession of round, chubby pink Pokémon waddled down the road.
Following closely behind their king.
Lucien: "..."
"Everyone, please don't mind me, go about your business!" Lucien said helplessly.
This was exactly why he usually stayed in the castle and avoided public appearances.
Fortunately, the guards arrived in time, barely managing to keep order. Even so, as the crowd reluctantly dispersed, both humans and Pokémon couldn't help but steal glances at Lucien, and at the unfamiliar Chansey walking behind him.
"Chansey…"
The Chansey shrank closer together, clearly nervous. Yet strangely, they didn't sense danger.
What they felt instead was warmth.
Enthusiasm.
Excitement.
"Don't worry," Lucien said gently. "These are my people."
He pointed to the surroundings. "Look carefully."
The Chansey followed his gaze.
They saw a flower shop where a young girl in an apron held a Psyduck-shaped watering can, absentmindedly watering blossoms. Beside her, several Oddish sat neatly on stools, soaking up the sunlight like content little elders.
They saw a Pokémon grooming shop. Through the glass, staff gently brushed the fur of several Eevee, whose eyes were half-closed in bliss.
They saw a bakery where a Pansear carefully used Flamethrower to light the oven. The chubby baker laughed and gave it a big thumbs-up in praise.
"Chansey…"
The Chansey stood frozen.
These humans were nothing like the ones from their memories.
Lucien smiled and continued leading them onward.
They left the city streets and arrived at the outskirts.
Fields stretched endlessly before them.
Humans and Pokémon worked side by side, plowing, harvesting, and transporting goods. No chains. No whips. No commands barked in cruelty.
The Chansey stared blankly.
"Chansey…"
"Do you see it?" Lucien asked quietly.
"Chansey?" They looked up at him.
"This is a new world," Lucien said. "For humans, and for Pokémon."
"I've established laws here. No Pokémon will be harmed. No Pokémon will be enslaved."
He stopped and turned to face them fully.
"This is Lucien City."
His voice softened. "Chansey, are you willing to leave the past behind and live here with us? I promise you, no one will ever hurt you again."
The Chansey fell silent.
Scenes replayed in their minds, iron cages, stolen eggs, screams, fear.
Then, sunlight, smiles, and gentle hands.
Their kind, simple hearts, long buried beneath terror, slowly resurfaced.
"Chansey."
One voice.
Then another.
"Chansey!"
They nodded, one after another.
Lucien exhaled softly and smiled. "Good. Then your first step… is learning about this city."
The next day, in the backyard of the Lucien City Pokémon Center.
Lena Joy and Celina Joy stared at the crowd of Chansey before them, utterly stunned.
"Eh…?"
Lena blinked and turned to Lucien in disbelief.
"Your Majesty, are you saying you want these Pokémon, Chansey, to work with us?"
"Yes." Lucien nodded. "Is there a problem?"
"No! Of course not!" Lena waved her hands frantically.
Lucien smiled. "Chansey are gentle by nature. More importantly, they possess natural healing abilities that far exceed ordinary medicine."
He continued calmly, "Life Dew, Sing, Heal Pulse… some can even use Healing Wish."
"They are perfectly suited to assist at Pokémon Centers."
The Joy sisters exchanged shocked looks.
"They can heal Pokémon without potions?"
"Completely?"
Lucien nodded. "With proper guidance."
As if on cue, hurried footsteps echoed from the entrance.
"Nurse Joy! Please help my Pokémon!"
A young Trainer rushed in, panic written all over his face, clutching an unconscious Pidove riddled with wounds.
Lena immediately stepped forward, taking the Pokémon gently.
"So badly injured, what happened?"
"We were training in the wild," the boy said shakily. "We wandered into a territory by mistake. Pidove protected me…"
Lena reached for an emergency potion.
"Let me try," Lucien said calmly.
Lena was momentarily taken aback.
"Your Majesty Lucien?"
The young Trainer also noticed Lucien at that moment. His eyes widened in shock.
"Y–Your Majesty Lucian?!"
Lucien gave the boy a brief nod, then turned his gaze to one of the Chansey beside him and gestured lightly.
"Chansey, I'll leave this Pidove to you."
"Chansey~!"
Chansey were naturally gentle Pokémon, instinctively drawn to those who were injured. Hearing that a Pokémon was hurt, it immediately hurried forward, carefully inspecting the wounds covering the unconscious Pidove.
Then, it slowly extended its hands.
In the next instant, faint pink ripples shimmered through the air.
Soft, pale-pink energy flowed from Chansey's palms in gentle waves, enveloping Pidove completely.
And then, a miracle unfolded.
Beneath the soothing glow of the pink waves, the deep, ragged wounds on Pidove's body visibly healed at an astonishing speed.
The Joy Sisters' eyes widened in unison.
"Your Majesty Lucien, could this be…?!" Celina gasped.
"That's right." Lucien smiled faintly. "Now you understand why I said they're perfectly suited for work at the Pokémon Center."
"Sister… this is incredible," Lena whispered.
Hearing the praise, Chansey shyly lowered its head, its round face flushing slightly.
"Chansey…"
No one had ever praised them before.
This unfamiliar warmth swelled quietly in Chansey's chest.
'It… liked this place.'
The other Chansey watched with clear envy. They wanted to help too. They wanted to be praised too.
With Chansey's Heal Pulse, the severely injured Pidove soon stirred, slowly opening its eyes.
Celina carefully examined it, checking its breathing and wings before finally nodding in relief.
"It's all right now. Your Pokémon has fully recovered."
"Thank you! Thank you so much, Nurse Joy, and you too!" The boy bowed deeply.
"There's no need to thank me," Celina said with a smile. "You should thank Chansey."
The boy turned toward Chansey.
"Thank you, Chansey!"
"Chansey!" Chansey replied bashfully.
With his Pokémon safe, the Trainer left the Pokémon Center, gratitude written across his face.
Lucien turned back to the Joy Sisters.
"So, what do you think?"
The Joy sisters looked at the Chansey surrounding them, their eyes filled with awe and excitement.
"Chansey… are amazing Pokémon," Celina said sincerely.
"In that case," Lucien said, "I'll leave them in your care. Teach them how the Pokémon Center operates during your breaks. Once they're accustomed to the work, I plan to assign them to Centers in other cities as well."
The Joys who had arrived earlier had already begun traveling to staff Pokémon Centers across Lucien City.
With Chansey's help, treatment efficiency would increase dramatically, and casualties would be reduced.
This was no small responsibility.
Lena straightened her posture and nodded firmly.
"Yes, Your Majesty Lucien."
The Chansey, sensing no hostility, only kindness from the Joy Sisters, quickly relaxed around them.
Watching the gentle Joys surrounded by equally gentle Chansey, Lucien couldn't help but smile.
Perhaps, their compatibility was even greater than he had expected.
After settling the Chansey, Lucien returned to the castle.
Elif immediately stepped forward to report.
"Your Majesty, the Miltank have been settled according to your instructions. I've also hired two experienced ranchers to care for them."
Lucien nodded.
Miltank were already accustomed to living alongside humans, so their adjustment would be smooth.
Still… egg production remained a concern.
The current numbers of Miltank, Chansey, and Growlithe were far too small.
At this rate, relying solely on breeding would take decades to reach the scale seen in later eras.
"It seems that once trade routes with Kanto are firmly established, I'll need to continue importing Chansey, Miltank, and Growlithe," Lucien thought.
The Miltank had been placed in a large, unoccupied ranch.
"The previous owner was a refugee displaced by the war," Elif explained. "Now that Unova is at peace, they returned home using a flying taxi. We purchased the land and hired ranchers to manage it."
Lucien nodded, then lifted his gaze toward the sprawling farm.
The farm's land area was not large.
At its center stood a small wooden cabin for the ranchers to live in, along with several barns used to store hay and house livestock Pokémon.
The perimeter of the farm was enclosed by wooden fences. Within them stretched an open pasture where a dense carpet of fertile grass grew freely.
The group of Miltank imported from the Kanto region were currently scattered across that pasture, leisurely basking in the sunlight while chewing on fresh grass, their expressions calm and satisfied.
Nearby, the few Tauros were charging back and forth without pause.
This was simply the natural behavior of Tauros. Violent by nature, hot-tempered, and brimming with energy, they needed constant movement to vent their excess strength.
"Your Majesty," Elif reported, "we have already prepared milking machines and storage buckets. The workers have completed the first round of milking."
Under his guidance, Lucien soon saw long rows of buckets filled with fresh Moomoo Milk.
"According to their calculations, this batch totals approximately four thousand liters," Elif added.
Four thousand liters in a single day.
Eight thousand liters in two days.
With these Miltank alone, they could easily supply the entire city's milk consumption.
And unlike ordinary dairy cows, Miltank had no production cooldown.
Milk harvested today would be fully replenished by tomorrow.
So this is the power of Pokémon.
Even Lucien could not help but feel a twinge of amazement.
"Your Majesty, how should we handle the milk?" Elif asked.
Strictly speaking, every one of these Miltank had been personally brought back from the Kanto Continent by Lucien. Both the Pokémon and the milk they produced technically belonged to him.
After a brief moment of thought, Lucien spoke.
"Have the glass factory begin producing bottles immediately. Also, start construction on a milk factory."
The milk would be bottled and distributed to shops throughout Lucien City and surrounding areas.
Alternatively, it could be processed into cheese, yogurt, milk bars, and other products.
Relying solely on individual workers would not be efficient enough. Assembly-line production was clearly the superior approach.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Elif replied, committing the instructions to memory.
After a pause, he added, "Your Majesty, this farm does not yet have a name. Would you like to give it one?"
A name?
Lucien was briefly taken aback. Then, three familiar characters surfaced in his mind.
In that case.
Lucien smiled faintly and said, "Let's call it [MooMoo Ranch]."