Lucas's Miltank looked a full size larger than Whitney's Thick Fat Miltank—not due to any difference in build or frame, but simply because it was a bit plumper.
The moment she saw Lucas's Miltank, Whitney's eyes lit up with dazzling brilliance. Whether it was the smooth, shiny fur or the impressive amount of fat that was hard to accumulate, it was clear how well Lucas had raised this Miltank.
As an expert on Miltanks, Whitney thought this one might even rival her own ace!
But to be safe, Whitney still asked one last question: "How can you prove that this friend from the Goldenrod City Miltank Association is really your friend?"
Lucas stroked the smooth, shiny fur on his Miltank's back and smiled slightly: "His name is Hanazawa. He moved to the Paldea region not long ago. I can call him right now."
With that, under Whitney and Miltank's watchful eyes, Lucas dialed Hanazawa's number.
With Hanazawa's confirmation on the other end, Whitney finally relented and agreed to let Lucas pick out a few recently born Miltanks.
As for the price, in recognition of Lucas saving the neighboring Orange Islands in the Johto region, she gave him a 20% discount. The original price of 50,000 Pokédollars per Miltank was reduced to 40,000.
Since Whitney had to receive another challenger before noon, she hurriedly led Lucas out of the Goldenrod Gym and toward the suburbs.
After all, the Goldenrod Gym was in the center of Goldenrod City, and a ranch couldn't be built in such a prime, expensive location.
As they left the Goldenrod Gym, Lucas once again sensed those prying eyes from the shadows. Upon seeing Whitney by his side, the gazes receded a bit.
Sighing, Lucas glanced at Whitney but ultimately said nothing, just lamenting how the regions from the earlier generations were still so fraught with danger.
On the way to the suburbs, Whitney looked at the Vulpix and Victini in Lucas's arms and curiously asked: "Mr. Lucas, can you tell me what Pokémon those are?"
"I'm not sure if it's my imagination, but the one in your arms looks a bit like a Vulpix."
"It is a Vulpix."
Under Whitney's shocked gaze, Lucas calmly confirmed her suspicion.
As noon approached and the weather grew hot, hearing Lucas and Whitney calling its name, Vulpix poked its head out, pondered with wide eyes, and blew a low-powered Icy Wind at Whitney.
The cool air from Vulpix left Whitney completely stunned. She remembered... Vulpix wasn't a Fire-type Pokémon? Wait, no—Vulpix is a Fire-type, right? So why was this cute white Vulpix using an Ice-type move?
Lucas didn't let Whitney guess blindly. He bounced the Vulpix in his arms and introduced: "My Vulpix is different from the ones you're familiar with. She's a regional form that evolved over time in a place called Alola to adapt to snowy mountain environments."
"As for the Pokémon on my head, just call it Victini. It comes from the Unova region."
"Alola regional form Vulpix and Unova's Victini... I see." Whitney stroked her chin thoughtfully, then smiled. "It seems you've traveled to many regions, Mr. Lucas. That's wonderful."
Unlike her, who grew up on a ranch, became a Gym Leader, and had to manage the ranch at the same time. She'd only traveled within Johto and Kanto at most, and she'd never seen the sights of other regions with her own eyes.
Whitney felt a slight envy for Lucas's experiences.
Soon, the two arrived at a vast, lush green pasture.
Wooden fences enclosed the ranch's space. It wasn't so much to prevent the Miltanks from escaping as to help them understand the boundary between the ranch and the outside world—after all, Pokémon are intelligent beings.
There were about 60 to 70 Miltanks visible in the ranch, which was quite a large scale. In Lucas's memory, Hanazawa's ranch only had around 30 Miltanks.
Not to mention, Whitney said the sub-adult Miltanks that Lucas could pick were housed in a separate wooden shed.
"Miltank and Tauros are actually corresponding female and male Pokémon. Miltanks are only female, Tauros only male, though their appearances differ quite a bit, but breeding eggs is no problem."
"If you plan to expand your Miltank herd later, you could consider introducing some Tauros. Over here, we usually borrow Tauros from other ranches to let them 'date' the Miltanks."
Whitney chattered on to Lucas about tips for raising Miltanks and some trivia, worried that her Miltanks wouldn't eat or sleep well under his care.
At the wooden shed, some Miltanks were sleeping soundly on hay piles. Their bodies were noticeably smaller than the adult ones outside. Since they weren't moving, it was hard for Lucas to judge their Abilities just by appearance.
After all, Hidden Abilities are rare, and Lucas had already prepared himself that not every Miltank would have Sap Sipper.
After careful selection, Lucas chose four Miltanks with excellent builds and fur, purchasing them for 160,000 Pokédollars.
Once they matured, they could produce about 20 liters of Moomoo Milk per day, which is 20,000 milliliters. Lucas could drink at most a few hundred milliliters to his fill, not to mention that Miltank milk is highly nutritious and caloric—drinking too much could make him fat like a Miltank.
Before crossing over, Lucas had heard that if milk was watered down, people wouldn't buy that brand anymore. Now, for the sake of his figure, he might have to dilute it a bit to reduce the calories and nutrition.
Fortunately, there were plenty of big eaters on the farm. But with five Miltanks supplying 100 liters of Moomoo Milk, there'd still be leftovers, which could be used to make dairy products or start a milk delivery service to expand business and make more money.
Taking the four Miltank Poké Balls from Whitney, after Lucas paid promptly, she smiled and said: "These four kids all know Rollout. Have them use Rollout to roll around the pasture a few times each day to exercise, then use a special massage technique on their acupoints, brush their fur, and keep them in a good mood."
"Oh, and this is my exclusive secret: If you follow what I say, the Moomoo Milk they produce will taste even better, and the nutrition will increase too."
A question mark popped up over Lucas's head: "Isn't that a trade secret? You're just telling me like that?"
"Hmph~" With a couple of nasal hums, Whitney spun around nimbly and wagged her index finger: "Even if you sell well in Paldea, it won't affect my sales in Johto, right?"
"That's true, but I don't know the special massage technique."
"No problem, you can learn from a book."
Whitney rummaged in the corner of the shed and pulled out a dusty book titled Miltank Massage Techniques. Though it looked a bit unreliable, Lucas gratefully accepted Whitney's kindness.
After all, with the discount and the gift, it was practically charity.
To this, Whitney just waved it off nonchalantly: "As long as you take good care of the Miltanks, I'll be at ease."
Bidding farewell to Whitney, who was rushing back for a Gym challenge, Lucas left the Miltank ranch with four Poké Balls containing the new farm members. He immediately sensed those cold gazes locking onto him again.
No need to guess—it had to be members of that organization, brazenly operating in Kanto and Johto.
Team Rocket, the infamous criminal syndicate active in Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands.
However, Team Rocket's higher-ups should have some impression of him from the Orange Islands incident and wouldn't target him. So, the ones tailing him were probably low-level grunts, at most a squad leader.
Thinking he still wanted to shop around Goldenrod City and buy some hard-to-find items from the massive department store that weren't available in Paldea, Lucas really didn't want to be bothered then.
Staying constantly vigilant was exhausting, and he didn't want to be ambushed in a moment of relaxation. Better to take the initiative, deal with them quickly, and hand them over to the Goldenrod City police. Whatever fallout came after wasn't his concern—he'd be off to the next city after shopping anyway.
But this plot and development felt so outdated that Lucas could barely muster any enthusiasm.
With that in mind, Lucas subtly scanned his surroundings, spotted a dark alley that looked perfect for an ambush, and walked straight in.
The group that had been following him for a while saw Lucas finally enter an ideal spot. They exchanged glances and, led by their leader, emerged from the shadows, surrounding their prey in the alley.
When they entered the dark alley, what they saw wasn't Lucas's panicked expression at their appearance.
Having waited for them for several minutes, Lucas smiled at the seven people before him—wearing black baseball caps, dark uniforms, with a bright red "R" embroidered on their chests—and teased: "Has Team Rocket expanded so quickly in Johto? Enough to let you strut around in broad daylight wearing uniforms that the League has warrants out for?"
"I heard Team Rocket treats its bottom-rung grunts like cannon fodder. I didn't believe it at first, but now it seems true."
To Lucas's provocation, the Team Rocket grunts sneered dismissively, coldly pulling out their Poké Balls. In a flash of red light, they released over a dozen Pokémon.
Mostly Zubat, Golbat, Spearow, Muk, Raticate, Arbok, Grimer, and the like—nothing original. What surprised Lucas most was the squad leader's Drowzee.
Psychic-type Pokémon were notoriously tricky, no wonder he was the squad leader.
Faced with this villainous lineup, the frightened Vulpix buried its head in Lucas's arms.
With Drowzee in front, the squad leader brimmed with confidence and snarled at Lucas: "Hand over those two rare Pokémon by your side if you know what's good for you, plus all your money and the Miltanks you bought from the Goldenrod Gym Leader. Then we'll let you go."
Lucas: "."
Classic, in every sense.
Seeing Lucas silent, impatience flashed across the squad leader's face. He snarled: "You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Drowzee, Hypnosis!"
This was their team's tried-and-true tactic: The others released Pokémon to prevent the victim from fighting back or escaping, while Drowzee hypnotized them, making them obediently hand everything over to Team Rocket, then erasing their memories.
Thanks to this smooth combo, the squad leader's team had top performance even in a big city like Goldenrod.
Unfortunately, this time they hit a wall.
No need to even release his main team. Lucas's lips parted slightly: "Victini."
"Vii~"
Victini reluctantly flew up from Lucas's head, blocking the pendulum-wielding Drowzee.
As Drowzee's pendulum began to swing, a mysterious mental wave spread out, hitting Victini first and foremost.
Drowzee grinned sleazily, already envisioning Victini under its hypnotic control, obeying its every command.
But to Drowzee's surprise, enveloped in the hypnotic mental waves, Victini showed no signs of being controlled. Instead, it tilted its head in confusion, following the pendulum's swing.
Seeing Victini's blank expression, Drowzee flushed with rage.
Though it knew this was due to the opponent's superior mental strength granting immunity, to Drowzee, Victini's face seemed to ask, "Did you do something?" It was mocking it!
"Drow~!"
With a sharp screech, Drowzee's pendulum glowed with bizarre lights, firing a beam at Victini.
Psybeam!
"Supersonic!" "Swift!" "Sludge Attack!" "Gust!"
The other Team Rocket grunts reacted, commanding their Pokémon to attack.
In an instant, the entire alley lit up with colorful move glows.
To this, Lucas remained unfazed and calmly said: "V-Create."
Hearing the command, Victini pouted deeply. It had just learned this move, and using it was exhausting, okay?
Though complaining inwardly, Victini obediently followed Lucas's instructions.
The next moment.
As Victini's V-shaped ears heated up, scorching flames swirled around it like knights guarding their lord.
The wild Fire-type energy was as easy for Victini to command as its own limbs. Its V-ears shone with intense light, turning into a raging flame storm that instantly engulfed and annihilated the moves from the Team Rocket Pokémon.
Under the stunned gazes of the squad leader and other grunts, the dark alley erupted like a rising sun, bursting with endless light and heat, flames shooting skyward.
Then, the Team Rocket grunts' vision went black, and they lost consciousness.
Judging by the commotion, Lucas figured the Goldenrod City police would arrive soon.
But there was still some time before that.
Lucas didn't rashly approach the scorched ground. He waved to the slightly panting Victini, letting it perch on his right shoulder.
"Mew~"
Vulpix poked its head out, letting out an admiring sigh at its companion's heroic display.
"Vii~!"
Basked in Vulpix's adoring gaze, even the somewhat drained Victini from firing off that big fireworks straightened its back. If not for fearing a slip and falling off Lucas's shoulder, ruining its image, Victini might have puffed out its chest and put its hands on its hips.
However, releasing V-Create had left it mentally fatigued.
As for energy drain, that was negligible—Victini was an infinite energy battery and never worried about that.
"Good job. Using V-Create once without losing mobility—your progress is huge."
Holding Vulpix in one arm with his right hand, Lucas freed his left to pat Victini's head in praise.
Since the battle on Shamouti Island ended, Victini, stuffed full from overflowing Victory energy, had been quietly digesting it to grow stronger.
Victini fed on victory; as long as the Trainer kept winning, Victini grew stronger too, providing even greater support and forming a perfect positive cycle.
Now, having digested most of that Victory energy, the result was this terrifyingly powerful move: V-Create.
Aside from the event-distributed Rayquaza, V-Create was Victini's signature move, with immense power. As a physical Fire-type move, its base power reached a staggering 180. Few moves surpassed V-Create in power, and most of those had heavy drawbacks.
In the games, using V-Create lowered the user's Defense, Special Defense, and Speed by one stage. In reality, it was different—like Victini's current weakness. The first time it used it, Victini fainted right after.
Lucas figured this would improve as Victini grew stronger, but one thing puzzled him.
Besides V-Create, Victini had another special attack move called Searing Shot, with slightly lower power at 100 but no drawbacks.
Normally, moves are learned from weak to strong, right? So why did Victini learn V-Create first?
Lucas frowned in thought but couldn't figure it out, sighing: "Forget it. First, have Serperior use Vine Whip to tie them up, then reel in those Poké Balls and recall the Pokémon."