Lucas, Ogerpon, and little Tinkatink enjoyed the entire box of food as if on a picnic.
Ogerpon was eating happily.
From the flavor and presentation, it was obvious Lucas had put real effort into learning this style of cuisine.
Subtly, Ogerpon could taste a hint of home.
Of course.
It was just a taste reminiscent of home that Ogerpon missed.
Little Tinkatink, not knowing what it meant to be subtle, gave a straightforward review.
"Kanu kanu—"
Delicate, yes. Beautiful, yes. But the flavor was too bland—
It didn't compare to the small plate of twice-cooked pork Lucas brought one lazy day!
To Lucas's surprise, Ogerpon nodded in agreement.
"Bonnie!"
Exactly.
Though Ogerpon had only been at the farm for a few days, not even a week, it had eaten plenty of delicious food.
The farm was always in a festive, banquet-ready mood.
What's that?
Ninetales learned Blizzard from Regice?
Let's throw a party!
What's that?
Four new members joined the farm?
Let's throw a party!
What's that?
Ash is temporarily staying at the farm?
Party, celebration, get it?
After getting used to delicious, steaming hot food, Ogerpon found the cold, bland flavors of Japanese-style cuisine did nothing but stir up memories.
If it could choose, it definitely wouldn't pick that kind of food.
"."
Seeing Ogerpon's expression, Lucas was speechless for a second.
So all that effort he spent contacting reliable Japanese chefs through Kofu for nothing?
Fortunately, Ogerpon was still a loyal little companion, and after some cutesy snuggling, the matter was dropped.
After watching Ogerpon and Tinkatink interact for a while, Lucas glanced at the sky, thinking it'd be time to head down the mountain soon, and looked for an opening to speak.
Unexpectedly, Ogerpon and Tinkatink's relationship progressed rapidly. In just over half an hour, they were as close as sisters.
Tinkatink even gave Ogerpon a tour of her forge and showed off her favorite iron hammer.
Ogerpon's eyes sparkled as it watched, then, as if remembering something, reached into its pouch—
Somehow, Ogerpon magically produced a jade-green Teal Mask and wore it.
Watching, Lucas thought to himself:
Come to think of it, before returning to Paldea, he'd handed all four masks directly to Ogerpon. Who knew how Ogerpon stored them? It never looked like it was carrying four face-sized masks.
Could this be the legendary fourth-dimensional raincoat?
Under Tinkatink's curious gaze, Ogerpon gathered energy.
In an instant.
A club covered in vines and thorns appeared in Ogerpon's hand.
"Bonnie~"
Ogerpon brandished its thorny club, showing off to Tinkatink.
See? I have one too!
"Kanu."
Tinkatink's eyes widened, inspecting the club closely.
It was her first time seeing a Pokémon form a weapon out of energy!
After showing off their abilities to each other, things quickly moved to the next stage—
Tinkatink said she wanted to make a mini hammer as a gift for Ogerpon, to symbolize their sisterly bond!
Right in front of Ogerpon, Tinkatink rummaged around, dragging out a pile of jet-black, metallic feathers and stacked them on her workbench.
"Kanu kanu" (Watch me work)
Tinkatink lifted her hammer and demonstrated the entire process of forging a hammer from scratch.
First, the materials.
The main material was that pile of feathers.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Tinkatink fixed the feathers in place and rhythmically pounded them with her hammer.
If you watched closely, you'd notice tiny metal shavings falling off with each strike.
Collecting those shavings yielded the raw materials.
Luckily, the gift hammer was small, so it didn't require much material and was finished quickly.
Tinkatink even let Ogerpon try.
The price? Her stone table split in two under Ogerpon's brute strength.
Seeing Ogerpon's panicked face, Tinkatink could only grit her teeth and bear it. After all, it was her idea.
But Ogerpon's strength surprised her.
Tinkatink started scheming.
In her plan to conquer the hill, Ogerpon would be a huge asset!
With the raw materials ready, Tinkatink got to work.
The small cave she called home had clearly been expanded bit by bit, now several times larger than when Lucas first met her.
All the extra space was lined with handmade tools.
Lucas watched in silence as Tinkatink placed the iron shavings in a container, then into a simple furnace fueled by who-knows-where she found the flames, melted them, poured them into a mold, cooled and unmolded them.
Then, on the anvil, she alternated between heating and hammering, rhythmically shaping the metal.
A true professional.
Yet beneath this awe, Lucas noticed something.
The feathers Tinkatink used were clearly some kind of steel-infused material.
There were almost no Skarmory in Paldea. Even if there were, their feathers didn't look like this.
So, these must be from Corviknight.
With Tinkatink's current strength, she'd be lucky not to get bullied by Corviknight, let alone make one crash and steal its feathers.
The only possibility—
Tinkatink had picked them up!
"No wonder," Lucas muttered quietly.
Recently, Oranguru had reported that Corviknight had stopped molting as much, so he no longer had to go out and collect the feathers himself.
Turns out Tinkatink had been collecting them before Oranguru could!
With this new intel, Lucas's attitude toward Tinkatink changed.
He'd been thinking about how to invite her to the farm; now he had a new idea!
Clearly, Tinkatink loved forging but lacked materials—maybe he could entice her to join the farm with that!
At that moment.
Tinkatink finished the last touches and handed the mini hammer to Ogerpon.
"Kanu!" (A gift for you!)
Ogerpon received the little hammer, eyes full of delight.
"Bonnie!" (Thank you!)
Another gift!
Just as Ogerpon basked in joy, Lucas suddenly spoke.
"Tinkatink, want to come play at my place?"
"Kanu?"
Tinkatink blinked, looking at Lucas in surprise.
Before Tinkatink could react, Ogerpon's response came first.
It happily grabbed Tinkatink's hands—much smaller than its own—to show its excitement.
"Bonnie—!" (Come on, Lucas's place is huge!)
Huge?
Tinkatink mulled over those words while being led by the hand. How big could it be?
Surely it couldn't be larger than the huge farm at the foot of the mountain?
Still, Tinkatink was clearly happy to be invited by Lucas and Ogerpon.
Besides, she was curious about the strong Pokémon who could even fight that big black flying bug.
"Kanu!"
Tinkatink nodded gently, agreeing.
…
Not long ago.
At the farm.
With Charizard wearing a strange expression, Moltres strutted ahead, leading the way.
Only, Moltres wasn't flying, but walking on the ground.
In Charizard's eyes, Moltres's aura of strength developed a crack.
Moltres led Charizard to an open field.
Sure enough, Arcanine and Dachsbun were there; nearby, Victini was watching the show.
As part of the security team, Arcanine cared a lot about Dachsbun's strength. Whenever possible, he'd train Dachsbun personally.
This was one of Arcanine's rare moments to shine on the farm—usually he was the one getting thrashed.
Beaten by Luxray, beaten by Moltres... tough life.
Dachsbun, a pure Fairy-type, could only learn Fire Fang and Sunny Day for Fire moves. The former helped with coverage, but the latter wasn't much needed.
So Arcanine focused Dachsbun's training on two things—
Physical fitness and actual combat.
Arcanine was much bigger than Dachsbun, so he'd always end up pinning Dachsbun, looking far more like a delinquent bullying a good student than a big brother.
When Moltres and Charizard arrived, Arcanine had once again pounced on Dachsbun, sniffing her with a slightly perverse grin.
Bro, you smell amazing.
Moltres & Charizard: "…"
Charizard stepped back, pretending not to notice.
It wasn't really Arcanine's fault.
Dachsbun's ability, Well-Baked Body, made her immune to fire-type attacks and greatly boosted her defense.
But this ability also affected her physiology—when baked with a gentle flame, Dachsbun would give off a delicious aroma, like freshly baked bread, with an irresistible wheat fragrance.
Very magical.
After countless such incidents, Moltres was used to it.
With a sigh, it spread its flaming wings and flew.
As an elder, it had to maintain dignity before its protégé.
Seeing Moltres fly, Charizard was surprised.
So you can fly?
Then why walk like those juvenile chickens in the coop?
A moment later.
Moltres explained the situation to Arcanine.
You, go spar with Charizard. I want to see what it's made of!
Arcanine glanced at Charizard, remembering this guy belonged to the temporarily staying, slightly dopey boy.
Arcanine was eager to fight!
The battle began quickly.
Charizard, focused, faced off against an enthusiastic Arcanine.
No referee, no trainers.
Just a look, and the battle was on.
Arcanine immediately used Double-Edge, its signature move for sneak-attacking Moltres. Watching Moltres grit its teeth in pain but stubbornly endure always amused Arcanine.
Even if it meant getting beaten up later, it never tired of it.
Arcanine immediately saw through Charizard's typing—probably Fire and Dragon, so Rock-type moves would be effective!
Seeing Arcanine charge, Charizard instinctively set its arms in front, like a T. rex ready to brawl!
Not only Arcanine, but even Moltres was stunned.
You big dumb dragon, what are you doing!
The result was brutal.
Against Arcanine's full-power Double-Edge, four times effective and far stronger, Charizard demonstrated what it meant to instantly collapse.
With a "thud," Charizard doubled over, clutching its belly in pain, then passed out.
A while later.
Charizard was awakened by a floral scent.
Opening tired eyes, the first thing it saw was a Pokémon resembling a flower ring. Charizard realized the lovely smell and its healed injuries were thanks to this Pokémon.
Then.
Regaining its memory, Charizard met Moltres's complicated gaze.
"…"
Awkwardness filled the air.
In the end, Comfey lightened the mood, smoothing the conversation.
Moltres tried a new approach.
It asked Charizard to show off the moves it knew.
This way, at least, there'd be no accidents.
Charizard demonstrated its moves:
Tackle
Leer
Rage
Flame Charge
Ember
Fire Spin
Flamethrower
Infernal Parade
Seismic Toss
Mega Punch
Dragon Rage
Take Down
Fly
Thirteen moves—not bad.
But…
Staring at the innocent Charizard, Moltres's eyes bulged in disbelief.
You!
Who taught you to pick moves like this!!
…
After setting a time to pick up Tinkatink, Lucas and Ogerpon said goodbye and headed down the mountain.
Back at the farm, sure enough, Ash hadn't returned.
Since Mimikyu was with him, Lucas wasn't too worried and started preparing dinner.
Ceruledge seemed set on hosting a barbecue for the farm's "temps," inviting Ash's Cyndaquil to join.
Just as Lucas was finishing up dinner, Ash, Pikachu, and Mimikyu finally returned.
However—
Ash looked anxious, clutching a battered Pokémon as he ran in.
He practically shouted, "Brother Lucas, please save it!"
…