"This time, it has to work—
Croconaw, use Ice Fang on Sandshrew while you've got the chance!!"
Seizing the opening, Ash's eyes widened. He pointed toward the direction Sandshrew was hurtling in and shouted without hesitation.
The Croconaw he commanded immediately bounced forward with cheerful steps, opened its jaws wide, revealing a mouth packed with forty-eight teeth. Wisps of cold air began to spill from between them.
As a Pokémon modeled after a short-snouted crocodile, Croconaw's bite force was nothing to scoff at. One could easily imagine how miserable it would be for most Pokémon to take a hit like that.
But—
The target Croconaw wanted to bite was Sandshrew!
At this moment, Sandshrew was like a rolling ice ball, crashing straight into Croconaw.
The move Rollout.
It wasn't perfectly round like a Miltank rolling up, though—because of its rigid ice armor it couldn't curl completely into a ball, which reduced its speed somewhat.
But it was precisely because of that ice armor that Sandshrew had gained an astonishing level of defense.
It shot straight into Croconaw's open mouth. The impact made Croconaw stagger, then topple backward.
Even so, Croconaw still didn't let go. It clenched down hard on the "prey" in its mouth, producing a teeth-grating sound that made everyone's molars ache.
And even so, it did absolutely nothing.
"…Using a non-STAB Ice Fang on a Sandshrew that quadruple resists Ice—and biting the hardest part of its ice armor, at that… In a certain sense, Ash, you're a genius."
Lucas said with a deadpan expression.
Ash thought Lucas was praising him. He immediately scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "I-I'm just okay, hahahaha!"
Pikachu at the side couldn't bear to watch anymore.
Lucas, who had originally planned to give Ash a few pointers, didn't feel like continuing. He spoke directly:
"Payback."
Sandshrew—previously lying there like a salted fish letting itself be gnawed on—suddenly flashed with sharp light in its eyes. Red energy surged over its whole body, gathering onto its short, thick little paws before it slammed a solid hit into the left side of Croconaw's face.
Bang!
Normally, once a Pokémon like Croconaw bites down on a target, as long as its teeth don't fall out, it absolutely won't let go. But under the effect of that vicious Payback, Croconaw instantly sank into the deepest, sweetest sleep, and the force in its jaw naturally slackened.
Sandshrew seized the chance to break free. It rolled a few times across the ground, steadied itself, and let out a babyish little victory cry.
"Sha-sha!"
"Look at you, so proud."
Lucas stepped up and rubbed Sandshrew's small head. Since hatching, the little guy had been getting more and more energetic.
With the weather gradually turning colder, Sandslash and its mate often brought it outside for activity. Even the Ninetales that usually stayed curled up in ice little house had been wandering around the farm more often outside of training sessions.
Feeling the icy-cool ice armor on Sandshrew's back, Lucas sighed. "So hard."
After the initial post-hatching period, Sandshrew's ice armor had rapidly hardened. By now it could truly be called "impervious to blades and spears."
At present, unless a Pokémon vastly outclassed Sandshrew in strength, no one could break through that ice-armor defense with physical attacks.
Of course, Lucas hadn't gone crazy enough to test having Ceruledge attack Sandshrew.
Based on this spar with Croconaw, as well as previous small tests, the conclusion was clear: the ice armor's defense was excellent—an outright crushing advantage compared to others of its kind.
And it was all thanks to the blessing Calyrex—had bestowed on the Egg.
Over on the other side—
Ash picked Croconaw up. Comfey immediately followed to treat it. Meanwhile, Heracross and Tropius's battle also ended, with Tropius taking the win.
Ash let out a long breath and, together with Pikachu, tilted his head back to look at the sky.
"I lost again… Everyone's really strong…"
It had been quite a while since he'd come to Lucas's farm for special training.
And thanks to the farm Pokémon, even though he got beaten down all the time, the gains never stopped. The improvement of his partners was visible to the naked eye.
Different from the little moments of travel—
This kind of concentrated training completely unleashed the Pokémon's possibilities, cashing in their potential into solid, dependable strength.
The evolved Wartortle, Annihilape, Croconaw, Quilava, Donphan, and Meganium.
Charizard, who had learned many aerial techniques and Flying-type moves. Pikachu, who had improved its electrical output by training alongside Luxray and Raging Bolt. Larvitar, who had cast off its psychological shadow.
And, finally, Charcadet—who had at last agreed to become his partner.
Ash couldn't help but feel ambitions soaring. At the upcoming Silver Conference, he would definitely defeat Gary fair and square and seize the championship!
But before that—
Ash turned to Lucas and asked, "Brother Lucas, I heard from Penny and Shizuka that Naranja Academy is holding a campus Pokémon Contest. If it's me… can I participate too?"
Originally, Ash hadn't been very interested in contests.
But he happened to hear from Penny and Shizuka that Paul had actually signed up!
Having already taken Paul as his rival, Ash naturally didn't want to fall behind. Even though he really wanted to complain "what is that guy doing," it couldn't stop Ash from wanting to compete.
Lucas's hands paused mid-motion as he cleaned Tropius's leafy wings. He looked a little surprised. "You can, sure, but—"
The Silver Conference was about to start. Instead of focusing on training, why did Ash suddenly want to compete?
Besides, the contest was only two days away. There might not even be time to practice.
Why the sudden burst of interest?
Lucas stayed with Feebas and Ninetales practicing for a long time. It wasn't until dusk that he dragged his slightly tired body back home.
Fortunately, with more and more partners on the farm, there were many things he didn't need to worry about anymore—his Pokémon could share the load.
As soon as he entered, Oranguru walked up and handed him a change of home clothes, reminding him via telepathy: "The hot water is ready."
"Thanks."
Lucas responded, walked across the living room, rounded the corner, and headed toward the bathroom.
Passing the kitchen, he caught a faint sweet fragrance—and also a faint ding-ding sound like coins clinking.
Lucas instantly knew Alcremie was experimenting with a new product again. The one making the coin-like sounds was probably Gimmighoul, dragged over by Alcremie to taste-test.
A few days ago, after Annihilape evolved, several hours passed before "the Captain" finally hurried back with Ceruledge.
This time, they didn't find many Paldean ancient coins in the ruins—only fourteen. Added to what they already had, that made one hundred and thirteen coins total. They still had to keep at it.
After petting Luxray at the bathroom door for a bit, thoroughly satisfied, Lucas hummed a tune as he went in, undressed, and sank into a hot bath.
The day's fatigue dissolved by more than half in an instant.
…
After that, the time was spent either gathering in the living room with the Pokémon and watching all kinds of TV, or searching for battle recordings from other regions to get a sense of trainers' levels around the world.
He could also browse the agriculture channel and the medical channel to learn things.
As usual, he took out the black ball to "harass" Mewtwo a bit, then exchanged deliveries with Delibird.
Lucas sent Delibird a few pieces of Alcremie's freshly made caramel pudding. Delibird, as usual, sent back several photographs.
Taking them and looking closely, Lucas discovered they were truly "real aerial shots"—a bird's-eye view of a temple complex.
"Isn't this supposed to be near the Silver Conference athletes' village? Where did it run off to now?"
Lucas was clearly confused. Fortunately, Oranguru was absurdly efficient. It pulled up a bunch of info on a tablet and displayed it in front of him.
"Ho-Oh Shrine?"
Reading those words, Lucas kept scanning the tablet. It contained a detailed introduction.
Ho-Oh Shrine was located on Mt. Silver in the Johto region. It was quite famous, yet rarely open to outsiders.
The shrine's origin came with a legend that fit its name—something distinctly not ordinary.
It was said that in the past, a brutal war had taken place on the land where Ho-Oh Shrine now stood. Many Pokémon were used up as expendable tools of war and died because of it.
Even so, humans still didn't restrain themselves. The war only intensified. The land became barren, lakes dried up, and the environment fell into ruin.
An enraged Ho-Oh brought down punitive heavenly fire, burning away human weapons, while restoring the lakes and earth.
Whether from fear or sincere repentance, people who realized their wrongdoing gathered the remaining flames still burning on the earth, named it the Sacred Fire, and preserved it in the newly built shrine, passing it down from generation to generation. Today, that Sacred Fire also serves as the torch flame for the Silver Conference.
Whenever the Sacred Fire is about to depart, the entrance to the shrine fills with people coming to watch the torch relay. The story—and the mistakes behind it—are passed down as a warning bell, enduring through the ages.
Sacred Fire, huh.
Lucas subconsciously glanced at the Moltres nearby, dozing with its head tucked like a brooding hen.
A huge basinful on the Indigo Plateau, and who knows how much inside Ho-Oh Shrine… Why does Ho-Oh's fire drop everywhere like feathers?
And if Lugia knew about this, how would it react?
After finishing the history, Oranguru also reported on the farm's current development.
"…Regarding MooMoo Milk, many similar products have appeared on the market. Quite a few ranches have started introducing Miltank and selling their own brands. With the flood of supply, our hype has cooled slightly."
"Gogoat milk is still fine—there's a group of specific customers continuing to subscribe."
Oranguru's market research had always been excellent. Now that the cotton produced by Eldegoss and the others was ready, Lucas simply handed it over to Oranguru to coordinate with the people in the town.
Very reassuring.
As for the "problems" Oranguru mentioned, they weren't really problems at all.
"Our daily output is only so much. We can't even supply all residents of Los Platos, let alone Mesagoza—and Miss Katy's pastry shop keeps placing ongoing orders too."
"Other products showing up is a good thing. We're not running a monopoly. As long as we keep the quality up and maintain our reputation and current rhythm, money will always be there to make."
"We don't need to rush expansion."
Lucas waved his hand, looking completely at ease.
Unless the farm suddenly gained a whole herd of Miltank, there was no real need to expand.
The current model used the farm's resources just right without creating overload.
Any more, and it would become slightly troublesome.
Besides, those business tricks didn't work on him anyway. Everyone treated him kindly—so what was wrong with being generous in return?
"Our current goal is still to finish expanding the farm as soon as possible, then plant apple trees—before winter arrives—just to disgust Kitakami a little."
Lucas, who had looked magnanimous a second ago, instantly became petty.
At the side, Ogerpon wore a sweet smile, happy that Lucas was "getting revenge" for it in a way where no one would get hurt (physically).
Oranguru had heard about the Kitakami situation as well. It nodded seriously. "Then I'll contact Tinkatink as soon as possible. It knows the mountain conditions well. Once the wild Pokémon there are settled, we'll only have a few scattered wild Pokémon left in other areas."
Lucas nodded. After a brief thought, his gaze landed on Serperior, who had nothing to do and was swinging vines like a rope swing with Mimikyu and Victini.
He pointed. "Bring Serperior along too."
"(?)"
Serperior froze mid-swing and looked at Lucas. An obvious question mark practically popped over its head.
What does this have to do with me?
"Houndoom and Houndour—did you forget?"
Lucas looked at Serperior with a teasing expression.
"Gya-lo!"
Serperior whipped its vines through the air with a loud swish-swish, yelping in embarrassed rage.
As if it could forget!
Victini, unfortunately, got spun around in the process. After a single round, its sense of direction collapsed; its head was spinning so badly it couldn't even fly steadily.
Mimikyu's little eyes under the disguise cloth blinked. It felt quietly relieved.
Good thing it had just let Victini cut in line to play a second time.
….
League Calendar Year 798, October 12.
Today wasn't a holiday, nor any special anniversary.
But Naranja Academy was bustling. Even with cold winds blowing, it couldn't stop the students from wearing their favorite outfits, carefully dressing up their Pokémon, and gathering together at the already-constructed temporary venue.
Today, Naranja Academy's Campus Pokémon Contest was about to begin. Students and teachers alike could participate.
After all, the purpose of this campus contest was to promote contests as a whole.
What's more, the Hoenn League's Top Coordinator—and League Champion—Wallace would also attend!
Many media outlets rushed in, seeking livestream and broadcast rights, but all were refused by Geeta.
She didn't want outside noise to affect the academy's students. The students only needed to enjoy this celebration to the fullest. If the event went smoothly, Geeta would also consider adding contests to the curriculum, and allow related clubs to be established with minimal obstacles.
And at this moment—
Lucas was nearly struck numb by a piece of news.
He stared at Paul in front of him—who had naturally sharp, fierce-looking triangular eyes, wore Naranja Academy's purple uniform, and spoke with a serious face about his plan. Lucas's pupils tightened like there was an earthquake.
From his expression alone, you could tell how shocked he was.
"Ash is one thing, but you are entering the contest too!?"
….