The three had just settled onto the sofa when—a burst of footsteps, and a yellow figure leapt out from the corner with a joyful, "Pika Pika!"
Lucas instinctively caught the pouncing Pikachu. Given that he'd seen Oak and Tracey a lot lately, Pikachu was naturally happier to see Lucas. But polite as ever, Pikachu also lifted its paws in greeting to both Oak and Tracey.
"Long time no see, Pikachu."
Lucas smiled, rubbing Pikachu's chubby cheeks.
If anyone else tried that—like Ash, for example—Pikachu would've zapped them on the spot.
But Lucas was different.
His backpack produced a bottle that made Pikachu's eyes light up, fixed on the red liquid inside.
"We had extra tomatoes from the winter harvest at the farm, so I made ketchup and brought it. Try it and see if you like the taste?"
He didn't stop talking as he gently squeezed Pikachu's electric pouch, enjoying its perfect squishy texture.
"Chuuu~"
To Pikachu, nothing mattered but the ketchup. It hugged the bottle, twisted the cap, and licked the little bit that came out—flavor exploding on its tongue, all its worries vanished.
Go ahead, squeeze as much as you want. As long as there's ketchup, you can touch me however you like!
Pikachu melted in Lucas's arms like water.
Watching this, Tracey asked curiously: "Are Pikachu really rare in Paldea?"
Even as a Pokémon watcher who sketches wild Pokémon, Tracey had rarely drawn Pikachu.
One, they're everywhere in Kanto, like stray dogs.
Two, since they're so common, art teachers would always drag students to a Pikachu hangout for practice. Tracey was sick of drawing them.
Seeing Lucas so attached to Pikachu, Tracey had to wonder—are they rare in Paldea?
Lucas answered without hesitation: "Not really, Pikachu in Paldea are just like in Kanto."
"So common they're like stray dogs," both of them said at once.
Pikachu, licking ketchup, was not amused:
So rude! But for ketchup's sake—I'll let it slide.
Lucas hadn't actually answered the original question. He knew why he was playing with Pikachu's cheeks so enthusiastically. Despite how squishy Pikachu was now, on their long boat trip to Hoenn, Pikachu was bound to get slimmer—long sea journeys had that effect.
That's right—this might be the last time Lucas could play with a chubby Pikachu before Ash set out on his travels.
Might as well get his fill now!
Just then, Ash came out, barely done cleaning up and shuffling over in slippers.
Seeing Lucas and Pikachu interacting, he grumbled, "Pikachu's never this friendly with me!"
Pikachu ignored its lazy trainer, still focused on ketchup, until Delia quickly swooped in and took it away, leaving Pikachu to look up at her with pleading, watery eyes.
But for Delia, Pikachu was like one of the children. As the responsible adult, she was determined not to let Pikachu's unhealthy eating become a problem.
Ketchup is great, but not as a main dish.
So Delia firmly warned Pikachu several times before relenting: ketchup could go on Pikachu's meal, not replace it.
Before long, the dining table was filled with delicious, steaming food.
There were six chairs, but one had a baby seat—which Delia had set up for Pikachu.
No formalities, no stiffness—at Delia's gentle words and Ash's "Let's eat!", everyone began lunch.
Lucas sampled everything. Maybe the food wasn't quite as exquisite as what Siebold made back at the farm, but there was a special flavor—something called "Mom's cooking".
After eating, everyone quickly helped clean the dishes, then bid Delia goodbye and headed back to the Oak Lab.
But this time, they went straight to the lab's vast backyard.
…
"Let your Pokémon out!"
The moment they stepped onto the grass, Oak couldn't contain himself. Getting Lucas's call about visiting with two extinct Pokémon had had him beside himself with excitement.
To see such rare, once-extinct Pokémon in the flesh!
Normally kind and approachable, Oak was unrivaled in his passion within his professional field.
Now, his research fervor was barely contained. If Lucas hadn't known Oak wasn't some mad scientist, he'd have been a bit nervous.
"Come out, Ursaluna, Arcanine."
Lucas nodded and released the two Pokémon from their balls.
Oak already knew about Arcanine, so naturally went straight for Ursaluna.
Fresh from the ball and clearly still sleepy, Ursaluna yawned.
"Looks tired. I hear it's been snowing hard in Paldea—it wants to hibernate?"
Oak skillfully assessed Ursaluna from its physical state and reactions.
He stared, examining Ursaluna from head to toe with such intensity that Ursaluna almost felt its fur was about to fall off—shivering slightly.
Then Oak took it further, practically teleporting to Ursaluna's side and reaching out to feel its muscles—
Ursaluna glanced helplessly at Lucas: Didn't you promise this was a fun, spontaneous trip? Who's this weirdo old man?
Worried Ursaluna might swat Oak aside, Lucas quickly soothed it:
"That's Professor Oak. Just cooperate for a checkup, okay?"
"Gru-um?"
Ursaluna's bear eyes were skeptical.
"Is that true? You promise you're not tricking me?"
"Of course, promise!"
Lucas patted Ursaluna's sturdy, soil-plated shoulder.
"Gru-um!"
Half-convinced, Ursaluna relaxed and decided to trust Lucas.
…
On the other side, as soon as Arcanine appeared, Ash greeted it enthusiastically: "Long time no see, Arcanine!"
He spread his arms, trying to hug it.
Tracey spent a moment in stunned awe before releasing his tired Scyther to rush inside and fetch his sketchbook and pens.
Arcanine's impressive and somewhat confusing presence had utterly won him over—he couldn't wait to try capturing its majesty in a sketch.
After a routine physical exam of Ursaluna, Professor Oak turned his attention to Arcanine, exclaiming in wonder:
"Both this historical form of Arcanine and Ursaluna's evolutionary line would shake the Pokémon research world!"
Since Lucas had already contacted Oak in advance and Oak had seen Arcanine on Iono's livestream, he'd been investigating Arcanine's history.
Thanks to his friend in Sinnoh, Professor Rowan, he found clues—there were records of these Pokémon in the ancient Hisui region a century ago, but they'd gone extinct for various reasons.
So Ursaluna, too, had once lived in Hisui.
Just laying eyes on them was enough to set Oak's research spirit ablaze.
"We'll need to conduct detailed examinations inside the lab. Only with precise and rigorous data can we announce these findings."
Lucas understood. He had little interest or experience with research, and didn't want to waste brain cells learning from scratch—just learning medicine from Nurse Joy Rin had worn him out.
After assuring Ursaluna and Arcanine, he watched as the Pokémon followed Oak and the now sidetracked Tracey inside for examination.
Suddenly, the yard was quiet—just Lucas, Ash, and Pikachu remaining.
The silence lingered. After some thought, Ash spoke up as if seeking praise:
"Sensei, I won the Silver Conference!"
"Pika pika!"
Pikachu, on Ash's shoulder, puffed out its chest with pride.
Lucas nodded. "I know—you already told me by phone."
Ash scratched his head. "Oh yeah, I remember now."
His focus shifted—might as well invite Lucas to tour Oak's backyard.
"Everyone's living out in the backyard now, except Charizard and Wartortle. Charizard wants to rule Charicific Valley and will leave in a few days. Wartortle still works with the firefighting squad, but comes back on days off."
With that, Ash's urge to share stories exploded.
Lucas didn't dismiss him; he listened intently.
So, Ash led him around the backyard, chatting nonstop.
Out of curiosity, Lucas circled around to ask whether Ash or Gary had any older brothers. Ash gave two answers:
He didn't have an older brother, but Gary did.
Making sure no one was eavesdropping, Ash whispered:
"Gary has a big brother, but we hardly ever see him. Blue is a really strong Trainer—Gary once bragged to me that his brother won the Kanto League!"
Ash's voice was noticeably tight with envy, like Gary actually had bragged about it a lot.
But Ash's tone became more gleeful:
"Buuut, Blue was the champion for only five minutes—someone else from Pallet Town beat him right after!"
"And now, that other guy's whereabouts are unknown, and Blue rarely shows up either. It's been years since I last saw him."
Lucas: "...So there really was a five-minute champion?"
He didn't know what to say.
Putting together his own experiences and Ash's gossip, the conclusion was clear:
Pallet Town definitely had both Red and Blue, and they both managed to become League Champions one after the other.
Back in Johto, Lucas had found Red starving on Mt. Silver and helped him—so Blue must exist too. For some reason, there were very few records of them in the Kanto League—maybe Lucas just didn't have access as a tourist.
Now, with Ash's confirmation, one more little mystery was resolved.
Lucas didn't expect that the first Pokémon of Ash's he'd meet in Oak's backyard would be this one:
A large bird Pokémon—primarily brown, with cream-colored belly and wings, red tail feathers, and a red-and-yellow crest.
Three sharp, pink claws gripped the branches; its huge wings were folded.
Its fierce gaze dominated the yard—a boss in the wild, for sure.
But when it saw Ash, all that pride turned to fondness. The Pidgeot leapt down, wings wide, and landed right in front of Ash and Lucas.
"Pidgeot!"
"Pidgeot, what're you doing here?"
Ash hugged its feathery head, grinning.
Pidgeot gestured and squawked; somehow Ash understood perfectly.
"Oh, you just went to visit your old flock in the forest, so you just got back!"
…
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