Pokemon Paldea [287-288] (Patreon)

Chapter 287: The Birth of Lugia — Overture

Although he'd had a great, all out battle with Larry, the Hyper Beam from Dragonite after Terastallizing turned out just a tiny bit stronger—by, oh, about a billion—than Lucas expected, and he accidentally blew a skylight into the Treasure Eatery.

Compensation wasn't necessary, though. Since Larry often uses the Treasure Eatery as a gym battle venue, the Paldea League's allocated arena repair funds could naturally be used to fix up the Eatery as well.

After all, the Paldea League's current mission is to cultivate more outstanding newgeneration trainers. If even the costs of battlerelated venue damage were to fall on trainers, how could they talk about nurturing the next generation?

Geeta saw this very clearly too.

After saying goodbye to Larry, Lucas rode a Dragonite that felt like it had just discovered a whole new world, and returned to the farm under a starry sky.

Time quietly turned to the next day.

…

Lucas brought the evercurious Victini into Lost Platos Town, strode into an appliance store, and in one go ordered over a dozen air conditioners, asking for home installation.

His own room, the living room, and the Pokémon's rooms all needed a unit. Even though Serperior, Mimikyu, and Luxray usually only slept in Lucas's own bedroom, they'd each get one too.

If installing outdoor AC units didn't basically equate to being insane, Lucas would've put several out in the ranch area. In the summer heat, Mudsdale, Sawsbuck, Miltank, and Skiddo would surely suffer.

He really needed to build a larger shelter on top of the ranch's sunshade shed to give the ranch Pokémon a place to rest and escape wind and rain.

That way he wouldn't have to be out under the blazing sun while milking, either.

Landing such a massive order had the appliance shop owner grinning from ear to ear. In this day and age, where do you still get big orders delivered to your doorstep?

Like a pie falling from the sky!

Seeing the owner smiling obsequiously as he saw him out, Lucas headed back to the farm.

No sooner had he arrived than Victini zipped straight into the snowy little lodge where Vulpix lived. Who knew why a Fire/Psychic Mythical Pokémon needed to beat the heat?

Lucas shrugged helplessly and headed with Dragonite to Thunder Lake, where he happened to see Dragonair and the others riding the wind, dancing in the sky. One pinkwhite and two bluewhite figures stood out strikingly.

Below, the Dragonite leader was holding something in its arms, looking up with a smile as the Dragonair performed their dragon dance.

Lucas knew the Dragonite leader was conversing with that imagined illusion it always held.

"Drago~"

Dragonite called softly to Lucas, then fanned its wings and joined the Dragonair in the air, dancing the mysterious, rhythmic Dragon Dance together.

Lucas didn't interrupt their daily routine workout. He walked to the lakeside and looked past a massive net woven by Serperior's delicate vines. In the water on the far side, shadows darted about with vigor.

It had been a little over three months since he'd released the fry. After this period of feeding, judging by the eye, the fattest fish looked to be about half a kilo.

Unlike the farm's crops, there was no way for Lucas to accelerate the fish's growth—unless he used hormones.

But fish raised like that? He wouldn't dare feed them to his Pokémon.

If he wanted them to grow to delicious, plump size, he'd have to wait until the end of the year at least.

Lucas walked a bit further to the other side of Thunder Lake. A massive rock lay halfsubmerged, the Huge Damp Rock gifted by the Palafin leader. It brimmed with Watertype energy and was remarkably effective for training Rain Dance.

As expected, Politoed sat atop the Huge Damp Rock, quietly sensing, while three Poliwhirl trained around it.

Although the Unova trip had gone awry and kept Politoed from participating in double battles, it never showed discouragement. After returning to the farm, it only trained harder, aiming for the next chance to appear.

That tenacity—and the ability to turn it into consistent action—was why Lucas put Politoed on his second team.

Even if Arcanine had far surpassed it in strength, Lucas believed Politoed would catch up one day.

With a faint smile, Lucas turned from Thunder Lake.

In a few days, he'd head to Johto, and needed to prepare. He didn't know how long Dragonite's Extreme Speed training would take.

…

Kanto region, Orange Archipelago, waters around Shamouti Island.

At dawn, two figures arrived.

One was a Delibird—rare to see in the tropical climate around the Orange Archipelago.

The other, judged by appearance alone, could not be identified as a Pokémon.

It wore a tattered cloak, completely shrouding its body. The cloak flapped in the highaltitude winds. Beneath it, a bright blue glow covered its form.

It was floating with Psychic power.

Its name was Mewtwo—the manmade god, an artificial Legendary Pokémon.

From high above, Shamouti's entirety spread out below. A helpless look crossed the face hidden beneath Mewtwo's hood.

It hadn't expected that settling the cloned Pokémon's resettlement would take months.

It had promised to bring Delibird to the Orange Archipelago once done, but delays kept piling up for all kinds of reasons, so this travelloving Delibird had ended up by its side for so long.

Thinking of Team Rocket, buzzing like flies, Mewtwo felt a knot in its chest.

Back on New Island, it had wiped the memories of everyone present—trainers and Pokémon alike—except Lucas and his Pokémon.

But it wasn't yet strong enough to rewrite the memories of the entire Kanto region. It was still growing, after all.

In this period, with perfect control over its body, Mewtwo was confident that compared to a few months ago, it had changed drastically.

If it fought Lucas's Luxray again, it wouldn't be defeated so easily.

After a long time shaking off the relentless Team Rocket pursuers and settling the cloned Pokémon in a place they wouldn't be found anytime soon, Mewtwo finally had time to bring Delibird to the Orange Archipelago.

As it needed to find the Sage Slowking Lucas had mentioned, it teleported directly to Shamouti Island.

"Deli" (Then I'm off)

Seeing the scenery of Shamouti, and thinking it had finally reached the Orange Archipelago, Delibird waved its wing to Mewtwo, ready to resume the trip paused for months.

As for training, Mewtwo had helped it plenty during this time. Delibird felt that if Lucas saw its current strength, he'd be shocked!

Delibird thought back to the time Mewtwo had disguised itself and taken it to stomp all eight Gyms in Johto, and its chest swelled with pride.

Since it had already agreed with Mewtwo and said its goodbyes, Delibird flapped its wings and began turning toward a small island in the archipelago.

According to info Mewtwo had gathered, that island had a bunch of pink Pokémon, seemingly altered by longterm consumption of a certain local fruit. Delibird was very curious and planned to go see.

Watching Delibird leave, Mewtwo suddenly froze, a bad premonition welling up—neither about Delibird nor itself, but about the planet.

It trusted its instincts. While it couldn't foresee the future in images, that faint intuition had helped it avoid many Rocket pursuits.

But this was the first time it had felt a premonition like this. After a brief silence and rapid thought, Mewtwo made a decision.

The three paw pads on its right hand clenched under the cloak. Vast mental power rippled outward as an indistinct wave of telekinesis, instantly catching the departing Delibird and pulling it back.

"Delili??"

Delibird looked at Mewtwo in confusion. What was it doing?

Don't tell it Mewtwo was itching to be a "trainer" again and wanted to go win that Orange League Winners' Cup or whatever…

Mewtwo released Delibird and spoke directly into its mind: "I have a bad feeling. Something major may happen here soon. To be safe, stay with me for now. You can resume your trip later."

Delibird, which almost forgot to flap and nearly fell, quickly beat its wings to hover before Mewtwo, seeing the serious face under the hood.

Having spent months together, Delibird knew Mewtwo somewhat.

Though Mewtwo often frowned, despite having only been active for a year or two since leaving the tank, it acted like a little old man.

But Mewtwo showing this level of seriousness was rare. The last time was when they were almost surrounded by Team Rocket's boss and his top admins.

Delibird had already been reaching into its tail to pull out the slippers stolen from Lucas, ready to summon him…

What could happen here that would make even Mewtwo look this grave?

"Delili?" (Should we call Lucas?)

Delibird looked at Mewtwo anxiously, clearly ready to produce its treasured pair of holyrelic slippers if Mewtwo nodded.

"No need for now. Let's investigate first and see if we can gather any clues."

Mewtwo shook its head, closed its eyes, and surged its Psychic power. In a blink, it covered the entirety of Shamouti Island.

Soon, its glowing eyes opened.

"Found it."

With that, Mewtwo's Psychic power flared again, distorting space.

The next instant, Mewtwo and Delibird vanished from the sky and reappeared at the island's edge, within a cave set into a sheer cliff.

…

Naranja Academy, Chairwoman's office.

Receiving Geeta's message, Lucas took the elevator from his director's office to the top floor.

Standing by the window, Geeta looked out at the sports field. Seeing the vibrant students brought a smile to her face.

She believed these kids would make the Paldea League—no, the Paldea region—more prosperous.

Geeta mused, half to herself, "After the end of the month it'll be summer vacation. Give it another month, and we'll see students in Naranja Academy uniforms."

Sipping Geeta's tea—the price of which probably had an absurd number of zeros—Lucas wore a speechless look.

He couldn't understand why the Academy had to overhaul its appearance every six months. Changing is one thing, but why always swap between orange and grape?

Couldn't there be a Watermelon Academy?

Unaware of Lucas's nonsense, Geeta asked, "Your four focus students—any plans for their summer?"

"They have good talent as trainers, especially that girl Nemona. Her talent may be no less than yours."

"While summer is for kids to have fun and not for heavy homework, I still hope you'll keep them in training shape."

"Chairwoman, you worry too much."

Lucas set down his cup with a smile.

"In terms of enthusiasm for battling, Nemona surpassed me long ago."

"She plans to leave Paldea this summer to travel other regions and hone herself. Eri says she'll go with Nemona."

"Oh?"

Geeta raised an eyebrow, surprised.

Lucas continued, "As for Arven, you know his parents are researching in Area Zero."

Geeta recalled, "Professors Sada and Turo, right?"

Lucas nodded slightly. "His dream is to enter the crater to help his parents—not as a researcher, but as a trainer. So I arranged for Arven to join Nemona and Eri's group. The three of them can travel together and look out for each other."

Geeta asked, "Have they decided which region?"

Lucas snapped his fingers. "Galar. Their culture values battling even more than Unova's Blueberry Academy. They'll grow more there. It's also relatively safe among the regions, with Champion Leon active."

Geeta nodded in agreement. Compared to other regions plagued by villain teams, Galar, under the undefeated champion Leon, was indeed a safer place to travel.

As long as they were careful around Dynamax Pokémon, it should be a great journey.

"What about Penny's plan? Her hometown is Galar, right?"

Geeta's question made Lucas's confident look falter. Thinking of Penny's resolute answer, his expression turned odd.

"Er… Penny says she's staying in the Academy dorms to catch up on movies and anime she missed during last month's boot camp—and to beat a few singleplayer games."

After a brief silence, Geeta said slowly, "…Let her be."

Lucas nodded as well, and the room fell quiet.

Just as Lucas wondered if the blocked Peony would start calling him instead, Geeta handed him another file.

"These are the students scheduled to enroll after the summer. Look them over and see if there are any promising seedlings."

Lucas took the file and flipped through it.

On the last page, he paused, a hint of surprise on his face.

In the "Student Name" field were the two characters: Paul.

Chapter 288: Zapdos and Articuno, Mewtwo and the Sage Slowking's Dialogue, A Crisis of World's End?!

Paul?!
Why's he coming to study at Naranja Academy?

Lucas thought back to a few months ago when Reggie came to challenge him because of Dragonite, only to be 60'd by Moltres. After that, he left with Paul. According to Lucas's memory, they should've gone to challenge the Battle Frontier.

After Reggie finished the Frontier, Paul would become that cold kid who always said "useless" and subjected Pokémon to harsh training.

Still, in terms of manners, Paul wasn't too bad. He'd be reasonably polite with powerful veteran trainers.

Lucas wasn't sure whether, under his influence, Reggie's slightly altered battle with the Pyramid King would go differently, and whether that change would positively affect Paul's mindset…

In any case, his gut told him Paul was probably coming for him. Otherwise, why not travel Kanto? Why go all the way from Veilstone City in Sinnoh across half the world to attend Naranja?

Wait—by the time Paul enrolls, Naranja will have become Uva.

"I'll head back first."

Sighing as if worrying about his future teaching career, Lucas closed the file and handed it back to Geeta.

Geeta gave him a thoughtful look. "Don't forget the matter of Johto's Dragon Clan."

Lucas waved a hand to show he knew, then left the office without looking back.

…

Back at the farm, Lucas and Oranguru inspected the new buildings he'd had ordered over this period.

The ranch's open sunandrain shelter was finished. When Lucas got back, it was noon, the sun the harshest. Miltank, Sawsbuck, and Skiddo were already inside hiding from the sunlight.

Mudsdale was rolling in its mud pit, not caring about the heat at all. Its endurance was outstanding, and with Stamina, it bordered on absurd.

The mud also helped with sunblocking and insulation.

On the other side of the shelter, a Pokémon house large enough for even the biggest Mudsdale had been built.

Naturally, it was airconditioned. If the ranch Pokémon couldn't take the heat, they could head inside to chill.

After the inspection, Lucas turned to the unusually quiet Oranguru and found it staring at something.

"What are you looking at?" he asked curiously.

Following its gaze, Lucas saw two Sawsbuck cuddled together to keep cool, and a meaningful smile crept over his face.

He blinked, then caught on quickly.

If you want to keep cool, fine—but do you have to stick that close? Lucas had petted Sawsbuck enough to know how thick their coat was.

"Could it be… huh."

Lucas's face was full of shock. If not for Oranguru, he wouldn't have noticed.

He'd thought their bond was pure comradeship, but…

Having seen countless human–Pokémon romances, Oranguru fanned itself with its leaf fan, enjoying the cool breeze. Through telepathy, it said, "Young master, let's go. We saw nothing."

Lucas nodded, an "I get it" look on his face.

Apart from when he needed to pick tea leaves, better not disturb the young couple's love life~
Maybe in a while, the Sawsbuck would bring him a surprise.

Lucas wondered which would come first—the Sandshrew couple from the ice cellar, or the Sawsbuck.

…

Back inside, Oranguru immediately set about cleaning. It always wanted the house spotless, cleaning at least twice a day, dusting innumerable times.

Through the window, Lucas looked at the shimmering, heatwarped air outside, and at Arcanine and Dachsbun panting with their tongues out in the shade of Arboliva's branches by the chicken coop. He had no idea how a Fire/Rock Pokémon with 4x fire resistance like Arcanine was still hot enough to pant.

After thinking a bit, Lucas bent down, pulled a big bag of mung beans from the cupboard, and washed them.

The farm didn't grow mung beans; he'd bought them in Los Platos Town while picking up supplies, remembering that in summer nothing beats mung bean soup—or mung bean popsicles.

He rinsed the beans several times until the water ran clear, drained them, set a big clay pot on the stove, added purified drinking water and the beans, and brought it to a boil.

About forty minutes later, he lifted the lid. A fresh, green aroma filled the kitchen. In the living room, Serperior, babysitting, poked its head around the corner, wondering what good stuff Lucas was making.

The beans had fully burst, the soup turned pale red. Lucas added a bit of sugar and honey, stirred, and let it stand.

When the temperature dropped from scalding to cool, Lucas called Vulpix from the snow lodge. Better to chill it instantly than slowly in the fridge.

Since returning, with Lucas's good food and care, Vulpix had stored plenty of energy. Even its Powder Snow felt colder.

Vulpix exhaled a fine, frosty snowfall, and in minutes the pot of roomtemperature mung bean soup became icycold—no ice cubes needed.

Under the drooling gazes of Vulpix, Applin, and Tropius, Lucas ladled a spoonful into his mouth.

Instantly, it was like a summer breeze across his face, carrying away all the heat and stuffiness in his chest.

The icy soup slid across his tongue, bringing an indescribable coolness. The beans, cooked just right, were soft yet pleasantly chewy, perfectly blending with the chilled sweetness. A true heatbanishing marvel.

Eyes bright, Lucas quickly served bowls for the eager Vulpix, Applin, and Tropius, and one for Serperior, who wore a face like, "If you insist, I'll drink it."

Catching Serperior's tsundere act, Lucas smiled, carried the clay pot outside, and—with Oranguru's help—distributed bowls to all the farm Pokémon.

One bowl of iced mung bean soup whisked away the coming midsummer heat, adding a cool hush to the farm.

By evening, Lucas stopped by the power and storage facility to check remaining charge.

Over the past few days they'd used about one percent. With new appliances and ongoing draw, it was falling faster.

But the reserves should last until Mimikyu and Moltres brought Zapdos back. Once Zapdos charged the storage to full, and a few days more passed, it would be about time for Lucas to depart for Johto.

Looking toward the sky tinged gold by dusk, Lucas murmured, "It's been almost two days. They should be back soon."

As if on cue, a faint firelight lit the sky. With his 5.0 vision, Lucas saw wings of flame beating steadily.

Moltres.

By its glow, he could see more clearly.

Alongside a golden, statuelike divine bird, there was another with a beautiful iceblue trailing tail; with every beat of its wings, crystalline frost drifted down.

Zapdos… and Articuno!

Lucas hadn't expected Articuno to be brought back as well.

He'd only mentioned it casually, without much hope.

Zapdos had said Articuno liked traveling and might not return to its island for years.

…

Orange Archipelago, Shamouti Island.

Seeing the suddenly appearing Delibird and a mysterious cloaked "person" in its cave, Slowking did not panic. It narrowed its eyes sagely. Moments ago, it had sensed a very subtle Psychic fluctuation.

Teleportation. So the cloaked "person" was either a human psychic—or some humanoid Psychictype Pokémon.

Like Meowth, Slowking didn't need telepathy to speak human language: "Hello."

"Delili!?"

Delibird's eyes went wide. Had Slowking… just spoken out loud?

Not telepathy, but actual words made by vocal cords!

Under the hood, Mewtwo's violet eyes fixed on Slowking. So this was the wise Slowking Lucas spoke of.

After a brief pause, faced with another Pokémon, Mewtwo didn't hide. It lifted the hood and met Slowking's gaze. "You are the Sage of the Sea?"

Slowking's eyes flashed with surprise at Mewtwo's unexpected appearance.

It neither admitted nor denied it, but walked past Mewtwo and Delibird, hands clasped behind its back, gazing at the glittering ocean. "I'm just an ordinary Slowking living here."

"I am Mewtwo. Do you have any thoughts about the impending crisis?"

Mewtwo stood beside Slowking. It could sense Slowking's vast mental power, implying deep wisdom.

When it had scanned the island earlier, it found a shrine and altar on the edge, suffused with Slowking's aura.

It believed Slowking knew something.

Slowking's gaze swept across the sea to the three neighboring islands.

Though it didn't understand Mewtwo's purpose and felt a strong pressure and threat from it, Slowking dutifully spoke of the Shamouti prophecy.

"The Fire Guardian, the Thunder Guardian, and the Ice Guardian must not be touched, or the wrath of heaven and earth will bring about the end of the world."

"The Sea Guardian appears only to save the world from destruction—but even it cannot stop the end alone."

"Only the emergence of a great balancer can calm the gods' fury."

"This is the prophecy passed down on this island. Quite a headache, isn't it?"

Slowking shook its head, then looked at Mewtwo.

"The Fire, Thunder, and Ice Guardians refer to Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno on those three islands, yes?"

Mewtwo frowned again. It hadn't probed closely, but when it teleported above Shamouti with Delibird, it had faintly sensed unusual auras on the three islands, discerning their owners' identities.

But what vexed it most wasn't the three birds—it was Slowking's mention of the world's end.

"They aren't that strong. How could they be tied to the world's destruction?"

"Because they are bound to the world's climate. Their emotions affect the climate's shifts. If they fall into rage, cataclysms will appear across the globe."

For some reason, as it spoke with Mewtwo, Slowking found itself revealing everything it knew. This feeling intrigued it.

This mysterious Mewtwo was perhaps even more unusual than it thought.

Delibird stood by, hardly daring to breathe. Everything still felt like a dream—like walking on clouds.

How had this suddenly become a conversation about the end of the world?

It was already wondering whether to summon Lucas with the slippers right away.

"Bound to the climate…"

Mewtwo murmured, then raised its right hand. Psychic power billowed outward, covering Shamouti Island in an instant.

Every human act and word lay within its grasp.

But that wasn't enough. More titanic mental power surged toward the three nearby islands. It locked onto the auras of the three divine birds at rest.

For now, the trio showed no abnormalities.

But Slowking's words—bound to the climate—made Mewtwo recall data extracted from Rocket wreckage on New Island.

Among Legendaries tied to climate, their data mentioned a Pokémon named Lugia, living in seas near Johto's Whirl Islands—exact location unknown.

According to Rocket intel, Lugia was tightly linked to the planet's ocean currents. If it was the Sea Guardian—and if something happened alongside the Fire, Thunder, and Ice Guardians tied to nature and climate—

It might indeed cause a catastrophe sweeping the entire planet.

Mewtwo didn't care much about what happened to other humans, but it cared about the cloned Pokémon it had painstakingly settled on this world.

It would never allow the world to be destroyed!