Pokemon Paldea [369-372] (Patreon)

Chapter 369 – Naranja Academy's Ghost Rumors!

The Naclstack line in Paldea held the same status as the Miltank line in Johto.

With their inherently valuable rock salt, nobody really cared if they were good at fighting.

From ancient times to now, people in Paldea thought this way, so almost no one used a Naclstack in battle. That was why Paul didn't know its moves and gave the wrong order.

The moment Lucas spoke, Grotle smashed headfirst into Naclstack. Even with Naclstack's naturally steady footing, it still stumbled from the impact under Grassy Glide, almost losing its balance.

In terms of weight, the two Pokémon weren't too far apart, but Grotle was bulkier, and combined with the super-effective nature of the hit, it produced a very obvious result.

Paul didn't have time to be pleased before Grotle suddenly let out a cry of pain. Alarmed, he snapped his gaze to the gap between Grotle and Naclstack.

He found that Grotle's head was now coated in a layer of pure white salt from Naclstack's spray. That salt seemed to have an extremely corrosive effect, embedding itself firmly into Grotle's head, and as time went on, the salt grew and expanded, making Grotle howl in agony.

Paul's expression changed. A near-unbelievable guess came to mind.

Could that move—Salt Cure—not simply be some Rock-type attack Grotle could tank with its defense, but a move that inflicted something akin to poison or burns, some persistent condition!?

"This is bad. Grotle, use Rest—"

"I'll remind you," Lucas smiled mildly, "Salt Cure lasts until you recall Grotle to its Poké Ball or the battle ends."

"Rest's bonus effect of removing status conditions can't clear Salt Cure, because it isn't a status condition."

Paul's eyes flew wide open. He finally realized where his decisive mistake lay.

He should've been guarding against Salt Cure from the very start!

"Since you're not giving out orders, I'll call the second one: Iron Defense!"

At Lucas's command—a command that made Paul's face darken even more—Naclstack was bathed in a metallic sheen, as if its hardness had sharply risen.

"Tch… Razor Leaf!"

Though things were slipping completely out of his control, Paul forced himself to stay composed and issued an order to Grotle, which had instinctively backed away to maintain distance from Naclstack to avoid getting another faceful of salt.

Gritting its teeth through the gnawing pain of the rock salt crystals growing all over it, Grotle gathered Grass energy. Countless sharp, crescent-shaped leaves shot out from both sides of its body and rained down over Naclstack.

Lucas's mouth quirked up, and he answered boldly, "Tank it—and another Iron Defense!"

Paul: "???"

You dare get greedy with your buffs!?

As the storm of Razor Leaf subsided, Naclstack emerged, its body now even more impressively solid.

Lucas didn't know if Paul had realized the deeper purpose behind him choosing Naclstack for this battle, besides simply wanting to disgust him—but even so, he still gave an order that would make Paul's mentality completely collapse.

"Recover!"

A pale green light wrapped Naclstack, and the damage from the opening Grassy Glide and the follow-up Razor Leaf was wiped away.

Everything was back to square one.

The rest of the battle was something Paul would look back on for years, and every time the memory surfaced, he'd feel queasy.

It was that disgusting. He had never seen a strategy so vile. There was no joy of Pokémon battle at all—just pure torture.

Lucas and Naclstack perfectly embodied motionless as a mountain—letting Grotle and Paul unleash themselves in a frenzy while Naclstack simply refused to move.

Aside from occasionally throwing out a Tackle, Rock Throw, or Mud Shot out of boredom—weak, insulting little moves—it mostly just sat there and let Salt Cure gnaw away at Grotle's HP. When it looked like all of Grotle and Paul's efforts were about to amount to something, it calmly used the freshly learned Recover and erased their progress.

And the Salt Cure kept chewing away at Grotle's stamina. Naclstack's weak yet insulting little hits only drove Grotle into a raging red state.

Even like this, Lucas still felt a bit regretful.

Besides the battling Naclstack, the other two siblings were still practicing Recover and were a ways off from learning their main offensive move, Body Press, and evolving… Though their physical hardness had definitely improved a lot. It seemed Mt. Silver's soil mainly boosted physical stats.

In the end, Paul recalled his Grotle—now covered head to toe in rock-salt crystals—back to its Poké Ball. The moment Grotle turned to red light, those crystals, as if they'd lost their anchor, tumbled to the ground and then slowly faded away.

Lucas gave Naclstack's head a couple of pats, promising it an extra sack of Mt. Silver soil later as a reward, then turned to look at Paul, who now stood there with his head bowed, clearly deep in thought. Lucas walked over.

When he got closer, he could finally hear Paul's muttered self-talk that would've been inaudible from any further away.

"Grotle's fighting style doesn't seem suited to actively closing in. Once it evolves, its body will be even bulkier… Rushing in blindly could hand over the advantage to a surprise move and even decide the battle in an instant."

"In that case, it seems like I could try copying Naclstack's battle style. But Grotle doesn't have such a broken move like Salt Cure. If we want to win, we'll have to go with training the power behind its attacks."

"Next time… next time, I'll definitely give Teacher Lucas a battle he'll be satisfied with…"

Lucas listened a while, and the curve of his smile grew even higher.

Unlike Nemona or Ash's hot-blooded friendship-based approach, Paul had a cool head and sharp tactical senses. He almost never made the same mistake twice; you could see that from the fact that he'd switched Grotle to long-range moves afterward.

And going by his League performance in the original Sinnoh timeline—where he used rotations to gain advantages—his tactical aptitude absolutely fit the profile of a future top-tier Trainer.

Clap, clap, clap.

Lucas lightly clapped to draw Paul's attention, then announced, "You've passed my test. From now on, there's no need for you to attend the regular battle classes with the others. You can join Nemona and the rest in the special training area and receive my instruction."

Hearing that, Paul—whose face still held traces of frustration and unwillingness—froze, then lowered his head in confusion. "But… I lost the battle."

The loser had no right to make demands of the winner.

Seeing how stubbornly Paul clung to that, Lucas could only pinch the bridge of his nose. "I never said, from the very beginning, that you have to beat me in a battle for me to teach you or make you stronger."

Paul stared, disbelief flickering across his face.

Lucas continued, "Likewise, if I'm not satisfied with you, even if you beat me, I still wouldn't take you on as a student."

"If I've accepted you, that means you've met my requirements."

"Your idea just now was very good. A Pokémon like Torterra is suited to standing firm without moving and using overwhelming, suffocating attacks to pressure the opponent, winning without having to take a single step."

Paul's eyes widened slightly. With Lucas's explanation, the fog that had been hanging in his mind was almost entirely dispersed.

His direction for Grotle's future training was now set: a fixed turret with ironclad defenses and overwhelming firepower.

At this point, Paul's gaze toward Lucas completely changed.

Before, he'd only wanted to learn how to become stronger from Lucas, then train and one day defeat Palmer and Regirock. His respect was just surface-level politeness and upbringing.

Now, his respect was real—true reverence toward a powerful Trainer and teacher.

Paul bowed deeply again, this time with even more formality. "Thank you for your guidance. Both Grotle and I have gained something extremely important!"

Lucas chuckled. "Are you heading back to the academy now? Do you have a second Pokémon with you?"

"I plan to return to the academy." Paul nodded lightly, confirming the first question, then shook his head. "I don't have a second Pokémon yet, since I haven't started my journey."

"I see…"

If Paul had a second Pokémon, Lucas wouldn't have bothered Comfey; he would've just told Paul to head to a Pokémon Center.

But walking back to Mesagoza without a partner could be dangerous if wild Pokémon attacked, so to be safe, it was better to have Comfey treat Grotle first.

Lucas quickly explained his idea. Paul nodded, a bit flustered, saying he'd follow whatever Lucas arranged.

Paul's reaction surprised Lucas slightly, though it also made sense.

In the anime, Paul was incredibly polite in front of elders like Cynthia and Professor Oak; now, without his later extreme views, he was even more so.

On the way to the infirmary to find Comfey, Lucas asked curiously, "Do you have any plans for which Pokémon to catch later?"

Paul stopped, thought carefully, and replied, "I have some ideas. Once Grotle evolves into Torterra, it'll gain Ground typing. Its weaknesses will be Bug, Fire, Flying, and Ice. Right now, I want to catch a Rock-type Pokémon…"

"Good idea."

Lucas's eyes lit up. A Rock-type would perfectly cover Torterra's weaknesses and form a strong defensive core.

His gaze fell on the silent Naclstack walking calmly at his side.

"Shame my Naclstack has only been with me a few months—it'll be a long while before I see any eggs. Otherwise I'd absolutely pick one for you."

Listening to Lucas's regretful tone, Paul pictured himself commanding a Naclstack in battle.

He had to admit, when you were the one using the disgusting strategy, it suddenly felt… pretty great.

Then Lucas suddenly said, "Right—how about Teddiursa and Ursaring? You thinking about catching one?"

Paul didn't even need to think. "I had considered catching a Teddiursa or Ursaring when I planned to travel in Kanto. Ursaring's physical power is excellent and worth cultivating."

"Paldea has Teddiursa and Ursaring too," Lucas reminded him.

Paul hesitated. "…You seem very eager for me to catch an Ursaring, Teacher?"

As the infirmary came into view and Arcanine and Dachsbun barreled toward him, Lucas simply painted a big, enticing picture. "There'll be a surprise for you all later—provided you beat all eight gyms."

"Oh, and Nemona has an Ursaring too. She should be finishing up the remaining gyms around this time, so you can see what surprise she gets."

With that, Lucas stopped looking at the pensive Paul, dropped into a solid horse stance, and braced himself for Arcanine's full-speed tackle.

He could not get knocked flying this time!

After Comfey treated Grotle, Paul politely bid Lucas farewell and set off back for Naranja Academy.

With some free time now, Lucas called in Calyrex and Oranguru to discuss the fields.

To appease Spectrier and Glastrier's tempers, they definitely had to recreate the Shaderoot Carrot and Iceroot Carrot fields from the Crown Tundra in Paldea.

But as for how to recreate them, they still didn't have a solid plan yet.

The field for Shaderoot Carrots was built next to an Old Cemetery, and the Iceroot Carrots' field sat in the middle of a snow-covered valley.

So, to create land suitable for Black and Iceroot Carrots, should they replicate those environments exactly, or would a sufficient concentration of Ice- or Ghost-type energy be enough?

Replicating the snowy valley wasn't too tricky, but recreating the Old Cemetery… was a bit iffy.

Once their discussion reached that point, Lucas, Oranguru, and Calyrex all came to the same conclusion.

"Practice is the only criterion for testing truth!"

…

On the other side—

Twilight descended and the sky blazed with afterglow.

With Grotle at his side, Paul walked the wild route back to Mesagoza and Naranja Academy, all the while fretting over whether the uniform really didn't suit him.

Naranja Academy allowed students to have their Pokémon out with them, as long as the students accepted full responsibility for anything their Pokémon caused.

Grotle was steady and reliable, and Paul trusted it.

As he walked through the purple-toned campus, Paul occasionally glanced around. His gaze drifted, almost without his noticing, to the fellow students in uniform, considering how the outfit looked fine on all of them—even a balding uncle in his fifties could wear it.

That line must've just been Teacher Lucas teasing him, right?

Thinking this, Paul finally exhaled and felt a lot lighter.

At that moment, his ears picked up the hushed conversation of two girls sitting on a bench beside the path.

Paul normally wasn't the type to eavesdrop on others.

But maybe because he was in a good mood now—or because their topic piqued his interest—he chose to pause and listen.

"…Did you hear? The academy's haunted lately!"

"For real!?"

"Totally! They say it's the grudges of expelled students and teachers gathering into ghosts!"

"They say a lot of shiny trinkets from teachers' and students' rooms have just been vanishing without a trace!"

Chapter 370 – Choose Your Starter Pokémon!

Monday, August 10th.

It was a workday, and also the start of a new week for the students and teachers of Naranja Academy.

It had rained lightly the previous night. The dazzling summer sun had not yet risen, and a fair amount of rainwater still pooled on the steps leading up to the academy's main gate.

The clouds gathered in the sky were already beginning to disperse. The air carried the fresh scent that follows rain. Students, two or three together with their partner Pokémon, didn't mind the splashing water as they laughed and chased each other toward Naranja Academy's gate.

Classes would begin in just over an hour. If you followed the stairs downward, you would arrive at the center of Mesagoza, the Sun Plaza, where a very lively battle court had been built.

Its design incorporated the icons of all eighteen Pokémon types, forming a colorful pattern like a sun encircling the field. It was a famous landmark of Mesagoza and also a popular battling spot for many Trainers.

The regulars here were mostly the students of Naranja Academy up above the plaza. In addition, many traveling Trainers—and even Trainers from other regions—came specifically to experience battles with the unique flavor of Paldea.

On rare occasions, famous Trainers would also come to battle here. Gym Leaders and even members of the Elite Four of the Paldea region had held public matches on this field. Aside from the arenas on campus, Naranja Academy would sometimes also set up exam battles here to reduce the load on school facilities.

The bustling crowd formed a tight ring around the battlefield. The battle between the two Trainers on the court was in full swing. Amid the cheers and cries of encouragement surrounding them, office workers passing by would also stop involuntarily to watch, often getting so absorbed that they nearly ended up late for work.

Right now, the heated battle on the Sun Plaza field was nearing its end.

Both combatants were students of Naranja Academy. On one side was a lively black-haired girl with a single ponytail. On the other was a boy with purplish hair, his expression blank and his eyes hanging half-lidded in a way that looked a bit fierce and dead-fish-like.

The two wearing the school uniform and battling here were none other than Nemona—Lucas's number one student—and Paul, who had just been taken in last night.

They were commanding a Sliggoo and a Grotle, respectively.

Facing Sliggoo with the Ability Sap Sipper, Paul was having a miserable time. He could only rant internally that the girl opposite him looked so straightforward and guileless on the surface, yet her battling style was incredibly tricky, going straight for his weak point.

Right now, most of Grotle's move proficiency was piled into Grass-type moves. It only knew a few off-type attacks and could barely use them. Naturally, it was cleanly defeated by Sliggoo.

Amid the cheers of the surrounding crowd, Nemona beamed as she held a hand out to Paul, who had just withdrawn his Grotle. "That was really a battle I learned a lot from!"

Paul thought:
It was just you beating me into the ground, one-sidedly.

His lips twitched, but his face remained expressionless. He simply nodded silently, then withdrew his hand and turned to leave.

Paul considered the time. Class should be starting soon. He decided to head back to the academy first—if he remembered correctly, today's lesson wasn't being held on the school field.

Not long after Paul left, Nemona stood there with her hands on her hips, looking at his retreating back, a face full of the satisfaction that came from a good fight. Two voices sounded behind her.

"Nemona, it's about time to head back. Class is going to start soon."

"How did that battle feel just now? That classmate's Grotle was really strong—too bad it ran into your Sliggoo."

The first speaker was Penny, still carrying her usual Eevee backpack. The second was Eri, who had just wolfed down the last bite of her crêpe.

"It was really good. But I keep feeling like I've seen that classmate somewhere before."

Nemona first answered Eri's question, then turned to look at Penny.

"C'mon, let's go, let's go! Teacher said he prepared a surprise for us today. Hehehe… Could it be a battle against Calyrex? If that's too much, that Regice you mentioned, Pen-pen, would be great too!"

"I really don't know if you're fearless because you're ignorant, or if your heart is just that pure."

Penny shook her head helplessly. In her view, Nemona only had her desire to challenge them because she had never truly seen the power of Regice or Calyrex.

Penny had personally witnessed Regice's power and how hard its body was, as well as Calyrex's ability to teleport instantaneously over immense distances. From the very start, it had never even occurred to her to try and challenge them.

Not to mention, knowing that slightly black-bellied teacher of theirs, there was a high chance the surprise he mentioned would actually be a shock.

The three had gone to Mesagoza together for breakfast. Though Naranja Academy supplied tasty three meals a day, students would occasionally want to try something new—like the milk toast that had become very popular in Mesagoza recently.

It was clearly just decent-quality toast spread with butter and then drenched in hot milk—a simple breakfast any household could make—yet it was currently being praised to the skies for its flavor. Even Miss Katy from Patisserie Soapberry had taken a bite and couldn't stop complimenting it.

Rumor had it that the shop owner used a secret supply of Moomoo Milk and butter purchased from another city as their raw ingredients.

Plenty of folks waiting in line had seen a Squawkabilly flying into the shop, carrying crates full of Moomoo Milk and packaged butter. As a result, speculation about the owner's supply chain was all the rage.

Unfortunately, the breakfast shop's owner kept his secrets well. To this day, nobody had figured out the truth.

"They say the breakfast shop sometimes opens for a short while in the afternoon too, to sell a dessert for teatime—the dreamy Milk Pudding. It only opens for a few minutes, and the super-delicious limited Milk Puddings sell out immediately."

Climbing the stairs back toward Naranja Academy, Eri cupped her cheeks with both hands, her face full of longing.

"If I could taste it just once someday, that'd be amazing…"

"You really do love sweets, Eri," Penny sighed, then glanced at Nemona, who was already half dead from the climb beside her. "As for this one… your stamina is as bad as ever."

To think, they'd only gone up less than a third of the staircase at this point.

Helpless, Eri and Penny each hooked an arm under one of Nemona's and half-carried, half-dragged her to the academy gate.

Looking at the campus, whose dominant warm orange tones gradually shifted into a cooler violet palette, the three seemed reminded of something and suddenly began discussing a rumor that had been spreading across the school.

"Have you heard? The academy's ghost rumors have gotten so bad that even Nurse Miriam's golden ring—the one she was preparing to swap with her other half as a present—was stolen!"

Inside Naranja Academy, outside the indoor battle arena Clavell had specifically had built during the summer holidays at Geeta's request, to ensure the quality of Lucas's teaching.

Nemona and her two friends ran into Paul again, who had only just left them not long ago. Next to him squatted Arven, looking utterly dejected after bouncing off Paul's cold attitude.

Now that she'd fully recovered, Nemona stared in surprise. "Hey, classmate, how come you're here too?"

Paul glanced at Nemona and wasn't particularly surprised. With Nemona's strength, it was only natural she'd show up here.

Still squatting on the floor, drawing circles with his finger, Arven said gloomily, "He's the transfer student who's joining us starting today. His name's Paul."

Clearly, he still hadn't recovered from the blow of finally having a male classmate he could hang out with, getting all excited to say hello, and then having his warm enthusiasm smacked down by cold indifference.

Paul merely nodded slightly at Nemona, Penny, and Eri, giving a quiet "Mm" before leaning against the wall, closing his eyes, and falling silent again.

The very picture of a cold, aloof cool guy.

The three girls traded looks. In the end, the ever-enthusiastic Nemona took the lead. "Paul, haven't we met somewhere bef—"

Before she could finish, the bell signaling the start of class rang across the Naranja Academy campus, and the sound of Lucas arriving right on time came from behind them.

"Everyone's here?"

The five of them greeted him politely: "Good morning, Teacher!"

"Mm, morning." Lucas replied with a cheerful smile, then let his gaze fall on Paul, who was leaning against the wall. "Paul has also passed my test. From now on, you're all classmates, so be sure to get along well with each other."

With that, Lucas took out a key, opened the door to the indoor battle arena, and gestured for the students to follow him inside the brand-new, thoroughly aired-out arena that no longer had a trace of new-building odor.

Nemona and the others had no choice but to go in after him. Paul deliberately waited until everyone else had entered before moving.

His eyes met Nemona's for a brief moment as she walked past. Maybe he was just naturally bad at dealing with hot-blooded battle idiots like her, but Nemona's question earlier really left him a bit speechless.

So she hadn't remembered him or his brother asking her for directions at all…

A short while later.

Inside the arena, Lucas announced the surprise he had been teasing them with all this time.

Standing lined up beside him were three Naclstack, fired up and eager to battle thanks to Lucas's promise of extra snacks.

After gaining confidence from their fight with Iono, and having continued training diligently while Lucas was away, the Shuckle younger brother was also released from his Poké Ball.

Lucas clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention to him as he announced, "This is your first warm-up exercise after summer break!"

"Penny, Arven, and Eri, you'll be battling the Naclstack. Nemona will battle Shuckle. As for Paul… you can observe your classmates' battles for now and familiarize yourself with their Pokémon and battling styles."

Paul: "…Understood."

He quietly stepped back to the edge of the field, casting a sympathetic look at Arven and the others. Then his gaze locked onto the Shuckle, and he grew curious about how it would fight against Nemona.

From what he'd inferred, Nemona had to be the very girl Lucas had mentioned—the one already strong enough to clear all eight gyms and achieve a good result in the League Conference.

The four of them had no idea that their nightmare was about to begin. Even the usually unmotivated Penny and Arven were now raring to go after a period of rest and recovery.

Their victory in the Blueberry Academy event had given them a ton of positive feedback, making them significantly more proactive and confident in their daily training.

Lucas had noticed this, and as a reward, he had chosen to use the very first class of the new term to demonstrate Naclstack's and Shuckle's battle tactics in front of his students.

He quickly assigned more detailed matchups.

Eri would fight the Naclstack that had defeated Paul's Grotle last night, using her Annihilape.

Penny and Arven would each face one of the other two Naclstack that hadn't learned Recover yet, using her Sylveon and his Mabosstiff, respectively.

Nemona's Pawmot would face Shuckle's little brother.

Lucas had already taught the Naclstack and Shuckle the specific battle patterns they would be using.

Though they lacked a Trainer's real-time command and thus a bit of adaptability, they had no problem executing basic patterns.

The battles began quickly. Just like Paul's original experience, the close-combat specialists Annihilape and Mabosstiff were hit with Salt Cure right at the start. Afterward, the Naclstack immediately began using Iron Defense to boost themselves, perfectly replicating what Paul had suffered through the previous night.

Penny's Sylveon fared a bit better. Even though the typing matchup wasn't favorable either way, as a special attacker Sylveon still held a decent advantage against Naclstack. She did accidentally get caught by a fully-primed Salt Cure mid-battle and ended up in a painful Salt Cure state…

But the scales of victory were indeed tilting toward Sylveon and Penny.

As for Nemona, after getting thoroughly annoyed by Shuckle's repeated use of Power Split + Substitute + Toxic + Sticky Web/Protect in sickening combination, she, true to her personality, continued to have Pawmot take the initiative and press the attack, trying to force an opening.

All four simultaneous battles dragged on for a good while before the winners were decided.

The first to win was Penny and her Sylveon. Without a full move pool, not yet fully evolved, and lacking a Trainer's direction, Naclstack had a rough time dealing with a special attacker like Sylveon.

Even so, it still managed to make Penny's already pale face turn even paler from sheer nausea.

Watching from the side, Paul, whose attention was drawn for a moment, showed a thoughtful expression.

So the way to counter that pattern… is to use special attackers?

Arven and Mabosstiff were the first to fall victim to the youthful Salt King. After the match, he stumbled off in a daze with Mabosstiff to seek treatment from Comfey.

Under Eri's command, Annihilape tangled with Naclstack for quite a while. Unfortunately, under the pressure of Salt Cure and her lack of knowledge about Naclstack's Purifying Salt Ability, Annihilape was slowly worn down and defeated by Naclstack's nascent looping pattern.

Still unwilling to accept the result, she received a bit of guidance from Lucas.

"Purifying Salt halves the damage from Ghost-type moves. The moment you had Annihilape gamble on Rage Fist instead of using Fighting-type moves to hit Naclstack's weakness, the outcome of this battle was already set."

Nemona's Pawmot and Shuckle lasted the longest. Nemona and Pawmot' sheer stubbornness exceeded even Paul's expectations as he carefully observed every detail of the battle.

If Shuckle hadn't kept Earth Power in reserve as a trump card that hit Pawmot super effectively, Nemona and Pawmot might actually have beaten a Shuckle that was fighting without Lucas's commands.

Watching Nemona cradle her Pawmot, who had finally collapsed under the combined assault of Toxic and Earth Power, Lucas showed a satisfied smile.

Nemona's growth was practically visible day by day. Looking at how skillfully she commanded Pawmot now, who would have thought that half a year ago she hadn't even had a starter Pokémon?

While Nemona and the others lined up with their partners to receive Comfey' healing, Lucas called Paul over. He had seen the thoughtful look in Paul's eyes and knew he wouldn't need to summarize the lesson for him.

"Looks like you've already realized something. That's good."

With an extra teammate like Paul, whose sense for tactics was sharp, the four students would no doubt be pushed to a higher level on top of their current foundation.

After all, a Trainer has to clash with many different opponents, absorb their strengths, and then reinforce themselves in order to grow stronger and stronger.

"Yes. I've noticed that Naclstack seems to have a hard time dealing with Pokémon that use special attacks. As for Shuckle, I'm still organizing the details of its tactics."

"Not bad. But remember, Naclstack isn't in its final state yet. It's better to draw conclusions after it evolves." Meeting Paul's surprised gaze, Lucas smiled and took out three Poké Balls. "I heard from Principal Clavell that you haven't chosen a starter Pokémon prepared by the academy yet?"

Paul first nodded, then hesitated. "I've already received a Grotle from Professor Rowan in Sinnoh…"

"That's Sinnoh's business. It has nothing to do with Naranja Academy." Lucas carefully repeated the line Clavell had taught him, word for word. "Anyone who becomes a student of Naranja Academy has the chance to receive a starter Pokémon."

As he spoke, he opened the three Poké Balls in his hand.

With flashes of red light, the three Paldea-region starters appeared in front of Paul.

Their names were—Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly.

Lucas smiled. "Come on then, choose your starter Pokémon!"

Chapter 371 – Paul's Choice and Geeta's Small Talk

The Pokémon on the left looked like a light-green kitten. Its face bore dark-green markings like four overlapping leaves, and its pink eyes seemed filled with a mysterious, tempting allure.

This was Sprigatito, Paldea's Grass-type starter Pokémon. Upon final evolution it would gain a secondary Dark typing, becoming something like a magician, extremely good at using its agile movements and unpredictable attacks to toy with its foes.

Its signature move was Flower Trick.

The moment it emerged from its Poké Ball, Sprigatito yawned, then picked a sunny spot and flopped down lazily to sunbathe.

The Pokémon in the middle resembled a small, cartoonish red crocodile whose body had been slightly shrunk. Its face and belly were white, with yellow scales on its stomach and back. The tuft on its head that looked like an ahoge was actually Fire-type energy leaking out from inside it.

Fuecoco was a Fire-type. When it fully evolved it would gain a Ghost typing. It wasn't very fast and favored a slow, steady style. It had solid bulk and a good movepool, and it excelled at attacks that used singing or vocalizations.

Its signature move was Torch Song.

True to its name, Fuecoco just stood there foolishly, opening its jaws while its eyes rolled upward to stare at its own ahoge.

The Pokémon on the right was a little duck that had styled its blue head feathers into a pompadour. It had a flat yellow beak, pure-white feathers on its body and face, and blue feet.

Quaxly was a Water-type. Upon final evolution it would gain a Fighting typing. Its legs were extremely strong; it excelled at kicking moves and absolutely loved blending an exotic, full-body dance rhythm elegantly into its attacks.

Its signature move was Aqua Step.

Quaxly was carefully grooming its slightly damp pompadour. You could tell at a glance that it was a Pokémon that cared a lot about its appearance.

Thanks to Lucas's introduction, Paul—who still didn't know much about Paldean Pokémon—had now roughly grasped their basic info.

He fell silent for a moment. In the end, he decided not to waste Lucas and the academy's kindness. He looked carefully at the three Pokémon and began to make his choice.

On the other side, the four students had noticed the commotion. While watching over their own Pokémon during treatment, they turned to look over with a hint of nostalgia.

Nemona's eyes sparkled. "Whoa! He's picking a starter Pokémon!"

"Sprigatito, Quaxly, Fuecoco— they're all so cute!"

Eri asked curiously, "Nemona, didn't you get a starter from the academy?"

Nemona looked at her Pawmot, who was currently being treated by Comfey, and recalled, "Pawmot… Pawmot was a Pokémon my family prepared for me. Same for Sliggoo, so I didn't get one through the academy."

Penny and Arven both raised their hands. "Same here."

Arven felt that since he'd had Mabosstiff with him from childhood, he didn't need a starter from the academy and gave up that right from the start.

Penny only liked Eevee. Her family had prepared Eevee for her since she was little, so naturally she hadn't taken a starter from the academy either.

Eri looked left and right and suddenly felt something was off.

…Don't tell me I'm the only one who got my Mankey from the academy?

On the other side.

Faced with the three Paldean starters, Paul fell into silence.

Still deep in thought, his gaze first settled on Sprigatito.

Although cat-type Pokémon in general loved to show off their lazy side and bask idly in the sun, Sprigatito's appearance was also the cutest among the three.

But no matter how cute Sprigatito was, from the moment he saw its Grass typing, it was no longer a candidate he would consider.

Even if it would gain a Dark typing upon final evolution, Paul had no intention of including it in his team-building plans.

His gaze moved on to Quaxly, who was carefully styling its pompadour.

This one wasn't bad. From what he understood and from what Lucas had said, the three elements of Water, Ice, and Fighting could hit a lot of types effectively. It could be put on the "maybe" list.

Then Paul's eyes slid past Quaxly and met Fuecoco's vacant stare head-on.

They locked eyes like that for a full minute. For the first time, Paul's usually emotionless face changed.

The corners of his mouth rose slightly. Pointing at Fuecoco, he said respectfully to Lucas, "Teacher, I'd like to choose this guy."

Lucas didn't look the least bit surprised by Paul's choice. It was as if he'd already predicted that Paul would pick Fuecoco. He calmly took the prepared Poké Balls and recalled Quaxly and Sprigatito.

Then he asked Paul, "Can you tell me why you chose it?"

Paul replied as if it were only natural, "Sprigatito will definitely slack off in training. Quaxly cares too much about its hairstyle, so it doesn't look like the type that can endure hard training. But as long as I give this dopey guy an apple, it'll probably have all the motivation it needs to complete whatever tasks I give it."

Lucas: "…"

He had imagined Paul listing a long chain of tactical reasons to explain why he'd chosen Fuecoco and not Sprigatito or Quaxly.

He hadn't expected such a straightforward answer.

Thinking of this, Lucas gave an awkward yet polite smile and reminded him, "Fuecoco's final evolution, Skeledirge, is actually a bit like your Grotle—it's not very mobile either. The difference is, Skeledirge is much better at using special attacks."

A look of understanding crossed Paul's face. He nodded seriously. "I see. Thank you for the reminder, Teacher!"

A short while later.

Paul, holding Fuecoco exactly the way Lucas had instructed and feeding it an apple Lucas had brought from his farm, found himself surrounded by Nemona and the others.

Watching the adorable Fuecoco hug the apple with both little hands and chomp away happily, Nemona cupped her cheeks in envy. "That's so nice. Fuecoco's so cute—it makes me want to catch one too!"

Lucas, who had been watching Comfey treat Naclstack and Shuckle, turned his head and called over, "If you want one, you can get one from the academy too. I still haven't returned Sprigatito and Quaxly's Poké Balls yet."

Nemona's smile froze. She scratched her head, took out a Poké Ball, and released a Pokémon that looked like an owl. For once, she turned something down. "Better not. I'm still in the middle of syncing up with Dartrix… I should choose my sixth Pokémon carefully."

Lucas arched a brow and didn't press it.

Currently, Nemona's team was Pawmot, Ursaring, Sliggoo, Taurus, and the Dartrix that had evolved from the Rowlet she'd caught at Blueberry Academy.

While Comfey was healing Shuckle and the Naclstack squad, the five students continued chatting. With Nemona around, even Paul would unconsciously get dragged along by her pace sometimes.

As if trying to deepen their bonds, they each introduced their own Pokémon lineups to Paul.

Eri had Annihilape, Toxicroak, Breloom, and a Combusken that had evolved from the Torchic she caught at Blueberry Academy.

Arven had Mabosstiff, Greedent, Cloyster, and Scovillain, which he'd also captured at Blueberry Academy.

And then there was Penny's Eevee squad…

Lucas didn't intrude into the students' conversation. Once the five of them had gotten acquainted with one another, he recalled Shuckle and Naclstack and moved on with the day's lesson, giving a brief summary of Shuckle's Sub-Protect-Toxic tactic and Naclstack's strategy revolving around Salt Cure.

He warned them too: while Sub-Protect-Toxic and Salt Cure stall could catch opponents off-guard, they shouldn't rely on such tactics too heavily.

After all, those were just two patterns among countless possible strategies. Some opponents would brute-force their way through with sheer strength, while others would find approaches that bypassed those tactics entirely. These were absolutely not learn it and you're invincible combos.

At eleven o'clock sharp, Lucas ended the class on schedule and delivered a notice.

"You all know about the extracurricular Treasure Hunt the school is going to run this term, right?"

The five answered in unison, "We know!"

"Good."

Lucas nodded in satisfaction.

The so-called Treasure Hunt was an activity with considerable educational value, proposed by Clavell.

Simply put—

The course load at Naranja Academy wasn't heavy, so students had a lot of free time to do things they were interested in.

The extracurricular Treasure Hunt encouraged students to use this time to travel freely to destinations of their choice, meet many Pokémon, and find their own personal treasure.

The treasure, despite the name, wasn't about something with monetary value. Rather, through a free adventure across the Paldea region, students would experience many things.

They could challenge Gyms, help people in need, or even literally go looking for treasure. Through these varied experiences, they would learn things that couldn't be taught in school.

"If anyone wants to take part in the Treasure Hunt, you can tell me. That way, if you go in and out of the school gates frequently, or can't make it back to campus for class because of something important, it won't be counted as skipping."

The instant Lucas finished speaking, Nemona shot her hand straight up.

"Teacher, I want to challenge the Gyms!"

Right now, Nemona had three plus one Paldean Gym Badges: the first three from Cortondo, Artazon, and Levincia, and, per Lucas's request, the sixth badge from Montenevera.

She still lacked the fourth (Cascarrafa), fifth (Medali), seventh (Alfornada), and eighth (Glaseado) badges.

She wanted to use this Treasure Hunt to collect those four badges in one go!

Seeing Nemona's reaction, Paul refused to fall behind and raised his hand as well. "I'd like to use this chance to challenge the Gyms here too!"

Lucas nodded, unsurprised, and wrote down the two battle addicts' requests. Then he turned to Eri, Arven, and Penny.

Arven said he still hadn't decided what to do for the Treasure Hunt. Eri was hesitating between starting a fighting club at the academy or heading out to challenge powerful opponents.

As for Penny, she said weakly that all she wanted was to hole up in the dorms, cuddle her Eevee, and play video games.

Since Naranja Academy had already been cleaned up in advance and Team Star had essentially been butterfly-effected out of existence, Penny naturally found nothing else that interested her.

To her, as long as she could stay in the dorm every day playing games and petting Eevee, occasionally spend a bit of effort dealing with clingy Nemona and Eri, and live such a comfortable and half-hearted life, that was her treasure.

Faced with Penny's total salt-fish attitude, Lucas honestly didn't know where to start trying to change her.

All he could do was silently pray that she wouldn't get caught by Geeta while hacking systems everywhere, or she'd end up as an overworked corporate drone under Geeta's command.

After announcing the Treasure Hunt, Lucas didn't remain in the arena any longer.

Before leaving, he handed one key to the arena to Penny—who would definitely be holed up in the dorms—and another to Nemona. He told them that they could use the arena for training when there were no classes, instead of crowding onto the academy's main field with the other students.

Leaving the arena, Lucas didn't head straight back to the farm for lunch. Instead, he walked toward the teachers' office building.

After all, there was someone waiting for him in his private office—Geeta.

A little later.

When Lucas pushed open the door to his office—which remained spotless despite his long absence—Geeta raised her head from the guest sofa where she was sitting, having already made tea.

She smiled. "Long time no see, Lucas."

Lucas gave a slight nod. "Chairwoman."

His gaze slid naturally to the small table in front of the sofa, and his brows rose slightly. "You even made black tea?"

Geeta didn't particularly care for the idea of hierarchy. She simply poured hot tea into the cup on his side.

"It was on your desk. I figured you'd be back soon, so I went ahead and brewed it. You don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not." Lucas sat down opposite her, picked up the cup, and took a sniff. "This tea is made from leaves I picked from Sawsbuck's antlers and roasted myself back on the farm. How is it?"

"It's excellent—more aromatic and mellow than those expensive high-end teas."

Geeta savored the lingering flavor on her tongue with a look of bliss.

That wasn't flattery. She genuinely meant it.

"Looks like I didn't make a mistake letting you start that farm. I've been hearing about your Moomoo Milk and dairy products lately—even in Mesagoza, they're quite the talk of the town."

Geeta teased lightly.

"Mesagoza?" Lucas looked a bit puzzled. "I've only set up business in Levincia so far, as far as I know."

As the woman currently in charge of the entire Paldea League, Geeta had her own unique information channels.

She wiggled the fingers inside her gloves a little. "Someone's been buying your Moomoo Milk and butter from the farm and using them as ingredients to open a breakfast shop right here in Mesagoza. It's caused quite a stir."

"Things like, 'It's clearly just regular milk-and-butter toast and milk pudding, but the taste is unbelievably good,' and so on."

"…Hah, that's really something."

A flicker of surprise flashed in Lucas's eyes. He hadn't expected someone to start a business so soon off the Moomoo Milk and butter his farm produced.

Still, that didn't really bother him. He certainly wasn't free enough to make some rule like "buyers can only drink the milk themselves," which would be all cost and no benefit.

"Alright, enough small talk. Let's get to why you specifically asked to meet with me."

Geeta crossed her hands and looked at Lucas with open curiosity.

Her intuition told her that during his time away from Paldea, Lucas had probably pulled off something big again.

Lucas nodded slightly and came straight out with it. "I brought Galar's legend back with me."

Geeta: "???"