After breakfast—
Time flew to eight o'clock.
There was still no sign of the giant Pokémon, nor any hint of fog.
At this point, everyone had to admit—
It probably wouldn't appear today.
Nemona looked apologetically at Lucas and Ash. "Sorry, we made you come for nothing."
Lucas waved it off. "It's fine. If you could see it every day, the news would be all over the place."
His words were a revelation—everyone suddenly understood.
Right.
If the giant Pokémon appeared here every day, it wouldn't be up to three travelers to discover it—the media would have blown it up long ago.
It was precisely because its appearances were so random and rare that it remained a secret.
Having figured that out, the trio quickly made new plans.
"We'll stake out again tonight. If we don't see it, we'll head for our last gym at Glaseado Mountain!"
Seeing them move on so quickly, Lucas smiled slightly.
They'd matured a lot.
Just then,
Ash stood up curiously, "So what are we doing today—more battles?"
He sounded increasingly excited.
Ash's question hit the mark. The trio exchanged glances, discussed for a while, and decided:
Special training in the morning, lunch, then head to Alfornada for a gym challenge, and finally back to the beach to stake out the giant Pokémon.
Of course, "special training" just meant endless, fiery Pokémon battles between Ash and Nemona.
The two rested briefly, then went at it again, showing no sign of exhaustion.
Arven complained, "Usually, she says she's tired after ten minutes of walking and needs a rest. Where does she find this much energy for battling? Another dimension?"
Eri quietly nodded in agreement.
Clearly, she thought Arven's sarcasm was spot on.
Lucas, on the other hand, was pleased. With Ash around, Nemona wouldn't keep pestering him for battles—he could enjoy some peace.
He asked Arven and Eri about their gains from the past two months of travel.
After all, after the Glaseado Mountain gym, their treasure hunt would end and they'd return to the academy.
Eri showed off four bronze belts she'd won in the Fighting Tournament. On the way to Glaseado Mountain, she'd participate in the finals, using these belts as her ticket, hoping for a good result.
Arven displayed four carefully preserved Herba Mystica—sweet, bitter, salty, and spicy—meaning he'd gathered them from all four Titan Pokémon: Stony Cliff, Open Sky, Steel, and False Dragon.
Lucas hadn't expected Arven would be the first to complete his goal.
But when Lucas asked if he'd caught a Teddiursa or Ursaring yet, Arven fell silent.
He showed his current five Pokémon: Mabosstiff, Greedent, Cloyster, Scovillain, and Toedscool—almost exactly like his in-game team, showing his passion for food and cooking.
Sadly, no Teddiursa or Ursaring.
After a brief silence, Lucas sighed, "When you need one, come find me."
"Okay."
Arven nodded, handing Lucas the four boxes of Herba Mystica.
Lucas didn't accept them. Instead, he gave Arven a sour Herba Mystica he'd prepared and instructed,
"If you run into trouble on your journey, don't hesitate—use it right away."
Just as Arven looked touched, Lucas grinned, "If you really need it, I'll bill your parents. There's a lot in Area Zero I'm interested in."
Arven: "..."
Give me my feelings back!
…
Meanwhile,
The beach battle was drawing to a close again.
But this time, something happened that stunned everyone.
Ash's Snorlax faced Nemona's Decidueye. Both had their strengths—against the Grass/Ghost Decidueye, Snorlax's mostly Normal moves meant it could only use Ice Punch.
But Decidueye could fly and attack at range, making Snorlax an easy target.
At that moment, Ash had a flash of inspiration. "Snorlax, get in the water!"
Arven and Eri gaped. "A Snorlax that size will sink, right?"
But reality defied their expectations.
Chased by Decidueye, Snorlax entered the sea like a fish returning to water, becoming surprisingly agile.
With a mix of butterfly stroke, freestyle, and even diving, Snorlax lured Decidueye close and struck with a super-effective Ice Punch, knocking it out of the sky and sealing victory.
Even Nemona hadn't expected things to go off the rails like that.
Staring at her defeated Decidueye, Nemona became excited.
"What's with this Snorlax—it can swim!?"
Eri's eyes widened. "Such an agile... fatty."
Arven was in disbelief. "It swims better than I do..."
Lucas smiled without saying a word.
If they knew not only about Snorlax swimming as fast as a Water-type, but also about Pikachu actually surfing, they'd be floored.
Ash and Nemona's second battle lasted a full hour. They wanted to keep going afterward, but Lucas put his foot down.
Continuous high-intensity battles drain not only trainers but also Pokémon—it could affect their gym challenge later.
Special training, in moderation, is enough.
With time before lunch and the beach at hand, everyone let out their Pokémon to play.
Lucas, having watched Eri and Nemona's teams grow over two months, observed:
Eri now had an Ursaring and Crabominable, Blaziken evolved from Combusken, and along with Annihilape, Toxicroak, and Breloom, her team was almost all Fighting-types.
Nemona's Dartrix had evolved into Decidueye, Sliggoo into Goodra, and with Mudbray, Ursaring, and Paldean Tauros (Aqua Breed), her team was nearly complete.
Both came from well-off families and had no shortage of supplements, so their progress was expected.
Nemona had been training Sliggoo for over half a year, and with constant family resources, its final evolution was only natural.
Lucas hadn't brought many Pokémon today.
Besides his mainstays—Dragonite and Swampert—he had only a Gyarados (caught in Kitakami) and a shiny Feebas.
He'd planned to bring Politoed and its three Poliwrath brothers, too.
But Politoed was still brooding over its brothers' defeat by Ash's Primeape and chose to stay home and train them.
Dragonite and Swampert were already familiar with the sea.
Gyarados and Feebas, though, were seeing the real ocean for the first time.
Kitakami was inland; aside from Gyarados occasionally flying out to gather berries for Feebas, they'd always lived in a pond.
Seeing the vast shimmering sea for the first time, both Pokémon felt a stirring in their blood and happily swam off.
Fortunately, most aquatic Pokémon adapt quickly, whether to freshwater lakes or the sea, so there were no accidents.
Lucas changed into swim trunks, grabbed his surfboard, and took Dragonite and Swampert out to catch some waves.
Midway,
He took Pikachu, who was radiating a "I want to play too!" vibe, for some surfing.
As expected of the "Pika-god"—despite not yet slimming down, Pikachu's body control was already impressive. After a few lessons, it was surfing smoothly, riding the waves with delight.
Watching from the shore, as he played with Wartortle, Kingler, and Croconaw, Ash was shocked.
He remembered a Pikachu named "Puka" he'd met in Kanto's Seafoam Island.
That Pikachu could even ride the legendary "Humungadunga" wave that came once every twenty years!
…
As noon approached,
And their fun wrapped up, Lucas returned to the shore with Pikachu, thanks to Swampert's help.
Handing the dripping Pikachu to Ash, Lucas smiled, "Too bad we didn't have more time. Otherwise, Pikachu might have learned Surf today."
"When you get the chance, try it—it's a great way to counter Ground-types."
"Alright!"
Ash, taking Pikachu, paused for a second, then nodded seriously.
At lunch,
Lucas kept his breakfast promise and made Pikachu a ketchup-covered omelet rice.
In that moment, Pikachu's affection for Lucas soared—if it were still a Pichu, it might have evolved on the spot.
After the meal, Eri asked a question that piqued everyone's interest.
"Teacher Lucas, you said you raised your Dragonite from an egg. What about Swampert? That's not a species native to Paldea, right?"
"Did you catch it in Hoenn?"
Arven and Nemona's ears perked up instantly.
Honestly, they were all curious about how Lucas had caught his six main Pokémon.
Especially Swampert and Serperior—neither found in Paldea, Hoenn's and Unova's starters, respectively.
Caught off guard, Lucas glanced at Swampert, then, after a moment's thought, said, "Let me ask you first—on your travels these past two months, have you encountered any 'Pokémon Hunters' or poachers?"
The three froze, then shook their heads, "Heard of them, but never met one."
"I figured."
Lucas nodded.
In fact, compared to many regions, Paldea had far fewer Pokémon hunters.
Besides strong league crackdowns, the main reason was this: Paldea had no "umbrella" to protect such scum. The entire region was united in one attitude—
Eradicate them, no mercy.
Paldea's zero-tolerance policy drove most poachers elsewhere.
But, of course, it couldn't be wiped out entirely. Where there's profit, there's crime.
Even now, Paldea's wild habitats still occasionally saw poaching.
This was something Geeta, holder of Paldea's highest authority, had always fought.
At least before Lucas became a Champion-level trainer, he often helped the Paldea authorities capture poachers for bounty. That was how he funded much of his training resources early on.
After a while, Geeta noticed him.
But there was no need to tell Nemona and the others all that.
Lucas looked at Swampert and reminisced:
"Mudkip—Swampert was one of the Pokémon I rescued when I took down a large cross-regional poaching ring."
"It didn't want to feel powerless again. It craved the strength to change everything. I needed a compatible partner—we hit it off and became partners, simple as that."
Just two sentences, but enough for the trio to understand the gist of Lucas and Swampert's history.
They could tell, from the depth of their bond, that much more had happened between them.
After all, they could use the power called "Mega Evolution"!
Ash, remembering Lucas's earlier tale about Larvitar being stolen by poachers, said angrily, "Pokémon hunters are really terrible!"
After this rare moment of reminiscence, everyone fell into their own thoughts while quickly packing up camp, cleaning up, and ensuring nothing was left behind.
Once everything was restored and the environment untouched, the five set out for Alfornada.
Swampert and Gyarados ferried Nemona, Arven, Eri, and Ash along the water to the base of the giant rock where Alfornada stood, while Lucas and Dragonite led the way and then transported them up one by one.
This way, they'd reach the Alfornada within two hours.
Lucas also wanted to visit the local gym leader, Tulip.
He hoped she could offer advice for Feebas.
…
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