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!