The first stop on the tour, Lucas took Tinkatink to the farming area.
Looking at the abundant crops, and Calyrex, who could instantly make a whole field of carrots grow just to satisfy the gluttonous Glastrier and Spectrier, Tinkatink had to admit—having only eaten some fruits on the mountain every day to stave off hunger, it was feeling seriously envious.
When they reached the orchard, the nimble Ogerpon was standing on top of a Appletun, jumping onto the Pecha Berry tree, picking fruit, and letting Tinkatink taste the delicious Pecha Berries.
The ranch area, the lake district, the ice cellar, the glass greenhouse, the milking house... The more it saw, the more shocked Tinkatink became.
In its eyes, the entire farm had already become a self-sufficient little world.
Not to mention the Calyrex's bountiful power to mature plants, which surprised it even more than battle strength.
Compared to what its elders had told it about human living environments, this place was a hundred or a thousand times better.
Tinkatink felt waves of longing and even instinctively imagined how wonderful it would be to live here.
If it could, it could focus entirely on forging weapons and honing its smithing skills, instead of wasting time every day just trying to fill its stomach.
But as soon as this thought emerged, Tinkatink ruthlessly cut it off.
What a joke!
Tinkatink was destined to become the boss of the mountain Pokémon, after all!
Besides, just complaining about searching for food—its elders had always said, only by enduring hardships that ordinary folks can't can one temper their mind and become an outstanding craftsman.
Lucas, not knowing what Tinkatink was thinking, led it along with Calyrex and Ogerpon to the open area of the farm.
Under Tinkatink's puzzled gaze, Lucas produced something that looked like a whistle.
The next second—
Lucas blew the whistle.
The piercing sound echoed over the entire farm.
Immediately, Tinkatink, covering its ears, witnessed a scene it would never forget.
Several Corviknight circling above the farm landed under the guidance of the whistle, obediently accepting Lucas's strokes.
And from afar, more Corviknight and Corvisquire were flying over.
Tinkatink stared at Lucas in shock. It had fantasized about capturing and taming a few Corviknight to have unlimited materials.
But seeing so many Corviknight obediently flying over at Lucas's whistle, its worldview was completely shattered.
Its newly built resolve suddenly began to crumble.
Seeing Tinkatink dazed—even Ogerpon waving in front of it got no response—Lucas's planful smile appeared.
There's even more for you to envy.
During this period, Lucas hadn't been bringing different Pokémon to meet Tinkatink for nothing.
He'd already figured out exactly what Tinkatink cared about.
Ignoring Tinkatink for now, Lucas looked at the Corviknight and Corvisquire on the ground, all staring at him like a flock of chickens, and smiled.
"I've arranged for Oranguru to give everyone an extra meal. It'll be delivered soon; as usual, just trade with your naturally shed feathers."
"One feather is fine, ten is fine, a hundred is fine too. What matters is the thought."
The Corviknight and Corvisquire exchanged glances, spread their iron wings, and called out in raspy voices.
Though the sound was as grating as nails on a chalkboard, making teeth ache, Tinkatink could only feel envy looking at the gathering pile of feathers.
It had to sneak in the grass outside the farm every day, working hard to collect just a small handful, while Lucas could get a whole pile with a wave!
So sour! It felt completely surrounded by lemons!
Lucas smiled and put away the whistle.
This whistle was basically his "meal call"—these food-crazed Corviknight and Corvisquire responded fiercely.
And the effect was excellent.
Even Calyrex's telepathy said the desire in Tinkatink's eyes was about to overflow.
Seeing this,
Lucas struck while the iron was hot and opened the final event—
He let Tinkatink visit a blazing Fire-type Pokémon battle!
Still the open area, but a little further from the new house—the usual training ground for Luxray and the others.
A bit further ahead was the hill where Raging Bolt practiced Electric-type moves.
If you squinted, you could even see its long neck.
There were four Fire-type Pokémon on the farm, plus Ash's Charizard, Cyndaquil, and Charcadet—a total of seven.
The unhatched Larvesta didn't count, nor did Ogerpon's Hearthflame Mask, which rarely used its fire.
They could also invite the Talonflame tribe next to the Corviknight territory, but Lucas didn't think it was necessary.
Quality over quantity—enough is enough.
As they neared the area, a wave of hot air hit them.
Ogerpon quietly put on its Hearthflame Mask, otherwise, it really didn't want to get close to the blazing heat.
Despite its own type disadvantage, Tinkatink stepped forward, gazing at the overwhelming flames.
Among them—
Ceruledge's eerie will-o'-the-wisp sword, the fire-blade that amazed Tinkatink...
Arcanine's magma flames fused with stone, burning in patterns...
Moltres' pure searing flames, with faint rainbow shimmers...
Victini's special V-Create, radiating waves of victory...
As well as Charizard and Cyndaquil, and the flames of Charcadet closely following Ceruledge.
At that moment,
Tinkatink's inner defenses completely collapsed.
For a smith, the three most important things are:
Raw materials.
A workshop to pour your soul into.
Indispensable flames.
The flames Tinkatink usually used were all painstakingly gathered by various means.
Just melting materials cost it countless time and effort.
Its skills were decent, but because the flames weren't hot enough, it often failed.
These problems were endlessly frustrating.
But now—
The flames before it were like Prometheus's first stolen fire, illuminating its heart.
Just seeing these intense fires, Tinkatink felt an urge stirring inside.
I want to forge right now!
…
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, it was already dusk.
At the farm entrance—
Tinkatink saw a mountain of gifts piled up before it and felt troubled.
The Pokémon of Lucas's farm were just too enthusiastic.
How could it carry all these things home?
Seeing its difficulty, Lucas smiled and said, "Don't worry, Calyrex will use its psychic power to teleport everything to the entrance of your cave."
"Kanu."
Tinkatink nodded blankly, not sure if it had been listening.
At that moment—
As if he'd just remembered, Lucas "casually" revealed, "By the way, I'm planning to expand the farm again soon."
Tinkatink tilted its head, full of question marks.
"According to the area the League assigned me, the mountain you live on is included—"
Lucas paused, smiling:
"In the future, I'll probably select a manager from the Pokémon there, like one of the Houndooms, to manage and guard the mountain—just like the Corviknight."
"Please take care of things—"
Thud!
Before Lucas finished, Tinkatink dropped to the ground in a pose like a vassal, almost prostrating itself.
Then, it looked up at Lucas, face full of self-recommendation.
"Kanu——!" (Please let me join the farm as your vassal——!)
Tinkatink admitted, all its previous persistence and bottom lines were nothing but empty talk.
Along the way, it had interacted with many of the farm Pokémon and realized the treatment here was the envy of wild Pokémon everywhere.
What did that mean?
No worries about food or drink!
Not to mention all the blazing flames it coveted.
With no more time spent foraging, and so much fiery help, Tinkatink was confident it could become a smith greater than any elder of its kind!
Besides, it didn't mind forging items for Lucas.
In fact, it now hoped Lucas would accept its request to join.
Tinkatink gazed eagerly at Lucas, waiting for his reply.
Ogerpon, seeing it off, tugged Lucas's sleeve, as if pleading for Tinkatink.
Lucas squatted down, smiling as he patted Ogerpon's head, then looked at the nervous Tinkatink.
He didn't put on airs or act superior, nor did he make things difficult and then "graciously" allow it in.
Every Pokémon on the farm was a partner, a friend.
Tinkatink was no exception.
Still squatting, Lucas turned, took Tinkatink's hand, and helped it up, trying to meet its eyes.
"I was planning to invite you, but you beat me to it."
"It's not just you who needs us—we need you, too."
"This time, let me be the one to ask."
"Our family is missing a promising blacksmith. Tinkatink, will you join us?"
Lucas released its hand, then, in invitation, extended his palm to Tinkatink, smiling warmly.
Tinkatink hesitated, then smiled brightly.
It took Lucas's hand—and Ogerpon's, who couldn't resist joining.
"Kanu!"
…