It was late at night when he returned to the Breeding House. Just as Lucas got off Latias's back, a yellow figure flew over.
"Vespiquen? You aren't asleep yet?"
Looking at the flying Vespiquen, Lucas was a bit surprised. He knew that Vespiquen cared deeply about her beauty sleep and rarely stayed up late.
"Are you waiting for me? Vespiquen, I'm so touched."
Lucas opened his arms, wanting to give Vespiquen a hug.
Vespiquen dodged Lucas's embrace and looked at him with an expression that said, "What is this idiot talking about?"
"Bee." (I thought there was a thief, so I came to check.)
Lucas: ——
Latias: Hahahaha!
Gengar: Hahahaha!
"Your laughter is hurting my eyes."
Lucas rolled his eyes.
Gothitelle and the others jumped out of their Poké Balls.
After yawning, Lucas said goodnight to Vespiquen, took the lead in walking back to the Breeding House, and went upstairs to wash up and sleep.
After Lucas and the others walked into the Breeding House, Vespiquen also turned around to head back to the hive.
The sound of flapping wings rang out. Vespiquen turned its head; a majestic Staraptor was watching it from a tree trunk.
Is there really a thief daring to come to the Breeding House?
"Bee." (None of your business, shut up!)
Vespiquen turned and left, leaving Staraptor in the moonlight, shaking its head helplessly before closing its eyes to continue sleeping.
After washing up, Lucas walked out of the bathroom. Gothitelle had already made the bed. Lucas thought for a moment, picked up his pillow, and went to sleep on the carpet.
Watching Lucas hug Mime Jr. and lie in Ninetales's arms, Gothitelle looked at the sheets she had just laid out and sighed.
Then she lay down on them herself.
If you aren't sleeping, I will.
Smelling the sleep-inducing floral scent of Lilligant beside his ear, Lucas's eyes fluttered shut.
"Goodnight, everyone."
He then fell into a deep sleep.
The night passed without incident.
Lucas sat up straight, looking at the sunlight streaming into the room, feeling a bit dazed.
At his feet, the slippery Plane Sister, whose sleeping posture was still outrageously bad, was fast asleep.
Gothitelle was tidying up the room, and Ninetales was still lying on the floor, squinting its eyes.
The quilt moved, and a small head peeked out.
"Nini?" (Is it dawn?)
Sleeping in Lucas's arms was too comfortable, so Mime Jr. had slept until it woke up naturally.
"Goth?" (Are you awake?)
Noticing that Lucas was awake, Gothitelle turned around to greet him.
Lucas scratched his bird's nest of hair, nodded, then gently kicked Plane Sister to the side with his foot, covered her with the quilt, and walked to the balcony.
At a small table on the balcony, Gengar and Lilligant were lying there drinking tea.
Lilligant looked like a little princess in a medieval princess dress, elegant and beautiful.
Contrast that with Gengar.
Looking at the monocle on Gengar's face, the newspaper in its hand, and the cane leaning against the balcony wall.
Is this a successful person Gengar today?
Lucas pondered Gengar's attire for the day.
"The newspaper is upside down."
"Gen gengar?" (Is it upside down?)
Lucas: ——
You didn't know it was upside down, yet you could read it for so long? How did you do that?
"How did you read it for so long?"
"Gen gengar!" (I won't tell you.)
Lucas squatted down and opened his arms. Lilligant smiled, put down her teacup, got up from the chair, and gently gave Lucas a good morning hug (though it was actually noon).
(Do you want a warm hug from Lilligant?)
Smelling the intoxicating floral scent by his ear, Lucas felt his entire soul had been elevated.
"Goth." (You really spoil him.)
Gothitelle floated out to the balcony, saw this scene, and spoke indifferently.
Lilligant said nothing, only covering her mouth and giggling.
"Mom, what are we eating for lunch today?"
"Goth." (Ribs and large shrimp.)
"Yesterday's fish soup was so delicious, I want to drink it again."
Gothitelle frowned, seemingly annoyed by Lucas's fussiness.
Just when Lucas thought there was no hope, Gothitelle nodded.
"Goth." (I'll call you when it's ready.)
Lucas showed a victorious smile.
Watching Gothitelle's departing back, Lilligant laughed even more happily.
Who is spoiling him more? It's hard to guess.
Lucas stretched, took a deep breath, and then leaned his hands on the balcony railing, looking at the vibrant backyard, feeling incredibly happy in his heart.
Sure enough, he never gets tired of looking at his own home.
Scanning the backyard, Lance was sitting in the garden, enjoying his leisurely time, crossing one leg over the other.
This guy, why does he have to wear that ragged cape even when drinking tea?
Poseur.
His Dragonite was soaking on the surface of the Lake area, swimming leisurely with Dragonair.
Seeming to sense Lucas watching him, Lance raised the cup in his hand and signaled to Lucas. Lucas pretended he had a cup in his hand too, and they toasted in the air.
A crisp sound broke this scene.
"Uncle!"
Lucas looked to the side and found that by the Lake area, little Shauna, wearing a yellow princess dress, was dragging Munchlax by its foot and waving at him.
Behind her was a long scratch mark.
Referring to the grass.
Lucas waved back with a smile, and then he saw Shauna easily pick up Munchlax, spin it around a few times, and throw it into the lake, creating a huge splash.
Thinking back to when he tried to pick up Munchlax and almost twisted his waist, Lucas wanted to laugh.
Munchlax swam gracefully to the shore and then ran off to play elsewhere with little Shauna.
Lucas turned to go back to the bathroom to wash up. After washing up, he found Gengar and Lilligant were still sitting on the balcony and asked curiously, "Aren't you going to eat?"
"Gen gengar!" (I've eaten, big ribs, slurrrp.)
"Lilli!" (We are full, you go eat quickly.)
"Gengar, look, how sensible Lilligant is, she's even worried I'm hungry. Look at you; I bet if Gothitelle hadn't stopped you, you would have eaten all my ribs!"
Gengar showed a guilty expression.
(*°□°)! !
How did he know!
Fortunately, Lucas didn't see its expression and waved his hand generously, "Let's go, I'll just drink the fish soup. Let's go downstairs, you can have the ribs."
"Gen gengar!"
Lucas is the best!
Slurrrp.
Lucas, who had just lifted his foot, froze in place.
Err——repaying kindness with enmity?
Mime Jr. skillfully climbed onto Lucas's shoulder, pried open his mouth, and stuffed a Cheri Berry inside.
The recovered Lucas pulled Gengar's tail, gave it a tug, let it leak some air in the air, then went to the two "lazy pigs" in the Breeding House and gently woke them up.
"Ah?! What's wrong?! Who are we fighting again?"
Plane Sister launched herself into the air, her eyes full of vigilance, looking at the innocent (foolish) and cute (adorable) Plane Sister in front of him, Lucas felt a pang of heartache.
Look, this child has been so traumatized, she's almost developed a stress response.
"We're home, no fighting, let's go downstairs to eat."
"Oh, so it's time to eat——eat? Let's go!"
After speaking, Plane Sister flew directly out of the balcony.
"Come back, you haven't washed up yet——"
Plane Sister had already disappeared.
Lucas felt inexplicably tired.
Lucas looked at Ninetales and found that Ninetales was lying on the carpet, opening its big eyes and looking at him.
"Alright, get up and eat."
Ninetales nodded lazily.
After taking Gengar and the others downstairs, Gothitelle was walking out of the kitchen with a casserole. Lucas leaned in to take a look; it was white fish soup, emitting an enticing aroma.
After finishing lunch, Mrs. Fujino handed the report of the Pokémon's condition at the Breeding House recorded during this period to Lucas. Lucas took it and sat in the rest area to read it carefully.
"Huh? Have three Pokémon hatched in the incubation room?"
Lucas looked at the report and asked in confusion.
"Yes, the day after you left, they hatched one after another. They are Totodile, Ralts, and a Skitty."
"How is their health?"
"Very healthy. They are currently in the backyard, able to eat, drink, and jump around."
Lucas nodded, intending to go to the backyard later to give them a check-up.
"This Ralts shouldn't be the one from the egg that Gardevoir sent over, right?"
Lucas remembered that when his Great-Aunt's friend, Gardevoir, came back, she also gave him a Ralts egg.
"No, it hatched from the pokémon egg that Officer Jenny sent over."
Mrs. Fujino remembered it very clearly because Lucas was used to putting the pokémon eggs entrusted to him by others or Pokémon separately so that when he met a suitable Trainer, he could correctly entrust these Pokémon.
For example, the Kubfu egg, the Happiny egg, and that Ralts egg sent by Gardevoir. The Dratini egg had already been bought by Little Tomoyo.
"Is Munchlax behaving very lively?"
"To be precise, it's very lively. Perhaps influenced by little Shauna, Munchlax has been very active during this time. Compared to sleeping for a dozen or twenty hours a day when it first came to the Breeding House, now it only starts sleeping at ten o'clock in the evening and wakes up after six o'clock in the morning. For the rest of the day, it almost doesn't sleep, but its appetite has become a little better."
"How much more? The appetite."
"It's about a quarter more than its original food intake."
Mrs. Fujino estimated.
"That's fine, it's not even comparable to Rhyperior, we can afford to raise it."
With just this amount of food, the Breeding House could afford to raise ten more.
"However, this Munchlax is a bit strange; it is very enthusiastic about work. For example, when it is assigned some work and asked to help, it is very attentive. Whether it is some weeding work or moving stones, it is very active. If it is not assigned work, it will even get angry."
At this time, Mr. Fujino interjected, "This Munchlax is different from all the Munchlax I have seen. The Munchlax I have seen sleep almost all day."
Lucas remembered what he had said to Munchlax and laughed.
"Perhaps it belongs to the diligent Munchlax."
After Lucas finished reading the report, in the backyard, a Pachirisu and a Buneary had been taken away, and a Buizel egg had been bought in the incubation room; there were no other changes.
No Trainer had left their Pokémon at the Breeding House. Rather than saying that, it was better to say that all Trainers were on their way to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference.
"We must prepare in advance. The Lily of the Valley Conference is about to start. I guess the Breeding House will be very busy during and for a while after the Lily of the Valley Conference."
"Yes, we will be on high alert."
Mrs. Fujino nodded and said.
"By the way, Manager, little Shauna's school plans to go on a field trip for a few days tomorrow, in the countryside not far from Twinleaf Town."
"A field trip? Do parents need to accompany them?"
Such a young child, going on a field trip, should need parents to accompany them, right? After all, she is still so young.
"That's not necessary, it's just that little Shauna will be leaving the Breeding House for a few days. I'm afraid you will miss her, so I told you in advance."
"I don't mind, as long as she has fun, but is it really okay not to have parents accompany her? Little Shauna is still so young."
"Manager, little Shauna is no longer young. She can go on a journey next year."
Going on a journey isn't that when they are ten years old? Isn't that still young?
That's true, you can't look at today's problems with the eyes of the past, but Lucas was still a little worried.
"How about this, I'll have Staraptor and the others follow behind, communicate with the school, and let little Shauna bring Rapidash as well. That way, there will be some guarantees to avoid any accidents."
The more Lucas talked, the more outrageous it became, "How about letting Latias follow behind too? No, Luxray can also follow behind, then why not add a Pinsir or Heracross? Or should I just let Gengar follow?"
Hearing Lucas becoming more and more outrageous, Mrs. Fujino sighed helplessly.
"Manager, there will be no fun in going on a field trip like this."
Lucas thought about it, and it seemed to be the same truth.
"Then let Staraptor and Gliscor follow behind."
Mrs. Fujino nodded.
"Then let's arrange it like that. It will be hard for you two. I'll go to the backyard to check the condition of the hatched Totodile and the others."
Lucas closed the report, returned it to Mrs. Fujino, then stood up and walked to the backyard with Ninetales.
Gengar was still sitting in the Breeding House, eating snacks and watching cartoons.
Lucas found Totodile in the Lake area. The newly hatched one had never seen Lucas. When it was caught by Lucas, it frantically used Water Gun on Lucas.
It was soft and weak.
It could only drench Lucas all over.
"Quite energetic, can you learn Water Gun right after hatching? This little pee, you soaked me."
Lucas pressed down on Totodile, showing an evil smile.
Ninetales on the side used Heat Wave to dry Lucas, and then stared at the Totodile in Lucas's arms with its fox head.
Because it was backlit, Ninetales's face appeared seven parts dark and three parts bright in Totodile's eyes.
"Shoo?" (Do you want to pee again and see?)
The newborn Totodile was scared and shrank into Lucas's arms.
It let Lucas do whatever he wanted.
"Not struggling anymore?"
Lucas, who didn't know what happened, was confused when he saw Totodile stop struggling, but his work didn't stop. He made it open its mouth and checked its teeth.
"Okay, very healthy, go play."
Lucas put Totodile down. Totodile moved its short legs and ran away for the first time, running to little Shauna's side, crying and complaining to little Shauna.
Hearing Totodile's complaints, little Shauna came to Lucas's side aggressively, "Uncle, did you bully Totodile? Don't you know that Totodile is my new little brother?"
"I was giving it a check-up. I heard you're going on a field trip tomorrow?"
"Yes, hehe, setting off with Little Tomoyo tomorrow, there are many classmates too. Uncle, uncle, can I bring some snacks?"
"Of course you can, have fun."
"Thank you, Uncle."
Little Shauna ran back to Munchlax and the others happily.
Totodile: ???
Didn't you say you would vent your anger for me?
"Oh, I forgot, hehe——"
After coaxing little Shauna with a few sentences, Lucas went to the Forest Area to check on Ralts and the Skitty in the planting area.
After finishing, Lucas came to the garden, looking at Lance, who looked like he was on vacation.
"You're living the life. Is there nothing left to do in the Kanto Region?"
"Nothing left. The League Conference is over. Now I guess all the leagues are finished except for your Sinnoh League."
Lance said with a flat tone.
"It will start in a few days too."
"Don't bother me, I'm going to sleep for a while."
Lucas: ——
Dodo-bird, this is my home——
Looking at Lance, who had already closed his eyes, Lucas was helpless.
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