Lickitung and Rhyperior—these strong Pokémon—were assigned to clear the trees that had fallen on the road.
Under Lucas's instructions, they carried these fallen trees back to the Breeding House. Once the weather cleared up, they would use Slash on them and dry them to use as firewood for cooking.
The other, weaker Pokémon were assigned to sweep up small gravel and iron shards on the road.
Seeing that the entire road was almost cleared, Lucas entrusted the remaining work to Mr. and Mrs. Fujino. After handing the mop to the nearby Ambipom, he was just about to turn around and walk into the Breeding House when the sound of a motorcycle rang out.
"Lucas."
Lucas turned around and saw Officer Jenny, with Nurse Joy sitting behind her.
"Sister Reese? What are you doing here?"
Lucas asked curiously. Shouldn't they be handling things in Twinleaf Town right now?
"Aren't you guys handling things in Twinleaf Town?"
Officer Jenny got off the motorcycle, reached out to help Nurse Joy down, and said, "Twinleaf Town took precautions in advance, so it didn't suffer much damage. Aside from the power lines being damaged, everything else is fine. I came over after making the arrangements there."
"Are the power lines fixed?"
"Not yet, they're still being repaired. The mayor said we should take this opportunity to upgrade all the power lines and bury them underground. This way, we can better prevent accidents where they get torn down and shock people. So Twinleaf Town is currently upgrading its power lines. Power probably won't be restored until tonight."
Officer Jenny took the water handed to her by Shauna, took a sip, patted her little head in thanks, and continued, "Linnea and I were worried that the Breeding House would be too busy, so we came over as soon as we finished up there."
Hearing this, Lucas's heart warmed. He could tell that Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy had rushed over in a hurry, as their hair was still wet.
"Thank you."
Lucas said softly.
Officer Jenny rolled her eyes. "So? Is there anything we can help with next?"
"Just let us know what to do," Nurse Joy said with a smile.
Lucas opened his mouth, then saw figures walking over in the distance.
"Lucas!"
A familiar voice, a familiar loud shout.
The large group of grandpas and grandmas from Twinleaf Town had arrived at the Breeding House.
"Why did you all come out in this kind of weather?"
Lucas asked as he looked at the crowd gathered at the entrance of the Breeding House.
"We were worried something might happen to the Breeding House. After all, you might not have experienced a typhoon before. If the precautions aren't done right, the Breeding House could be severely damaged."
Hearing Grandpa Manny's words, Lucas found it a bit funny, but he was also deeply touched.
"Don't worry, Grandpa Manny. Before I came here, I had experienced over twenty years of typhoons, with several of them every year. I have experience."
"That's good then. Don't mind us, we just came by to see if there's anything we can help with. Go on and do what you need to do. Are you repairing the road here?"
Grandpa Manny asked, looking at the Pokémon clearing the Breeding Road not far away.
"Yes."
"Alright. Leave this to us. Is there any damage inside your Breeding House? If nothing else, we folks can still do things like patching up roofs."
Grandpa Manny scanned the roof of the Breeding House, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he asked.
"Lucas, don't you worry. I've been repairing roofs for decades. I guarantee I can patch it up so it looks brand new."
"There's no damage, don't worry. Grandpas, grandmas, everything at the Breeding House is perfectly intact."
Lucas comforted the elderly folks before him. Seeing how worried they were about him, he thought for a moment and said, "How about this, grandpas and grandmas: if you have time, could you help me clear the Breeding Road? I'll head to the forest in the back to see if there's anything I can help with there."
"No problem." "Go ahead." "Leave it to us." "Do you want us to go with you?"
"No need, we'll head over ourselves."
Lucas looked at Mr. Fujino, who nodded back, indicating he would take good care of the elderly folks.
Lucas felt relieved. With Staraptor and the others keeping an eye on things here, nothing major should go wrong.
"Sister Reese, Sister Joy, shall we go check out the forest together?"
Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy nodded together. "No problem."
So Lucas led them, along with Gengar and the others, toward the backyard, then walked straight through it to the Forest Area. After a moment's thought, he also called Vespiquen along.
As soon as they entered the forest, Lucas was startled by the chaotic scene before him.
"It's this bad?"
Lucas's mouth fell open.
"Back in town, I didn't feel like this typhoon was that terrifying. I didn't expect its power to devastate the forest like this..."
Nurse Joy said, looking at the broken trees lying all over the ground, the large boulders, and the debris blown in from other places.
"But why is the forest destroyed like this? I took a look at the backyard of the Breeding House earlier, and it didn't seem to have changed at all."
Nurse Joy asked Lucas in confusion.
"It's a secret."
Lucas kept her in suspense, only to receive an iron fist from Officer Jenny.
"Stop being so mysterious."
Officer Jenny withdrew her fist and asked, "What should we do now?"
"Let's first check if any of the forest Pokémon are injured. If not, we can work with them to clean up the forest and clear away all these trees and rocks."
Lucas said, grimacing in pain.
"Alright, we'll do as you say."
"Yeah."
Lucas led them to the Cave, where he found the Lopunny Family, Kricketune, and the others gathered. There were quite a few injured Pokémon.
Nurse Joy immediately went over to treat their injuries, and Roserade also ran up to help with the healing.
Seeing many Pokémon quickly recover under Roserade's assistance, Lucas finally remembered that Roserade seemed to have powerful healing abilities. It was just that it usually liked to run off to the Cottage, so he had forgotten about it.
For some more seriously injured Pokémon, such as those with fractures, Roserade turned to ask Lucas what to do.
"Stabilize them first, then bring them back to the Breeding House. Once they've healed there, they can return."
Roserade nodded.
Lucas walked over to Lopunny and reached out to stroke its ears. Lopunny comfortably narrowed its eyes, letting Lucas pet its long ears.
"Are the other Pokémon in the forest doing okay?"
Hearing Lucas's question, Lopunny opened its eyes and shook its head sadly.
Many Pokémon had been blown away.
Lucas was also a bit saddened. "They'll be fine."
After comforting Lopunny, Lucas stood up and looked at Officer Jenny. "Let's go look for any Pokémon that might have been blown away nearby, and clear away these trees and rocks while we're at it."
"What about Linnea?"
"These Pokémon will protect Sister Joy, right?"
The surrounding wild Pokémon all nodded.
Luxray walked onto a large boulder and lay down.
"Lux."
Don't worry, I'm here.
Hearing this highly reassuring statement, Lucas smiled.
As expected of the Breeding House's "Great Raikou."
As everyone knew, in the Breeding House, Ninetales was known as the "Great Entei," Azumarill was called the "Great Suicune," and Luxray—
—was known as the "Great Raikou."
Lucas reached out and vigorously rubbed its lion-like head.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Luxray squinted its eyes and nodded.
Watching Lucas walk away, Lopunny followed without the slightest hesitation.
Along the way, when they encountered fallen trees, Lucas had Dash and the others use Slash to chop the trees into logs and set them aside, planning to come back another day to bring them back to the Breeding House to use as firewood. When they ran into rocks, he had Rhyperior and the others smash them, and then had Gothitelle clear the gravel, branches, and other debris blown in by the wind into one place for easier cleanup later.
They also found some Pokémon injured by the typhoon, and even some that had been blown in from elsewhere. Most of these Pokémon had lost consciousness, but with Gothitelle around, they were fed some herbal medicine. Then, other Pokémon carried these unconscious Pokémon to find Nurse Joy for treatment.
"Fortunately, this was just a typhoon and not a wildfire,"
Lucas sighed, looking back as they reached the edge of the forest.
Because he was tired from walking, he sat on Ninetales' back.
Beside him, Nurse Joy sat on Arcanine's back.
"Indeed. Even though a typhoon damages the forest, it won't take long for the forest to heal itself. But if it were a wildfire..."
Officer Jenny fell silent, recalling the time Pokémon Hunter J had come here to start a fire.
As an ecosystem, a forest was resilient against many natural disasters, but not wildfires. Even a tiny spark could drain the entire forest of life.
"Don't worry. Now, Gengar and I, along with the others, can protect all of this."
After saying this, Lucas reached out to pinch the corners of Gengar's mouth, only to find himself grabbing thin air.
???
"Gengar?"
There was no response.
Lucas turned his head and scanned the surroundings, but Gengar was nowhere to be seen.
"?! Is Gengar missing?!"
"Look behind you."
Latias's voice rang out. Lucas turned his head back and saw a purple figure sticking its large rear in the air, buried head-first next to a bamboo grove, digging for something.
Lucas climbed down from Ninetales' back and approached Gengar from behind. He found Gengar humming a little tune about patching up clothes while digging up something with a pointy top.
Are these bamboo shoots?
After spring, especially after a typhoon, the abundant rain caused many bamboo shoots to sprout from the ground.
Lucas looked around and saw sprouting bamboo shoots everywhere.
Gengar dug up the bamboo shoots happily. It hadn't expected to discover such a treasure trove while out working today.
Gengar was in an extremely wonderful mood.
Just as it was focusing on digging, a voice suddenly boomed like thunder.
"What are you doing!"
Startled, Gengar gripped the bamboo shoot in its hand, spun around, and smacked it right across Lucas's face.
Smack—
Gothitelle: (0_0) What are you doing?!
Lilligant: ( `_ゝ´)
Ninetales: (╬° dish°)
Gengar: ∑(O_O;)
Gengar: (⊙_⊙)
Gengar: I'm doomed—
Lucas forced back his tears, covered his face with his hand, and wiped them away.
"Are you trying to murder me?"
Lucas asked Gengar, who was standing in front of him.
Gengar stood at attention in midair, bowing its head with a guilty expression.
Looking at its remorseful face, Lucas endured the pain on his cheek and pulled at the corners of Gengar's mouth. "You hit me. As punishment, you must dig up enough bamboo shoots by yourself to feed everyone at the Breeding House. But you can't dig up all the bamboo shoots here. Got it?!"
Lucas made his tone sound a bit fiercer.
Gengar grinned.
"You're still laughing! Go dig right now! No dinner for you if you don't finish!"
"Gen gengar"
Does it hurt a lot?
Lucas let go of its mouth and did a facial gymnastics performance right in front of it.
"How could it hurt? This little force is nothing."
After saying this, Lucas even raised his eyebrows.
Seeing this, Gengar happily turned back around and continued digging up bamboo shoots.
Lucas returned to Gothitelle's side and squeezed her hand.
It hurts so much—
Seeing Lucas's grimacing face, Gothitelle took out some topical Potion and applied a bit to his cheek.
"Gothitelle."
Bear with it.
After whispering softly in Lucas's ear, Gothitelle suddenly applied pressure.
Lucas felt like he was about to wet his pants.
Mother Gothitelle, you're using a public task to settle a personal grudge!
After being "gently" treated by Gothitelle, Lucas felt like he had finally come back to life.
However, his face still hurt a lot. He didn't even need to look to know it was swollen.
Just then, Lilligant came over to Lucas, took his hand, and glowed with a green light. Lucas felt a cool sensation on his face.
The pain subsided a bit.
"Why didn't you just heal me earlier?"
Seeing Lucas question her, Lilligant blinked innocently. "Lilli."
You didn't ask me.
Lucas: ———
I...
"You've changed, Lilligant. You've become so mischievous."
Lilligant smiled slightly and let go of Lucas's hand.
The burning sensation on his face returned.
"...I was wrong, Lilligant."
Lucas knew when to yield.
Lilligant slightly lifted her skirt and smiled.
"Lilli~"
I'm sly, I'm a big baddie.
Lucas: ———
It's all because of my big mouth.
Lucas was filled with regret.
"Vespi."
If you ask me, we shouldn't have applied medicine to him at all. Let him suffer.
"Vespiquen, that's so mean! Be careful, or you'll never get married."
"Vespi!"
None of your business!
Watching the interaction between Lucas and his Pokémon, Officer Jenny couldn't help but laugh.
"They have such a great relationship, don't they, Arcanine?"
"Awooo~"
We're not bad either.
"That's true."
Officer Jenny reached out and rubbed Arcanine's big head.
Looking at Gengar's back as it dug up bamboo shoots, Lucas thought for a moment and walked over to observe.
"As expected, there are plenty of mushrooms after a heavy rain."
Looking at the delicious mushrooms hidden under the leaves, Lucas turned back and said, "Everyone, let's pick some mushrooms. We'll have mushroom soup tonight!"
Meanwhile, Gengar was skillfully digging up one bamboo shoot after another.
It hummed the little tune Lucas had taught it.
As it dug, it cursed Lucas in its heart.
Lucas is such a big idiot!
Your face is so swollen, how could it not hurt!
Hmph! I'm going to dig up tons of bamboo shoots and stuff him to death! I'll make him cook for me every day and work him to death!
Who told him to lie to me!
Hmph!
Lucas looked at the mushroom in his hand. It was large and plump, looking extremely delicious.
"I don't believe I can't win you over, little Gengar."
Lucas whispered.
"Gothitelle."
I knew it—
Gothitelle had a "just as I thought" expression.
Since Lilligant was holding mushrooms in her hands, she couldn't cover her mouth, so she could only smile sweetly.
"Lilli~"
After all, he loves Gengar.
After a moment's thought, she added.
"Lilli."
He loves us a lot too.
"That's right, I love every single one of my Pokémon equally."
"Gothitelle."
Shameless, eavesdropping on girls' conversations.
Lucas: ———
You guys are literally communicating right in my ear, okay?!
While Lucas was dealing with the aftermath of the typhoon, in the Lily of the Valley region of the Sinnoh League...
The Lily of the Valley Conference was underway in full swing.
"Flint, let me see the results of your training."
Cynthia's gaze was disdainful, her voice cool and calm.
"I couldn't ask for more."
Flint's voice was filled with passion.
"Next, Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia and the Sinnoh League's Fire-type Elite Flint will kick off the Lily of the Valley Conference with a battle!"
"Garchomp, take to the skies!"
"Infernape, let's go!"
***************************
Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌