Since preparations on the other side weren't finished yet, and at Karen's strong insistence, after Weavile's injuries had been completely healed and its stamina fully restored by the Nurse Joy stationed at Indigo Plateau, Lucas simply agreed to another one-on-one battle with her.
The Pokémon she sent out was still Weavile, and Lucas still used Dragonite—but this time, from the very start, the momentum was firmly in Lucas and Dragonite's favor.
The reason was extremely simple.
Before the battle began, Karen said to Lucas:
"You and Dragonite weren't fighting at full power just now, were you? Please go all out this time and let me see the true gap between us."
So the moment the second battle started, Lucas threw out his Tera Orb. Under the focused gaze of Karen and Goodshow, he Terastallized Dragonite.
Facing a Terastallized Dragonite whose weaknesses had become almost impossible to exploit, Weavile basically had no room to fight back.
In just about half the time of the previous battle, Weavile lost the ability to fight under the terrifying power of Dragonite's Extreme Speed, as well as the irresistible Hurricanes that fully incorporated Lugia's teachings.
After the match ended, Karen recalled Weavile, handed its Poké Ball to the standby Nurse Joy beside her, then turned to Lucas with a light, relieved smile. "Looks like I'm still far behind."
Even if she switched to her ace Houndoom, the result probably wouldn't change.
"That just means Elite Karen still has plenty of room to grow."
Lucas thought for a moment and gave what he felt was a high–emotional-intelligence response.
Karen chuckled and, from the bottom of her heart, asked:
"Would you mind telling me what you used just now?
"It seemed that after you used that orb, Dragonite was no longer afraid of ice."
Goodshow, having set his flags aside, also gave Lucas a curious look.
Compared to Karen, he knew a bit more. That phenomenon seemed to be unique to the Paldea region, right? Did that mean simply using a crystal orb would allow it to be used here in Kanto as well?
Freeing himself from Dragonite's powerful bear hug, Lucas picked up the Tera Orb that had lost its glow and showed it to Karen and Goodshow.
"This is a Tera Orb. Its purpose is to collect and release Tera energy. As you saw, it can only let a Pokémon Terastallize once; after that, it has to be recharged back in Paldea."
"You both saw the diamond above Dragonite's head after it Terastallized, right? That's called a Tera Crown. There are eighteen types of crowns in total, one for each type. After Terastallization, a Pokémon's type will temporarily become the type represented by its Tera Crown."
Listening carefully to Lucas's explanation, Karen's brows furrowed. A realization suddenly dawned on her, and she asked, "Then just now, Dragonite's Tera Crown represented…"
"Normal type."
Lucas directly answered her question.
Karen's eyes flew wide. In that case, it made sense. In the second battle, Dragonite had tanked Weavile's Avalanches, Icicle Crashes, and Ice Punches and still counterattacked without flinching. Its Extreme Speed had been horrifyingly powerful as well.
Goodshow stroked his white beard, awe in his heart.
More than anyone, he understood how monumental a strategic role Terastallization—an ability that can temporarily change types—would play in battles between opponents of similar strength.
Then there was Galar's Dynamax phenomenon, and Mega Evolution in Kalos and Hoenn, and the Alola region that had submitted an application to establish a Pokémon League…
It seemed he shouldn't only focus on managing relations among nearby regions like Sinnoh and Unova. When the chance arose, he'd have to work on building closer, friendlier ties with regions on the other side of the planet, such as Paldea.
Not long after the second match ended, Lucas received the one-time capsules containing the three seedlings.
Goodshow caught Lucas's hand and, in a weathered voice, carefully reminded him:
"These three seedlings are, respectively, special varieties of Nanab Berry, Pinap Berry, and Razz Berry trees. Each capsule has a clear label. When you plant them back home, you must strictly follow the transplant method in the manual I gave you to ensure the highest chance of survival."
Lucas solemnly stowed away the three capsules and the cultivation manual, nodding seriously. "I'll take good care of them."
Goodshow smiled. He had just lifted his hand to pat Lucas's shoulder when his sharp-eyed secretary hurried over with a footstool, placing it under his feet and then stepping right back.
The whole sequence flowed smooth as water.
Standing on the footstool, Goodshow patted Lucas's shoulder and asked with a laugh, "Planning to pick up a Chikorita as well? The daycare at Indigo Plateau is already prepared."
Lucas certainly wanted to.
But after a brief pause to think—just smoothing things over between Serperior and Moltres had taken so much effort. If he picked a Chikorita, it would definitely be the clingiest one he could find.
If he brought such a sticky Chikorita back to the ranch, Lucas suspected that, in front of an enraged Serperior, only one of him or Chikorita would be allowed to remain. He might as well give up on the idea.
Thinking this, Lucas shook his head at Goodshow and answered honestly, with a helpless expression, "Most Chikorita are pretty clingy by nature. I'm afraid it will cause conflicts with some of my other Pokémon when I get back, so I'll pass."
Paldea's air was already very fresh, and there were many Grass-type Pokémon on his farm. It wasn't as if he had to bring a Chikorita back.
Hearing this, Goodshow gave him a "I understand" look, deep and meaningful, then patted Lucas's shoulder again with a bit of sympathy. "You have it rough."
Sometimes, a Pokémon's jealousy could be truly frightening.
Lucas chatted idly with Goodshow for a bit longer and arranged that when Goodshow came to inspect the Paldea region in the future, Lucas would host him as a guest at his farm.
Then, under Goodshow and Karen's watchful gazes, Lucas mounted the now fully recovered Dragonite and hurried back to Paldea as soon as possible to transplant the three special Berry saplings.
High in the sky, Lucas held Victini in his arms, the Pokémon invisible the entire time and happily absorbing the waves of victory from Lucas's two wins against Karen. He opened the manual Goodshow had given him.
Thanks to Dragonite's continued use of Fly, it had formed a protective sheath of air currents around them. Lucas didn't have to worry about any of the troubles that came with supersonic flight, and could even open a physical book and read through the planting methods for the three saplings.
The first few pages of the manual detailed the environmental, temperature, and humidity requirements for the saplings.
The specifications were extremely demanding—precise down to a few decimal places. It was very strict.
Lucas thought for a moment. Even if he couldn't control the conditions as rigidly as in the underground greenhouse at Indigo Plateau…
With the help of his farm's Pokémon, keeping conditions close to what was required would be no problem at all.
After that, it would all be up to the omnipotent Grassy Terrain composite fields.
If that still wasn't enough, he could ask the Crown Tundra's regal ancestor Calyrex for help, and then go borrow some of the black soil tilled by Tapu Bulu in Alola.
With no more pressure about the transplant and cultivation work, Lucas flipped to the later pages of the manual.
There, the research performed by the Indigo Plateau–funded labs on the effects of the Gold & Silver Nanab, Gold & Silver Pinap, and Gold & Silver Razz were detailed.
Compared to their normal counterparts—which were mostly used as cooking ingredients or materials for making Poffins or Pokéblocks—the three Gold & Silver series Berries had brand-new and extremely rare effects.
Silver/Gold Nanab Berry:
According to research, ordinary Nanab Berries are ingredients for making spicy, Cool-boosting Pokéblocks. The silver and gold versions, however, lose their clear spiciness and gain a completely new effect.
Pokémon that eat this Berry long-term become more dependent on the researcher/trainer feeding them, showing a clear rise in affection. In some cases, Eevee have evolved into Espeon/Umbreon as a result.
But this isn't due to any chemical addiction; it's a subtle, cumulative influence—like, "He fed me delicious food again today, I like him even more now."
The gold version is far more effective than the silver.
Unfortunately, silver and gold Berries are extremely rare. With too small a sample size, it's impossible to produce more detailed and rigorous scientific conclusions.
Silver/Gold Pinap Berry:
Compared to the strong sweetness of ordinary Pinap Berries, the silver and gold versions have a gentler, more refined flavor and are much more palatable. As with Nanab, they also gain a brand-new effect.
Pokémon that eat silver/gold Pinap Berries show greatly calmed emotions roughly ten minutes after eating, regardless of whether the original emotion was excitement, anger, joy, or sadness.
Even a Primeape that stays angry all day, after eating a silver/gold Pinap Berry, will see its rage soothed and moderated, giving some Primeape—whose bodies were already at risk from constant rage—a chance to breathe.
These Berries may contain some entirely new and unknown sedative component. Due to limited samples, we cannot perform systematic component analyses or draw firm conclusions.
Silver/Gold Razz Berry:
Research shows that while ordinary Razz Berries are sharply sour, the gold/silver versions have evolved in terms of taste. The astringent sourness that usually requires large amounts of Combee honey to mask is gone; their original flavor is highlighted instead, without any unpleasant bite.
Effect: Unknown.
However, the luck of both Pokémon and researchers who have eaten these Berries seems to have improved in strange ways. Given that research demands evidence, vague "feelings" cannot be taken as proof.
In the Alola region, there is a beverage called Razz Juice, said to be made from Razz Berry, Combee honey, and certain plants unique to Alola. It's a pity our samples are too valuable to use for juicing, or we could have tasted Gold/Silver Razz Berry juice—it must be incredible.
Rather than an official guide, this section read more like a researcher's personal notes.
Lucas's expression grew thoughtful.
In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu/Eevee, the Gold & Silver Nanab Berries increased catch rate; now, they'd become a way to subtly raise a Pokémon's affection.
Gold & Silver Pinap Berries still had roughly the same effect as in-game: calming a Pokémon's emotions.
Gold & Silver Razz Berries had the most abstract effect. In the games, they increased item drop rates. Based on what was written in the manual, though, Lucas had strong reason to suspect that eating Gold & Silver Razz might actually boost your luck.
No wonder this was the Pokémon world— even crops had bizarre, almost supernatural effects.
Thinking as he read, Lucas turned to the very last page of the manual.
Unlike the printed text before, this page was hand-written.
Reading through the messy scrawl and understanding its meaning, Lucas's brows knit together.
It was clearly the researcher's private musings.
[Why, out of dozens of Berry species, did only these three mutate and gain special effects?
Do they share some underlying similarity?
If a Pokémon regularly consumed all three types of Gold & Silver Berries, would some brand-new change occur?
I really want to study the mystery behind them, but I can't. There simply aren't enough samples for sustained experimentation.]
Lucas: "…"
Why did those lines feel so much like something written by a mad scientist?
Still, the researcher's questions reminded Lucas of something.
If each Gold/Silver Berry alone already had magical effects, what would happen if you paired any two together—or even all three? Would their effects conflict, compromise each other, or synergize and fuse into an entirely new effect?
Lucas wasn't a researcher, so he decided to throw the question at his system.
When he asked, the system seemed to lag out for a moment, then finally replied:
[The effects of the three Gold & Silver Berries are complementary. If certain specific Pokémon ingest them continuously and are raised properly, there is a chance they may, through postnatal cultivation, become Partner Pokémon.]
…
League Calendar, Year 798, August 16th.
Paldea Region – Lucas Farm.
A full day had passed since Lucas left Indigo Plateau and returned to his farm.
Without needing Calyrex's help, and relying instead on the composite Grassy Terrain provided by Florges and its companions plus the plowing of Mudsdale, the three seedlings were successfully transplanted and had all survived in a special plot of land reserved for Gold & Silver Berry trees.
This morning, with no classes on his schedule, Lucas had, as usual, finished tending to the ranch, then headed to the Pokémon Center in town to receive medical training from Nurse Joy.
At that moment, a figure Lucas found extremely familiar rushed into the Pokémon Center in a flustered panic.
The classic Switch-colored bob cut, and a massive Eevee backpack on her back—far too big for her frame, and hard to imagine how she found the willpower to keep wearing it in this sweltering summer heat.
The newcomer was one of Lucas's students: Penny.
Penny, clutching a severely weakened Flareon, burst into the Pokémon Center. She didn't care at all about the sweat constantly sliding down her pale cheeks as she shouted, "Is Nurse Joy here!?"
"I'm here!"
Joy, who had been teaching Lucas how to identify medicinal herbs, immediately shot to her feet. She turned toward Penny's anxious face and, from her expression alone, instantly discerned that this must be an emergency. She raised her voice to call into the deeper rooms of the Center:
"Chansey, get a stretcher and prep the emergency room!"
As she spoke, Joy vaulted over the reception counter with practiced ease and quickly reached Penny. She took Flareon from her arms and gently laid it on the floor.
Lucas also set his book aside and hurried over. Seeing Penny's anxious expression and the Flareon in her arms, he frowned. "What happened?"
The moment Penny saw Lucas, it was like she'd found her savior. She grabbed his hand, her voice trembling. "Teacher Lucas! I don't know… On the way back to the Academy from a video game convention, Flareon suddenly collapsed…"
Based on experience, Joy had already formed a preliminary judgment.
She gently pressed a certain spot on the unconscious Flareon's body. Her expression turned grim, and her voice grew heavy.
"Based on initial examination, I'd say this is likely 'Flame Sac Inflammation.'"
"Flame Sac… inflammation?"
The unfamiliar illness name made both Lucas and Penny stare at each other blankly.
At that moment, Chansey rushed over with a stretcher and first-aid kit.
As she performed initial treatment, Joy explained, "Many Fire-type Pokémon rely on an internal organ called a 'flame sac' to produce their fire. Flame Sac Inflammation is a disease unique to them."
"Usually, Fire-type Pokémon won't be burned by their own flames. But once they develop this disease, any fire produced in the flame sac will cause simultaneous internal and external burns."
With that, Joy and Chansey carefully lifted Flareon onto the stretcher and hurried toward the emergency room.
Lucas and Penny followed right on their heels.
As they ran, Joy continued, "This condition typically appears in Fire-type Pokémon whose fire talent is too high, but whose flame sac hasn't developed properly."
Penny asked anxiously, "Nurse Joy, can Flame Sac Inflammation be cured?"
Joy glanced at her, her voice tinged with helplessness.
"At present, we don't really have any reliable way to relieve the symptoms long-term. It's extremely difficult to trigger a second developmental phase of the flame sac… The only consistently effective and permanent solution is surgery to remove the flame sac entirely."
"But that also means Flareon will no longer be able to use most Fire-type moves afterward, and it won't be able to regulate its body temperature properly."
Joy's words struck Penny like a clap of thunder. She covered her mouth, her emotions surging wildly.
Right now, she couldn't understand at all—why had Flareon suddenly fallen ill like this?
Beside her, Lucas's expression was very grim. This was the first time he'd ever heard of such a disease.
But thinking carefully, the signs might have already appeared before.