Penny was a trainer who specialized in Eevee. Each of her Eevee had a different personality and chose a different evolution path.
Among them, this Flareon not only loved to battle, but the power and temperature of its Fire-type moves had left a deep impression on Lucas.
One could say that, aside from the Sylveon that had accompanied Penny the longest, this Flareon was the strongest and most belligerent member of Penny's Eevee squad.
Its scorching flames were so fierce that even Arven's Cloyster and Nemona's Pawmot had to avoid clashing head-on.
The signs had appeared early, but no one expected such a dire outcome.
Penny felt as if the sky had collapsed. Dazed, she turned to Nurse Joy for help, hoping for an optimistic answer.
But Nurse Joy averted her gaze and calmly explained to Penny, "In this situation, the best solution is to surgically remove the sac."
"Fire sac inflammation is one of the autoimmune diseases. With current technology, it's nearly impossible to alleviate the symptoms; however, removing the lesion at least prevents easy relapse."
"It's a bit of a pity that it wouldn't be able to battle afterward, but for Flareon's sake, my recommendation is surgery."
Signaling with her eyes for Chansey to wheel Flareon into the ER to begin emergency care, Nurse Joy stepped forward and patted Penny on the shoulder. "It's your Pokémon. The decision is yours to make."
Then Nurse Joy turned to Lucas. "I need to use a bit of solution to stabilize Flareon's condition. Could you help me prepare it?"
"Of course."
Lucas nodded lightly and immediately called the farm, asking Oranguru to hurry and send a medicinal solution made from the Herba Mystica: Sour Flavor.
His student's Pokémon was ill; he naturally wouldn't stand by. There were three portions of the sour Herba-based solution left at the farm, and using one to stabilize Flareon would be ideal.
"Leave it to me next. I'll stabilize Flareon's condition."
Leaving these words behind, Nurse Joy hurried into the emergency room.
As the red light above the ER switched on, Penny fell silent for a moment. She forced herself to pull out her portable computer and began leveraging her skills to search for successful treatment cases of fire sac inflammation elsewhere.
Shortly after.
By the time Lucas had rushed the solution over via Dragonite and sent it into the ER, Penny—who had found nothing—approached Lucas with her Eevee surround already out of their Poké Balls and hovering protectively around her.
By nature, Penny was a homebody who disliked relying on others and preferred to solve everything on her own.
But when she couldn't think of a viable solution, she would turn to those she trusted.
In truth, Penny didn't mind removing the fire sac if it would preserve Flareon's life and reduce its pain.
Her persistent worry, her drive to find a way to save Flareon without removing the fire sac, stemmed from one thing: she didn't want her battle-loving Flareon to suffer because it could no longer fight!
She didn't want to lose Flareon, but she also couldn't bear to see it in pain.
Penny looked to Lucas, her eyes pleading. "Teacher, what about the King of Bountiful Harvests—could it heal Flareon?"
"…"
Lucas was silent for a moment, then shook his head.
He had thought of Calyrex first and had already explained the essence of the disease to it in detail.
Dragonite brought back the solution—and Calyrex's answer.
"No. Calyrex excels at healing minds. As for moves like Life Dew or Heal Pulse, those in essence treat injuries and restore stamina; diseases originating within the Pokémon's own body cannot be cured that way."
"Calyrex can instantly restore dozens or even hundreds of severely injured Pokémon from battle to perfect condition, but when it comes to disease, it's very difficult."
Penny's expression visibly fell. Sylveon, beside her, glanced worriedly at the red-lit ER door, then wrapped its ribbon-like feelers around Penny's wrist, hoping to ease her sorrow.
At that moment, Lucas's tone shifted.
"But as luck would have it, I happen to have a way to treat this illness."
Penny's head snapped up. She looked at Lucas with hope in her eyes, her voice trembling slightly.
"Really?"
"Really."
Lucas smiled and pointed at the ER.
"Remember the solution I just sent in? It's made by mixing plants and herbs called Herba Mystica, fermented within Shuckle's shell. Its fatigue recovery effect is remarkable."
"While it can't directly improve Flareon's injuries, it can give Flareon some breathing room."
Penny listened intently. At this point, a spark flashed in her mind and she pressed urgently, "Is the treatment related to that solution—or rather, to Herba Mystica?"
"Exactly."
Lucas snapped his fingers and briefly explained the existence and effects of the five flavors of Herba Mystica.
He emphasized the effect of the Bitter Herba.
"If my information is correct, the Bitter Herba can greatly boost the user's immune system, allowing Flareon, under enhanced immunity, to try training its flame control."
"With a two-pronged approach like this, Flareon might recover without removing the fire sac."
Penny's eyes lit up. The joy of a drowning person being saved, of surviving a calamity, filled her chest.
The Eevee around her also let out delighted cries.
"Don't celebrate too soon."
Lucas quickly cautioned.
He reasoned that since fire sac inflammation is a Fire-type-specific autoimmune disease for some Pokémon, using a tonic-like Bitter Herba to enhance immunity, then training Flareon's flame control—and, if possible, promoting a secondary development of the fire sac through other means—might indeed offer a chance at full recovery.
Of course, he was at best a novice, not even a half-baked medic. Whether the treatment plan was feasible would have to wait until Nurse Joy finished the emergency care for proper discussion.
Not to mention, the Herba Mystica at his farm was still a good distance from maturity.
"The Herba Mystica isn't mature yet. If we want to save Flareon, we need to find a way to mature the Herba first."
Lucas laid the hurdle plainly before Penny.
To treat Flareon, they needed a mature Bitter Herba.
Penny hesitated. "Not even the King of Bountiful Harvests can hasten the Herba's growth?"
In legends and in Penny's impression from the Crown Tundra, Calyrex could mature crops from seeds to full growth in seconds.
Was the Herba Mystica too special for Calyrex to ripen?
Lucas nodded, then shook his head. "It can be hastened, but we're missing a key ingredient—massive amounts of Tera energy."
According to Calyrex, it could infuse large amounts of life force to hasten the Herba's growth, but the herbs' effects would likely fall short of their peak.
To treat Flareon's fire sac inflammation, they should strive to ripen perfect Bitter Herba.
But aside from the Tera crystals that appeared randomly across Paldea, methods to gather Tera energy were scarce.
Generally speaking, one could buy Tera Shards and extract the small amount of Tera energy within them.
The Paldea League used the same method to recharge Tera Orbs.
Previously, Lucas and Calyrex did the math.
To ripen a single Herba using the energy inside Tera Shards, they'd need at least five hundred shards.
The common-type Tera Shards Lucas had purchased before were about 3,000 League credits each. Five hundred shards would be 1.5 million credits.
To hasten all the Herba at the farm using shards would cost an astronomical sum.
There was Area Zero, seemingly the source of Tera phenomena—perhaps the Third Legendary that Lucas hadn't had time to learn about was hidden somewhere in Area Zero. If he could meet it, Tera energy might no longer be a concern.
Lucas explained the situation to Penny and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll contact the chairman to help me quickly source enough shards. Ripening one Bitter Herba to stabilize Flareon's condition won't be a problem."
Hearing this, Penny shook her head firmly. "I couldn't, in good conscience, let you use such precious herbs and solutions, not to mention spend money to buy shards."
"Flareon is my Pokémon. It's my responsibility and duty to save it. Please leave the purchasing and funding to me."
With hope before her, Penny's gaze hardened with resolve.
If the price climbed higher, she would consider asking her foolish dad and uncle for help—or temporarily hacking the LP system Paldea was building, at some risk.
Fortunately, over the past few years she'd occasionally taken company contracts—building firewalls, writing or cracking programs—and had some savings. Buying a few thousand shards shouldn't be a big problem.
As for channels, she could ask Uncle Rose to leverage Macro Cosmos's connections to find sellers. If Macro Cosmos had no channel, she could ask Nemona—her family's company was formidable in Paldea as well.
With that, Penny bowed deeply to Lucas, then dashed off with her army of Eevee to contact her uncle.
Watching the stubborn girl's retreating figure, Lucas shook his head helplessly, but didn't stop her.
True—if he didn't let Penny do her part to save Flareon at a time like this, she would only feel more anxious.
…
About two hours later, the ER light finally turned green.
A tired Nurse Joy and Chansey emerged from the ER, removed their masks, and smiled gently at Lucas and Penny. "Flareon's condition is stable for now. I handled its fire sac during the emergency. It should hold for a while."
"Thank you, Nurse Joy!"
Penny bowed respectfully to Nurse Joy.
"And you too, Chansey!"
"This is my duty," Joy waved, then asked, "Have you made your decision about removing the fire sac?"
Lucas and Penny exchanged a glance, then explained their newly formed plan and awaited the professional's verdict.
After listening, Nurse Joy propped her chin thoughtfully, weighing feasibility.
Before meeting Lucas and personally experiencing the Sour Herba's efficacy, she might not have believed in such extraordinary plants.
But now, she felt she could trust his proposal.
She spoke after a while.
"If the Bitter Herba truly does what Mr. Lucas says—greatly enhancing immunity—then I think this plan is viable. We just need to mind some details and make the protocol more rigorous."
"Leave that part to me. As for preparing the Bitter Herba, I'll trust you two, all right?"
"There won't be time to brew a solution. Once we obtain the Herba, I'll combine it with other herbs and grind it directly into a medicinal paste!"
"No problem. Leave it to me. Please look after Flareon during this period."
Penny replied quickly, then, after a brief farewell to Lucas and Nurse Joy, ran out of the Pokémon Center.
Rose had introduced an acquaintance; now she needed to purchase as many Tera Shards as possible and deliver them to Lucas so treatment could begin soon.
After Penny left, Lucas followed Nurse Joy to the ER observation window and glanced at Flareon.
Flareon was now covered in various leads and lines he couldn't decipher. The ECG was running steadily.
Remembering he still had classes that afternoon, Lucas sighed and called his students one by one to inform them that Penny's Flareon was ill and class would be postponed.
This afternoon would be very busy.
Before Penny returned, Lucas temporarily left the Pokémon Center and went back to the farm.
He needed to discuss with Calyrex how to let plants take in Tera energy without crystallizing.
When Lucas arrived home, Calyrex and Oranguru were fiddling with the black sphere Mewtwo had made, using telekinesis to hold up a spread of photos and leafing through them together with Luxray and the others.
Luxray stood first to greet Lucas; Dragonite, who had come in with Lucas, curiously floated over to take a closer look.
"Bwooo!" (These are photos Delibird sent back!)
After a bit of cat-petting to relax, Lucas went over to the hovering photos to take a careful look.
On the way back to the farm, Dragonite had briefly landed in Goldenrod City to drop off Delibird so it could continue its Johto region travels.
The photos Delibird sent back were of it sampling various foods at Goldenrod's Department Store and of the city's famous Radio Tower.
…