"Hm?"
Lucas and Oranguru both showed surprised expressions.
Thanks to Luxray and Arcanine's daily patrols, and the Corviknight squad led by Three Scar circling the farm skies on daytime watch, wild Pokémon almost never settled within about a one-kilometer radius of the farm's perimeter anymore.
In fact, from the moment the Herba Mystica fully ripened to the moment its aroma began riding the night breeze outward, less than ten minutes had passed.
And yet a wild Pokémon had already infiltrated the farm.
Had they been lurking nearby all along?
Lucas asked, "Can you tell what Pokémon it is?"
Calyrex pondered for a moment and said, "The same kind as your student's sick Pokémon. But… it should be the pre-evolution."
Oranguru said decisively, "That means Eevee."
"Then Calyrex and I will go take a look. Oranguru, the defense is in your hands."
Lucas looked at Oranguru with trust.
Oranguru fanned its leaf fan, confidence written all over its face. "Please rest assured, young master. As for troop deployment and formation, I know a thing or two myself."
After Lucas and Calyrex left the house, Oranguru covered half its face with the fan, a determined glint flashing in its eyes.
Since the young master had entrusted it with such a heavy responsibility, it would deliver the most perfect results.
After a brief silence, Oranguru peered into the fully visualized map of the farm in its mind. With great care, it placed one by one the pieces that represented each Pokémon into different sectors, issuing different orders.
Its powerful psychic force condensed into beams of light—each carrying instructions—and shot precisely toward coordinates all across the farm.
…
Guided by Calyrex, Lucas headed toward the direction where two Eevee had been detected.
On the way, Calyrex asked with some envy, "Just what kind of place is this Pokémon Butler Academy? To produce a butler like Oranguru—capable in ten different ways."
Calyrex thought: if it had had someone like Oranguru in the past—someone who could devise strategies and also excel in everything else—that would have been wonderful.
Lucas briefly told Calyrex about his time at the Pokémon Butler Academy back when he traveled to Kalos.
Calyrex sighed with feeling. "Kalos… I remember that region is quite close to Galar. Sometime before the Darkest Day erupted—before I fell into slumber—there seemed to be a war there as well. The commotion was enormous. Even I, in the Crown Tundra, heard about it."
"Looks like it's returned to peace now."
Listening to Calyrex's recollection, Lucas's eyes flickered thoughtfully.
A major war in Kalos that shook the world… could it have been the era of King AZ—the one who created the Ultimate Weapon?
Legendary Pokémon really were living history books. Being able to talk with them and learn about events from centuries—or even a millennium—ago was genuinely fascinating.
Under Calyrex's lead, Lucas soon found himself back in the farming zone.
Calyrex suddenly said, "That should be Oranguru's work. It stationed Serperior and the other Grass-types near the Herba Mystica fields and the surrounding crops. Those two Eevee seem to have been discovered."
Lucas quickened his pace. About two minutes later, he arrived near the Herba Mystica farmland.
Serperior fixed its cold, snake-like eyes on two trembling Eevee. Around them, green vines sprouted from the ground and swayed like serpents. The slightest movement, and the Eevee would be bound and captured.
On the other side stood Tropius and Applin—brought over by Serperior—each blocking an escape route, as if waiting for something.
Lucas's footsteps drew Serperior's attention.
It raised its head, withdrew its tongue, and didn't seem surprised by Lucas's arrival.
"Serpe—."
Serperior pointed at the two Eevee with a vine, as if asking Lucas what he intended to do.
Lucas followed the vine—and froze.
A shiny?
One Eevee with brown fur had puffed itself up, baring sharp little fangs, putting on a brave front toward Serperior.
Behind it, a smaller Eevee with completely different coloration—an alternate-color (shiny) Eevee—hid in panic behind the first Eevee, eyes full of helplessness.
But the normally colored Eevee looked strangely familiar, like he had seen it somewhere before.
Seeing Lucas, Tropius and Applin instinctively wanted to pounce into his arms—but before their bodies could move, they remembered what they were doing and could only stiffen in place.
The surrounded Eevee also saw Lucas. Its eyes lit up. It lifted a small paw with pink pads, trying to run to Lucas, but Serperior's vines blocked the way—and it also had to protect its younger sister. For all those reasons, it couldn't move. It could only stare at Lucas, hoping he would remember it.
That gaze was impossible to ignore. Lucas couldn't not notice.
At that moment, Calyrex quietly reminded him via psychic message: "I sense trust toward you from it. Does it know you?"
The reminder was perfectly timed. Lucas's mind blanked for only an instant before his memory snapped back.
Because Serperior wasn't attacking—and Tropius and Applin were only blocking lightly—under the lamplight, that beautiful coat and those big eyes overlapped rapidly with a figure in Lucas's memory.
The Eevee from the Pokémon Center—the one that had been treated!?
Realizing this, Lucas stepped up beside Serperior and said softly, "Withdraw the vines."
Serperior dipped its head slightly. Without asking why, it removed the vines that had ringed the two Eevee.
Seeing that, Applin and Tropius assumed it was over and immediately rushed past the Eevee, excitedly throwing themselves at Lucas.
Applin was one thing. Tropius, nearly fully grown, weighed close to 100 kilograms—he almost sent Lucas straight to the afterlife.
Fortunately, Serperior—face stern—controlled Grass energy and made thicker, longer vines rise from the ground to hoist Tropius up, giving Lucas room to breathe.
Even so, Tropius used his natural advantage, craning his long neck to nuzzle Lucas.
Seeing that scene, Eevee restrained the faint, barely visible envy and yearning in its eyes, and became even more convinced Lucas was a good person.
Otherwise, these Pokémon wouldn't like him so much.
With Serperior no longer blocking them, Eevee turned around and licked its sister's fur, signaling her to stay close. Then it carefully walked up to Lucas and called out:
"Vee!"
Compared to Lucas's confusion, both Serperior and Calyrex looked at Eevee in surprise.
A moment later, with Calyrex translating, Lucas finally understood what Eevee meant.
It had come to warn him: wild Pokémon would likely attack the farm soon, trying to break in and seize the Herba Mystica that Lucas had already harvested.
Honestly, Lucas was stunned.
Eevee wasn't coveting the Herba Mystica at all—instead it chose to warn him. For a wild Pokémon, that meant suppressing instinctual desire.
As for the possibility that Eevee was lying—forced to make something up because Serperior caught it—trying to deceive Lucas…
Not to mention Calyrex, who could serve as a high-precision lie detector if it wished—even Lucas could tell Eevee was completely sincere.
After a brief thought, Lucas simply crouched down and reached a hand toward Eevee.
Eevee stiffened, suppressing the urge to dodge, and let Lucas's warm palm pat its head.
Lucas softened his voice. "Then thank you for the warning. Don't worry— they won't break through our defenses."
Eevee blinked, then remembered the overwhelmingly powerful Serperior at Lucas's side—and the huge Pokémon patrolling the farm—and felt it made perfect sense.
After thanking Eevee, Lucas shifted his gaze to the shiny Eevee behind it—the one that hadn't made a sound, only timidly hiding behind the older one and cautiously watching everything. Lucas frowned slightly.
Having studied the psychology books Nurse Joy lent him—and having practiced a few times—Lucas formed a judgment:
That smaller body—whether due to age difference or malnutrition—and that timid gaze… it seemed less like simple fright and more like an innate temperament.
Likely some experience had made it distrust any life other than Eevee.
Compared to the healthy, beautiful normal-colored Eevee, this shiny Eevee had serious issues.
Sensing Lucas's attention, the shiny Eevee curled up tighter and retreated further behind its sister.
Lucas: "…"
Alright. Confirmed.
Another Pokémon showing signs of psychological issues due to some kind of acquired trauma.
At this rate, Lucas felt that sooner or later he'd have to switch careers and become a therapist for Pokémon.
"Vee, vee!"
Noticing Lucas looking at her sister, Eevee remembered the real reason she came and looked at him pleadingly, calling out twice.
With Calyrex's simultaneous translation, Lucas finally understood why Eevee had risked coming to warn him.
Turns out: ever since Lucas and Nurse Joy saved her last time, she'd been wanting to bring her naturally frail twin sister to find him.
This incident merely became the fuel that pushed her to take the step.
Everything became clear.
And Lucas… did not feel relieved.
He stared at the Eevee sisters as if his worldview were collapsing, voice trembling. "Twins—how are you twins?"
From one Pokémon Egg, shouldn't only one Pokémon hatch?
Can you hatch a double yolk?
Serperior's tail tip swayed slightly, thinking Lucas was making a fuss over nothing. But—
Serperior's sharp, icy gaze snapped toward somewhere. Its tail tip plunged into the soil. Dense vines erupted outward—careful not to harm the crops—growing violently. In the blink of an eye, the area became a world of plants, layered upon layered, sealing the farming zone tight.
Before Eevee or Calyrex could explain anything, a piercing cry rang from the sky—and blazing flames lit up half the heavens.
The first to reach the farm were… Flying-type Pokémon!
Charging in first and declaring its presence was Moltres. Its attacks couldn't hit with perfect accuracy. Some flames missed their targets, and sustained by Fire energy, continued burning as they fell.
The flames landed on Serperior's vines and roared—only to be smothered by additional vines that arrived immediately after. This was one of Serperior's usual techniques for dealing with Fire-type moves:
Extinguish it in one go while the blaze is still small.
Having protected the most flammable farming zone, Serperior shot the sky a look full of disdain.
That idiot still hadn't learned anything—casting moves sloppily, and making Serperior clean up the mess.
Moltres's cry was like the trumpet declaring the start of battle. Outside the farm, fighting ignited everywhere.
In the sky.
Moltres stared proudly at the Murkrow whose feathers blended into the night, and their leader Honchkrow. The aura of a legendary bird pressed down on them like a mountain.
Elsewhere, under Dragonite's command, the Dragonite leader and three Dragonair each fought a separate flock of Flying Pokémon.
Outside the pasture.
Two Sawsbuck stood their ground before a team of several Houndoom and a huge pack of Houndour. Green light poured into the earth nonstop, keeping the area under Grassy Terrain.
Two Gogoat lowered their long wooden horns, leading five Miltank—Rollout stacks fully built—charging ferociously toward the Houndoom pack.
Anyone watching would have to shout: the world has flipped upside down.
When Mudsdale followed up and stamped the ground, a swath of Houndour were launched into the air.
At the lakeside.
Heavy rain blanketed the area. The sight of Swampert filled the scattered wild Pokémon with immense pressure.
At Politoed's call, the Poliwrath circled Swampert, fists brimming with righteous spirit.
Near the warehouse and ice cellar clearing.
White mist drifted through the air. The ground froze solid. A massive ice wall formed under the combined effort of Regice and Glastrier, making the incoming wild Pokémon hesitate and retreat without fighting.
Mimikyu and Spectrier looked at the Vulpix who came up with the idea, amazed at the kid's cleverness.
In other scattered parts of the farm, a huge, oppressive presence simply stood there. Many wild Pokémon that had snuck in were intimidated into not acting rashly.
At times like this, an armored shadow swordsman would emerge from the darkness, swinging a pale-blue flaming greatsword to drive them back.
In the farming zone.
Cosmog, Tropius, and Applin—under Serperior's command—drove off Ground-types tunneling up from below.
Victini and Comfey flitted through the farm, continuously empowering, assisting, and healing the defenders.
Beyond that, Naclstack, Dachsbun, Arboliva, Shuckle, and many others all defended their home in their own ways.
Inside the house.
"Alcremie…"
Still making desserts, Alcremie seemed distracted, repeatedly looking outside.
Gimmighoul hauled berries one by one beside it, occasionally sneaking one to eat when Alcremie wasn't paying attention.
Taking it all in, Oranguru smiled gently at Alcremie. "Trust everyone. What we must do now is prepare delicious food to wash away the fatigue after battle."
The defense lasted until morning. With Dragonite deliberately manipulating airflow to disperse the scent, the Herba Mystica aroma finally faded. Only then did the wild Pokémon—coming in wave after wave in a frenzy—gradually calm down.
…