On the wrecked ground scarred by battle, the first morning sunlight pierced thin clouds and fell gently.
The Eevee sisters stared in shock at the farm's wooden fence—completely unscathed—then at the cratered, battle-torn earth beyond. The contrast was painfully sharp.
They followed Lucas around for a look. Those wooden fences—meant at most to mark boundaries, and only truly effective against the likes of Caterpie—had not suffered the slightest damage.
And farther away, they even saw an enormous wall of ice.
Was that really something a Pokémon could make?
Limited by the younger sister's stamina, Eevee couldn't walk to see the full farm. But even thinking about it, the other sectors were probably similar.
That meant the farm's Pokémon—by their own power—had held off wave after wave of wild Pokémon and kept the farm secure, not letting a single intruder cross the line?
From Lucas and Calyrex's conversation, even sneaky wild Pokémon—those good at hiding or burrowing underground—had all been driven out by a swordsman wielding twin pale-blue flame blades.
Eevee had tried to rate this farm highly, but it was far more ridiculous than she imagined.
Eevee glanced at her younger sister, who was panting beside her, determination filling her eyes.
She'd decided: even if it was for her sister, she had to grab onto Lucas's thigh and never let go.
Just as Eevee made up her mind, Lucas—standing outside the fence and surveying the post-battle wreckage—said sincerely to Calyrex beside him:
"These next few days, we need to do some landscaping and re-greening outside the farm."
Calyrex nodded strongly. "I agree."
Look at this mess.
It wasn't just torn-up turf—within a hundred meters, the ground looked like it had been plowed. All vegetation was wiped out, as if erased by moves of every attribute.
Not even roots remained.
Chaotic residual elemental energy lingered in the soil, including types naturally hostile to plants. To regrow lush greenery, they'd need to till everything again and remove the excess energy residue.
Lucas sighed. "This is a huge project. Mudsdale and Swampert will probably have to work overtime."
Among all the farm Pokémon, only Swampert and Mudsdale could manipulate large areas of soil like that. At times like this, he could only rely on them.
Hopefully, once the extracurricular treasure-hunt began and Nemona cleared all eight gyms, he'd have an excuse to hand over the Peat Block.
After clearing all eight gyms, Nemona probably wouldn't immediately challenge the Elite Four and Champion. Even with her love of battling, she knew she wasn't fully ready; rushing it would just waste an attempt and force her to start over.
She'd definitely choose a training journey to other regions first. Once confident, she'd return to Paldea League and take the Champion Assessment in one go.
Then Lucas could say, "I'm helping Nemona train Ursaluna," and requisition it to help dig and loosen soil on the farm.
Better yet—once the other students also meet his requirements and obtain Ursaluna—he'd suddenly have no shortage of Ground-types to boss around.
Calyrex had no idea Lucas was contemplating something evil. With keen senses, it noticed that the normal-colored Eevee behind the fence was staring at Lucas with burning intensity.
Calyrex looked back thoughtfully, moving very subtly. Eevee—too focused on Lucas—didn't notice at all.
Looking at Eevee, then at the shiny Eevee smaller by several sizes and clearly underdeveloped, Calyrex understood.
Risking entry into the farm to warn about the wild Pokémon riot… was likely for this.
After thinking, Calyrex decided to help things along and said to Lucas, "Eevee seems to be waiting for you—like it has something to ask."
"Hm?"
Lucas turned back toward Eevee, now only a wooden fence away.
Sure, as a warning it had basically been a wasted trip and didn't change much.
But Eevee's intent and action deserved encouragement and reward.
Without hesitation, Lucas climbed over the fence and landed beside Eevee. He glanced at the shiny Eevee, who refused to meet his eyes, and crouched so he wouldn't look towering and oppressive. Then he asked:
"Did you come to warn me because of what happened at the Pokémon Center that day?"
"Vee vee."
Eevee nodded, then shook her head.
Yes—but not entirely.
The reason she brought her sister near here really was because Lucas and Nurse Joy saved her when she was injured and exhausted.
But her warning also had another purpose.
Eevee was smart. She didn't want to lie.
Calyrex translated Eevee's thoughts to Lucas.
After a moment of silence, Lucas looked at the shiny Eevee panting behind her.
"You came for her?"
Lucas remembered that Nurse Joy's checkup said Eevee herself was perfectly healthy.
So the reason she'd risk entering the farm likely was this shiny Eevee that never left her side.
"Vee." (Yes. She's my younger sister.)
Eevee nodded and shifted aside, presenting her sister fully.
The shiny Eevee wanted to keep hiding—but her sister's encouraging gaze held her in place. After receiving her sister's grooming, she gathered courage and didn't retreat behind her.
That gave Lucas a chance to observe.
Under the shiny Eevee's nervous little expression, Lucas studied her for about a minute. Comparing her to Eevee beside her, he reached a conclusion:
Her height was probably only around twenty centimeters. Next to her sister, she looked like a newborn infant.
Shiny coloration itself might correlate—or it might not—but congenital weakness, developmental deficiency, or chronic malnutrition could all cause this.
Lucas asked firmly, "So—you want me to treat your sister?"
"Vee!"
Eevee nodded hard, eyes full of pleading.
She didn't know whether Lucas could treat her, or how powerful human medicine was.
She only believed this: if Lucas and Nurse Joy could save her when she was injured and collapsed, they must be even better than the Chansey known in the wild for healing Pokémon selflessly.
Once, she had brought her sister to seek out the famed healer Chansey and received a gifted egg—but even that nutrient-rich egg only improved her sister a little. Full recovery still seemed impossibly far.
Maybe Lucas had a way.
With Calyrex's help, Eevee explained everything: how she and her sister were twins; how her sister was frail from birth; how she was bullied and excluded by their kind because of her fur color; how malnutrition worsened it; how they eventually left the group.
After hearing it all, Lucas and Calyrex exchanged a look, unusually quiet.
Putting aside the question of how one Pokémon Egg produced twin Eevee—
It was obvious the shiny Eevee had been unconsciously deprived of what little nutrition there was in the egg by her stronger sister, leading to congenital deficiency. Then being rejected by the group and suffering long-term malnutrition made it worse.
That Eevee had managed to keep them alive in the dangerous wild at all was, frankly, incredible.
After hearing the request, Calyrex said nothing and left the decision to Lucas.
He was the owner of the farm.
Under one pleading gaze and one timid gaze, Lucas—feeling immense pressure—sighed.
"I can probably treat her… but we can't do it for free, right?"
"Vee?"
Eevee's ears twitched. She blinked her big eyes, tail swaying in confusion.
Lucas glanced at her and chuckled. "Come with me somewhere."
…
A little later.
Farming zone.
The shiny Eevee's stamina was too low to walk that far. Lucas carried her for most of the way.
At first, she resisted and feared him. But after Eevee soothed her—and perhaps because Lucas's arms were warm—her eyelids drooped. She couldn't fight the overwhelming sleep and soon fell deeply asleep.
Even sleeping, the shiny Eevee curled up. Her tiny body could fit in two palms, and to Lucas—who had been doing farm work for months—she felt frighteningly light.
Eevee kept walking ahead, but frequently turned back to check on her sister. It was easy to imagine the two had lived dependent on each other for a long time.
Standing by the Herba Mystica field that Serperior had guarded so tightly last night, Lucas freed one hand and pointed at the three empty spots, saying to Eevee:
"Among last night's ripe crops, those would have a clear effect on your sister's congenital weakness and malnutrition."
Herba Mystica: Bitter — greatly boosts immunity.
Herba Mystica: Salty — promotes overall health.
On the way, Calyrex had also said it could use Life energy rich in vitality to nourish the shiny Eevee's body.
And finally:
Herba Mystica: Spicy — speeds up metabolism, helping the shiny Eevee absorb energy better.
With this combination, both congenital deficiency and acquired malnutrition should improve.
Conveniently, one of Lucas's students was also a Joy now. He could exploit the "job connection" to get a few Chansey eggs, and pair them with Moomoo Milk from Miltank.
Lucas refused to believe he had all these cards in hand and still couldn't treat one shiny Eevee.
But—as he'd said—treatment was possible. Free-riding was not.
Under Eevee's innocent stare, Lucas pointed at the half-piece of Herba Mystica Calyrex had just helped him retrieve from the warehouse and said:
"Do you know how much effort and cost I spent to force-ripen even one of these?"
"Forget its priceless rarity—just converting the resources I put in, it'd be enough to buy you two sisters Pokémon food for years!"
Eevee, utterly confused.
She didn't understand, but it sounded incredible.
Calyrex had already turned away, unwilling to watch this shameless scene.
Lucas continued, "And if we're treating your sister, we can't fix her in one go. Congenital weakness plus malnutrition—if we hit her with too strong a dose at once, it'll backfire. Slow nourishment is the best approach."
"I'm saying all this so you understand how precious these things are. So let's not dance around it."
"If your sister stays for treatment, she'll have to stay here a long time. You won't be comfortable leaving her here alone, right?"
"Vee!" (Right!)
Eevee nodded. She truly couldn't leave her sister.
"Exactly!"
Lucas wanted to clap, but with a sleeping Eevee in his arms, he kept it to words.
Then he revealed his real goal.
"How about this: both of you join the farm—become part of it. The farm will provide food and lodging, and if you get sick, treatment is free. That way you don't have to worry about the value of these things. Free treatment!"
"…Vee?"
Eevee tilted her head. Her clever little brain sensed something slightly off—but it also sounded reasonable.
They had already saved her once for free. To ask for more without giving anything back would be greedy.
Self-reliant Eevee despised that.
Perhaps because she finally saw hope for her sister's recovery, Eevee—who could normally contend evenly with cunning wild Pokémon—chose without hesitation to sell herself to save her sister.
"Vee!" (Deal. No take-backs!)
Smiling like his plan had succeeded, Lucas nodded. "Deal."
Lucas brought the farm's two new members back home.
Oranguru, Alcremie, and the others had just finished hosting the Pokémon who'd fought through the night, sending them back to their nests to rest.
Aside from the Corviknight who arrived as usual, and a few Pokémon who still had tasks to handle, Lucas had Oranguru notify everyone that daytime farm work was paused today—everyone should sleep and recover.
One day off wouldn't cause serious problems.
There was still no news from Penny's side. Lucas guessed Nurse Joy was still researching how to combine the three Herba Mystica properly, and how to maximize the effect.
Flareon's underdeveloped flame sac was similar in principle to the shiny Eevee's condition. Once Joy produced a plan, Lucas figured he could borrow it and adjust it for the shiny Eevee—saving time and effort.
Because he still had afternoon classes and urgently needed sleep, Lucas temporarily settled the two Eevee in his room. He asked Oranguru to fetch two new small nests from the warehouse so they could sleep—
Those nests had originally been bought for Growlithe, but Growlithe evolved quickly. Even with Dachsbun around, several unused nests remained. After all, Dachsbun didn't destroy the house like Arcanine did.
That afternoon, the Mesagoza Joy should also report to school. Two Joys was manageable, but now there would be a third. To avoid confusion, Lucas decided to do what he did with Joy Yumi from the town of Hulbury:
Ask the names of the Joy from Los Platos and the Mesagoza Joy—now a Naranja Academy freshman—so he could tell them apart.