Afternoon.
Half-asleep, Lucas felt something gently nudge his arm. But the drowsiness was too overwhelming, so he simply rolled over and went right back to sleep.
Eevee, already awake, puffed out her cheeks, clearly unhappy with Lucas's laziness in bed.
Wasn't he the one who told her to wake him up when it was about time?
"Eev." (Is this really okay…?)
A worried cry came from behind. Eevee glanced back at her little sister and gave her a reassuring look.
Lucas had asked for this himself. She was just following instructions—what was there to be afraid of?
Eevee's glossy black eyes spun as she decided on a more direct approach.
She lightly hopped onto the bed, then slowly—very carefully—stuck out her warm, damp tongue.
One word: lick.
Eevee often licked her sister's fur and didn't see anything wrong with it. If she couldn't yell loudly to wake Lucas up, then this was her only option.
In his dream, Lucas felt a warm, wet, slippery sensation repeatedly brushing his cheek. His consciousness surfaced. He slowly opened his eyes—and met the gaze of the very busy Eevee.
"Eev!" (Time to get up, you big lazybones!)
Eevee naturally stopped licking, lifted a forepaw to lick it once, nuzzled Lucas's face with her little head, then wagged her tail and hopped off the bed, busying herself with grooming her sister.
She was way too good at this.
Completely disarmed, Lucas silently got up, slipped into his slippers, and went to wash up.
A moment later.
Wearing a simple patterned T-shirt, dark shorts, sneakers, and a baseball cap with questionable sun protection, Lucas stood before the mirror, struck a few poses, and felt pretty satisfied.
Although Naranja Academy didn't require teachers to wear uniforms the way students did, it did expect faculty to dress in a way that suited their identity and temperament.
Lucas thought this outfit fit his age just fine.
Before leaving, he specifically told the Eevee sisters—who were grooming each other in the room—"I'll be back tonight. If anything comes up or you need something, go to Oranguru. It's the farm steward."
"Eev~"
Eevee watched Lucas leave, lively light flickering in her eyes.
Since she'd decided to join this farm for her sister's sake, she couldn't just eat, drink, and take without giving back. Eevee had moral standards.
Providing emotional value to the farm's owner would be her first step in repaying him. Once she won Lucas's affection, she could secure the best possible life for her sister!
The shiny Eevee looked at her older sister with worry, her mood pessimistic.
As twin sisters linked in mind, she naturally knew what her sister was thinking.
But would things really go as smoothly as her sister imagined?
Just that powerful Serperior alone—shiny Eevee felt her sister was no match for it.
…
Naranja Academy, Battle Hall
Facing four students—Lucas clapped his hands and gestured for the person outside to come in.
Shhk—
The door slid open.
Nemona and the others immediately looked over, curious about the identity of the newcomer who'd joined the academy and been promoted straight into Lucas's battle class.
To the sound of crisp footsteps, a woman entered: pink hair draped over her shoulders, fair skin, strikingly beautiful, with a gentle smile.
She wore the adult version of Naranja Academy's summer uniform. For some reason, Nemona felt the woman's female aura was terrifyingly strong—dazzling.
Nemona's eyes widened. This classmate looked even more mature than Eri—like an older sister who'd already entered society and started working.
Paul frowned slightly, feeling as if he'd seen her somewhere before.
Eri and Arven turned inquisitive eyes to Lucas.
Lucas didn't keep them in suspense. When Joy reached his side, he smiled and introduced her: "This is Joy Shizuka. Not long ago she worked at the Pokémon Center in Mesagoza. It's only natural you find her familiar."
As soon as Lucas finished, a soft commotion rose among the four.
Nurse Joy!?
All four synchronized perfectly as their eyes went wide. They never expected their new classmate to be a Nurse Joy from the Pokémon Center.
Especially Nemona and Paul, who trained and battled often—besides the school infirmary, the Pokémon Center was where they went most.
So that was why she looked familiar.
The only problem was that every Nurse Joy looked exactly the same. They couldn't tell whether they'd actually met this particular Joy before.
Joy Shizuka smiled. Pokémon Center work had forged her social skills through countless repetitions; she greeted them gracefully. "Hi, everyone. Since we're classmates, just call me Shizuka."
Shizuka knew that after leaving the Pokémon Center, she couldn't publicly call herself "Nurse Joy" anymore.
"Nurse Joy" was a unique title reserved for the Joy clan's medical professionals. If you stopped being a medical professional, then unless you achieved enough to merit it, you couldn't openly use the Joy name with pride.
Shizuka didn't even keep the standard Nurse Joy hairstyle anymore.
By coincidence, it seemed Shizuka had perfectly missed Nemona's group during her Pokémon Center shifts—she didn't recognize them.
Lucas didn't interfere with the students' introductions. He waited until Shizuka had gotten acquainted, then spoke again.
"Because of Flareon's inflamed flame sac, Penny will probably stay in Los Platos for the next few days to keep Flareon company. The treatment plan is basically settled, so you don't need to worry. In a while they'll recover and return. For now, focus on preparing for the treasure hunt extracurricular in a few days."
Nemona, Arven, and Eri exchanged glances, clear joy in their eyes.
Even cold-faced Paul's lips curved into a faint smile.
Compared to the four basking in relief, Shizuka was simply stunned.
Inflamed flame sac?
Was it the same condition she was thinking of?
How could you call recovery something with all the aftereffects from removing the flame sac? That wasn't medically rigorous at all.
She wanted to ask—but since she still wasn't close with everyone, she worried she'd leave a gossipy first impression.
Shizuka inwardly scolded herself. After entering society, her personality really had changed. In the past, she would have found a way to ask.
Luckily, Lucas noticed her confusion and added, "It's not a flame sac removal surgery. It's a treatment plan with a real chance of full recovery. I won't go into details—we still have class."
"First, Shizuka, could you introduce your partner Pokémon to everyone?"
Shizuka froze.
Before she could process what he'd just said, she reflexively took out two Poké Balls.
"Hm?"
Beside her, Lucas—wearing a faint smile—tilted his head and blinked.
Why two?
Without noticing Lucas's question, Shizuka pressed the buttons. Red light flashed, and two Pokémon appeared before them.
One was the standard Nurse Joy partner: Chansey, wearing an Eviolite on a necklace, smiling innocently.
That Eviolite was the one Lucas had pulled from a lottery that day. It had been returned, but after Geeta saw that Chansey suited it so well, she simply decided to gift it to Chansey and Shizuka.
Shizuka's other Pokémon was—
Nemona and the others stared, eyes wide, at the sharply angled duck floating in midair, as if built from red and blue blocks. Confused, their eyes carried the clear, empty innocence of people who didn't understand anything.
After looking a few times, Paul said with certainty, "That's Porygon."
Impressed by Paul's solid fundamentals, Lucas nodded. "Correct. That's a Pokémon called Porygon, a Normal-type—no, wait!"
Lucas's gaze darted between Nemona and Shizuka, shock all over his face.
Hold on—didn't Nemona's family run a phone company? In the future, they'd even develop Rotom Phones using the Rotom Dex tech from Clemont.
And a family like that didn't recognize the internet-born Porygon?
Also—Shizuka's only partner not long ago was Chansey. Where did Porygon come from?
Before Lucas could ask, Shizuka hurriedly explained, "My cousin in Sinnoh heard I wanted to become a Trainer, and someone she knows entrusted this child to me!"
Afraid Lucas wouldn't believe her, Shizuka even moved to pull up the chat logs to show him.
"No need."
Lucas rubbed his brow and raised a hand, refusing to let Shizuka leak private messages with her cousin.
"Alright—why don't you all send out your Pokémon and get acquainted. I have something I need to think about."
No one noticed the oddness in Lucas's expression. With Nemona taking the lead, they gathered around Shizuka and did more detailed introductions.
When they learned from Shizuka that the Chansey was the same one Lucas had commanded to defeat Iono and Kilowattrel, they were stunned.
Even Paul's cold expression cracked.
Lucas's teaching didn't just cram theory; it emphasized practical battle training.
Which meant… in the future, they'd definitely spar against Chansey!?
Recalling Iono's face after that battle—like she'd swallowed something indescribable—even Paul couldn't help shivering.
Nemona and Eri laughed brightly, and Arven stood there with zero sense of danger. Paul felt only dread for their future, his eyes landing on Porygon floating beside Shizuka.
If he really had to battle one of her Pokémon, he'd rather battle Porygon!
Nearby, after mentally preparing himself, Lucas also looked at Porygon at the same time.
His face was full of words he couldn't quite say.
Chansey learning that many dirty tricks was one thing, but why did her second Pokémon have to be that curse duck?
Porygon first debuted in Generation I. Essentially a virtual Pokémon made of program code, it can freely enter networks.
It can convert its body into digital data, enter electronic space, and move freely within it.
As a Normal-type, Porygon's base stats were unremarkable—395 total—and its distribution wasn't particularly special.
But all of those issues vanished once it evolved—or after being loaded with Up-Grade and Dubious Disc.
Porygon has two evolutions: Porygon2 and Porygon-Z. The one that made Lucas most uncomfortable was the first evolution: Porygon2.
Compared to Porygon-Z, a glass cannon, Porygon2—like Shizuka's Chansey—became disgustingly bulky with an Eviolite, so annoying it made you nauseous.
And unlike Chansey, which had a massive weakness on the physical defense side, Porygon2 could handle things more freely—its mixed defenses were excellent.
Porygon's movepool was also downright degenerate.
Curse, Toxic, Protect, Thunder Wave, Recover—easy. It could set Trick Room, swap terrain, and even change its type via the unique moves Conversion and Conversion 2.
Even within the constraint of four moves, it was already lawless.
In this real world—where there's no strict only four moves limit and you can keep learning as long as you can master them—just imagining it made Lucas sick.
Shizuka might not realize it, but she was speeding down a road with no return.
And Lucas… would be the one stepping on the gas.
Just these two Pokémon were already absurd. Once she filled out a full team, Lucas didn't even dare to imagine it.
"Since Penny isn't here and we can't really form a doubles lineup, today we won't have you team up for doubles."
Seeing Shizuka was now mostly familiar with everyone, Lucas began today's lesson.
"Today's class is simple. If you can find a way to beat it, you pass."
As he spoke, Lucas took out a Poké Ball and pressed the button.
"Poli!"
The Pokémon appearing before them was Politoed.
Everyone sucked in a breath—especially Arven, whose eyes brimmed with terror.
Shizuka didn't understand. After thinking for a moment, she decided to ask Paul, the calmest of the kids: "Paul, do you know—"
Paul raised a hand to stop her, as if he'd predicted it, and said, "I've only been here a short time too, so there's a lot I only half understand."
"As for this Politoed, I'll put it like this and you'll get it, Shizuka."
"It's a reserved member of the teacher's second team, probably caught when he first became a teacher. Its strength is unfathomable, it knows countless moves, and its battle IQ is extremely high. It has the type chart memorized."
"I heard that when Arven-senpai commanded his starter Mabosstiff against it, he had absolutely no resistance—he got played like a toy!"
Shizuka froze, then looked at Politoed with a mix of admiration, surprise, and uncertainty.
This was a champion-level trainer's second-team member… did she really have any chance of defeating it?
Arven and Mabosstiff stared at the harmless-looking Politoed, basically PTSD-ridden.
No way. Why are we fighting Politoed again!?
At that moment, Lucas looked at them and added meaningfully, "Comfey is on break today. If you need treatment, you'll have to apply medicine yourselves—or ask Shizuka for help."
"Of course, you can also have her join the battle, if you think that's the right call."
"I won't be commanding Politoed. If you have questions, ask me—but don't ask me about Politoed's weaknesses. That's not happening. You'll have to discover them yourselves."
…