Pokémon: The Reemployment of the Retired Champion of Paldea

Reality proved Nemona and Arven were overthinking. Dream battles didn't work that way.

Their PawBoss Team, full of confidence, was utterly crushed by Comfey and Eldegoss.

Under Lucas's command, Comfey and Eldegoss worked perfectly together. Nemona's Pawmo and Arven's Mabosstiff, fighting solo, just couldn't keep up.

Eldegoss started with Grassy Terrain, while Comfey's signature ability, Flower Veil, and the move Floral Healing, directly supported Eldegoss.

Even when Pawmo used Nuzzle, it couldn't cause paralysis.

Mabosstiff tried to attack Eldegoss, but under the defense boost from Floral Healing—and with both Grassy Terrain and Comfey's double healing—Eldegoss barely felt it.

Even when Nemona reminded Arven to use status moves, they couldn't lower Eldegoss' stats, since Flower Veil was in effect.

Recently, under Serperior's tutelage, Eldegoss had even learned Grassy Glide. It zipped around with Comfey, leaving Mabosstiff and Pawmo to take a beating.

What should've been an even match turned into a one-sided rout under Lucas's guidance. By the end, even Nemona started doubting herself—long prone to emo moments, Arven was already there.

After a moment, Lucas's patient explanation dispelled their doubts, and Nemona found her fighting spirit anew.

"Pokémon have all kinds of amazing abilities. Moves, Abilities, and their own talents can all become your swords in battle."

"For example, I had Comfey and Eldegoss team up because Comfey, though a Fairy-type, provides fantastic support for Grass-types like Eldegoss. Their moves and abilities combine multiplicatively."

"Eldegoss' Flower Veil protects Grass-types like Eldegoss from status problems and stat drops, while Floral Healing can further boost defense."

"Eldegoss, as Comfey's support, can use Grassy Terrain to share the pressure. It's also naturally defensive, helping protect the often frail Comfey."

Like a teacher, Lucas explained things for the two rookie trainers. Watching Arven furiously taking notes and Nemona's look of sudden understanding, Lucas smiled:

"You don't have to digest all this right away. Review it after you get home."

Arven's pen almost smoked. He knew his own limits—if he couldn't grasp Lucas's teaching in one go, he'd just keep studying, asking, and practicing.

Nemona, deep in thought, suddenly raised her hand, eyes bright as stars. "Teddiursa's Ability is Quick Feet… In a double battle, can I use Pawmo's Nuzzle or Thunder Wave to deliberately trigger Quick Feet and boost Teddiursa's speed?"

Lucas clapped and praised her. "Excellent—very clever thinking! That's a great way to use Abilities to boost your battle power."

Nemona's talent was frightening—just a bit of demonstration, and she could immediately develop her own Quick Feet tactics centered around Teddiursa.

As for Arven, Lucas thought he could try to deepen his bonds with his Pokémon—maybe through cooking.

In this world, the power of bonds was just as important. Back in the day, when he and Luxray shouted about friendship and bonds, they'd taken down a Tera Pokémon together.

After sending off the enlightened Nemona and Arven, Lucas returned to his daily routine.

His salary from Naranja Academy had arrived last night. Lucas also finalized the fence reconstruction plan with Machamp Construction, paying a 20,000 Pokédollar deposit, with the remaining 60,000 to be paid after the work was done.

…

The next day, Lucas went to Los Platos Town to buy flower seeds—sunflowers, lavender, asters, tulips, and more.

Sunflowers and lavender, as nectar plants, would be the favorites of honey-collecting Pokémon. Lucas was already planning for when a female Combee appeared in the Vespiquen hive, so he could raise her and have her produce honey for the farm.

Under Comfey's sparkling gaze, Lucas and the Pokémon planted the seeds together. Soon, they'd sprout and blossom into a beautiful flower field.

The following days were uneventful.

The day after the plan was set, Machamp Construction arrived and began building the new fence, which would take half a month.

Every day, the crops thrived under Grassy Terrain and sunny weather. Nemona and Arven often came to the farm when they had no classes, sometimes helping with chores—though Nemona's poor stamina meant she'd be gasping for air in under three minutes.

Lucas also taught his second class of the week at Naranja Academy, where the students' understanding of Pokémon battles continued to deepen.

Most importantly, the Delibird's psychological scars began to heal, thanks to Comfey's Aromatherapy after planting the flower field's seeds.

Though it still couldn't fly, Delibird could now calmly recount what happened that stormy night—lightning from the sky and a sense of death in the air.

Now, Delibird could recall those painful memories with calm.

Time ticked by, and soon the big day arrived.

Early in the morning, Lucas and the Pokémon began preparing the cargo for Dragonite to carry.

The crops and berry trees weren't ripe yet, so he was only bringing one product to sell at Porto Marinada's market—the Eldegoss' collected cotton.

The cotton weighed about five kilograms. At the current price of 12,000 Pokédollars per kilo—and with Eldegoss being so rare in Paldea—he'd get an even higher price.

After selecting the Pokémon to bring, Lucas patted the nervous Delibird on the head. "Don't worry, leave everything to me."

He had two goals: first, to sell the Eldegoss' cotton at the market to support the farm; and second, to use tomorrow's high chance of rain and thunderstorms at Casseroya Lake to help Delibird overcome its trauma.

As for the side objective, Lucas planned to look for suitable Pokémon to adopt while staying at Casseroya Lake.

He'd left enough food for the Pokémon at home and trusted his main team to guard the house.

With all the Pokémon waving goodbye, Lucas climbed atop Dragonite. Once he was settled, Dragonite flapped its tiny, cute wings and gently lifted him into the sky.