"Manager."
Gary called out happily.
Lucas nodded, then shakily got down from Latias's back. Immediately, a red light flashed from his belt, and Ninetales jumped out of its Poké Ball on its own. Following that, Lucas felt a wave of Heat Wave envelop him.
Feeling comfortable, Lucas let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for your hard work, Latias."
Then he rubbed Ninetales's head. "Thank you."
Only then did he look at Gary, patted his shoulder, and nodded. "Not bad, looks like you've grown taller again."
Gary grinned but didn't speak.
"Have you seen Ash recently?"
Lucas asked.
Gary nodded. "I have. I heard he's challenging the last Gym. He said that once he finishes challenging the last Gym, and Dawn finishes participating in the last Pokémon Contest, they will head over to the Breeding House to rest up as a break before the tournament."
Lucas nodded; this was a good idea.
"By the way, Manager, this is Gym Leader Byron of Canalave City."
"Gym Leader Byron, nice to meet you."
Lucas reached out his hand, and Byron also reached out to shake Lucas's hand.
After exchanging pleasantries, Lucas asked them, "Where are those two Shieldon?"
Gary brought Lucas to the two Shieldon. Lucas crouched down to observe them, but found he couldn't tell what was wrong, so he decisively focused his attention.
After reading the text in the description, Lucas finally understood what had happened.
[Shieldon]
[Gender: Male]
[— — — —]
[Description: About to evolve, feeling unwell. The steel-like shield on its face is causing it some unbearable pain before the transformation. Its already somewhat weak body is finding this pain even harder to endure at this moment.]
After Lucas stood up, Gary asked, "Manager — — — —"
Lucas said with a smile, "Don't worry, if I'm not mistaken, these should be signs before evolution."
Gary and Byron looked at each other, then breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just because of evolution, then it was fine.
As long as it wasn't some hidden illness, it wasn't a big problem.
"However, it seems their bodies are a bit weak, which is why it's manifesting so obviously. I'll brew some herbal medicine for them to drink. I estimate they will evolve in these next few days," Lucas continued.
Gary nodded, then led Lucas to the kitchen.
Lucas released Gothitelle and had it help him brew the herbal medicine.
After brewing it, Lucas carried the herbal medicine to the two Shieldon, blew on it to cool it down a bit, placed it in front of them, touched their shields—they were cool to the touch—and said in a gentle tone, "Drink it. You won't feel so uncomfortable after you finish."
The Shieldon felt the affinity radiating from Lucas, nodded, and then lowered their heads to drink the herbal medicine.
After taking a sip, it was a bit bitter, so they withdrew their bodies.
Lucas pushed the bowl forward. "Good medicine tastes bitter; the bitterness is normal. No matter how bitter it is, it's better than feeling unwell. Come on, drink it all in one go and it won't be as bitter. After you finish, I'll give you some sweet honey; it's very sweet."
The Shieldon hesitated for a moment, then lowered their heads and drank the herbal medicine in the bowl in one go. Seeing this, Lucas clapped. "Well done."
Then he looked up at Gengar. "Gengar, I'll leave it to you."
Gengar smiled and took out a jar of sweet honey. Lucas opened the lid, and the fragrance of the sweet honey attracted all the surrounding Shieldon. Lucas smiled, used a spoon to scoop some out, and fed it to the Shieldon that had just drunk the herbal medicine. This Shieldon ate the sweet honey, felt surrounded by happiness, and narrowed its eyes, letting out a comfortable sound.
Seeing this, the other Shieldon that hadn't dared to drink the herbal medicine also drank all the herbal medicine in one go, and then Lucas fed it a spoonful of sweet honey as well.
Seeing that the other Shieldon also wanted to eat sweet honey, Lucas grinned. "Do you want to eat sweet honey?"
That group of Shieldon immediately surrounded Lucas and kept nodding.
Lucas suddenly put the lid back on. "You want to eat? That's not impossible, but they only got to eat sweet honey after drinking the herbal medicine. If you want to eat, you can only have some after finishing the herbal medicine, okay?"
Immediately, two Shieldon backed away, but there were still Shieldon asking where the herbal medicine was. Hadn't it all been drunk by those two Shieldon?
Lucas snapped his fingers. "Gothitelle."
Gothitelle then floated out from the kitchen with a large pot of herbal medicine and poured a bowl for everyone.
Lucas looked at the herbal medicine placed in front of every Shieldon. "So, everyone, whoever finishes drinking first gets to eat the sweet honey first. However, you need to be careful; there isn't much sweet honey left."
Gengar: ? ! Did I take the wrong one? I took a full jar!
It even took a peek and found it was indeed a full jar.
Only then did it feel relieved.
It even patted its own chest with its hand and let out a sigh of relief.
Scared the ghost out of me; I thought someone had stolen my sweet honey.
Hearing Lucas's words, several Shieldon hurriedly lowered their heads and drank all the herbal medicine in their bowls. Then Lucas kept his promise and fed each of them a spoonful of sweet honey.
Happy, they just lay down on the ground.
Lucas put away the sweet honey, returned it to Gengar, and then came to Gary's side. "I've given them all herbal medicine as a precaution. The herbal medicine those two Shieldon drank is different. I'll be staying here for these few days. You have a place for me to stay, right? I'll go back after they evolve."
"Yes, thank you, Lucas." Byron hurriedly expressed his gratitude.
He saw that the Shieldon's condition had improved a lot.
Lucas waved his hand, indicating there was no need for courtesy. "After all, helping Pokémon is the principle of our Breeding House."
Gothitelle and Lilligant took Lucas's luggage and followed Byron to the room to tidy up.
Lucas and Gary walked around the Research Institute.
"Have you decided to set up the Research Institute here?" Lucas asked.
Gary shook his head. "I just came here to check on the Shieldon's condition this time. I will leave afterward. I have already found a suitable place to build the Research Institute."
Lucas nodded. "Remember to tell me when the time comes."
Gary said "Mm." "I guess I'll go back after the League Conference."
Lucas was stunned for a moment. Is the League Conference about to start?
"When does the League Conference start?"
"In two weeks."
So soon? Lucas really didn't know.
"Then are you confident?" Lucas asked.
Gary grinned, then took out the wooden plaque from his neck, which had a key stone embedded in it.
Lucas smiled knowingly.
"Manager, I have already grasped that light." Gary said.
Lucas was just about to compliment him when he heard Gary's next sentence.
"So, Manager, let's have a battle. I want to show you the power I've mastered."
Looking at the burning fighting spirit in Gary's eyes, Lucas chuckled softly.
"Then let that serve as a test of your recent training results."
"I couldn't ask for more."
Lucas followed Gary to a battle field.
Gothitelle and Lilligant, who had just finished tidying up the luggage in the room, sensed something and hurriedly walked out.
Byron followed behind them. Seeing Lucas and Gary standing on the battle field, he was stunned for a moment.
"This is — — — — are you going to battle?"
Lucas and Gary's words answered his question.
"Manager (Gary), let's battle!"