The first Pokémon to appear was one of the Hoenn starters, a powerhouse famous for its terrifying strength -- the Mud Fish Pokémon, Swampert.
The moment Swampert materialized, it gave Carl, Flutter Mane, and Serperior a warm, good-natured cry: "Slurp~"
Next out were two Pokémon at once: a sleek Linoone with pale blue eyes and light brown fur marked with dark stripes, alongside an Espeon. They immediately trotted over and nuzzled against Carl's legs. Carl crouched down and gave each of them an affectionate pat along their glossy coats. "One day apart and you two already miss me?"
While Carl was greeting those two, a serpentine Pokémon drifted over -- covered in water-blue scales, a small pair of side fins, a single white horn on its forehead. It pressed its face against Carl's cheek with a gentle nuzzle. This was Dragonair, Dratini's evolution.
"Carl, so this is your farm? Rotom."
"Looks like a complete wasteland, Rotom."
"Are you ever going back to Sinnoh, Rotom?"
"Hey, what was that for! Rotom."
"Say one more word and I'm having Flutter Mane deal with you," Carl said, eyeing the Wash Rotom bobbing around him.
"Fine, I'll be quiet, Rotom." The chatty washing machine clicked its beak and drifted off to the side, where it turned its round little eyes on Arven and Nemona instead.
"Is that the Rotom Carl mentioned?" Arven watched the floating Rotom curiously and pulled out his Rotom Phone.
"Oh, are you also a Rotom? Rotom." The Wash Rotom spotted its distant relative -- who looked nothing like what it expected -- and floated straight up to it. "Hello, Rotom."
"Of course I'm a Rotom, Rotom," the phone Rotom replied, apparently unbothered. "But I'm a Phone Rotom, Rotom."
While the two Rotom got acquainted, Carl finished his greetings and turned to Arven and Nemona. "Come on, follow me."
They followed the dirt path through the farm, Carl leading the group of Pokémon and two kids to the small building at the center of the property.
"Oowoo? (Did you get everything?)" Urshifu had been keeping watch at home. The moment he spotted Carl, he pulled off his training resistance gear and stepped out to meet them.
"All of it." Carl unhooked the shopping bags from Corviknight and handed them over. "I also brought a couple of guests along."
Urshifu, who had already taken note of Arven and Nemona, gave a nod and waved at them warmly. "Oowoo. (Welcome to the farm.)"
Nemona's eyes went wide taking in Urshifu's presence -- that calm, grounded, quietly formidable air he carried. "Whoa, a Pokémon I've never seen before, and it looks incredibly strong!"
"This is Urshifu, my starter," Carl said. "He's not just the strongest Pokémon on my team -- he's also a seriously talented cook."
That last detail got Arven's full attention. He might not care about battling at all, but cooking was another matter. He'd heard of Pokémon that could cook, but a Pokémon that was simultaneously that powerful, that cool-looking, and that skilled in the kitchen was something he'd never actually encountered.
Sensing their eyes on him, Urshifu kept his expression neutral -- while quietly running through what he was going to make tonight to knock the younger guest's socks off.
"Nice to meet you, Urshifu." Arven offered a slightly shy smile. "I'm Arven. I go to Naranja Academy. I'm not great at battling, but I really love cooking. I'm looking forward to your dinner."
"My turn, my turn!" Nemona stepped up before Arven had fully finished. "Hi, Urshifu! I'm Nemona, and I'm working toward the Paldea Championship! If you're ever up for it, I'd love to battle you!"
Carl went through formal introductions for the rest of his team, including Flutter Mane and Serperior, then added: "If you want to help me clean up the house, come with me. If not, feel free to wander. Once dinner's done, Corviknight will fly you home."
Nemona really did want to battle Urshifu, but when she saw Arven follow Carl inside to help, she decided to join them. A battle could happen any time as long as Carl was around. A chance to eat Urshifu's cooking, on the other hand, was a limited-time offer -- and Nemona knew the difference between a short-term and long-term investment.
With two extra sets of hands, the farmhouse got a top-to-bottom sweep in no time. Carl drew the line there -- he wasn't actually going to put kids to work on the harder stuff.
Time moved quickly. By the time Gholdengo drifted back from his extended farm survey and Charizard returned from wherever he'd wandered off to, the light outside had already shifted to early evening.
In the wait before dinner, Nemona kept pushing until Carl finally sent out Gholdengo for a match. He'd kept the pace intentionally slow, but the gap in raw power was too wide to hide, and Nemona's team went down.
Her current lineup: Fidough, Goodra, Lycanroc, Milotic, and Ribombee.
Nemona didn't look even slightly down about the loss. She immediately launched into a rapid-fire round of questions about every mistake she'd made in the battle, firing them at Carl one after another without pause -- and didn't stop until Urshifu appeared in the doorway to announce dinner. Carl sent a silent thank-you his way.
They piled inside. The smell hit them the instant the door opened. Everyone washed up and sat down at the table.
Arven looked at the spread and said quietly: "Urshifu's cooking is something else."
Nemona, already starving, nodded and swallowed hard.
Carl, equally hungry, didn't sit down right away. He and Urshifu went around distributing food to all the Pokémon first, then took their seats. Carl looked around and gave the signal.
The noise in the room dropped to almost nothing. All that was left was the clink of bowls and the enthusiastic chewing of Pokémon.
At Professor Rowan's lab, in a nesting space that had clearly been built for a large bird Pokémon, Zapdos sat staring up at the full moon, deep in thought.
Could someone explain why every single Pokémon that usually sheltered under its watch had vanished while it was napping?
It absentmindedly picked up a plump Oran Berry and swallowed it in two bites.
When was that guy coming to pick it up already? The berries here weren't bad -- but they didn't hold a candle to what the chef made.