Perhaps to showcase the results of training with the island guardian, Tapu Bulu personally hosted a move showcase.
First up was Serperior.
To be honest, since Lucas had gone up Mount Lanakila with Kukui, he'd left the Grassy Terrain expert Tapu Bulu to train Serperior and the others, focusing on Growlithe. He had no idea how much Serperior had learned.
But when Serperior showed off its new moves, Lucas was speechless.
Serperior performed two moves in order.
The first was the powerful Seed Bomb, seemingly learned after eating too many of Tapu Bulu's berries.
The second was Grassy Glide, a move that provides incredible speed during attacks—and is even faster in Grassy Terrain.
Lucas stared in disbelief: "You only learned two attack moves!?"
Serperior turned away, avoiding his gaze.
What could it do? Even after days of nutrient-rich training under Tapu Bulu, some moves just wouldn't stick!
Lucas gave Tapu Bulu a deadpan look—yep, even the island guardian had given up on teaching Serperior Grassy Terrain.
"Even the island guardian Tapu Bulu couldn't teach Serperior Grassy Terrain…"
Kukui glanced back and forth between Serperior, Tapu Bulu, and Lucas, astonished. "You weren't kidding—Serperior's affinity for Grassy Terrain really is that low!"
Sensing Kukui's rude gaze, Serperior was annoyed but didn't whip Kukui's butt with its vine like it did with Lucas.
After all, Serperior had decided long ago: outside of battle, its vine was for Lucas only.
Thankfully, the Eldegoss trio performed admirably next. Three beams of green light spread across the ground, making a vibrant, glowing green field.
Under the mountain sky with no obstructions, the wind rustled the grassy field, making a gentle shushing sound.
One Eldegoss' Grassy Terrain covered an area about the size of a basketball court, but after Tapu Bulu's training, the three combined to cover a much larger area.
And that wasn't all.
Comfey, now part of Lucas' team, also joined the training. Despite being a Fairy type, Comfey could learn Grassy Terrain too.
Under Tapu Bulu's guidance, Comfey mastered Grassy Terrain perfectly.
With a fourth Grassy Terrain, the field expanded even more.
Normally, Pokémon moves can't be perfectly compatible without hard training, even if they're the same move. Usually, energies would collide, causing an explosion.
But the four Pokémon's Grassy Terrain merged harmoniously as if made for each other.
Lucas looked at Tapu Bulu in confusion. Tapu Bulu's wise, honest eyes narrowed, hinting that in just a few days, it had not only taught the Eldegoss and Comfey Grassy Terrain but had also forged it into a combo move!
Tapu Bulu then explained: "Moo moo ~ moo, moo!"
Lucas paused, then said, "You mean you wanted Serperior to learn the essence of your Grassy Terrain, but it just couldn't, so you helped the weaker Eldegoss instead? And since they're still too weak to learn the essence, you developed this four-in-one combo?"
"Whew…" Lucas gasped in shock before Tapu Bulu could respond.
Truly, Tapu Bulu was a Grassy Terrain master—its skill had reached the level of art.
After their demonstration, Serperior patted each of the Eldegoss on the head with its vine, showing approval.
After all, they were its subordinates—if they mastered Grassy Terrain, it was almost as good as mastering it itself!
The last to showcase was Mudbray, who had been improving its Rototiller move under Tapu Bulu's guidance.
Lucas was excited to see how Mudbray would perform.
If Grassy Terrain was about boosting crop growth, the soil was the foundation—only nutrient-rich soil could yield the best crops.
Compared to a few days earlier, Mudbray's Rototiller was now many times faster and more precise. It no longer needed to dig holes one by one with its hooves—the ground opened and fluffed up, rich with nutrients, under its Ground energy.
Inspecting the soil, Lucas found that while it wasn't yet the black soil of Tapu Bulu's making, it was already excellent.
Whether from the fine gaps in the fluffy soil or Tapu Bulu's endorsement of its nutrients, Lucas was satisfied.
If there were a game interface, Mudbray's mastery of Rototiller would have upgraded from Beginner to Expert. With continued practice and experience, Master wasn't far off.
By the way, Tapu Bulu's Rototiller was at God Level.
No wonder Tapu Bulu could help the Eldegoss, Comfey, and Mudbray master Grassy Terrain and Rototiller so quickly.
…
That afternoon, limited by the length of his vacation, Lucas couldn't stay in Alola any longer—plus, Pokémon awaited him at home.
After cleaning up all traces of his camp, he recalled his Pokémon, shouldered his backpack, and formally thanked Tapu Bulu: "Respected island guardian Tapu Bulu, thank you for teaching my partners over the past few days."
As Alola's land god, Lucas addressed Tapu Bulu with formal respect.
Tapu Bulu looked at him for a moment, then, as if remembering something, shook out two crystals from its hooves and handed them to Lucas.
Lucas' mouth twitched—was Tapu Bulu's hoof gap a four-dimensional treasure pouch?
He saw one crystal was emerald green, the other earth yellow.
Kukui recognized them instantly, envious: "Tapu Bulu seems to be giving you the Grassium Z and Groundium Z crystals."
Lucas looked to Tapu Bulu, received confirmation, and nodded: "Thank you for your generosity—I'll gladly accept."
"Moo moo~"
Tapu Bulu nodded, waved goodbye, and then found a nice spot to nap, not caring whether Lucas had left yet.
Lucas smiled, mounted the waiting Dragonite, and softly said, "Let's go home!"
Dragonite nodded excitedly: "Drago!"