Lucas woke up naturally, with Vulpix in his arms.
Vulpix poked her head out from under the covers, seeing the light again.
Then she was covered by the blanket once more.
"Shoo?"
Vulpix tried poking her head out in a different direction.
And was covered again.
After playing with Vulpix for a while, Lucas got out of bed, twisted his waist, making it crackle.
With Gothorita's herbal medicine and a night's rest, Lucas felt fully recovered.
He walked into the bathroom, pulled Vulpix back as she tried to run downstairs, gave her a good wash, and only then let her go.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Lucas went to the balcony, looking at the vibrant backyard.
He spread his arms and took a deep breath.
Today would be a beautiful day.
Gengar had gone downstairs before Lucas. Lucas stood on the balcony for a while, watching Cynthia and Shauna, one big and one small, sitting on a seesaw in the backyard. Then he returned to the table in his room, took out his camera, and took a picture from afar.
He greeted Lilligant and the others downstairs.
Gengar phased through the ceiling, showing half his head, asking Lucas why he hadn't come down yet.
He was still chewing on something, munching away.
Lucas pressed Gengar's head back down with his hand, then turned and left the room, going downstairs.
Breakfast was century egg and lean meat congee, carefully prepared by Gothorita.
Lucas brought a spoonful of the congee to his mouth.
It was steaming hot.
He narrowed his eyes.
Gothorita, only those who have her know.
He drank three large bowls in one go.
Full and satisfied, Lucas took Gengar and Gothorita to the backyard.
The front area was, as always, left to Lilligant and Roselia.
Lucas thought back to the Breeding House at the beginning and how it was now.
In the beginning, it was just himself and Gengar.
Now, there were the Mightyena patrolling the backyard, Mime Jr. and Gothorita cooking and cleaning, and Lilligant and Mime Jr. greeting guests at the front desk.
Everything was in place.
He no longer had to worry about cooking or entertaining guests.
Lucas nodded to himself happily.
In the backyard, he played with Shauna for a while, then chatted with Cynthia for a bit. Lucas checked the time.
Then he went back to the kitchen to prepare herbal tea.
As soon as he entered the kitchen, Lucas saw three Pokémon acting suspiciously.
"Gengar's cry/sound—"
This is delicious, really.
"Crunch—
Not bad, crunchy.
"?"
This spicy and numbing one, why is it so tasty?
Lucas stealthily came up behind them.
"What are you doing?!"
Gengar jumped, almost dropping the snack in his hand.
Garchomp turned around at light speed, placing her scythe-like arm against Lucas's neck.
Lucario gathered Aura in his hands.
Lucas stood motionless.
Seeing it was Lucas, Gengar quickly moved between Lucas and Garchomp.
He gently took the scythe-like arm off Lucas's neck with his finger.
"Gengar's cry/sound—"
Don't get excited, don't get excited, this is one of us.
Garchomp and Lucario, realizing it was Lucas, swallowed what was in their mouths and put away their hands.
"Crunch."
You scared me.
Garchomp pretended to press down fiercely, but Lucas still didn't move.
Can't move, can't move.
Only after the scythe-like arm was removed from his neck did Lucas let out a sigh of relief.
Then Garchomp turned around and continued eating snacks with Lucario.
Gengar glanced at Lucas, then happily scurried over and joined them.
Seeing them occupy his spot.
Lucas told them to take their snacks outside to eat.
Then the three little rascals took away more than half of his stored snacks.
Among them, a little chubby one was even fishing in troubled waters.
Using the reputation of Garchomp and Lucario to get away with it.
As he walked out of the kitchen, Gengar was happily humming a tune.
As he passed by Lucas, Lucas unexpectedly poked his tail.
Letting him leak some air, then he started preparing today's herbal tea.
After the herbal tea was ready, Lucas called Gothorita over and asked her how she had brewed the herbal medicine for him yesterday.
Gothorita personally demonstrated the entire process to Lucas, from selecting the herbs to brewing them.
Looking at the brewed product, Gothorita seemed a bit confused.
"Goth?"
Why does it feel a little different?
Seeing Gothorita's expression, a bad thought popped into Lucas's mind.
"You didn't just brew it randomly yesterday, did you?"
Hearing Lucas's words, Gothorita pursed her lips, then pretended to be calm.
"Goth—Goth."
How could that be!
"You're clearly admitting it! You're so careless."
Lucas felt exhausted.
However, the herbs Gothorita selected were quite suitable, so it wasn't a completely random selection.
So Lucas decided to study it himself, to see if he could come up with a combination based on Gothorita's selection, and then send it to Joy for testing.
After all, for treating colds, herbal medicine would have relatively fewer side effects, and yesterday's efficacy was quite good.
Gothorita watched Lucas, who was deep in thought with the herbs, carefully and slowly moved to the kitchen door, then ran off.
Lucas looked up and found that Gothorita had disappeared.
He sighed helplessly.
First, he packaged the herbal tea, then he brewed a portion of the herbal medicine that Gothorita had made according to his own recipe, and then put it into bottles.
He called Shauna over.
He instructed her that after delivering the herbal tea, she should go to the Pokémon Center to find Joy and give her this herbal medicine. He explained that he had brewed it to a degree suitable for Pokémon and that she could try it to see if it had any effect on Pokémon with colds and fevers.
Shauna carefully remembered Lucas's words, cautiously put away the bottle of herbal medicine, and then her little face became serious.
She got on Rapidash and headed towards Twinleaf Town.
Watching Shauna's disappearing back, Lucas took out his phone and sent a few messages to Joy, explaining the situation.
Returning to the Breeding House, Cynthia was sitting in the lounge area at some point, with Vulpix resting on her long legs, while she watched cartoons with Gengar.
Garchomp was not interested in these things and had taken Lucario back to the backyard to train the Mightyena and the others.
Lucas glanced at them, then returned to the kitchen to prepare lunch with Gothorita and Mime Jr..
Shauna returned just as Lucas finished making lunch. As Lucas brought out the food, he saw Shauna dismounting from Rapidash.
She was holding a fish that was half her size, and the fish was still flapping in her arms, trying to escape.
But Shauna's strength was so great that she held it firmly in her arms, unable to move an inch.
Lucas had to use both hands to lift the fish from Shauna's grasp, yet Shauna had been able to hold it tightly in her arms.
Shauna grinned.
"Grandpa Yask and Teddiursa gave this to me, saying I should bring it back for you to make soup."
Lucas smiled and handed the fish to Gengar.
Slap.
Gengar was slapped in the face by the fish's tail.
Gengar was stunned for a moment, then used Extrasensory to control the fish and gave it a few big slaps.
You dare to slap me? I'll eat you later!
After venting his anger, Gengar carried the fish back to the kitchen.
Shauna, meanwhile, pulled out a large pile of snacks from her bag.
Lucas patted her little head.
He looked at Cynthia:
"Time to eat. Shauna, you go wash your hands and eat too."