Watching Officer Jenny ride off on her police motorcycle, Lucas sighed, "What a mess."
The trainer who abandoned Grafaiai was a student at Naranja Academy. If this got out, it could damage the Academy's reputation and spark a wave of student withdrawals.
That was one reason Officer Jenny couldn't act directly.
It might sound exaggerated, but in a world with Pokémon, abandoning a Pokémon is among the most despicable acts.
Of course, it's more nuanced than a simple black-and-white issue. For example, if you can't bond with a newly caught Pokémon, you can simply release it where you found it—that's legal.
But abandoning a Grafaiai far from Naranja Academy, leaving it to lash out at humans in revenge, is classified as abandonment of the worst sort.
If caught, the punishment could be as severe as losing your license or even jail time.
"Should I tell Geeta or Director Harrington…?"
Lucas rubbed his temples. Naranja Academy sure had a lot of hidden problems these days!
"What are you telling the chairwoman and director?"
A curious voice startled Lucas. He turned to see Arven had slipped in while he was lost in thought.
"Why are you here? Didn't I ask you to message me before coming over?"
Out of mischief, Lucas ruffled Arven's soft, chestnut hair.
"Don't mess up my hair! I'm not tall enough as it is!" Arven huffed, swatting his hands away. "I texted you before I left!"
Arven showed his phone—the message timestamp matched Lucas's conversation with Officer Jenny.
Lucas couldn't argue, so he changed the subject. "I heard you didn't challenge the Levincia Gym. Did you fail Brassius's trial?"
Arven stiffened, recalling how his Mabosstiff and Skwovet were played by that Trevenant, his voice deflating. "I passed… just took a little longer."
"Oh?"
Lucas gave Arven a knowing look—so he'd been stuck in Artazon for quite a while.
"If you're here now, that means school's out?"
He led Arven inside.
Arven nodded, "Just the usual opening ceremony this morning, no classes this afternoon."
"Have you seen the other students? How are they doing?"
Lucas was asking about the battle studies students in particular. Arven hesitated.
"Well, everyone seems a bit down. Especially President Giacomo—he looks drained and listless during speeches."
Lucas paused, then walked on as if nothing had happened.
Arven didn't notice Lucas's frown. Maybe Giacomo had already run into that future problem…
Arven hadn't come for any particular reason—he was just bored after school. If he had a purpose, it was to remind Lucas to take him to the Great Crater of Paldea and see his parents.
It had been ages since Arven's parents, Sada and Turo, went into the crater. They called occasionally, but the signal always cut out quickly.
It was Arven's first time living alone for so long. Though he lived in the Academy dorms and had classmates, he still felt lonely.
Sometimes he wondered what would have become of him if, in another world, he'd never met Lucas and his parents had disappeared for months without a word.
But the moment he saw Arcanine passing by, all those thoughts vanished. Arven's eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Is that Arcanine? Did Growlithe evolve?"
Since Arcanine and Growlithe look alike, and Arven knew about Growlithe, he recognized it instantly.
Arcanine's ears twitched at the sight of Arven. Not long ago, it had to look up at Arven—now it was Arven's turn to look up at it. Arcanine felt secretly smug.
It strutted over, showing off its magnificent mane, earning a round of amazed shouts from Arven.
Lucas, watching from the side: "..."
When did it get so vain? Where did it learn that?
On second thought, probably from Moltres—not from him, for sure.
After Arven rode Arcanine for a speed-limited thrill ride around the farm, he stuck to Lucas like a shadow, following him to the kitchen.
Seeing Lucas take out a sack of unmarked flour, eggs, and other ingredients, Arven wondered if Lucas was making cake for him.
But when he pulled out a handful of freshly washed grass, Arven was stunned.
He didn't eat grass!
Seeing Arven's confusion, Lucas chuckled—he could tell Arven thought the cake was for him. As if.
"These are for the future Pokémon in the pasture. If you want cake, there's still some on the table. Eat up and watch me work."
Lucas pointed to the dining table, and Arven obediently fetched the cake, settling down to watch.
Most of the farm's Pokémon ate mainly grass or Pokémon food, so the new food had to be grass-based.
Grass cake wasn't a regular food—more of a treat, given the more complex process.
The process was like a regular cake, but with ground grass mixed into the batter and a spread of seasoned grass paste instead of frosting.
The result looked like a cake but smelled faintly of grass and earth.
Lucas wondered if Mudsdale and Sawsbuck would eat it. Leaving the grass cake aside under Arven's dubious gaze, he started making other foods.
Like grass steaks with breadcrumbs and grass, grass dumplings, and grass dorayaki.