From Alder's account, Lucas drew two conclusions.
First, Alder's original Volcarona has not yet been laid to rest in Unova's Celestial Tower—hence why he still has the fighting spirit to battle Lucas today.
Second, Volcarona's problem is an irreparable deficit at its very source. There's no way to make up for it, and he can only watch as a Volcarona—supposed to be among the longest-lived of Bug-type Pokémon—grows weaker day by day and dies.
There are ways to heal Volcarona, and Lucas can think of several, but they would require seeking out elusive Legendary Pokémon—like Ho-Oh, which can revive the dead, or Xerneas, which can share eternal life, and so on.
These ideas are a bit unrealistic; thinking from a practical angle…
Lucas's gaze, deep in thought, suddenly fell on the excited Arven behind him, and in that instant inspiration bubbled up like a spring.
In the games, Arven's Mabosstiff also had an unhealable injury/deficit like Volcarona, and could only waste away day by day.
Arven's way of saving Mabosstiff was to have it eat sandwiches made with the five Herba Mystica flavors—sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty—directly pulling Mabosstiff back from the brink!
"Maybe there is a way."
After finishing Volcarona's story, Alder had been watching Lucas. Hearing that almost-whispered line that he thought he might have imagined, a spark of hope suddenly kindled in Alder's heart.
"You have a way!?"
Ignoring the students and reporters around them, Alder grabbed Lucas's hand like a drowning man clutching at a lifeline.
In countless midnight hours, he had lain awake, tormented by memories of Volcarona.
If he could save Volcarona, he would do anything that didn't harm Unova. He'd even sell off everything he owned.
Lucas was startled by Alder's sudden intensity. He didn't want to make promises he couldn't keep, but Alder's face, a mix of sorrow and hope, made him fall silent.
After a few seconds, Lucas said slowly, "There is a way, but I'm not one hundred percent sure. Let's finish the exchange event first and then talk in detail."
Alder paused and looked around. Lacey, a few others, students, and reporters were all staring blankly at them. They couldn't hear the conversation, but Alder suddenly grabbed Lucas's hand—who knew what was going on.
Thankfully, the reporters admitted into Blueberry Academy today were proper and perceptive—not reckless. Otherwise, headlines like "Alder Loses Battle, Emotionally Agitated, Won't Let Winner Leave" would be everywhere tonight.
Realizing he'd lost his composure, Alder cleared his throat. "Then let's proceed with the next two doubles matches."
After Alder lost 3–0 to Lucas, the Blueberry Academy students' overall morale slumped, even affecting the first-round doubles pair Crispin & Lacey.
Compared to Lacey—disappointed yet composed and precise—Crispin, younger but very gifted, became inconsistent.
Even though Lacey did her best to take down Eris's Breloom and Penny's Jolteon, they still couldn't turn the tide and lost the 6v6 double battle.
The second pair, Drayton & Amarys, did much better. As a Steel specialist, Amarys maintained calm, meticulous tactics like Hoenn Champion Steven, while Drayton showed the domineering side of a Dragon-type trainer.
Unfortunately, they faced Nemona & Arven.
Whatever Arven's shot-calling, at least the Cloyster set Lucas recommended—Shell Smash into Icicle Spear to the face caught Drayton off guard.
Amarys's support was blocked by Nemona's fierce offense, and from that moment the momentum swung decisively to Nemona and Arven.
Nemona's style is truly savage—reckless at first glance, yet she dissolves every crisis perfectly and even screens for Arven to deal damage safely.
Ursaring crushed Amarys's Empoleon, then combined with Cloyster to take down Flygon. After Cloyster fell to Amarys's Scizor, Ursaring tanked attacks from the Pokémon called Archaludon, leaving solid damage before going down.
Then Pawmot came out and showcased Nemona's strength far beyond her peers, trading rapid blows with Scizor and beam-for-beam with cannon-like Archaludon.
Arven and Mabosstiff were basically supports, mostly protecting the carry from tricky angles of attack.
After Scizor and Archaludon both fell, Drayton stared in surprise at Nemona, who seemed about his age. Her overwhelming strength actually inspired a bit of fear in him.
Watching the whole time, Lucas was thrilled, though he couldn't figure out why Lacey's ace was Excadrill—doesn't she like cute Pokémon, especially Fairy types?
And Drayton's ace, Archaludon—seems like an evolution of Duraludon. If Duraludon, which can wrestle Tyranitar, can still evolve, is it like Scyther to Scizor?
Surely it doesn't just ascend into a pseudo-legend with a 600 base stat total?
During the match, Lucas also reviewed his battle with Alder.
Conclusion: Alder's biggest issue is that his absolute ace, Volcarona, is gravely ill, so his current strength is only somewhat above an average Elite Four member.
Cynthia's Garchomp, Diantha's Gardevoir, Steven's Metagross, and Leon's Charizard are absolute aces that can decide matches.
Right now, Alder is roughly like a buffed Raihan from Galar—supposedly Champion-tier elsewhere, yet he uses Duraludon's Gigantamax.
By contrast, after nearly half a year of growth, Serperior and the others have improved a lot since the challenge against Geeta, and he's added Mega Swampert to his roster.
All these factors combined produced Lucas's terrifying 3–0.
That's also why he wants to fight Alder at his peak—fading heroes always leave a sense of regret.
As Blueberry Academy's students wore expressions of sorrow and frustration, the "harmonious and friendly" exchange with the sister school ended. Reporters beamed, having bagged great stories.
Nemona's group was energized by a sense of achievement; Director Cyrano looked satisfied, everything going as planned. Proper losses and pressure only give Unova's younger generation stronger motivation to grow.
As the crowd dispersed, among the dejected students of the League Club, a short, timid boy named Kieran glanced quietly at Lucas's departing figure.
From today on, the powerful trainer he admired equaled Lucas in his mind.
…
As soon as the event ended, Alder hurried to find Lucas. Arranged by Director Cyrano, they went to a quiet, empty room.
No sooner had they sat down than Alder asked, "About what we just discussed—"
Lucas raised a hand to stop him, sighing. "Don't rush. To be frank, I probably can't produce the thing itself right away."
Alder's face fell at once.
Sighing, Lucas continued, "It's a peculiar plant from Paldea called Herba Mystica. If you eat dishes made with all five flavors—sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty—it's said even a gravely injured Pokémon on the brink can be saved."
In the games you can just snatch Herba Mystica from Titan Pokémon, but Lucas had never heard rumors of Titans in reality.
Fortunately, his farm is growing them.
Seeing Alder's hopeful expression, Lucas recalled the small plot with subtly different leaf patterns and shapes and said slowly, "My farm is cultivating Herba Mystica—just so happens I have all five."
"However, this plant not only needs massive energy to grow but also has a long growth cycle. I planted them at the start of the year, and even with Pokémon bathing them daily in Grassy Terrain, they probably won't mature until the end of the year—maybe even next year."
"Can Volcarona last that long?"
Alder was silent for a moment, then said quietly, "I'm not sure. It gets weaker every day. I don't know how long it can hold on. If there were a way to replenish some of its source energy, maybe it could hang in there."
"Replenish energy…"
Lucas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. As it happened, after leaving Blueberry Academy for Eindoak Town, that Pokémon would be there.
But he didn't bring it up. Giving Alder nebulous hope would only add worry and pressure.
After discussing Volcarona's condition further, Lucas and Alder exchanged contact info.
With a real hope of healing Volcarona, Alder stood and bowed deeply. "I'll entrust the Herba Mystica cultivation to you. Regardless of the outcome, I'll pay you."
Lucas didn't refuse; it was Alder's sincerity and hope.
When Alder asked what kind of payment he wanted, Lucas's gaze happened to fall on the Terarium map hanging on the wall.
After Lucas left, Alder looked at the Terarium map, thoughtful.
Lucas mentioned his main business is running a farm—could he be very interested in Terarium construction tech?
…
That night after the exchange, Geeta called. She first praised Lucas and the students for their performance; before Lucas could speak, she volunteered to double the prize money.
It was clear Geeta was very pleased with the results.
Over the next two days, Nemona's group basically became exchange students at Blueberry Academy, enjoying youth.
Lucas, meanwhile, often carried around Alcremie, Comfey, and Vulpix—the three cute little ones—and wandered the academy like a street loafer. Lacey even asked if he planned to specialize in Fairy types.
He thought Lacey was talking nonsense—until that night when a Mimikyu crawled out of his shadow, and he remembered Dachsbun, Arcanine's underling. Counting five current and future Fairy-types, Lucas fell silent.
He quickly made peace with himself. On his farm, the most common type is definitely Grass.
Come to think of it, he couldn't recall a Grass-type Elite Four member—there's even a Bug specialist. Maybe he should go be a "Grass Elite"…
Two days flew by. On the morning of the third day, as Lucas's group of five prepared to leave Blueberry Academy, seeing them off were Director Cyrano and Lacey. Drayton, with heavy dark circles from staying up late, suddenly ran over and asked to battle Lucas.
It was a brutal, lopsided match—so one-sided that even years later Drayton would blush just recalling it.
Lucas's Dragonite left a deep impression, making Drayton seriously consider raising a Dratini. That dragon was even stronger than his grandfather Drayden's ace, which thrilled him.
On the morning of June 5th, the five took a cruise ship and left Blueberry Academy.
When the ship docked at an unnamed port, they set off by map and toward Eindoak Town, the city nestled among mountains.
On the way, the Vulpix Lucas kept by his side behaved like a curious baby, fascinated by everything, which delayed their progress a bit.
They should have reached Eindoak Town before noon, but with all the delays they only got to the mountain path at the city's entrance around one or two in the afternoon.
Before entering Eindoak Town, Lucas saw a few greenish-blue Sawsbuck. Sawsbuck is the evolved form of Deerling, and likewise changes appearance with the seasons.
The Sawsbuck he saw were in their summer form—the same as the ones Ash and friends encountered before entering Eindoak Town in the movie.
This meant their timing matched the movie: every summer, Eindoak Town holds the Harvest Festival.
However, there was no scene of a Sawsbuck trapped on a cliff, and the mysterious invisible Mythical Pokémon Victini didn't show even a shadow.
Lucas wasn't in a rush. He'd deliver the letter first, then rely on that system in his head—which is only good for directions—to look for Victini and set up a "recruitment" plan.
Legend has it Victini brings victory. A trainer with Victini will be invincible—likely because Victini can generate infinite energy and share it with humans and Pokémon, enhancing their abilities.
These past few days, Lucas had been thinking: if it's Victini, could it slow Volcarona's decline, amplify his farm Pokémon's Grassy Terrain effects, speed up Herba Mystica growth, and thus save Volcarona?
He had already planned to "recruit" Victini; Alder and Volcarona's situation simply firmed his resolve to try establishing a bond with it.