Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. It belongs to Nintendo and Game Freak.

Hi all,

Here's the second chapter for today.

Chapter 41

The day after the incident in the mines, Lucas awoke to the sound of construction right outside his window. He grumbled and covered his head with his pillow, but it did nothing to muffle the noise. He checked the time and found that it was just past eight a.m.

Lucas got out of bed and padded to the window. He noticed workers outside, directing their Pokemon to tear down his rear fence with scary efficiency. All of the trees and plants along the rear fence had been cut down to allow them access, exposing him to the neighbours whose property butted up against his property. Fortunately, the building where his Pokemon trained remained intact, although he didn't hold out hope that it would remain that way.

"What the hell is going on? The landlord didn't say anything about doing any renovations to the property."

Then he noticed a familiar figure standing outside, talking on the phone. Shichiro's assistant, Henry, who was tasked with managing Brock's family matters. What the hell was he doing here?

Lucas headed downstairs. Brock was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for his siblings while keeping an eye on what was transpiring outside the kitchen window. Lucas noticed that the fence in the front had undergone the same treatment as the one in the back. However, builders had already begun pouring a concrete foundation to replace it with a stone fence.

"Brock, do you want to clue me in on what's going on?"

Brock shrugged. "Henry came knocking on the door at six a.m. He said that the Kuroi family purchased the home from the landlord because he refused to agree to a few improvements to make it more secure."

Lucas rubbed his face. "Shichiro didn't tell me anything about this. How did the property change hands so quickly? And how did he secure consent from the council for substantial renovations in only two days?"

"This is the prime minister we're talking about," Brock said. "He probably offered to buy the house well above the market price and used his connections to cut through all the red tape."

"He'd better not impose any restrictions on me now that he is the landlord," Lucas said with a grimace.

Shichiro seemed to be supportive of his and Sabrina's relationship, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try and poke his nose into their business. Owning the house where Lucas was staying would provide the man with numerous opportunities to meddle.

"It may actually be a good thing," Brock replied, setting plates of food in front of his siblings. "Aren't you going to get additional Pokemon for your breeding business? You will need to enlarge the building out back to accommodate all of them. The Prime Minister may be more open to the suggestion than the previous landlord."

Lucas nodded. "I hadn't thought about that."

There was plenty of space for expanding the building in the back. The only difficulty he could see was that he didn't know how long he'd be here, so making any changes might not be worth it in the long run.

He needed to go back to the farm in Pallet Town to see if the Nidoran he treated had fully recovered. In exchange for treating all of the damaged Pokemon, he intended to acquire some of them, laying the groundwork for his business.

But that would necessitate a great deal of preparation on his behalf. He had to not only feed and house them, but also ensure they got the proper training. He wouldn't have the time, and it would be too much work for Brock to do alone, so he'd have to consider hiring someone to look after the Pokemon for him.

Fortunately, he couldn't take ownership of any Pokemon until they had completely recovered, which would take at least a week. That would give him enough time to prepare.

"By the way, the prime minister found us a house that we could live in. It shares borders with this property in the back."

"He doesn't mess around." If his privacy was to be compromised temporarily, he at least knew the people who would be able to see him.

"Yep. The previous owners are leaving today, so I'll take my siblings over to see the house later."

Lucas went outside and joined Henry, who was still talking on the phone. The man had thin grey hair, large bags under his eyes, and a potbelly. He got the impression that the man was constantly stressed, which was affecting his health.

"I don't care how you do it," Henry snapped. "Just get it done today."

He hung up the phone in an angry huff before noticing Lucas. "Hello, Mr Walker. I'm sorry that you had to hear that. How am I supposed to accomplish anything with incompetent people?"

"Call me Lucas," he replied. "It sounds like Shichiro is pushing you too hard. Why don't you go to the house and get some breakfast?"

Henry brushed the suggestion aside. "I've got too much to do. I'm sure you were surprised to wake up this morning to see the commotion."

"You could say that," Lucas said dryly.

"Mr Kuroi can be a bulldozer when he wants something. But, excuse me for saying this, I'm amazed that he's doing so much to help you. He must really like you."

Shichiro likely had yet to tell Henry about what was going to happen in the capital soon and that he wanted Sabrina to have a safe place to stay till it ended.

"I'm sure he has his reasons," Lucas replied, "and they have nothing to do with me. So, aside from the fence, what other changes are you making?"

Henry gave him a tour of the property, describing everything that would be added to it, including many safety measures which could detect intruders. The fences would be reinforced concrete, increasing their resistance to damage. They intended to fortify both the home and the building in the backyard as well.

"The most important feature is that the fence will be lined with a special lime mixture that contains some ectoplasm found in the remains of ghost-type Pokemon."

Lucas shuddered. "What is that supposed to accomplish?"

"It prevents Pokemon from teleporting within a certain range wherever it's placed," Henry replied. "If we line the fences with it, that means your property is completely secure. Pokemon are still capable of teleporting into your property on their own to carry out orders for their trainers. So, it's a vulnerability that needs to be addressed."

Lucas hadn't considered that point. He was lucky no one had tried it before today, otherwise he may already be dead. "What about ghost-type Pokemon?"

"We can add something if necessary, but I have been informed that you have one of Sabrina's Pokemon protecting you. It should be more than enough to counter any ghost-types trying to sneak in."

"Flying Pokemon?"

"The neighbourhood has security that monitors the skies. They will take action if they notice any Pokemon that shouldn't be here."

Lucas nodded. He had to register his flying Pokemon when he first came here, but he had forgotten about it.

"It looks like you have everything covered."

Henry smiled. "When you have to meet the prime minister's exacting standards, everything else feels easy by comparison."

"Can I expand the building?" Lucas asked. "I'm going to need the room soon once I bring more Pokemon in for my business."

"I don't see any problem with that," Henry answered. "Let me speak to Mr Kuroi first, though, before you start making any concrete plans."

Lucas nodded in agreement. After finishing their tour, he was about to return to the house when Henry stopped him.

"I heard there was an incident at the mines," Henry inquired. "Is there anything Mr Kuroi needs to worry about?"

Lucas shook his head. "Someone tried to take the mines by force. The man must have followed us. He murdered three miners before being apprehended. I'm sure Mayor Cassidy will submit a report to the prime minister soon."

After the assailant was killed, Cassidy requested that the police investigate the matter. She also enlisted some of her own security to protect the mines until the mining team completed their evaluation and could begin mining the evolution stones. Fortunately, some of the mining was already done thanks to the Golem, saving them a lot of pokedollars. Although, they didn't want to think about how many stones they lost to the Golem's appetite.

They'd returned to the third level to see if the giant Golem was still around, but there was no trace of it. Wherever it ended up, it had to have hurt. If it was still alive, hopefully it didn't have the capacity to return to the third level.

The presence of the chasm indicated that the mines were far more extensive than anyone could ever have imagined. Lucas was curious as to what the final evaluation would be. Regardless, Cassidy told him that she had seen enough to pay him the two million pokedollars as an advance payment, as agreed upon in the contract. This meant he had enough pokedollars to accomplish whatever he wanted in the future.

"Bloody miscreants," Henry growled. "It's hard to make a living when there are so many criminals around."

Lucas returned to the house. He summoned his Pokemon and sat down with them to eat the breakfast Brock had prepared. While eating, he observed his Pokemon as they interacted with one another. He had been initially concerned that the additions of Dante and Datto would lead to problems due to clashing personalities, but he was mistaken.

Dante kept mostly to himself, yet he got along well with his teammates. Ditto, whom he named Datto, was a lively character who kept his team entertained at all times. He kept imitating their appearance and making absurd facial and body gestures. He was the closest to Max, who had a similar sense of humour and was less serious than the others.

After completing all of his business, he needed to return to making his team stronger and preparing them for their evolutions. He hadn't done much for Ashe, despite the fact that she had some experience stored in her cache.

He needed to prepare for the arrival of all the new Pokemon and travel to Cinnabar to unlock the information on the floppy disc before he did anything else. Then he would be free to devote his efforts to his team. It would probably be around the New Year, after he had spent Christmas with the Ketchums, before he could begin in earnest.

"When are you heading to Pallet Town?" Brock asked.

"In about an hour," Lucas said. "I wanted to ride my bike there to get some exercise, but with Zero targeting me, I will have to use Dante instead."

"You will have to deal with him at some point."

"I understand. But it has to happen at the right time and place."

Lucas headed upstairs to shower. He was searching through his dresser for clothes when he spotted a plain envelope on the bed. He frowned and looked around. He was certain it hadn't been there earlier, and Brock would have given his mail to him in person.

He grabbed the envelope. There was no name or address to help identify the sender. When he tried to open the flap, his fingers couldn't get a grip on it. Confused and annoyed, he tried to rip open the envelope from the side, but it withstood his efforts.

"What the hell?" Lucas muttered. "Is this some sort of prank?"

Then he detected something familiar emanating from the envelope. It was aura energy, but it was so faint that he failed to notice it immediately. He wasn't the best at sensing aura because he hadn't encountered it much before. He first became aware when using his aura vision.

"Who sent this?" Lucas tried to keep himself from panicking. He could only think of one reason someone would send this to him: they were aware he was an aura guardian.

"Somehow, they sealed the letter with their aura. Do I have to inject aura to open it?"

Lucas had never manifested aura before because aura vision didn't need it. How should he go about it? For the next twenty minutes, he tried to imagine the energy appearing on his fingertips but got nowhere. After getting an idea, he closed his eyes and began practising aura vision. As soon as he saw an image of his room appear, the letter in his palm began to warm up.

This time, he opened the envelope without any difficulty. He unfolded the letter, and his eyes widened. The top of the paper contained a letterhead with the Rota Kingdom insignia. It was an illustration of a tree with a Lucario sitting beneath it.

Mr Walker,

It has come to our attention that you have recently awoken as an Aura Guardian. I'd like to congratulate you on such a significant moment. You've joined an elite group of people who are able to utilise aura to accomplish incredible deeds.

As you may already be aware, Aura Guardians are highly persecuted outside of the Rota Kingdom. When your powers are discovered, you will be pursued by the church's knights and arrested for heresy. We recommend that you relocate to the Rota Kingdom as soon as possible, where you can live freely without fear of persecution. You are welcome to bring along members of your immediate family, including your partner. So long as they sign a waiver showing that they will not betray the country to the church, or any other organisation opposed to our kingdom.

Moving to Rota is a simple process, and you will be warmly welcomed into our country. Our immigration office will assist you in finding a place to live and work. However, given your talent, I don't believe you will need it. You will receive financial assistance for up to five years, if necessary, as well as some tax breaks. Trainers will also be available to help you in fully developing your aura powers.

Consider our offer. There is no time limitation on it. If you need to get in touch with us, write a letter and place it in the top drawer by your bedside. We will respond to you promptly.

Aura Guardian's Administrative Department

Rota, Rota Kingdom

"Well, that was unexpected," Lucas murmured. "How do they know that I am an aura guardian? Do they have a way to identify them? And how did they get a letter inside my room without me knowing about it?"

He should be offended they broke into his house. At the very least, they were discreet when communicating with him. He had always wondered how new aura guardians found their way to the Rota Kingdom. Its borders were notoriously restrictive to outsiders, surrounded by vast mountain ranges. There wasn't even a main road leading to it, as it had been blocked off due to past conflicts with the church.

"I'll think about it later. In the short term, I'm not going anywhere."

Because Pallet Town lacked a teleportation tower, and he didn't want to pay the fees, he had Icarus fly Dante to an isolated area outside of town, where he could leave a mental marker for an arrival point. Once Dante returned, he took Lucas to the location. He pulled out his bike from his inventory and cycled the rest of the way to the farm.

Melanie was delighted to see him and took him into the stable that housed the Nidoran. When he saw the Nidoran, he noticed that it was zipping around enthusiastically, full of energy. When he examined it with Insight, he noticed that all of the negative traits had disappeared.

"He's been fine for a couple of days now," Melanie said. "I had to stop myself from calling you sooner and demanding that you get here to treat the rest."

"I'm here now," Lucas told her. "I believe that Nidoran demonstrates that the potion was successful. I have enough batches of the potion to treat them all, so we can get started right away."

Melanie nodded. "We can start by treating the Pokemon here."

Over the next hour, Lucas administered the trait-shedding potion to the afflicted Pokemon, removing every negative trait. The recovery length ranged from a few days to a month. The comatose Pokemon would take the longest to heal. Melanie took him to the farmhouse, where they could discuss his compensation.

"I'd like to acquire some of the Pokemon once they've completed their treatment," Lucas said, presenting her with a list of thirty Pokemon he had carefully selected.

He considered a few criteria when picking them. First and foremost, he desired that some of them be compatible companions of the same species. While he planned to experiment with combining species to create eggs as well, he wanted to start with some standard pairs in order to gain experience.

Second, he wanted some variety in their typing. Even though they would only have a pseudo-bond with him, each of them was able to obtain their habitat as soon as he caught them with a pokeball. He noticed that when he captured Dante, he acquired a psychic-type habitat. With more variation in the habitats, he'd be able to train his Pokemon in different affinities more easily.

Third, he didn't want to take any of the comatose Pokemon because their recuperation would be too long. The final and most crucial factor was the Pokemon's parameters. He had to think about what stats and traits he could pass down to their offspring to increase their value.

"I have no problem with it," Melanie replied. "But it's up to the Pokemon themselves. If they don't want to come with you, I won't force them."

"That's only fair," Lucas agreed. "I don't want to take away their choice like Team Rocket did."

He expected to obtain the majority of the Pokemon he'd chosen. As he treated them, he used his Pokemon Friendship skill to make them more predisposed to him.

They shook hands on the agreement. Lucas would pick up the Pokemon in two weeks, once the last of them had fully recovered. Before leaving, he went around and checked their parameters again. He wanted to make a list of all of their favourite foods so that he could begin experimenting with creating custom meals for them. He realised he'd have to purchase a lot more supplies and have enough storage space for them before they arrived. He needed to convert a part of the building into a kitchen to store and prepare the Pokemon's meals.

Before leaving Pallet Town, Lucas went to Professor Oak's lab to obtain the password to access the disc's contents. Along the way, he stopped by the police station and gave the afflicted Growlithe one of his potions to remove the negative traits. Officer Jenny asked a lot of questions regarding the potion, but he simply told her it was something Melanie had developed. He told her that it would take ten days for Growlithe to fully recover, after which he would be fine.

Professor Oak didn't believe him when he claimed to have solved the crisis with the afflicted Pokemon. He called Melanie, who confirmed Lucas' involvement. Oak reluctantly gave him the password, ensuring that he had all of the components needed to retrieve the information Red Ketchum had left behind.

He was too busy right now, but he would go to Cinnabar Island as soon as he had the chance. Finally, he would receive a few answers, possibly containing information regarding Mewtwo. He wouldn't pass up an opportunity to prevent Giovanni from using Mewtwo as a weapon against others.

Lucas returned home. Henry had received permission to expand the building, so they met with an architect for a few hours to discuss the design. He planned to increase the training area while also adding a space for the Pokemon to comfortably sleep. There would also be a fenced-in area outside where they could play and get some fresh air.

His ambitious design would quadruple the size of the building. But it still left sufficient space to avoid overcrowding the backyard. He also had to keep Sabrina's Pokemon in mind. They might want their own space, even if they typically reside in Sabrina's apartment. He hadn't forgotten about her Metagross, whom he had yet to meet, so he proposed that the flooring be reinforced so that the Pokemon might live in it without damaging it.

An hour later, as if by magic, more construction workers came and began working on the building. Lucas wished he had the same authority to conjure up that kind of efficiency.

After that, he headed out to go shopping. He took a carriage to an appliance store to purchase some heavy-duty refrigerators and freezers. Because they were handcrafted, he had to pay a premium for them, but he accepted the loss with equanimity. They'd be delivered to him tomorrow, so he went shopping for loads of supplies to stock them and the pantries. After all of the shopping, it was almost evening, and he was exhausted.

He arrived home to find that Brock and his siblings had already started moving out. With the help of some extra workers, the previous owners had finished moving out in the early afternoon. Lucas helped them finish moving their things, which took little time thanks to Graveler, Brock's newly evolved Pokemon.

"When did that happen?" Lucas asked.

"A couple of days ago," Brock said. "I forgot to tell you about it."

"I noticed that you forget a lot of things."

Brock ignored his comment.

"I'm going to miss all the noise," Lucas said, watching as the kids stormed into their new home.

Brock snorted. "Pull the other one. You're relieved to be rid of the little terrors."

"They are okay in small doses. I'm not sure if Sabrina would have been able to handle them, though."

Brock smirked. "She could easily scare them straight with Salem."

"Why didn't I think about that?"

"Because you lack experience. I'll return early tomorrow morning to help with the renovations. Have you bought all of the things that you need?"

"Not yet," Lucas replied. "I'm going to wait till the building is built before I figure out the furniture and everything else I need. But we can set up the refrigerators in the kitchen and begin preparing meals for the new additions."

"Alright, I will see you then," Brock said.

Lucas returned to the house. Now that Brock's family had left, the house felt too quiet.

Meowth rushed over to him. "Finally, some peace and quiet. I still have gum in my fur, which one of those hellions put there. I felt very tempted to scratch them in retaliation."

"I appreciate your restraint," Lucas said sarcastically.

"Dat's right."

He received a notice on his phone later that evening telling him that the two million pokedollars had been deposited. Now that he had the pokedollars, he was a little giddy. After selling the latest batch of growth potions, his wealth amounted to more than three million.

Lucas opened his menu. After reviewing the functions, he was tempted to improve some of them further. Specifically, the inventory and his Pokemon Habitat. Having additional inventory space was always beneficial, and he was interested in how the habitat would evolve when he upgraded it. He could use the Divination skill to see what he would gain, but he thought it was a waste because he would upgrade it at some point regardless.

He took the leap and spent fifty thousand pokedollars to increase his inventory slots by twenty, bringing the total to sixty. Next, he spent two hundred thousand pokedollars to improve his Pokemon Habitat, then pulled out his guidebook to see what had changed.

After going through the entry, he felt satisfied that he had spent the pokedollars wisely. The Pokemon Habitat function had seen substantial changes.

All of his habitats would be merged into a single large world, transforming it into a massive functioning ecosystem. As he added more Pokemon, the world would expand even further. As he introduced new Pokemon types, the world would be adjusted to reflect the change. The same held true for the unrefined evolution stones he would add to increase affinity gains for the different types.

Furthermore, there would be a centralised training location where the Pokemon could use dozens of pieces of equipment and training fields freely. It made the building's training space redundant, but he figured his Pokemon wouldn't want to spend the entire day in their habitats. It might appear authentic, but it couldn't be compared to the real world.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Ashe nuzzled his leg. He smiled, and he lifted her onto his lap. He began petting her, and she panted softly in pleasure.

"I should really get a move on and start your training," Lucas said. "First, let's level you so you can continue training."

He spent some of her experience, and levelled her up to level six.

"We can take some time tomorrow to work on training your stats."

Ashe barked in agreement.

Two days later, Lucas went to meet Amelia, the woman who was selling Eevees. She lived outside of Celadon City, so Lucas used the teleportation tower to travel there, then headed to the western entrance, which led to Route 16.

Celadon City resembled a lighter, more modern version of Saffron City. It was the most populated city in the entire United Kanto region, outnumbering even the capital. The city was well-known for its commerce due to its proximity to other nearby cities and the Celadon Department Store. Wherever you went in the city, you could always see the tall skyscraper, which towered over every other building by a significant margin.

Lucas was interested in visiting the store, but he needed to finish his business with Amelia first. He also wanted to go to the Game Corner, a casino where amazing prizes could be won if you were lucky enough. He was especially suspicious of the location, though, since he knew it was owned by Team Rocket in the games, which meant the chances that he'd be scammed were high. It was also the location of their hideout; therefore, visiting there could be dangerous.

As soon as he left the city, he took out his bicycle, and Meowth rode on the handlebars. Route 16 was well-paved and maintained, but the surrounding areas weren't developed. There were many rolling hills, patches of forest, and overgrown vegetation as far as the eye could see. At this time of year, there was little vegetation, and the ground was covered in a layer of snow.

No wild Pokemon came close enough to threaten him, and he arrived safely at the point where the road turned southwest. In the far distance, he could see the eastern boundaries of Viridian Forest.

Lucas paused to check a map of the area. Amelia had given him some directions, but they were vague enough that he was concerned about getting lost.

"It said to leave the road a few miles from where the road turns southwest," Lucas said. "Her house is located amongst a patch of trees, but there is no road or trail that leads there."

"Silly woman," Meowth remarked. "There are several patches of trees that fit that description. Why is she living so far out in the boonies?"

Lucas put the map away. "I have no idea, but I have a better strategy for finding her."

He summoned Icarus and Icaria and asked them to look for the house as he travelled along the road. Ten minutes later, Icarus reported that he had found the house, and Lucas veered off the road. He had to walk because the bike couldn't handle the snow. He hadn't considered this obstacle, and his trainers couldn't keep his feet from becoming wet and cold. It was a relief to finally see the house, partially hidden behind a row of trees, and he increased his pace to reach it.

The home was a little, charming cottage with smoke billowing out from the chimney. There were also other buildings behind it, which he assumed housed the Eevees. He knocked on the door, and it opened a moment later. He jerked back in surprise when a Flareon greeted him, looking at him with mild hostility. Meowth leapt off his shoulder and ran away to hide among the trees.

"Are you Amelia?" Lucas tried to lighten the mood by making a joke. "You didn't tell me you were a Pokemon."

A woman appeared behind the Flareon. She looked exactly as he had envisioned her from her voice on the phone. A middle-aged woman in overalls, with unkempt blonde hair and several wrinkles around her mouth and eyes. She didn't appear to be concerned about her physical appearance.

"Are you Lucas Walker? Answer immediately before I order Flareon to burn your bits off."

"I'm Lucas Walker," he hastily said, bringing out his Adventurer's Guild card and showing his photo.

"About time you got here," Amelia grunted. She shoved Flareon back inside the house before closing the door. "Follow me. The Eevees you want are in the barn."

Lucas followed behind her. "Were you expecting someone else?"

Amelia glanced back at him. "Just some goons from the Game Corner. They were looking for more Eevees to serve as prizes, and they didn't like it when I told them I didn't have any for sale."

"You could have sold the ones I wanted," Lucas noted. "We haven't sealed the deal yet."

Amelia spat on the ground. "We already reached a tentative agreement over the phone. It's good enough that I won't break my commitment."

Lucas nodded, happy that she didn't give in to the pressure and sell the Eevees. He wondered if she was aware that Team Rocket owned the Game Corner.

They reached the barn and went inside. The six Eevees were all housed in the same stable, snuggled up together, and sleeping soundly.

He immediately started examining them. He smiled as he read through their parameters. Amelia hadn't let him down with their quality.

"These are perfect," Lucas said. "Can I buy them now?"

So, what do you think? In the next chapter, Lucas returns with the Eeeves, and the first signs of Mega Evolutions appear.

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Thanks for reading.