The day after Yuga returned from the Petalburg Woods, Haruki's mother brought Haruki to his house.
Previously, regarding the matter of Flabébé, Haruki's mother had already consulted Haruki about it. Haruki was very happy and willing to become Flabébé's Trainer, so today the mother and son came to give Yuga their answer.
Originally, Yuga thought that since Flabébé's situation was special, he wouldn't charge Haruki's mother for it. As long as Haruki could always treat Flabébé well, that would be enough.
But Haruki's mother felt that Flabébé was too precious. If she didn't pay for it, not only would it be unfair to Yuga, but it would also make it seem like they didn't value Flabébé enough.
In the end, Yuga chose a middle-ground approach — he accepted half the payment from Haruki's mother. And so, Flabébé became the newest member of Haruki's family.
Later, Yuga heard that when Natsuhiko found out about this, he caused a scene at home, insisting that his mom buy him another Pokémon as well.
How Natsuhiko eventually gave up on the idea, Yuga didn't know. Anyway, the next day, he happily came to the YoYo Day Care with Haruki to play with the Gothita group again, and didn't mention anything about wanting a second Pokémon.
Time flew by, and as Hoenn's autumn gradually came to an end, the weather in Verdanturf City began to turn cold. During this time, Serena stayed in Verdanturf for a while, then said goodbye to Yuga.
She had thought about it for a long time, and ultimately decided to participate in the Grand Festival. But since she still didn't have enough Ribbon Badges, she had to keep working hard, so Yuga didn't try to make her stay.
That day, Yuga was inside the shop checking accounts with Suzuki Koen when he suddenly heard a voice from outside.
"Is Mr. Shimizu here?"
When no one answered, the person called out again.
"Is Mr. Shimizu here?"
Yuga walked to the door and saw the person holding a box in his hands, so he asked, "Are you looking for me?"
Yuga didn't recognize the other person, but the other person clearly recognized Yuga. Smiling, he nodded and said, "Yes, I'm from Pidgey Express. You have a delivery."
Yuga said in surprise, "For me?"
The deliveryman nodded. "Yes, it's for you."
Yuga checked it and confirmed that it was indeed addressed to him — and the sender was none other than Akai from faraway Sinnoh.
What could this be? Yuga wondered as he took the box from the deliveryman. The deliveryman quickly reminded him, "Mr. Shimizu, this is a valuable item, so please handle it with care."
"Got it. Thanks for the reminder." Yuga became even more curious about what Akai had sent him.
After seeing off the deliveryman, Yuga said a quick word to Suzuki Koen and then carefully carried the box upstairs.
Just then, Ninetales happened to be wandering downstairs and saw Yuga treating the box so cautiously. It asked curiously, "What are you holding in your hands?"
Yuga shook his head and said, "I don't know."
You don't know? Ninetales muttered, and followed behind Yuga upstairs.
Back in the room, Yuga placed the box on the table and gently opened it. Inside was an incubator, and lying quietly inside the incubator — was a Pokémon Egg.
A Pokémon Egg?
Yuga was full of questions. Why would Akai go to all that trouble to send him a Pokémon Egg from so far away?
Ninetales was also puzzled. "Where did you get this egg?" It had a hunch that this egg was not ordinary.
Only then did Yuga notice that, besides the incubator and the Pokémon Egg, there was also a letter inside the box. He picked up the letter and opened it, then carefully began to read.
After reading the letter, Yuga finally understood — it turned out that this egg had been sent by Akai at Celebi's request.
The letter said that Celebi had recently discovered this egg at the location where the giant Torterra had died. Celebi suspected that it was the ghost-type Pokémon born from Torterra's death.
Indeed, judging from the energy fluctuations radiating from the Pokémon Egg, the Pokémon that would hatch from this egg in the future would definitely be a Ghost-type.
Yuga couldn't help but activate his Insight skill to look at the Pokémon Egg inside the incubator and was astonished to discover that the egg was emitting a dense purple glow.
In other words, unless something unexpected happened, the Pokémon that would hatch from this egg would definitely be a purple potential Pokémon.
At this point, Yuga believed in Celebi's suspicion.
Purple potential Pokémon could not be born naturally. In the world of Pokémon, it was true that both people and Pokémon, after death, could become Ghost-type Pokémon. Although that happened after their souls entered the ghost realm, exceptions were not impossible.
Perhaps Torterra was one such exception.
Back then, wasn't it because of an accident that Granbull (Coco's partner) transformed into a Mimikyu while outside?
Maybe this Pokémon Egg had inherited Torterra's remnants, which was why it possessed the extremely rare purple potential.
While Yuga was deep in thought, Ninetales asked, "What kind of Pokémon Egg is this?"
Yuga snapped back to reality, stared at the egg for a while, then shook his head and said, "I don't know either."
This Pokémon Egg was generally dark brown, with a pale orange ring-shaped stripe around both the top and bottom. Yuga really couldn't identify what kind of Pokémon was inside just by looking at it.
Hearing that, Ninetales curled its lip and said, "You really know nothing."
Yuga didn't bother responding and continued reading the letter. Besides talking about the Pokémon Egg, the letter also mentioned the Shiny Celebi.
Thanks to Yuga's reminder, the Shiny Celebi finally found Regigigas and managed to persuade it to come forward and help. At last, the damaged ley lines of that forest were restored, and now the area had regained its vitality.
In the letter, Shiny Celebi asked Akai to express its gratitude to Yuga on its behalf.
After reading the letter, Yuga carried the incubator out of the room and headed to the Ecopark, making his way straight to the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark.
Once he arrived at the edge of the Ghost Sea, Yuga gently opened the incubator, took out the Pokémon Egg, and carefully submerged it into the seawater.
Although the life energy in the Ghost Sea had previously been drained dry by Giratina, after some time, it had gradually accumulated again and now contained a fair amount once more.
As soon as the Pokémon Egg entered the water, it immediately began to autonomously absorb the life energy from the seawater.
Most of the newborns in the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark were typically incubated like this in the Ghost Sea because the abundant life energy was more beneficial to their hatching. And since the seawater of the Ghost Sea wasn't real water, there was no risk of the egg being drowned.
This Pokémon Egg's ability to absorb life energy was clearly stronger than that of ordinary Ghost-type Pokémon. A small vortex had even formed in the water around it due to the suction it generated.
Yuga was not surprised by this. After all, without some special trait, how could it live up to its status as a purple potential Pokémon?
Yuga's activity attracted the attention of the Jellicent couple swimming in the sea. The two of them poked their heads out of the water and swam over, curiously inspecting the egg. Just like Yuga, they quietly watched the Pokémon Egg absorb life energy.
Before long, Mimikyu was also drawn over and joined the onlookers.
Speaking of Mimikyu, Yuga had once considered making it one of his main Pokémon. After all, it was a purple potential Pokémon, but he eventually gave up on that idea.
The little guy was indeed quite motivated and trained diligently, but it didn't like going outside. If it wasn't holed up in the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark all day, it was glued to Coco, completely unwilling to spend time with Yuga.
In its own words, it would rather stay home and accompany its "wife" than run around outside with Yuga.
Even though they now had "reproductive isolation," that didn't stop them from showing affection all the time.
The time the Pokémon Egg spent absorbing life energy was unexpectedly long. By the time it finished, Yuga's neck was sore from stretching.
Judging by the situation, it would still be quite a while before this Pokémon Egg hatched.
Thinking about how the Pokémon Egg would need to regularly absorb life energy from the Ghost Sea in the future, Yuga looked at the Jellicent couple and said, "I'll leave this Pokémon Egg to you two. Can you help me take good care of it?"
The Jellicent couple were very willing and immediately began circling around the Pokémon Egg. The swaying seawater caused the egg to rock from side to side, and Yuga suspected that if the Pokémon inside the egg had any awareness, it was probably already dizzy by now.
Yuga quickly stopped them and said, "Alright, be careful not to hurt the Pokémon Egg."
Upon hearing that, the Jellicent couple immediately became well-behaved and gently stroking the Pokémon Egg with their tentacles, as if they were trying to soothe it.
After entrusting the Pokémon Egg to the Jellicent couple, Yuga went to spend some time with Mewtwo before leaving the Ecopark.
Although Yuga had handed off the responsibility, he still went to check on the Pokémon Egg from time to time to observe its changes. He hadn't completely given the task of hatching the egg to the Jellicent couple.
That day, Mr. Gasai suddenly visited the YoYo Day Care and brought Yuga some unexpected news — Verdanturf University was going to carry out a friendly exchange program with a university from the Alola region. The other university would send a few exchange students over to study for a period of time.
At the end of the exchange, the two schools would host an exhibition match, and this time Mr. Gasai had come in hopes that Yuga could attend the event to support their school.
Although Verdanturf University was newly built and had a considerable gap in various conditions compared to long-established universities, it was important not to lose face.
What surprised Yuga was that the university collaborating with Verdanturf University in the exchange was none other than the one Ash was currently attending.
Ash was studying at Hau'oli University on Melemele Island in the Alola region. This university was located in the largest city in the Alola region, Hau'oli City.
Unlike Verdanturf University, which focused exclusively on Trainer education, Hau'oli University was a comprehensive university. Not only did it offer programs specifically for Trainers, but it also taught knowledge related to other industries and professions.
At the same time, their Trainer program was very prestigious — otherwise, Ash wouldn't have traveled all the way from Kanto to study there.
In addition, Hau'oli University had a long history. It existed even before the Alola region officially joined the Pokémon League. It was only after the League's integration that it was formally renamed Hau'oli University and placed under the League's education department.
Currently, Verdanturf University only had first-year students, so Hau'oli University was only sending over first-year students to participate in the exchange as well.
Thinking about the fact that Ash was also a first-year student, Yuga became very curious about whether he would come.
After all, Verdanturf University represented Verdanturf City, and after thinking it over, Yuga finally agreed to Mr. Gasai's request. After all, under normal circumstances, he didn't have anything too important going on, and there was no harm in joining the fun.
Moreover, the exchange event would be held at Verdanturf University, so he didn't even have to go far — it was just a few steps away.
At the same time, in the distant Alola region, Hau'oli University was currently holding a selection tournament.
Hau'oli University placed great importance on this joint exchange event with Verdanturf University. As an established and prestigious university, they felt that no matter what, they couldn't afford to lose face at this exchange event. That was the reason for holding the selection tournament — its purpose was to pick out the most outstanding first-year students to attend the exchange.
Ash had already been very interested in the exchange event, and when he learned that the exchange would take place in Verdanturf City, he became even more excited. So, it was only natural that he signed up for the selection tournament.
Ash was quite well-known among the first-year students at Hau'oli University because he loved seeking out challenges all over the place. Even senior students from higher years had often been approached by him for battles.
The key point was that he always won. After enough of these encounters, everyone came to know that there was such a person, and even the teachers had heard of him.
This time, the teachers had high expectations for Ash in the selection tournament, and Ash did not let them down — he directly took first place in the tournament and successfully earned a spot to attend the exchange event.
Time flew by quickly, and before anyone knew it, the day of the exchange event arrived. The students from Hau'oli University, led by their teachers, successfully arrived at the Verdanturf City airport.
To express the importance Verdanturf University placed on Hau'oli University, Mr. Gasai personally led a group to the airport to welcome them.
Looking at the familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar environment of Verdanturf City, Ash couldn't help but feel emotional for a moment.
As soon as the teachers and students of Hau'oli University entered Verdanturf University, they were immediately surrounded by the curious gazes of Verdanturf University's students. However, since the teachers were present, they didn't dare to get too close — they could only watch from a distance.
"Are those Hau'oli University students? Their uniforms are so nice!" a female student said quietly.
The male student next to her immediately expressed his dissatisfaction upon hearing that. "What's the use of nice uniforms? We're Trainers — strength is what really matters. A-and besides, their uniforms… aren't that bad…" Although he usually disliked his own school's uniform, he couldn't stand it if others praised the other side too much.
"Hey, did you see that? I heard the one walking at the front is the top student of their year," another student chimed in.
"How do you know that?" his friend thought he was making things up.
"Heh heh… I have my own sources," the student replied with a sly grin. "Anyway, everything I said is true."
Another student nearby who overheard their conversation questioned, "I don't think so. That guy looks kind of silly to me. He doesn't have the aura of a top student at all…"
"What do you know? That's called hiding one's true strength!"
"The Pikachu on his shoulder is so cute. I love it!"
...
Ash and the others had no idea that their arrival at Verdanturf University had sparked so much discussion. At the moment, they were following Mr. Gasai and several Verdanturf University teachers on a tour around the university campus.
Although Verdanturf University was newly built, thanks to the League's supportive policies for Verdanturf City, all the hardware and facilities in the school were top-notch. This made Mr. Gasai feel incredibly proud.
At the same time, Yuga also received the list of students that Hau'oli University had sent for the exchange, which was forwarded from Verdanturf University.
Ash's name was prominently on the list — and ranked first.