Testing the Waters

After confiscating Crobat and Kirlia's Poké Balls from Butler and Diane, Yuga instructed Mismagius and Gengar to take them both. Quietly, under the cover of night, Yuga left the Day Care.

He brought the captives to the outskirts of Verdanturf Town, where Yuga had Mismagius and Gengar deposit the two on the ground.

Diane, who had been thrown rather harshly, moaned and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Yuga and the prone Butler beside her, her expression turned to one of sheer terror.

She had no idea how she had fallen unconscious or how she had been captured.

"Butler!" she cried out as she rushed to his side.

At this moment, Butler discovered that he could finally speak.

"Diane! I'm sorry for dragging you into this," he said.

Back in Yuga's house, Mismagius had silenced Butler to prevent him from awaken the sleeping Windy. But now, outside, there was no need for him to remain quiet.

Yuga looked at the two who were embracing each other and said, "You two should have a good chat. You won't have another chance."

Hearing Yuga's words, Butler's face became extremely gloomy. He realized that Yuga would not spare him this time, and despair washed over him.

"Please, just release Butler. If you want to kill someone, kill me. Butler was just too eager to complete his experiment; he meant no harm!" Diane suddenly threw herself at Yuga's feet, tears streaming down her face as she begged.

"No harm?" Yuga chuckled. "If he meant no harm, then why did he engage in activities like tracking and burglary? If he had malicious intent, wouldn't I be dead by now?"

"Truly, he was just a bit too extreme in his actions; he's not a bad person!" Diane continued to plead.

"Diane, don't bother begging him. He won't let me go," Butler said with a heavy heart, his voice filled with despair.

"Stop talking!" Diane suddenly yelled at Butler, startling him. She had never spoken to him in such a loud voice before.

"Mr. Shimizu, I beg you, if you release Butler, I promise we'll never appear before you again," Diane continued to implore.

Yuga sneered, "Don't you find yourself ridiculous? If, back when he was committing these acts, you had intervened instead of helping him, would we be here today? But you didn't. Not only did you not stop him, but you also aided him in these crimes. You should have seen this coming!"

Upon hearing Yuga's words, Diane fell silent.

Yes, what if I hadn't assisted him and tried to stop him? What would the outcome have been? But would he have even listened to me? Ever since he obtained that stone, Butler had descended into madness, becoming completely different from the person he used to be.

After much thought, Diane came to the conclusion that even if she had tried to stop him, it would probably have been in vain.

With this realization, she slumped to the ground, unable to utter another word.

As the sky began to turn a pale fish-belly white on the horizon, Yuga quietly returned to his room and went back to sleep.

Perhaps due to his exhaustion from the previous night, he slept until nearly noon and missed his daily training with the Pokémon.

When he finally woke up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he descended the stairs to the first floor. He was about to freshen up when Suzuki Koen informed him that Mr. Genos had returned to visit.

Hastily, Yuga completed his morning routine, tidied up, and headed to the guest room to meet Genos once again.

"I wonder what brings Mr. Genos here today. If it's about yesterday's matter, I believe I made my stance clear," Yuga remarked as he greeted Genos.

Genos stared at Yuga for a while before slowly speaking, "Butler and Diane went missing last night."

"Oh? Is that so?" Yuga appeared surprised. "But what does that have to do with me? Are you suspecting me? I may have wanted to eliminate them both, but I can assure you, it wasn't me."

Yuga maintained a calm demeanor as he spoke these words.

In truth, Genos didn't fully believe Yuga's words, but seeing that Yuga seemed genuinely unaware of the situation, he became somewhat uncertain.

Genos had been aware that Butler and Diane were going to find Yuga's last night. He had even provided Butler with excellent Crobat that good traveling at night from his family's lineage of intelligence experts.

The Genos family specialized in gathering information, and their signature Pokémon was the Crobat, known for its expertise in nocturnal activities. So, how could Butler have acquired such a well-trained Crobat unless Genos had provided it?

Genos had orchestrated this to test Yuga's capabilities. He was curious about what made Yuga appealing to someone like Mr. Kuni'o. Curiosity was one of Genos' most prominent traits, especially as someone involved in gathering intelligence.

Initially, Genos thought that with the assistance of the carefully bred and trained Crobat from his family, Butler could achieve his goals without incident and safely retreat. However, Butler and Diane had not returned.

Was it really unrelated to the person before him, or had those two been quietly dealt with?

At this moment, Genos found himself having difficulty deciphering the young man in front of him.

If it wasn't related to the person before him, then where could those two have gone? If they had been disposed of quietly, Genos needed to be more cautious of this individual.

Seeing Genos squinting at him without speaking, Yuga smiled and said, "What's the matter? Don't trust me? Well, it's up to you. I can't change your mind. Of course, if you can provide any evidence that I'm involved, I'm all ears."

Yuga nonchalantly spread his hands as he spoke.

"Is it really not you?" Genos stared intently at Yuga's face, as if trying to discern the truth behind the situation.

Yuga shrugged and replied, "Didn't I say so? Believe it or not, it's your choice. My words are here."

After scrutinizing Yuga for about half a minute and finding nothing unusual, Genos sighed and said, "Well then, I'll temporarily believe you."

In reality, Genos didn't care much about the fate of Butler and Diane. What concerned him more was the loss of his valuable Crobat with a blue potential. Even within his own family, such Pokémon were rare, and losing it weighed heavily on him.

Hearing Genos' words, Yuga rolled his eyes, thinking, "Who cares if you believe me or not? If you have evidence, just bring it!"

"If there's nothing else, Mr. Genos, please feel free to leave. I have business to attend to, and I won't keep you here for idle chat," Yuga said, pointing to the door of the guest room as he spoke.

"Then, I'll take my leave today!" Genos stood up, bid farewell to Yuga, and left the guest room.

Watching Genos exit the room, Yuga let out a quiet sigh.

Ah, acting can be so tiring!