Sasaki Visits Again

When Yuga returned from the Ecopark, Audino had already set the dishes on the table.

Seeing such a sumptuous spread, Yuga sat down and exclaimed happily, "Wow, the food looks amazing today! What a treat! Thanks for your hard work, Audino."

"Audino~ Audino~"

Audino replied, waving its hand as it placed the utensils in front of Yuga. It explained that Yuga had been working hard on the Duel Tournament recently and now that he finally had a half-day to rest, he needed a good meal to replenish his energy.

Yuga picked up some food with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth, chewing as he sighed contentedly, "Living like this—having everything handed to me on a silver platter—I'm just too lucky. Mmm… delicious… so good!"

Ninetales, using its Psychic power to control its chopsticks, also took a bite. After swallowing, it said with its mouth full, "Look at him, acting like this. Does he seem like someone who's been working hard? He's just been lazing around, enjoying life. You shouldn't spoil him so much."

Audino chuckled and replied, "Yuga works hard every day, I know it well."

Hearing this, Ninetales choked on its words, deciding not to say anything further, and simply lowered its head to focus on eating.

Yuga shot Ninetales a glare, then picked up another tasty piece of food and placed it in Audino's bowl. "Audino, you're the one who works so hard every day. You even worry about me so much—it's really touching. Not like certain Pokémon, who eat my food, live in my place, and still treat me so coldly."

Ninetales wanted to retort but seemed to think better of it and refrained, merely letting out a soft humph.

Audino found their bickering amusing, shaking its head with a smile as it continued eating.

After lunch, Yuga greeted Suzuki Koen before heading to the workshop of the new store. Due to his involvement in the Duel Tournament, he hadn't had the chance to join Misaki and the others in practicing making Pokéblocks for several days.

However, just as he stepped out the door, he saw Andel and his butler approaching.

Thanks to effective treatment, Andel and his butler were no longer seriously injured.

"Gym Leader Shimizu..." Rentaro called out to Yuga.

Yuga stopped and looked at them in confusion. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask if you could take me as—"

Before Andel could finish his sentence, the butler tugged on him.

"Actually, we're here specifically to thank Gym Leader Shimizu for saving my young master's life," the butler said with a polite smile.

"Andel, was it?" Yuga glanced at him.

"Yes, my name is Andel! I didn't think the Gym Leader would remember me!" Andel was overjoyed to hear Yuga call him by name, thinking he might have impressed him.

Seeing Andel suddenly so excited, Yuga felt a bit perplexed but continued, "It's my duty to help, and besides, it wasn't just my effort. The police and the International Police were involved too. You really don't need to thank me."

The butler replied earnestly, "How could we not thank you? We must! In fact, we've brought a gift as a token of our gratitude."

As he spoke, he pulled out a small spatial pouch from behind and offered it to Yuga.

Yuga didn't know what was in the pouch, but he had no intention of accepting it. He quickly pushed it back.

"I said there's no need for thanks."

The butler, adept at reading people's expressions, saw that Yuga's refusal was genuine. Silently, he put the pouch away and smiled again. "In that case, how about we treat you to a meal, Gym Leader? Would you do us the honor of joining us for lunch?"

Yuga glanced at the butler and thought to himself, No wonder they came during lunchtime—this butler sure is calculating.

Politely declining, he said, "Sorry, I've already eaten."

The butler, unfazed, chuckled. "What a shame. Then we'll just have to invite you another time."

"Alright, if there's nothing else, I'll be going. I have some things to take care of," Yuga said.

"Of course, go ahead. Don't mind us," the butler said, gesturing politely.

Yuga nodded and left.

After Yuga departed, Andel complained, "Why didn't you let me bring up the apprenticeship earlier?"

The butler replied, "Oh, young master, you can't bring that up right away. He doesn't know us well, so he wouldn't agree so easily."

Andel pouted. "Then what should we do?"

The butler sighed and said, "I was going to use the gift as a bribe, but he wouldn't take it. But of course, someone of his stature wouldn't care for such a small token. That's exactly the kind of person who's worthy of being your master."

Hearing this, Andel immediately leaned in and asked, "So, what should we do next?"

"The fact that he saved your life is already a great excuse for us to visit him more often. Once we've built a rapport with him, we can bring up the idea of an apprenticeship. We have plenty of time; there's no rush."

Andel chuckled upon hearing this, "As expected, the butler always has a way."

At this moment, Yuga was completely unaware that someone was planning to latch onto him!

When Yuga arrived at the new shop, all the employees, except for his Aunt, had gone to the Paradise restaurant for lunch, including Misaki and the others in the workshop.

Seeing his aunt managing the shop alone, Yuga said, "Aunt, you should go eat, too. I'll watch the store for now."

Aunt Hisako readily agreed, "Alright, you keep an eye on things. I'll be back after I finish eating."

It was lunchtime, and while there were a few customers in the shop, it wasn't particularly busy.

Inside the glass display cases of the new shop were all sorts of Pokémon eggs. Thanks to the Duel Tournament being hosted in Verdanturf Town, business had been booming lately, with quite a few Pokémon and Pokémon eggs sold.

Since he was minding the shop, Yuga didn't go to the workshop but instead sat behind the counter.

After sitting for a while, customers who had selected Pokémon eggs came over to check out one after another. Just then, Yuga received a call from Sasaki Shindou, who said he would be stopping by later.

Sasaki Shindou's visit had two purposes: first, to check on Windy on behalf of the Sasaki family head, and second, to pick up some Magikarp and Feebas that their aquarium had ordered from the YoYo Day Care.

Thanks to the success of the Duel Tournament, Sasaki Shindou's aquarium had also experienced a surge in visitors.

The most popular Pokémon in the aquarium, of course, was the stunning Milotic. Sasaki Shindou wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to bring in a few more Feebas.

When the aquarium first opened, he had purchased just two Feebas—a pair—from the YoYo Day Care. Both had successfully evolved into Milotic and were now the aquarium's star attractions.

If he was going to bring in Feebas, he figured he might as well bring in some Magikarp, too. Although Gyarados wasn't as beloved as Milotic, it was still a highly popular Pokémon.

Once Aunt Hisako and the others returned from their meal, Yuga went to the workshop to practice making Pokéblocks. Around 1:30 in the afternoon, Sasaki Shindou arrived at the YoYo Day Care in his car.

He first delivered the items entrusted to him by the Sasaki family head to Windy and then began discussing the Feebas and Magikarp business with Yuga.

The YoYo Day Care had accumulated quite a few low-potential Feebas and Magikarp that were difficult to sell. Even the small Pokémon Day Care that had partnerships with the YoYo Day Care weren't willing to take them.

For both Trainers and ordinary people, it wasn't cost-effective to spend money on a low-potential Feebas or Magikarp and then invest additional effort and resources to raise them into Milotic or Gyarados. As a result, these Pokémon were hard to move.

While aquariums like Sasaki Shindou's were willing to buy them, they didn't need many, which couldn't fundamentally solve Yuga's inventory problem.

After finalizing the deal, Yuga said, "I'll take you directly to the Ecopark so you can choose. You can take whichever ones you like."

Sasaki Shindou replied, "That would be great; sorry for the trouble."

Since Yuga had previously saved the Sasaki family, Sasaki Shindou treated him with great respect.

Under Yuga's guidance, Sasaki Shindou arrived at the entrance to the new Ecopark.

At the gate, two massive Raticate basking in the sun noticed Yuga approaching and immediately ran over, affectionately rubbing against him. They nearly knocked him off balance.

Seeing the two large Raticate, Sasaki Shindou exclaimed in astonishment, "Whoa, such huge Raticate! These are from the Alola region, aren't they?"

Yuga squeezed the slightly coarse fur of the two Raticate and smiled, "That's right, Alolan Raticate."

Sasaki Shindou marveled, "Gym Leader Shimizu really has all kinds of Pokémon." On his way here, he had even seen a Ninetales dressed in clothes and adorned with jewelry sitting at the entrance of the YoYo Day Care.

Yuga chuckled, then patted the heads of the two Raticate and said, "I've got things to do. Go play on your own."

The Raticate nodded obediently and ran off with heavy steps.

After entering, Yuga was about to take Sasaki Shindou to the pond to pick out Feebas when he noticed a plump tail swaying in the grass not far away.

"Hang on a moment," Yuga said to Sasaki Shindou before walking over and stepping firmly on the tip of the tail.

"Druddigon~!"

Who's the jerk stepping on me?!

A chubby Pokémon jumped out of the grass—it was none other than Druddigon!

Yuga, annoyed, gave it another kick. "I told you to guard the place. What are you doing? Taking a nap! Look at you now! What kind of guard do you think you are?"

The current Druddigon looked even chunkier than Dragonite, having lost all its former intimidation. Its once fierce face had turned so chubby that it now looked oddly adorable, much to Yuga's dismay.

Realizing it was Yuga who had stepped on it, Druddigon shrank back nervously and mumbled, "There's no need for me to guard the place anymore..."

The two Raticate were very diligent. Since their arrival, they had taken over the task of guarding the new Ecopark.

Both Raticate were Elite-level Pokémon and mutants at that, so their strength wasn't much weaker than Druddigon's. Over time, Druddigon found itself without a role to play.

Naturally laid-back, Druddigon had only reached its current level of strength through the life-or-death struggles it faced in Petalburg Woods. Now, with the Raticate guarding the place, it was more than happy to take it easy.

In the new Ecopark, Druddigon spent its days eating and sleeping, neglecting exercise, and eventually became the chubby Pokémon it was now.

"No wonder I haven't seen you the last few times I came here. Are you deliberately avoiding me?" Yuga asked sternly.

Druddigon didn't dare respond, clearly hit where it hurt.

Looking at Druddigon in this state, Yuga came up with an idea. He shot it a glare and said, "Just you wait!" Then he turned back to attend to Sasaki Shindou.

Although Yuga's new Ecopark didn't house any high-potential Pokémon, it was home to a wide variety of rare species. After a thorough tour, Sasaki Shindou couldn't help but express his amazement.

When they reached the pond, Yuga clapped his hands and called out, "Milotic!"

"Milotic~"

With a splash, several beautiful Milotic emerged from the water, like goddesses stepping out of a pristine bath.

These Milotic had all evolved from low-potential Feebas and were now in charge of managing the Feebas in the new Ecopark.

Seeing the Milotic in the water, Sasaki Shindou marveled, "Gym Leader Shimizu, the Milotic you've raised here are truly remarkable, even better than the ones we raise in our aquarium."

Whether it was their elegant physiques or the vibrancy of their colors, the Milotic at his aquarium paled in comparison to these.

Yuga smiled humbly at the compliment. "You flatter me. When you take care of many Pokémon, you're bound to pick up a few extra tricks."

Sasaki Shindou felt envious and wanted to ask for advice. However, he hesitated, worried that it might touch on proprietary trade secrets, and swallowed his words.

Yuga turned to the Milotic and said, "Bring out all the Feebas."

"Milotic~"

One of the Milotic responded and dove back into the water. Soon, the surface was teeming with Feebas.

Yuga gestured to Sasaki Shindou. "Here are all our Feebas. Go ahead and pick."

When it came to evaluating Water-type Pokémon, Sasaki Shindou had excellent judgment—after all, he owned an aquarium.

Circling the pond, Sasaki Shindou quickly selected ten Feebas he liked. His eye was sharp; most of the ones he picked were on the verge of evolution.

Yuga fished out the chosen Feebas, placed them in a pre-prepared water tank, and enlisted a few Pokémon to carry the tank to Sasaki Shindou's vehicle.

Using the same method, Yuga then let Sasaki Shindou pick ten Magikarp.

Before leaving the park, Yuga walked over to Druddigon with a neutral expression and said, "Come with me!"

Though Druddigon didn't know what Yuga wanted, it had a sinking feeling of foreboding.

When Sasaki Shindou saw the overly plump Druddigon following behind Yuga, he paused for a moment and commented, "Gym Leader Shimizu, your Pokémon have such... unique physiques."

Yuga: ...

Druddigon shot Sasaki Shindou a glare: Human, I advise you not to add fuel to the fire!

At the entrance to the Ecopark, Yuga told the two Raticate, "The safety of this place is now entirely in your hands. Druddigon won't be coming back."

The Raticate, entrusted with such an important responsibility, were delighted, but Druddigon felt utterly dismayed—it feared what lay ahead for it might be nothing short of a trial by fire.

Yuga led Druddigon back to the store from the Ecopark, enduring countless odd looks along the way. The sight of this chubby Druddigon was simply too eye-catching.

Mostly, it was just embarrassing.

After settling his bill at the store, Sasaki Shindou also purchased a batch of Beautie Pokeblock and Dragon Transformation Pokeblock before leaving.