Chapter 1052: Reunion

The next morning, Lovia and Iori arrived at the Petalburg Gym to meet with Yūga and Norman. After a brief discussion about their itinerary, the four split into two groups and set off.

Today, May and Ash also planned to depart, but they weren't in a hurry since they had no specific tasks. By the time Yūga and the others had left the Gym, the kids were still having breakfast.

Outside Petalburg, Lovia handed a Poké Ball to Yūga. He accepted it, looking puzzled. "What's this about?"

Lovia, feigning mystery, said, "Open it and see."

Yūga opened the Poké Ball and a soft, pink Pokémon appeared. He was surprised. "Ditto?"

"Mm-hmm," Lovia nodded with a smile, clearly pleased with Yūga's reaction.

"Why are you giving me a Ditto?" Yūga asked, observing the soft, wobbly Ditto on the ground.

**Ditto**

- Type: Normal

- Ability: Transform

- Potential: Green

- Level: 45

- Moves: Transform

He examined Ditto closely. It was an ordinary Ditto. Although it had green potential, Yūga had seen many Pokémon with green potential before. A Ditto wasn't particularly remarkable.

The only special feature might be its hidden ability, Transform, but that wasn't extraordinary.

"I have one too," Lovia said, taking out another Poké Ball and releasing an identical Ditto. Not only did it look the same, but it also had the same level, potential, and ability.

"Don't underestimate these two. They're quite capable!" Lovia said proudly. "Come on, Ditto, show Master Shimizu a trick."

In Yūga's astonished gaze, one of the Dittos climbed onto Lovia, its body becoming flat and then covering Lovia's face. Lovia's face instantly resembled Yūga's perfectly (though only the face).

Yūga stared at the face that looked exactly like his own, thinking: What the heck!

"How about that? Impressive, right?" Seeing Yūga's shocked expression, Lovia giggled. Her gentle voice contrasted sharply with Yūga's stern face.

"When we visit gyms, we can either go openly or covertly, depending on the situation. When we need to hide our identities, Ditto is our best helper," Lovia explained with a smile.

After hearing the explanation, Yūga understood. Lovia revealed that not only did they have Ditto, but Norman and Iori had one as well.

However, each person only had temporary use of their Ditto. After the Gym assessment task was over, the four Dittos would be exchanged back.

Ditto came from the League's intelligence department, allocated to them due to special circumstances.

According to Lovia, despite these Dittos having lower levels and not being the most exceptional in potential, they were extremely valuable. The intelligence department only had a few of them.

The value of these Dittos lay not in their potential or level but in their incredible transformation ability.

These special Dittos were trained by elite personnel from the League's intelligence department, and each one was hard-earned.

Most trainers who haven't raised a Ditto would assume that Ditto's transformation ability is innate. In reality, except for a few exceptionally talented Dittos, most require extensive training to master their transformation skills.

Normal Dittos can easily transform into other Pokémon, but they can't transform into objects like rocks, hats, or even human faces.

Only those with the hidden ability Transform can achieve seamless transformations, like the Dittos Yūga was seeing, able to transform into a face they've seen only once. Each of these Dittos required extensive, confidential training from the League's intelligence department.

After Lovia's explanation, Yūga's perspective on Ditto changed. He hadn't realized that a small Ditto could be so complex.

Previously, he had thought that all Dittos could transform at will.

After Lovia thoroughly explained Ditto's usage, they set out according to their planned route, with their first stop being Rustboro City, adjacent to Petalburg.

Meanwhile, Norman and Iori's first stop required traveling by sea to Dewford Island's Dewford Town.

To reach Rustboro City as quickly as possible, Yūga and Lovia chose to use Flying-type Pokémon. Lovia, as Mikoli's sister and a Water-type trainer, rode a pristine Swanna.

However, although Swanna had excellent endurance, its flying speed didn't match up to Yūga's Dragonite or Charizard. As a result, it took them most of the day to reach Rustboro City.

More than half a year had passed since the battle between Rayquaza and Deoxys in Rustboro City, and the city had been fully rebuilt with the help of the League.

Now, after the disaster, Rustboro City's reconstruction had made the city's buildings more orderly. The streets were still bustling with traffic and people, and the disaster from months ago seemed to have had no lasting impact on the city.

Since Yūga knew Rustboro Gym's leader, Roxanne, they used Ditto to conceal their identities during their first Gym assessment.

Roxanne, appointed by the League, was undoubtedly proficient in her duties, so the Gym assessment went very smoothly.

Yūga and Lovia spent two days in Rustboro City. They first observed Roxanne handling challengers while disguised as passersby. After confirming Roxanne's diligence, they revealed their identities and reviewed Rustboro Gym's challenger records.

After completing the assessment at Rustboro Gym, they didn't linger in the city and continued to their next destination.

However, just as Yūga and Lovia left Rustboro City, May, Ash, Brock, and a boy with squinty eyes arrived.

Yūga and Lovia's next destination after Rustboro City was Fallarbor Town.

Unlike how it was depicted in the animation Yūga saw in his past life, the Hoenn region had more than just eight Gyms, although many were not very well-known, such as the Leaf Gym.

These smaller Gyms were often the focus of Gym assessments. For a Gym to remain enduring, it must stand strong through repeated assessments.

After leaving Fallarbor Gym, Yūga and Lovia continued along their planned route, visiting the Verdanturf Gym, the Tastes Gym, the Lightning Gym, and so on. Over the course of more than a month, they assessed nearly ten Gyms.

During this time, they kept in contact with Mr. Norman and Iori, sharing updates on the assessments. Many Gyms indeed had various issues.

However, they could only record their findings and report them to the League after the assessments were complete. The League's specific actions regarding these problematic Gyms were beyond their responsibility.

One day, Yūga and Lovia arrived in Mauville City, which was the only place on their route where they overlapped with Mr. Norman and Iori.

However, Mr. Norman and his team had been faster, and by the time Yūga and Lovia arrived, they had already completed their assessment of the Mauville Gym.

Since Mauville City was a necessary stop for Yūga and Lovia on their way to the next destination, they decided to rest here for a day, even though they had no assessment tasks. After over a month of traveling, both Yūga and Lovia were quite tired and could use a break.

Upon arriving in Mauville City, Yūga naturally stayed at his mentor's estate. It had been a while, and his mentor was still as robust as ever.

That evening, Yūga's mentor, Master Kunio, threw a grand welcome party for Yūga, Lovia, Norman, and many of the estate's Pokémon.

Lovia was surprised and honored to be so warmly welcomed at Master Kunio's estate. Despite being nearly forty, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep all night.

To trainers in the Hoenn region, Master Kunio was a living legend.

Since they decided to rest in Mauville City, Yūga planned to visit some friends in the city, such as his fan, Kōsuke. It had been a long time since he last saw Kōsuke.

Unfortunately, when Yūga went to Kōsuke's house the next day, he was informed by Kōsuke's parents that he was not at home and had gone to Alola with someone earlier in the year.

Unable to see Kōsuke, Yūga planned to return to the estate, but as he was about to leave, he was called out to.

"Yūga?"

Yūga turned around and saw May holding a cotton candy in one hand and takoyaki in the other.

"It's really you!"

May happily jumped over to Yūga. Yūga then realized that Kōsuke's house was located in Mauville City's famous food square, and with May's love for food, it was no surprise she would be here.

"Wait for me, sis!" Then Max, out of breath, caught up. "You ran too fast!"

As Max complained, he saw Yūga standing with May. "Yūga, what are you doing here? Is it for work?"

Max was well aware that Yūga and Norman had been away for work.

"Sort of, just passing through," Yūga replied to Max and then asked May, "When did you guys get here?"

May answered, "We've been here for two or three days. Ash challenged the Mauville Gym twice, otherwise, we would have left Mauville City already."

Yūga then remembered that Ash indeed challenged the Mauville Gym twice in the original story.

As if on cue, Ash and Brock arrived, and they were equally surprised to see Yūga.

At first, Ash didn't recall much about Yūga, but then he suddenly remembered that the "Yūga" Misty often mentioned was the Gym leader from the Verdanturf Gym!

Ash had long wanted to meet the person Misty always talked about, but he hadn't expected the encounter to be so sudden, leaving him with mixed feelings.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Brock asked Ash quietly, "Who is this?"

Ash explained briefly, and Brock realized that the name Misty had mentioned so often was indeed a significant one.

"It's rare to meet like this. Shall we find a place to sit?" Yūga suggested to the group.

"Sure, sure!" Max was the first to agree.

Since they were near Kōsuke's family restaurant, Yūga led them there.

Kōsuke's father was puzzled when he saw Yūga return but was pleased when Yūga explained he was bringing friends.

He quickly arranged a quiet table for them.

Once seated, Yūga asked Max, "Why are you out with your sister? Did Mom agree?"

Max confidently replied, "Of course!"

But his lie was quickly exposed by May.

"He sneaked out with us. Mom agreed only later."

"Sis!!!" Max, red-faced, tried to cover May's mouth but was too short to reach.

Seeing the siblings bickering, Yūga chuckled and then asked Ash, "Have you received the Dynamo Badge from the Mauville Gym? Have you decided where to go next?"

Ash shook his head, confused. "Not yet. I'm not sure where to go."

Max, with an air of authority, pulled out his navigation device and said, "The nearest cities are Rustboro and Slateport. Ash, which one do you want to go to first?"

Upon hearing Slateport, Yūga was surprised. "Our next destination is Slateport City."

"Then we'll head to Slateport City too." Ash immediately decided, "Yūga, can we travel together?"

Ash's simple idea was to learn from Yūga, whose battle with Norman had left a deep impression on him. The opportunity to learn from Yūga was something he eagerly desired.

Under Misty's influence, Ash had become more mature and rational compared to his original self.

Yūga hadn't expected Ash to choose to travel with him. He didn't remember Ash's travel route from the original story, but it was certainly different from now.

"Sure, but we won't be traveling as leisurely as you do. We might move a bit faster."

"That's fine. We can keep up." Ash immediately agreed.

"Alright then." Yūga had no reason to refuse.

After a lengthy conversation, they decided to leave, and May asked, "Yūga, are you staying at the Pokémon Center too? Should we go back together?"

Yūga shook his head. "No, I'm staying at my mentor's estate."

Ash's eyes widened. "You have a mentor too, Yūga?"

Yūga thought, …What kind of logic is that? Am I just naturally this amazing?

At this point, Max, with his hands on his hips, said, "You don't know? Yūga's mentor is one of the most formidable trainers in Hoenn."

Yūga was left bemused by Max's pompous attitude. Why is he so proud of me?

Ash played along, "One of the most formidable trainers in Hoenn? Even more impressive than Norman and Yūga?"

Ash considered Yūga and Norman to be the strongest trainers he had ever met.

Yūga asked Ash in return, "What is your dream?"

Ash answered promptly, "To become a Pokémon Master!"

Yūga nodded. "That's ambitious. My mentor is the Pokémon Master you're talking about."

Ash was stunned for the entire year, realizing how far he still had to go to reach the level of a Pokémon Master.

The next day, Yūga and Lovia departed Mauville City with Ash and his group.

(End of Chapter)