"You want me to name them?"
Yuga felt a bit of a headache upon hearing that. He was terrible at naming things—how could he possibly come up with any good names?
"Let me think..." Yuga furrowed his brows and racked his brain in deep thought. After quite a while, he finally said, "Let's call the stone 'Green Fluorite' and the plant 'White Frost Grass.' How about that?"
Green Fluorite? White Frost Grass? Mewtwo thought to itself: Those really are two incredibly straightforward names.
Since the stone glows green, it was called Green Fluorite, and since the plant glows white, it was called White Frost Grass... But Mewtwo didn't object—after all, a name is just a label. As long as it's easy to say, anything works.
"Alright then, let's go with those," Mewtwo said.
And so, the names for the two things were hastily decided just like that.
"You've been researching for so long—have you found any clues?" Yuga asked again.
Mewtwo shook its head. "Not yet."
Dr. Nanping was an incredibly talented person. He hadn't uncovered anything new, and for Mewtwo to do better than him—it probably wouldn't be so easy.
Although Mewtwo was extremely powerful, it had dabbled in too many fields. In any single area of expertise, it might not necessarily surpass someone like Dr. Nanping.
But Mewtwo believed that Green Fluorite and White Frost Grass, as newly discovered minerals and plants, still had a lot of research value. So recently, it had been devoting most of its energy to studying the two.
After a bit of casual chatting, Yuga and Mewtwo left the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark.
At the same time, Steven also received the gift Yuga had mailed over. He really liked the Green Fluorite, so as soon as Yuga exited the Ecopark, he received a phone call from him.
On the phone, Steven expressed great interest in the place where Green Fluorite was produced and said he wanted to go explore it. So he asked Yuga a lot of questions about the maze-like cave.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, the exchange event between Verdanturf University and Hau'oli University was nearing its end, and the scheduled exchange competition was about to take place.
Verdanturf University took this exchange competition very seriously and invited Yuga—a heavyweight guest—as a special attendee. Hau'oli University was not to be outdone and invited Professor Samuel Oak and Professor Kukui.
Of course, the two professors came to Verdanturf City not only to attend the exchange competition as guests but also to participate in academic exchanges.
The day before the exchange competition, Principal Oak and Professor Kukui arrived in Verdanturf City. Since both of them knew Yuga, they even made time that day to visit him at the Verdanturf Gym.
The day of the exchange competition also happened to coincide with Verdanturf University's school festival, so the campus was very lively, filled with all sorts of fun and interesting events.
Since it was a school for Trainers, most of the activities at Verdanturf University's school festival were also related to Trainers.
That day, Yuga dressed neatly and rode Verdanturf City's public transportation—Tauros—to head to Verdanturf University.
When Yuga arrived at the university's entrance, he saw Ryo, Anlin, and Anmu waving at him from a distance.
Since there was still some time before the exchange competition began, Yuga could walk around the school festival first. So Mr. Gasai assigned Ryo and the other two to serve as temporary guides for Yuga.
"Gym Leader, Gym Leader, we're over here!" Ryo waved at Yuga with all his might.
Because the crowd was too dense, Yuga didn't ride the Tauros over immediately. Instead, he first went to the designated parking area, settled Tauros properly, and then squeezed his way over to Ryo and the others.
"Have you been waiting long?" Yuga asked.
"No, no, we timed it just right," Anlin replied.
Yuga looked around and, seeing people everywhere, exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't expect your school's campus festival to be this lively!"
Anmu explained, "Today the school is open to the public, so a lot of the people here are from outside."
"That's right! Outsiders can also host events at the school, but they need to apply in advance. I just saw a few events hosted by outsiders, and they looked really fun!" Ryo added. "And a lot of visiting Trainers came to tour the school too."
Yuga said happily, "Then let's hurry in and take a look."
Just as he finished speaking, several loud booms could be heard. Chimecho, Florges, Vivillon, Chatot, Ditto, Fletchinder, Ninetales, Douduo, Nana, Spoink, Clefable, Jynx, and other Pokémon all popped out of their Poké Balls one after another.
"Doduo and the others all came too!" Ryo exclaimed in surprise.
Yuga felt a bit helpless. Chatot had integrated itself very well into life in Verdanturf City, so of course it knew about the university's campus festival. It had begged Yuga to bring it along.
At first, Yuga didn't want to agree, but then he thought—even if he said no, Chatot could sneak in on its own. It was a troublemaker by nature, so he might as well keep an eye on it himself. So, he agreed.
Yuga figured, if he was going to bring one, he might as well bring them all. It would add to the excitement, and they could also help keep an eye on Chatot.
Now, looking at them all gathered together, this large group of Pokémon was incredibly eye-catching.
"Alright, let's hurry inside. The exchange competition starts soon, and we have to watch the matches!" Anlin and Anmu called out to the Pokémon as they led the way into Verdanturf University's campus.
Verdanturf University's campus festival was indeed lively, with countless fun games and delicious food everywhere. Yuga didn't restrict his Pokémon—they could play or eat whatever they wanted, and he paid for it all without hesitation.
The Pokémon were overjoyed and ran wild with happiness.
But Yuga didn't accompany them for long, because the exchange competition was about to begin. So he let the Pokémon roam freely, while he and Ryo's group of three headed to the competition venue.
The Pokémon found it boring to play all together since everyone had different interests, so as soon as Yuga left, they split off into their own groups.
Florges, Chimecho, and Vivillon—the garden trio—naturally gathered together.
Chatot and Fletchinder stuck to Ditto like glue.
Douduo brought along its disciple Clefable, and also brought Clefable's buddies—Jynx, Mr. Mime, and Spoink.
Ninetales and Nana, both powerful and mature, didn't want to mingle with the younger ones, so they formed their own pair.
Dragonite blushed, nudged the Charizard next to it with its chubby hand, and whispered, "Wanna come with me?"
Charizard shyly nodded, so the two love-struck Pokémon quietly drifted away from the group, surrounded by imaginary pink bubbles.
…
Yuga and Ryo's group parted ways halfway. Yuga was a judge, while the other three were contestants, so they needed to head in different directions.
The students representing Verdanturf University in this exchange competition had been selected through internal tryouts. Luckily, all three—Ryo, Anlin, and Anmu—performed well enough to earn their spots.
When Yuga arrived at the judges' preparation room, the other judges gradually arrived as well.
From Verdanturf University's side, aside from Yuga, there were Mr. Gasai and two vice-principals of the university. From Hau'oli University's side, there were Principal Oak, Professor Kukui, one of Hau'oli's vice-principals, and a teacher.
"Mr. Shimizu, how was the fun?" Mr. Gasai entered the room with a cheerful smile and asked Yuga.
Yuga replied, "Very good."
"That's great." Mr. Gasai's face immediately lit up with joy upon hearing that. This was Verdanturf University's very first campus festival, and as the principal, of course he hoped it would be a big success.
This was a rare opportunity for Verdanturf University to showcase itself to the outside world.
The vice-principal from Hau'oli University, who was standing nearby, chimed in, "Mr. Shimizu, if you ever get the chance, you should come visit our Hau'oli University too. Our campus festival is even livelier."
That statement was full of hostility. Mr. Gasai's gaze toward the vice principal of Hau'oli University looked as though it was about to spit fire.
The vice principal of Hau'oli University pretended not to notice and continued enthusiastically introducing Hau'oli University to Yuga—as if he might as well write the words "recruit you" directly on his forehead.
This vice principal from Hau'oli University wasn't even the lead teacher for the current exchange event—he had only arrived in Verdanturf City yesterday together with Professor Kukui and the others.
He was someone extremely well-informed, not only fully aware of Yuga's various feats but also having heard of his remarkable achievements with the Unova pioneer army. Because of that, he had long admired Yuga.
He believed that a Trainer of Yuga's caliber, if he could be recruited to Hau'oli University—even in an honorary position—would bring incalculable benefits to the university. So his enthusiasm toward Yuga was unusually intense.
After chatting for a while, the judges noticed it was almost time and all got up to head to the competition venue.
The venue for the exchange match was the gymnasium of Verdanturf University. Since the Hoenn League was willing to invest generously in Verdanturf City, Verdanturf University naturally benefited, and its gymnasium was built in a grand style—only slightly less impressive than Verdanturf City's main stadium.
Such a grand gymnasium was something Hau'oli University didn't have, so Mr. Gasai proudly boasted about it to the vice principal of Hau'oli University. Unfortunately, the vice principal was not someone easy to provoke, and Mr. Gasai ended up just making things awkward for himself.
By this time, the spectator stands at the competition venue were already packed. The audience included not only students from Verdanturf University but also ordinary citizens from the surrounding area, excellent Trainers from various places, and more.
Thanks to effective publicity from Verdanturf University, the turnout was huge. The gymnasium, a large venue capable of seating over ten thousand people, was filled to capacity.
Before the competition began, there were speeches from Mr. Gasai and the vice principal of Hau'oli University. The content was mostly the usual message of "friendship first, competition second," but Yuga could tell from Mr. Gasai's determined expression that he wouldn't feel satisfied unless Verdanturf secured a win.
After the speeches came student performances from both schools. These performances were somewhat similar to what Coordinators would do, mainly meant to warm up the audience and set a lively tone.
The general public always enjoyed this sort of thing.
Then, the actual matches began.
This exchange competition was scheduled to last two days, with each school sending fifty students. The elimination rounds took place in the morning.
The one hundred students were shuffled and divided into twenty groups, with five students per group. Each student had to battle every other member in their group once. A win earned one point, a loss earned no points. Only those who scored two points or more could advance.
The elimination rounds progressed quickly, and by late morning they were mostly finished. Ryo, Anlin, Anmu, and Ash all performed outstandingly and smoothly advanced to the next round.
Mr. Gasai's son, Ryota, also participated in this competition and did quite well. Compared to when Yuga first met him, he had made significant progress.
Of course, elimination rounds are just that—elimination rounds. Strong contestants were unlikely to show their full strength this early on, so the matches weren't particularly exciting to watch.
After the morning matches concluded, Yuga went to the meeting spot he'd arranged with Douduo and the others to wait for them. Unexpectedly, he saw Ash there—and Ash was accompanied by Lillie, Lana, Mallow, Sophocles, and Kiawe.
Even though Ash hadn't enrolled in Principal Oak's Pokémon School like in the original story, these individuals had still come to know one another, since Lillie's home was located in Hau'oli City—the same city where Hau'oli University was based.
They had come all the way from the Alola region specifically to cheer Ash on.
Originally, Yuga had wanted to go over and say hello, but seeing how they were chatting so animatedly and oblivious to their surroundings, he gave up on the idea.
It was the first time Lillie and the others had come to the Hoenn region, and they found everything incredibly novel and exciting. They were extremely enthusiastic, pulling Ash along with them to explore all around.
After Yuga waited for a little while, the Pokémon began to return one after another, each with a face full of smiles—it was obvious they had all enjoyed themselves tremendously.
Once most of the Pokémon had returned, Yuga said, "Alright, let's go home and eat!"
Today, Douduo hadn't cooked at home, so he decided they'd go eat at his aunt's place instead.
At that moment, Nana said, "It looks like Chatot and the others haven't come back yet."
Yuga looked around, and sure enough, he didn't see any sign of Chatot —Fletchinder and Ditto were also missing.
"That guy didn't get into trouble and get held up by someone, did he?" Yuga couldn't help but express concern.
"Audino~ Audino~"
That won't happen. Maybe they'll show up soon. Let's wait a little longer.
Douduo comforted Yuga.
So Yuga waited with everyone for a bit longer, and after more than ten minutes, Chatot and Fletchinder finally appeared within their line of sight.
Just as Yuga was about to call them over to hurry home, he saw that two people were following behind them, and his heart instantly skipped a beat.
Ditto was being held in the arms of one of the two.
The moment it saw Yuga, Ditto jumped out from that person's embrace and, in a couple of quick hops, climbed onto Yuga's shoulder.
The two who had come back with Chatot were both women—one older, probably in her forties, and one younger, likely in her early twenties.
Yuga immediately grabbed Chatot and questioned it in a low voice, "What kind of trouble did you stir up out there? Did you provoke someone and bring them right to our doorstep?"
Chatot cried out indignantly, "I've been wronged! It has nothing to do with me! They were brought here by Ditto!"
Brought back by Ditto? Yuga was stunned.
At that moment, the older woman spoke up, "Hello, may I ask if you are the owner of this Ditto?"
Yuga nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. May I ask what brought you here?"
The older woman looked relieved and took the initiative to introduce herself, "My name is Erika, and this is my daughter, Duplica. We came to ask about this Ditto's background."
Hearing this, Yuga's mind began racing.
Ditto had once had a Trainer. Although its Trainer had passed away, that didn't mean the Trainer didn't have family or friends.
Could these two possibly be the family or friends of Ditto's former Trainer?
Thinking this, Yuga said, "It's not very convenient to talk here—shall we go somewhere else?"
The woman who had introduced herself as Erika hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright."