Because of Erika and Duplica's appearance, Yuga gave up on the idea of going home for lunch and instead found a restaurant.
After the three of them sat down, Yuga asked, "Sorry to ask, but did my Pokémon cause you any trouble?"
Upon hearing this, Erika shook her head. For a moment, she didn't even know where to begin. She remained silent for nearly a minute before finally speaking.
"This is what happened..."
Erika explained the reason she had come to find Yuga. It turned out that she was the wife of Ditto's former Trainer, and Duplica was their daughter.
Erika and her daughter Duplica made a living by touring and performing. Their main act was showcasing Ditto, which had been specially trained in unique ways.
This time, because the academy festival at Verdanturf University was drawing many attendees, the mother and daughter had voluntarily applied to participate, hoping to earn a bit more money.
During the performance, Yuga's Ditto recognized Erika, which led to the mother and daughter coming to meet Yuga.
"I just wanted to ask Mr. Shimizu about what really happened to my husband back then..." As she spoke, Erika's eyes involuntarily filled with tears.
Her husband had died suddenly back then. Erika had only received a death notification but was never informed of what had actually happened.
Erika was an orphan. Back then, thanks to the kindness of her husband's parents who took her in, she was able to grow up peacefully and happily.
She and her husband were childhood sweethearts. When they came of age, they naturally fell in love and got married. Their relationship had been very close, which was why, after her husband's death, she never remarried.
Her husband had been transferred to the military in the Unova region. At that time, Erika had just found out she was pregnant. Their daughter was born without ever seeing her father, and the next news she received was of her husband's death.
Over the years, she had worked hard to raise her daughter alone. Fortunately, their family had passed down secret techniques for training Ditto, so the mother and daughter never had to worry about making a living.
Since her husband's death was considered to have occurred in the line of duty, the league had given them a sizable compensation. But money always runs out eventually.
The league had even offered Duplica a special enrollment spot at a Trainer academy. But Erika, afraid her daughter would follow in her father's footsteps—and also because Duplica had no real interest in being a traditional Trainer—refused the offer.
Over the years, the mother and daughter had traveled extensively. Because of their unique skills in training Ditto, they had gained quite a bit of fame, which allowed them to secure a spot to perform at Verdanturf University.
After listening to Erika's story, Yuga couldn't help but sigh. He hadn't expected such a coincidence in the world. So, he told Erika everything he had learned from Ditto.
After hearing it all, Erika was overwhelmed with emotion and broke down in tears. She hadn't expected that her husband had died so silently, so unnoticed.
Duplica, having never met her father, didn't feel as strongly about Yuga's story. But seeing her mother so heartbroken, she couldn't help but feel upset and kept trying to comfort her.
Once Erika's sobs gradually subsided, she wiped away her tears and said to Yuga, "I'm sorry, Mr. Shimizu, for embarrassing myself in front of you."
Yuga shook his head and replied, "It's only human."
He thought for a moment and then asked, "Since your husband was originally Ditto's Trainer, have you considered what to do about Ditto?" As he said this, he looked at Ditto, who was quietly lying on the table.
Yuga had returned all his other Pokémon to their Poké Balls, leaving only Ditto out, since the matter involved it.
Although Yuga had brought Ditto back from the wilderness, he had no intention of forcing it to stay with him.
Upon hearing this, Erika gave Yuga a surprised look and then turned to Ditto. She said, "I have no intention of asking Mr. Shimizu to return Ditto. I only came to see you to understand the truth behind my husband's death."
Hearing this, Yuga breathed a sigh of relief. If Ditto had chosen to leave with Erika and her daughter, he wouldn't have stopped it, but it would have saddened him nonetheless.
But Ditto might not necessarily want to leave either. If Ditto didn't want to leave and Erika and her daughter insisted, a conflict could arise—and that was something Yuga didn't want to see.
Yuga looked at Ditto and said, "What do you want to do?"
Upon hearing this, Ditto moved a little closer to Yuga, expressing its choice through its actions.
Back then, Ditto had indeed been familiar with Erika, but Erika was never its Trainer, and they hadn't seen each other in over twenty years—the bond they once had was long gone.
In comparison, though Ditto had only spent a short time with Yuga, it had a very good impression of him.
When Yuga saw Ditto's choice, his heart instantly bloomed with joy. He thought to himself: Good little one, all the care I gave you wasn't in vain! However, his face remained calm—he was a man of status, after all, and couldn't show too much excitement.
A trace of disappointment flashed across Erika's heart. Though she had never intended to compete with Yuga for Ditto, she had still hoped Ditto would choose her. That way, she could have some form of emotional closure.
All these years, Erika had always been haunted by her husband's death. Now, though that obsession had lifted, she suddenly felt empty inside.
Still, she didn't let it show on her face. She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, smiled faintly at Yuga, and said, "Then I'll entrust Ditto to Mr. Shimizu's care."
Yuga nodded and said, "Of course."
After that, Yuga invited Erika and her daughter to lunch.
Once lunch was over, the three of them stepped out of the private dining room—just as another group of people emerged from the room next door.
"Mr. Shimizu!"
"Yuga!"
Suddenly, someone called out to Yuga. He turned his head to look—and it turned out to be Ash, Principal Oak, Professor Kukui, Lillie, and the others.
"What a coincidence, you're eating here too?" Yuga asked in surprise.
"Yeah, didn't expect to run into you here," Principal Oak replied. He glanced at Erika and her daughter but didn't say much since he didn't know them.
"Mm," Yuga responded. "We were just about to leave." He also didn't take the initiative to introduce Erika and her daughter to Oak and the others.
"Then let's leave together," Professor Kukui suggested.
"Sure."
So, the group set off together.
Erika and her daughter walked behind the others. Duplica kept glancing at Ash. At that moment, Ash happened to turn his head and noticed Duplica watching him. He found her somewhat familiar, so he stared at her for a few more seconds.
At last, Duplica couldn't help speaking up: "Are you Ash?"
Ash froze for a moment upon hearing this. He stared at Duplica for a while longer, then suddenly exclaimed, "You're Duplica!"
"Yes, yes… it's me!" Duplica replied happily.
Ash walked over to Duplica and said, "It's been such a long time—I can't believe we ran into each other here!"
"I know, right? You look so much more mature now. I almost didn't recognize you," Duplica said.
Ash and Misty had met Duplica while traveling through the Kanto region. At that time, Duplica had also been training her Ditto to transform, and she looked quite different from how she did now.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed. The young boys and girls from back then had all grown into young adults.
"I didn't expect you two to know each other," Yuga said in surprise.
He didn't remember many details from the original series, so naturally he couldn't recall whether Ash had ever met a girl named Duplica.
Meeting an old friend in a distant place was something worth celebrating. So Ash and Duplica immediately began chatting away, chattering and catching up. Ash even introduced Lillie and the others to Duplica and promised to attend one of her performances when he had the time.
Once they returned to the Verdanturf University gymnasium, Yuga, Principal Oak, and Professor Kukui parted ways with Ash and the others.
The afternoon matches resumed. Ash, Anlin, and Anmu were all top students at their schools, and naturally, they all advanced smoothly.
The rest of the matches would be held the next day. Currently, twenty contestants remained—eight from Verdanturf University and twelve from Hau'oli University.
Verdanturf University was newly established, and naturally, there was a significant gap between it and the prestigious old university, Hau'oli University. Among the twenty contestants who advanced, being able to retain eight from Verdanturf was already no small feat. This was largely thanks to the intervention of the Pokémon League, which brought in a decent number of quality students to Verdanturf University. Without that support, the results could have been even worse.
Mr. Gasai was extremely dissatisfied with this outcome. He knew that Verdanturf University was not yet on par with Hau'oli University, but a person must fight for their dignity. So after the competition ended, he specially gathered the students from his school who had advanced and held a small motivational meeting, hoping they could achieve better results in the next day's matches.
All of this had little to do with Yuga. So once the competition ended, he happily went back home.
The sky gradually darkened, but for the increasingly bustling Verdanturf City, nighttime was just as suitable for revelry as the daytime.
Colorful lights slowly lit up across the streets and alleys, decorating the entire Verdanturf Town in a dreamy, fantastical atmosphere.
Under the cover of night, a small figure darted into a dark alleyway in Verdanturf City. It appeared to be seriously injured, staggering as if it might collapse at any moment.
It was unclear how long had passed when a small head cautiously peeked out of the alley. Seeing no danger, it quickly darted out again.
"Glooo~" I want to go home… I want to go home…
In the shadows, the small figure let out a low, pitiful whimper.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps and voices suddenly came from not far away. The little one was startled and fled quickly, vanishing into the night.
It was unclear how long it had been running, but as its injuries grew worse, the little one finally couldn't hold on. Under the faint and hazy glow of nearby lights, it saw an iron fence. It shrank its head down and then slipped through the bars.
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Verdanturf City, a brutal battle was taking place—or more accurately, a one-sided massacre.
Bathed in moonlight, one could vaguely make out the scene of an overturned cargo truck. Around the truck were scattered iron cages, each containing a Pokémon.
The owner of the truck was fighting in the air alongside two Pokémon. Because of the darkness, it was impossible to make out exactly what species the two Pokémon were.
"Boss, we can't hold out any longer!" one of the men said to the truck owner, nearly in tears. With his Pokémon falling one after another, his mental defenses were crumbling.
"Hold the line! If you don't, we die!" the truck owner shouted angrily.
But just as his words fell, a massive pillar of light descended from the sky. The man, along with his Pokémon, was instantly vaporized in the beam.
Seeing this, the truck owner felt a chill run through his heart.
Can I still escape? he couldn't help thinking. At that moment, regret consumed him…
In the end, he couldn't escape either. He and his subordinates all vanished one by one within the light.
After eliminating the truck owner and his men, the two Pokémon in the sky flew over the truck and began searching through the cages on the ground. However, it seemed they did not find the target they were looking for.
"Woooo~"
"Woooo~"
The two Pokémon howled at the sky, their cries full of sorrow.
At that moment, the Pokémon in the cages below began chattering noisily. The two airborne Pokémon paused, fixing their gaze on the cages for a moment. Suddenly, a glint of light flashed in their eyes, and in the next second, all the cages sprang open.
The Pokémon inside scrambled out, bowed respectfully toward the two Pokémon in the air, and then disappeared into the dense forest.
One of the Pokémon pointed in a certain direction and called out a few times to the two Pokémon in the sky. Without the slightest hesitation, the two Pokémon disappeared into the night in the blink of an eye.
They were heading directly toward the location of Verdanturf City.
As dawn broke and the sky began to lighten, Yuga was still comfortably asleep under his covers, when he was suddenly woken up by Duoduo.
"What's the matter, Duoduo? Let me sleep a little longer," Yuga murmured as he glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Seeing that it was still early, he pulled the blanket over his head, intending to sleep a bit more.
"Audino~ Audino~"
Duoduo yanked the blanket off Yuga and called out to him anxiously a few times.
Yuga's sleepiness instantly vanished. He jumped out of bed, strode to the window, pushed it open, and looked outside—only to see a vast blanket of white. A heavy fog had settled in.
"What's going on?"
It was rare for Verdanturf City to get foggy—let alone this kind of thick fog where one could barely see their hand in front of their face (exaggerating a bit).
"Audino~" Duoduo shook its head. It had already found things like this when it woke up in the morning.
Yuga quickly washed up, got dressed, and ran downstairs.
Opening the front door, he saw nothing but thick fog outside. Just breathing in once, he could feel the air full of moisture.
This... Can the exchange competition still go on today? Yuga couldn't help but feel concerned.
At that moment, Ninetales walked up beside Yuga and said, "What's going on here? Why did such a thick fog suddenly appear for no reason? It's unbearable."
The excessive humidity in the air made Ninetales' fur feel damp and sticky all over—it was extremely uncomfortable.
Yuga walked onto the street and, through the dense fog, saw that his neighbors had also come out of their homes. Everyone was discussing the heavy fog that had rolled in this morning.
However, because the fog was so dense, visibility beyond five steps was nearly zero. Yuga could hear people speaking in the distance but couldn't see anyone, so he didn't really run into any of the neighbors directly.
Uncle Kate had also stepped outside to check the situation, and Yuga happened to bump into him on his way back.
"Yuga!" Uncle Kate called out to him. "What's with all this fog?"
Due to Verdanturf City's unique climate, Uncle Kate had lived there for decades and had never seen fog this thick before.
Yuga shook his head and said, "I don't know either, but something feels off. You should just stay home today and don't go out."
When something unusual happens, there's usually something strange behind it!
"All right, I understand." Uncle Kate trusted Yuga very much, so naturally, he did exactly as Yuga suggested.
Just as Yuga returned to his doorstep, he saw Masato Shirai riding his Arcanine over. Seeing Yuga, Masato's face was grim as he said:
"Gym Leader Shimizu, something terrible has happened!"