Arrival

After Yuga and Malva had taken their seats, they noticed that the person sitting next to them was from the Dragon Shadow Day Care.

Upon seeing Yuga, the Dragon Keeper, a young man sitting beside him, whispered something to him. Then, the young man smiled and approached Yuga.

"Is this Gym Leader Shimizu? I'm Diaval. I've heard of your name for a long time. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

So, he was the boss of Dragon Shadow!

After completing the Pokémon exchange with Dragon Shadow, Yuga had done some research on them. Diaval was the current owner of Dragon Shadow and was said to be a cousin of the famous Lance.

Unlike his cousin Lance, Diaval didn't have much talent as a Trainer. The initial Pokémon he received, Horsea, had only evolved into Seadra so far.

Perhaps aware of his lack of talent, he didn't even want to waste a single Dragon Scale on Seadra's evolution.

Being a Trainer or not, whether Seadra evolved into Kingdra made no difference to him.

But he had a knack for business. Before the age of thirty, he had completely taken over the management of Dragon Shadow.

"Mr. Diaval, I've heard great things about you."

Yuga politely greeted Diaval.

"Is this the Elite Four Ms. Malva? I didn't expect Gym Leader Shimizu and Ms. Malva to be acquainted."

Diaval greeted Malva with a smile, but his tone held some hidden meaning.

Malva replied, "Mr. Diaval."

Malva only exchanged brief greetings with Diaval and didn't say much, but Diaval didn't mind. While his background was good, he was, after all, just a businessman, not a major figure.

"It's been a pleasant collaboration with Gym Leader Shimizu this time. I hope we'll have more opportunities to work together in the future."

Diaval turned to Yuga and said cheerfully.

Yuga was indeed satisfied with the Horsea he had exchanged for this time. The Pokémon bred by the Dragon Tamer family was indeed as good as its reputation. So he smiled and said, "Looking forward to future collaborations."

"Well then, I won't disturb you two any longer."

Diaval bid farewell and returned to his seat with Belindo.

Diaval's appearance was just a minor incident. Soon, more and more people filled the venue, some of whom Yuga recognized, and some he didn't. However, they were all influential figures.

Yuga even spotted Kalos' Champion, Diantha, appearing at the venue.

Diantha and Malva seemed quite familiar and greeted each other warmly upon meeting.

Through Malva's introduction, Yuga learned that Diantha and Lysandre were actually good friends.

However, Diantha probably didn't know about the existence and true purpose of Team Flare; it could be said that Lysandre's public image was quite positive.

Yuga and Diantha weren't acquainted, and they exchanged brief greetings under Malva's introduction, trying to appear somewhat familiar.

Although Diantha had heard of Yuga's name, she wasn't the type to be overly friendly, so they didn't have an extensive conversation.

Diantha was from Kalos, and Yuga wasn't particularly surprised to see her here. After all, when opportunity knocks, one should answer. However, what surprised Yuga were the people who arrived next.

The Kanto Elite Four member Bruno, the Fuchsia City Gym Leader Koga, the Hoenn Elite Four member Drake, the Gym Leader Wallace, the Sinnoh Elite Four member Lucian, the genius Trainer Cynthia, the Unova Elite Four member Marshal, and many others...

Especially Cynthia, when she saw Yuga, she unexpectedly nodded and greeted him, leaving him puzzled.

He didn't know Cynthia! In his recollection, he had only seen Cynthia once, and that was at a League conference in Sinnoh.

At that time, he had gone to support Reggie's match and happened to witness Cynthia's battle by chance. But back then, he recognized Cynthia, but she didn't recognize him, and they never exchanged a word.

Logically speaking, they didn't know each other; they didn't even have any interaction. So why was Cynthia greeting him now?

Or... could it be that he had become so handsome that he attracted the attention of a beauty like Cynthia? With that thought in mind, Yuga couldn't help but touch his handsome face.

Maybe I've really become handsome! Otherwise, the Gogoats family and the two Meowstics wouldn't voluntarily follow me.

Compared to a year ago, Cynthia has become more mature, and her presence is much stronger, making it hard to ignore her.

Robert, who came along with Wallace, didn't find it strange when he saw Yuga.

Although Yuga and Robert hadn't seen each other for some time, they stayed in touch regularly. So, Robert was aware that Yuga was attending the Pokémon Exchange Conference. Yuga's presence at the conference wasn't surprising.

However, Robert's decision to attend the auction was a last-minute notification from Wallace, so Yuga didn't know about it, and Robert hadn't had the chance to inform him.

"I didn't expect you to be here. When I first arrived, I actually went to look for you, planning to bring you along to experience this auction!"

Robert saw Yuga and let his senior go to their position at the Sootopolis Gym. He then pulled Yuga aside to chat.

"I didn't know you were coming here either. I'm here because someone asked for my help."

Yuga replied with a helpless tone. Regardless, seeing Robert in Kalos made him happy.

"I was brought here by my senior at the last minute too. I was actually planning to surprise you by coming here!"

"Are you and Wallace here for that indigo potential Pokémon too?"

"Yes, we are. But my senior said our chances of getting it are slim. It's much better to secure a suitable blue potential Pokémon instead."

High potential Pokémon are never too many, especially in a place as big as the Sootopolis Gym. They could always use more high potential Pokémon, no amount would be enough.

Yuga nodded in agreement; that was indeed the case.

There were so many wealthy attendees this time: the Dragon Tamer family, the Temple clan, various Elite Four, and Even Champion. The Sootopolis Gym didn't have a significant financial advantage in this situation.

Only major capitalists like Lysandre were truly confident about obtaining the indigo potential Pokémon this time.

However, Robert and Wallace both is already had indigo potential Melotic in their possession, making them unattainable for other Trainers.

"Do you have any information? Do you know what kind of indigo potential Pokémon it is this time?"

Robert asked Yuga in a hushed tone.

Yuga shook his head. "The Five Giants have kept their secrecy measures quite tight. There hasn't been any information leak so far."

Robert sighed softly. "They sure know how to build anticipation."

Yuga chuckled. "That's just how it is. They're in it for the business, so they'll do whatever benefits them the most."

As fellow businessmen, Yuga naturally understood the Five Giants' strategy.

They had to keep everyone's anticipation high to get the best price for that indigo potential Pokémon.

After chatting for a while, Robert was called back by his senior, Wallace, and Yuga returned to his seat, patiently waiting for the auction to begin.