Astrid

After listening to Strawberry, Yuga remained silent for a moment and then said, "I understand the situation. You can go back for now; I'll investigate this thoroughly."

Strawberry nodded and replied, "I understand. I'll get back to work."

After saying that, Strawberry left the meeting room.

Once she had left, Yuga's brow furrowed deeply. He hadn't expected someone he personally brought in to engage in such dishonest behavior.

However, to get to the bottom of this, he decided he needed to conduct his own investigation.

Although Strawberry's words carried high credibility, they were still her perspective, and Yuga wasn't naive enough to jump to conclusions based solely on that.

Regardless, dealing with this issue would have to wait until he had gathered more information.

With these thoughts in mind, Yuga stepped outside and gestured towards a corner. Two Natu and several Misdreavus and Mismagius appeared before him.

As the flow of people in Verdanturf Town increased, Yuga had reinforced the security around the YoYo Day Care and Verdanturf Gym.

In addition to the Natu responsible for monitoring the surroundings, the Flygon patrolling the skies, and the Linoone, Mightyena, Persian, and Liepard patrolling the streets and alleys, Yuga had now formed a secretive team of Ghost-type Pokémon, mainly composed of Misdreavus and Mismagius.

Compared to other Pokémon, Ghost-types were better suited for gathering information as they often went unnoticed.

The areas around the YoYo Day Care and Verdanturf Gym were the safest in all of Verdanturf Town, even more stable than the vicinity of the police station. Anyone who dares causing trouble in these areas will be kept alive without food.

Yuga gave a few instructions to the two Natu and the Misdreavus and Mismagius, who nodded in response. The Natu then used Teleport to vanish, while the Misdreavus and Mismagius disappeared into the darkness with mischievous smiles.

With Natu and the Ghost-types Pokémon investigating the matter, Yuga didn't dwell on it any further. He trusted that they would provide him with the necessary information.

Deploying this many Pokémon to investigate a single matter, if they still couldn't uncover the truth, then his surveillance team might as well disband.

Especially the Natu, which were specially trained for this task, would have no trouble tracking down a person.

With this matter set aside for now, Yuga received a call from Arata Sena and Akihito. They informed him that they would be returning to Verdanturf Town in the next few days.

The two of them were currently challenging the Hoenn League Conference, and they had already collected seven out of the eight Gym Badges. Their plan was to challenge the Verdanturf Gym as their final step, so they called ahead to make arrangements.

This year's Hoenn League Conference was scheduled to take place in the summer, slightly earlier than in previous years.

It was now early summer, with less than two months remaining until the Conference began, so their progress could be considered neither fast nor slow.

True to their word, two days after Yuga received the call from Arata Sena and Akihito, they returned to Verdanturf Town.

When Arata Sena and Akihito returned, Yuga was in the midst of accepting a challenge from another Trainer. With the Hoenn League Conference on the horizon, more people were coming to Verdanturf Town to challenge the Gym.

The Verdanturf Gym was known for its high level of difficulty, and challengers had to first obtain three other Gym Badges as prerequisites. Nevertheless, there were still many determined Trainers willing to test their skills here.

Most of the Trainers participating in the league Conference were young and full of dreams and motivation. Even though they were aware of the difficulty of the Verdanturf Gym, they were eager to give it a try.

When Arata Sena and Akihito entered the Gym, battles between challengers were in full swing, and the competition was intense.

Anrin, Anmu, Ayato, and Ayagiri, the four young siblings, had a day off from school and were at the Gym, watching the battles with keen interest.

Upon seeing Akihito's return, the four young siblings were delighted and about to cheer for him, but Akihito quickly gestured for them to stay quiet. He didn't want to disrupt the concentration of the challengers in the middle of their battles.

Accompanying Arata Sena and Akihito was a young girl, their traveling companion. The four young siblings curiously looked at her with wide eyes.

This young girl was slightly older than Akihito but younger than Arata Sena. She had a calm demeanor and was currently focused on watching the battles.

The challenger facing the Gym today was a girl about the same age as Arata Sena, hailing from the distant Kalos region.

She had already sent out a Pyroar and a female Meowstic in her battles. After defeating Yuga's Lilligant, she had her Absol left.

It was clear that her Absol was her most powerful Pokémon, surpassing the Pyroar and Meowstic by several levels. It was now engaged in a fierce battle with Yuga's Ludicolo, and it seemed to have a slight advantage.

This Ludicolo was one of the Ludicolo responsible for taking care the medical herbs fields in the Grassland Sub-Ecopark. Although they spent their days watering and cultivating, their battle capabilities were quite formidable.

However, what caught Yuga's attention wasn't just the strength of the Absol; it was the necklace around its neck, which was embedded with a Mega Evolution Stone.

Clearly, the Absol's current power wasn't at its peak, and it still held the potential for Mega Evolution.

The sky above the battlefield was covered in dark clouds, and a light rain was falling. This was the result of Ludicolo's Rain Dance, which it had used to its advantage in the battle.

Ludicolo's ability was Rain Dish, which allowed it to slowly recover from injuries when rainwater fell on its body.

"Mr. Shimizu, we're going all out now. I hope you're prepared," said the challenger as she took out a Key Stone.

"Please, go ahead. I'll give it my all," Yuga replied with a smile.

The Key Stone in the challenger's hand resonated with the Mega Evolution Stone on Absol's neck, and Absol quickly underwent Mega Evolution.

After Mega Evolution, Absol's power gain a tremendous boost, and its level soared to the early stages of pseudo-Elite level.

...

<>

Type: Dark

Ability: Magic Bounce

Gender: Female

Potential: Green

Level: 61

Moves: Feint, Quick Attack, Leer, Double Team, Bite, Night Slash, Slash, Psycho Cut, Hail, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, Payback, Double-Edge, Iron Tail, Throat Chop, Aerial Ace.

...

This Absol had been carefully bred and she likely spent a significant amount of resources. While it had a green potential, it knew more moves than the average Pokémon with a blue potential.

"Absol! Use Psycho Cut!" With the challenger's command, a massive energy blade slashed towards Ludicolo, catching it off guard and knocking it down.

Previously, Ludicolo and Absol were at similar levels, both in their fifties. However, after Mega Evolving, Absol clearly outclassed Ludicolo.

"Your Mega Absol is impressive!" Yuga retrieved his fallen Ludicolo and praised the challenger.

Seeing Yuga's calm demeanor in the face of Mega Evolution, Astrid knew that this Gym Leader was aware of the existence of Mega Evolution, which earned her admiration.

At the moment, Mega Evolution had not been widely publicized, and it was most prevalent in the Kalos region, where it originated. As a result, the majority of people were unaware of its existence.

Of course, everyone in the Verdanturf Gym knows this. After all, they have all seen Yuga's Venusaur do Mega Evolution.

Yuga had taken the time to inform them about Mega Evolution to ensure that they wouldn't be ignorant of such a crucial aspect and potentially bring embarrassment to the Gym.

"Thank you for the praise!" Astrid was confident and proud of her Mega Absol, so she graciously accepted Yuga's compliment.

However, Arata Sena and Akihito, observing the impressive Mega Absol on the battlefield, were feeling somewhat uneasy. This Trainer was very likely to be their opponent in the upcoming Hoenn League Conference.

Is this going to be okay?

"But even so, I don't plan to simply hand over the Verdanturf Gym Badge," Yuga said with determination.

With those words, Yuga released his final Pokémon for this challenge – Sceptile.

This Sceptile was one of the first Pokémon hatched from the batch of eggs obtained from Lavaridge Town's Pokémon Day Care Center. It was one of the earliest residents of the Ecopark.

Furthermore, among Grass-type Pokémon, Sceptile's strength was among the top tier. It had a blue potential, and it was just one step away from reaching the pseudo-Elite level.

Yuga had always chosen his Pokémon to match the challenger's strength, and this time was no exception. All the Pokémon he had chosen for this battle were at or above level 50.

...

<>

Type: Grass

Ability: Overgrow

Gender: Male

Potential: Blue

Level: 59

Moves: Pound, Agility, Pursuit, Quick Attack, Mega Drain, Giga Drain, Leaf Blade, Energy Ball, X-Scissor, Leaf Storm, Sunny Day, Leech Seed, Double Team, Grassy Terrain, Magic Leaf, Grass Pledge, Dragon Pulse.

...

¤

As for the character Astrid, she appears in various episodes:

1. In the beginning of the XY special episode "Mega Evolution Special I," where she battles alongside Alain and his Mega Charizard X.

2. In the beginning of the movie "Diance and the Cocoon of Destruction," she has a three-on-three battle against Ash.

3. In the anime at the Lumiose Conference, she appears, but it seems she was eliminated in the quarter-finals.