Chapter 1050: First Meeting

As expected, just as Officer Jenny Mae had said, the higher-ups moved quickly. The next day, Yuga received a second notification from Officer Jenny Mae.

According to the instructions from the higher-ups, Yuga was to first go to Petalburg City to meet with Mr. Norman and two other examiners. The four of them would then discuss the specific details of the examination together.

Upon receiving the notification, Yuga was immediately asked to depart, so he set off early in the morning, riding his Dragonite toward Petalburg City.

If Yuga followed the normal route from Venderturf Town to Petalburg City, he would have to pass through Rusturf Tunnel to reach Rustboro City, then head to Petalburg City from there.

However, Yuga wasn't one to take the long way around. He directly rode his Dragonite across the skies over Petalburg Woods, reaching Petalburg City by the end of the day.

Crossing Petalburg Woods might be difficult for others, but it was no big deal for Yuga.

As Dragonite's strength grew, its flying speed increased as well. That afternoon, Yuga arrived in Petalburg City on time, thanks to Dragonite's full-speed flight.

The meeting time with the other examiners was actually scheduled for the next day, but Yuga liked to be prepared early, so he arrived in Petalburg City a day in advance.

Before coming, he had already informed Mr. Norman that he would be staying at Petalburg Gym for the night. Since this wasn't his first visit to the gym, he rode his Dragonite directly to the door.

When he landed in the yard of Petalburg Gym, he immediately saw Max pacing back and forth in the yard. When Max saw Yuga, his eyes lit up.

"Brother Yuga, you're here!"

As soon as Yuga got off Dragonite, Max ran over to him.

Yuga ruffled his hair and asked, "Were you waiting here just for me?"

Max quickly nodded, "Yeah, yeah! I haven't seen you in so long, I've really missed you."

Yuga, hearing the exaggerated tone in his voice, looked at him skeptically, "Why don't I believe that?"

Before Yuga could say anything more, Max grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the house, "Come on in, come on in. Mom is making something delicious. She's been preparing all afternoon since she heard you were coming."

Caroline, who was busy in the kitchen, heard the noise and peeked out from the doorway. Seeing Yuga, she greeted him warmly, "Yuga, you're here! Have a seat, I'm busy in the kitchen. Max, get some tea for Yuga."

"Got it!"

Responding loudly to his mom's request, Max eagerly went to pour tea for Yuga.

After preparing the tea, Max brought it over to Yuga, "Here, Brother Yuga, try the tea I made just for you." He emphasized the words "just for you," which made Yuga look at him curiously again.

What's gotten into this kid? Yuga wondered silently.

He glanced at Max, who had been acting strangely ever since he saw him. Yuga picked up the tea and took a sip, "Hmm, not bad."

Max beamed, "Right? I was really careful when I made it."

Ignoring Max's excessive enthusiasm, Yuga looked around the living room and realized that May was missing. Curious, he asked Max, "Where's your sister? I didn't see her when I came in."

Hearing Yuga's question, Max quickly moved closer to Yuga and replied, "Sister went to Professor Birch's place to pick up her first Pokémon a couple of days ago. She should be back tomorrow."

Yuga suddenly understood. So, it was already time for May to start her journey. He hadn't known that.

After answering Yuga's question, Max, who was sitting on the couch, scooted closer to Yuga and nonchalantly said, "First Pokémon are so cool. I wish I could get one too. I can't wait to turn nine."

At first, Yuga didn't quite understand what Max was hinting at, but when he mentioned "turning nine," Yuga suddenly remembered. He had promised to give Max a Pokémon as a birthday present when he turned nine.

So that's why this kid was so eager, waiting for him in the yard and being strangely attentive. He was anxious because his sister was about to go on her journey, and he couldn't wait any longer.

Yuga couldn't help but laugh at Max's not-so-subtle hints. He deliberately pretended not to understand, causing Max to become anxious. He jumped off the couch and paced back and forth beside Yuga, muttering, "I wish I could turn nine soon. I wonder if I can get my ninth birthday present early."

Yuga, with a smile on his face, said, "A birthday present for your ninth birthday has to be received on your ninth birthday. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a ninth birthday present, would it?"

Max was frustrated by Yuga's feigned ignorance, but Yuga just kept playing along, leaving Max no choice but to give up.

After teasing Max for a while, Yuga went to the kitchen to help Caroline with the cooking. Although most of the cooking at his house was done by the Audino, Yuga was actually a pretty good cook himself.

By evening, Mr. Norman finally returned from the gym, and by that time, Yuga and Caroline had already prepared a full table of dishes.

After the four of them sat down around the table, Caroline enthusiastically served Yuga some food, "My cooking may not be as good as your Audino's, but it should taste pretty good. Go ahead, eat up!"

Yuga, Mr. Norman, and Caroline chatted while they ate, leaving Max as the only one who couldn't join in the conversation. He sat quietly, focusing on his food.

As the three of them talked, the topic eventually turned to May.

Caroline sighed involuntarily, "I wonder how May is doing. What kind of Pokémon will she choose at the professor's lab?"

Seizing the opportunity to join the conversation, Max quickly spoke up, "Sister will definitely choose Treecko."

Caroline playfully smacked him, "That's what you want, isn't it? Now, hush and eat!"

Max grumbled discontentedly, "What's wrong with Treecko anyway? Just wait, when my sister comes back, you'll see I was right." With that, he continued shoveling food into his mouth.

Norman put down his chopsticks and reassured Caroline, "Don't worry, May isn't a child anymore. She knows what to do."

In fact, after returning from the abduction incident, May had indeed matured a lot. She had even taken the initiative to ask him many questions about being a trainer.

Considering that her Swablu had been in training for a while now and she was no longer a novice trainer, Norman was confident that his daughter could handle any unexpected situations.

Hearing this, Caroline also put down her chopsticks and said, "That's true...," but as a mother, she couldn't help but worry about her child being away from home, especially since May was a girl.

And so, the meal ended with a conversation centered around May.

Early the next morning, Yuga was woken up by Max shaking him. To his surprise, Max insisted on accompanying Yuga for early morning training. It was impressive that such a little guy could wake up so early.

After finishing their morning training, Yuga and Norman headed out. Today was the day the other two examiners were scheduled to arrive in Petalburg City, and they had arranged to meet at the Pokémon Center.

It was only yesterday that Yuga learned from Norman who the other two examiners were.

Both of these examiners were from the Inspection Bureau, which didn't surprise Yuga. The Inspection Bureau and the Search Bureau were two special departments, one focused on internal affairs, the other on external matters. Since the gym examination was an internal League matter, it made sense that staff from the Inspection Bureau would be involved. What did surprise Yuga was who these two individuals were.

One was a woman named Lovia, who was a bit older; the other was a man named Iori, who was younger.

Many people might not know Lovia, but they would definitely know her brother, as he was none other than the famous Wallace.

Lovia was much older than Wallace, so while Wallace was still unmarried, Lovia's daughter, Lisia, was already old enough to start her own journey.

The genetics in this family were undoubtedly impressive. Lovia had the same light green hair and eyes as Wallace and Lisia, and even their facial features were about 40-50% similar.

The other examiner, Iori, also had a connection to Wallace.

Iori's sister was Winona, the Fortree Gym Leader, who was Wallace's ex-girlfriend, making Iori Wallace's former brother-in-law. (This is based on the manga where Wallace and Winona were once a couple.) Yuga knew about this gossip thanks to Wallace's friend, Steven.

In any case, the connections between people in the League were intricate. Any two individuals you might meet could very well be linked through a few degrees of separation.

After the four of them exchanged pleasantries, they began to assign tasks. Since there were only four people, and they had to work in pairs, it was simple to divide into two groups, each consisting of one senior and one junior member.

The eldest, Norman, was paired with the youngest, Iori, while Lovia, who was slightly younger than Norman, was paired with Yuga, who was older than Iori.

The route assignments were as follows:

Yuga and Lovia: Petalburg City → Rustboro City → Fallarbor Town → Mauville City...

Norman and Iori: Petalburg City → Dewford Island → Slateport City → Mauville City...

As for the gym examination, it consisted of three simple tasks:

First, observe the battles between the gym leader and challengers on-site.

Second, review the number of badges issued by the gym over the past four years.

Third, retrieve the list of challengers from the gym and compare it with the results of those challengers in the League tournaments during that period.

The third task was the most crucial, as it provided the best evidence of whether a gym had fulfilled its responsibilities.

When gyms received challengers, they kept records of them. By obtaining this list from the gym and cross-referencing it with the League's tournament records over the past four years, everything would become clear.

This examination method might not be perfect, but it was the most direct and effective.

Once everything was decided, Yuga and Norman returned to the Petalburg Gym, as they would depart from there the next day.

As they entered the courtyard of the Petalburg Gym, they heard lively voices coming from inside, especially Max, who seemed to be shouting about something.

Just as Norman was about to step into the house, a Torchic ran out, headfirst, and bumped into Norman's leg before falling on its rear.

Max followed closely behind Torchic, and when he saw Yuga and Norman, he exclaimed happily, "Dad, Brother Yuga, you're done with work! Sister is back!"

Norman responded with a smile, "Is that so? It's good to have her back."

Yuga followed Norman into the house, where they indeed found May. There was also a boy sitting on the sofa with a Pikachu beside him—the boy was Ash.

Although Yuga had anticipated that Ash might accompany May when she returned, seeing him in person made Yuga feel somewhat conflicted.

However, Max was unaware of Yuga's complex feelings and excitedly introduced Ash to him.

"Brother Yuga, let me tell you, this guy was a Top 4 finalist in the Indigo League and the runner-up in the Silver Conference. He's kind of a strong trainer, but still not as good as you and Dad."

Max's words sounded like praise for Ash, but there was a hint of arrogance in his tone that made Yuga feel a bit embarrassed for him.

But Ash was a Top 4 finalist in the Indigo League and the runner-up in the Silver Conference? Shouldn't it be the Top 16 and Top 8? Yuga hadn't paid much attention to the League tournaments before, so he wasn't sure about Ash's results.

Where did things go wrong?

What Yuga didn't know was that back in Kanto, he had taught Nana's meditation technique to Misty's Starmie, significantly boosting Misty's strength compared to the original storyline, which in turn affected Ash.

Nana's meditation technique was extremely advanced. To make the most of it, after Yuga left Cerulean City, Misty raised a Slowpoke, which was both a Water-type and a Psychic-type.

This Slowpoke later evolved into Slowbro, and together with the Starmie that evolved into Starmie, they became Misty's two trump cards.

During their travels, Misty, with her outstanding strength, managed to discipline Ash, who should have been overconfident and reckless in the early stages of their journey. As a result, Ash was more grounded and diligent, which led to better results in the League tournaments.

Later, Misty also obtained a Psyduck with extraordinary potential (commonly known as "Duck God"). Although this Psyduck was not a Psychic-type, its strong psychic powers surpassed even those of Psychic-type Pokémon. After learning Nana's meditation technique, its immense psychic power was fully unleashed.

Even though this Psyduck never evolved, there were few Pokémon in Misty or Ash's teams that could defeat it.

Of course, Yuga had no way of knowing any of this.

Ash, upset by Max's comment, retorted, "What do you mean, 'kind of strong'? Do you know how hard it was to reach the Top 4 and runner-up? I put in a lot of effort!" Although he had just met Max, their lively personalities quickly drew them together.

Max, standing his ground, argued back, "I said 'kind of strong' means 'kind of strong'! My dad and Brother Yuga are Gym Leaders, way stronger than you."

In Max's mind, his dad was the strongest, and with Yuga's upcoming birthday present in mind, he reluctantly included Yuga as well.

Hearing this, Ash was momentarily stunned, then excitedly said to Yuga, "Huh? You're a Gym Leader too? That's awesome! You have to battle me!"

Max: ...

Yuga: ...

That was so Ash!

(End of the chapter)